About ME

Hi, my name is Mike, and I like to make the things that make weird sounds…..I also fix those things :-)

Circuit bending old toys and electronic devices into fun new creative instruments has been extremely fun for me and is definitely how I got into this world. But I really love the satisfaction I get when repairing an old or building a brand new synthesizer.

I started with this strange hobby of circuit bending in the early 2000’s and at that time I didn’t know ANYONE else who even knew what it was. But that didn’t matter, I still went to Goodwill every few weeks to see what I could find and then scour the internet to see what I could do to it. I kind of jumped in head first and went right for the SK-1 and Speak&Math for my first two builds. Yeah I know, not really beginner devices. But at that time I was soldering almost daily at work so I wasn’t intimated and everything turned out great.

Then in 2014 this weird hobby lead me to the Moog Circuit Bending Challenge. WAIT, WHAT??? I was so surprised that a real synthesizer company would even have a contest like this. I was not going to miss out on this and decided I just HAD to make it to the finals. So for my entry I combined a toy Kawasaki guitar, voice changer, cassette player and digital delay all into a BBQ grill set box. This was my first big build like that and I was really happy with how it came out. That ended up placing me in third place with a Moog Minitaur. This was my first REAL synth and I loved it and I was hooked. No escaping now!

Since then I have entered and placed third an additional time, then second place once and then finally in the 2019 Moog Circuit Bending Challenge I was able to get first place. I feel so thankful for Moog and all that they have done for me and the synths they have provided but it definitely wasn’t easy as each entry took a ton of work.

More recently I’ve started to buy and build eurorack modules to integrate with my Moog semi-modular gear. And while synthesizers may have more of my focus right now, circuit bending will always have a special place in my heart..…and workbench.

Please send me a message on the CONTACT page if you are interested in purchasing any of my devices or if you would like to hire me for any custom commission work.