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Overview

  • Graphic/Clothing Designer, Artist, Writer, Photographer
  • BA in Graphic Design, Certified TEFL/TESOL teacher
  • From Bradenton, FL, United States
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

Artist, graphic/clothing designer, illustrator, photographer, musician, writer, amateur entrepreneur. Blessed with a majestic beard and magnificent mustache.

Moved to Tampa 2014, I have a passion for traveling, exploring, learning and experiencing new things and meeting interesting people. I tagged along on 4 tours with a handful of metal bands in 2012-2013 as a merch guy/roadie/manager, it's a great way to travel and have a lot of fun all while trying not to starve.

When it comes down to it, I'm a laid back, eccentric, sociable and respectful dude, just wanting to see the world. Anything, from helpful knowledge to a floor to sleep on, is always greatly appreciated.

They say someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong.

"Get dirty. Get fucking filthy. Get poor. Get off your ass. Get desperate. Get dangerous. Get moving. Get productive. Get pro-active. Get started. Get your own life. Get doing something. Anything. Because before you know it you're 40 with kids, a mortgage and responsibilities that cause your fun to come second. So before cancer, before children, before 50 hour work weeks, before back and kneeproblems, before school loans, before you lose your sense of humor.. fight. Fight and fuck and run and smile. Smile because the older you get the less you will. So yes quit being such a goddamn pussy. Because bitching and whining and worrying never made anything better."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I want to go everywhere, experience all that I can, and meet great people, all while making art and music, writing and photographing all that I possibly can.

I've been lending my couch to friends since I was 15, (sometimes much to my mom's chagrin), between being financially unstable and now having a couple years of touring the US under my belt, I've also spent a healthy amount of time on couches myself. Once I finally settle down I definitely plan on returning a surplus of CouchKarma to the world.

Interests

My first interest will always be music, I'm always listening for new music, if it moves me in anyway at all, I'll love it. I'm a punk and metalhead at heart, but I love all music as long as it's genuine. I'm the same way with art, movies and books as well. I'm always reading something, trying to find some new inspiration, it never ends. I also love tattoos and body modification, I want to have 90% coverage and have had my ears stretched to nearly 2 inches and am trying to get back up there again.

I'm also heavily into fashion and hair, beards, and mustaches, so last year started my own clothing brand Hype Monster (www.facebook.com/HypeMonsterCult) and have been working with a friend to start a grooming supply company, Bastard Brand (www.facebook.com/BastardBrand). Both of which's art is entirely by me.

  • arts
  • writing
  • books
  • design
  • fashion
  • tattoos
  • cooking
  • running
  • clothing
  • movies
  • reading
  • traveling
  • painting
  • music
  • animation
  • teaching
  • entrepreneurship
  • history
  • tours

Music, Movies, and Books

I really just love movies in general, I grew up with lots of horror movies and adventure flicks, so those have both left an indelible mark on my soul.

Misfits, Trap Them, Black Dahlia Murder, Converge, Down, Doomriders, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, Dax Riggs, Aesop Rock, The Weeknd, Run The Jewels, Neurosis, Trash Talk, Mike Patton, Melvins, Oathbreaker, Author & Punisher, All Pigs Must Die, Wolves in the Throne Room, Baroness, Black Breath, Black Keys, The Bronx, Burning Love, Cage, Cattle Decapitation, to name less than 1%

Douglas Adams, Palahniuk, Hunter S Thompson, Henry Rollins, Neil Strauss, anything that has to do with religion/spirituality/mythology/occultism... I'll add more as I think of them.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This summer (July-August 2013) we had the genius idea to tour for a month through Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and back up to Omaha... in the summer... the hottest summer in recent history (115 in Phoenix)... in a dark blue van with no AC. It was horribly uncomfortable, but none of it mattered, because I finally got to see the Grand Canyon. It was simultaneously amazingly life affirming, and at the same time horribly upsetting, because now I want to spend a couple weeks exploring the canyon floor. But seriously, it completely changes how you see the world.

Since I've started going on tour with bands, I've begun seeing and doing much more interesting things. The kindness of strangers is absolutely amazing, being allowed entrance into a person's home and good graces is truly humbling and an amazing experience in and of itself.

On the second tour I went on (November 2012) we went through Sitgreaves National Forest, listening to atmospheric black metal. It was one of the most beautiful, legitimately awe-inspiring and life affirming moments in my life. As I'm typing this we're preparing for another tour and I'm incredibly excited for the new things we'll get to see, the people we'll meet and the experiences that await us.

My first one was taking a road trip across Route 66 and back. And that's also why I'm here, I'm tired of standing still, I want to see everything this world has to offer, good and bad, not only so I see them, but so I can tell other people about the world as well. Hopefully make a difference somehow.

Teach, Learn, Share

I think the main thing that I would TRY to teach people, is to stop talking ALL the time. Stop TRYING to find something interesting and just be there. Just let whatever is happening, happen. I'm unable to convey how much I've seen people completely miss in life, just because they were too busy talking through it, or trying too hard to capture it. Just. Be.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm always up to help out in anyway I can. I've spent the majority of my life financially unstable, but well educated (thanks to my mom, who's a now retired teacher). I've always had the ability to calmly sit and figure out how to fix things. Maybe it's all that Macguyver I watched as a kid. Regardless, I've picked up a ton of helpful knowledge that makes me pretty proficient in most home improvement areas, cooking, cleaning, art, writing, plumbing, some electrical work, carpentry, painting, tile, etc etc etc. I'm also a big dude, so I can move heavy objects easily, and I'm never afraid to get dirty and do some tough work.

Countries I’ve Visited

United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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