Nothing in my life has ever been typical. I’ve either been considered unique or just flat-out weird. It was a struggle to grow up like this, but as an adult, I’ve learned the skill of self-love and how to embrace my own idiosyncrasies.

When I came into this world, I was born into a household of New-Yorican parents (Puerto Ricans living in New York). As a result, my home was always filled with the sound of salsa and Latin music, including Dominican-style Merengue. The Latin rhythm was drilled into my heart from birth, and I wouldn’t realize until later how internalized this style of music actually was in me.

During the early years, my dad got me into the Sega Genesis, the golden era of Sonic the Hedgehog. Anytime I reminisce on my childhood, the majority of those images that come back are me sitting at that Sega Genesis playing all the Sonic games with my little sister. We used to have a blast, even a Sonic 3D Blast! Throughout my childhood and teenage years, the majority of games I played were Sonic games.

At around two or three years old, my parents bestowed a small electric piano upon me as a gift. Thus, my journey into music began. On that little toy-like device, I unknowingly trained my ears to recognize scales and patterns. I began to make melodies and try to learn other tunes that I enjoyed, eventually realizing that only playing white keys was not enough, and that the black keys could also be my friend.

Electric piano was my main instrument for many years. While it is not clear in my memory if I consistenly played, I do recall at one point getting so good that I was able to read piano music fairly quickly and could even play some pieces like Chopin’s Minute Waltz (Op. 64 No. 1), Beethoven’s Fur Elise, etc. However, my piano days came to a complete halt when I decided to move on to my next instrument.

In the summer vacation before my 7th grade year, my dad decided to help me learn the saxophone. Since he was a saxophone player in his days, it was a good chance for me to learn how the proper fundamentals from somebody who already knew them. Now, most students started band in 6th grade, so they had about a whole year on me (possibly more). However, I had the advantage of a dad who learned this popular woodwind instrument in New York City, a place famous for breeding the best of the best.

After practicing hard that summer and struggling through the first half of my year in band class as a 7th grader, the time came when I leveled up, seemingly over night, and took my spot as the first chair saxophonist, beating out people who had started way before me. This pattern continued through the coming years.

It was around this time that a cousin of mine blessed me with Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage as a birthday present. The four PlayStation games that spawned from that series will always be my absolute favorite, from the plot to the OST. I still haven’t played anything that brings me more thrill. Nor is there any music track more adrenaline-inducing than that alert or boss battle theme from MGS1.

During my 8th grade year, I remember my sister playing a little First Act guitar. Though it was meant for her, I would eventually end up being the one playing that little toy guitar all the time. Again, my parents noticed a passion I had and decided to buy me an Ibanez electric guitar. They also signed me up for a free guitar class that was being hosted by a local at that time.

When I showed up to the class, I turned out to be the only attendee. Lucky me! I had weeks of free private lessons, and the young man who helped me out laid a foundation for me that I can never be grateful enough for.

Throughout my high school days, I was a saxophonist by day and guitarist by night. At school, I would play with marching band, concert band, and jazz band. Then at night it would either be time to jam on my own or practice with a metal band that my friends and I put together at the time. My love for metal was so great at that time, and I became a massive fan of Killswitch Engage, for the ingenuous guitar riffs that combined beauty and heaviness, but even more so for the unrivaled vocals of Howard Jones. To this day, those types of riffs still influence my writing, no matter what the genre is.

Speaking of the high school days, let’s talk about how I got into 1st band (the top ensemble). We had auditions to determine our placement for the concert season, and, long story short, things went well for me. After we got our results, I learned that I was going to be part of 1st band. It is still very vivid in my memory how on the first day there the band director called me up in front of everyone to perform an etude from 48 Studies for Oboe or Saxophone. Particularly, he had me play No. 8 from that collection. Once I finished my mini-performance, he stated something like, “That’s why he’s here.”

Okay. Let’s fast-forward to my university days. Musicians are notorious for becoming “starving artists,” so when I enrolled in Texas State University in San Marcos, I figured going into business would be the best option. Amazingly, the McCoy College of Business accepted me upon my first application. However, in order to ensure that my life wouldn’t be lacking any type of musicality, I also auditioned to be a part of either Salsa del Rio, the top ensemble, or Orquesta del Rio, the second ensemble. Amazingly, they heard how I played and absolutely wanted me in the top band, so I got to get my musical fix while also studying.

Other members in the band assumed that I was a sophomore or older, but when I had told them I’m actually a freshman, people were in shock. The reason is that freshman almost never made the cut for Salsa del Rio, so I did something that very few can do. As mentioned earlier, growing up around that kind of music really helped me out in this situation. The audition almost felt natural to me. It was as if the salsa just flowed out of me when I was performing in front of the judges.

Joining this Latin ensemble was one of the best decisions I made because the experiences I gained quickly made me realize that choosing business as my main study was the wrong path. During my first year in Salsa del Rio, I quickly gained a reputation as THE Latin guy for saxophone, and I was getting referred to quite a few gigs, the majority of which I regretfully turned down, now that I view these circumstances retrospectively. Nonetheless, the gigs that I did accept helped me to fully understand where my passion truly lies. That is in music!

With the helpful encouragement from my mom, who basically asked me, “Why the hell are you not studying music,” I swiftly made the decision to switch over from business to the School of Music. However, still being careful to not become the “starving musician,” I decided to go with a music education degree, since that would have guaranteed me to at least become a band director worst case scenario.

However, this was not the way for me either. Deep inside, I knew I did not want to be a band director. There was something inside firmly telling me that this would not be the way for me. I remember thinking to myself constantly, “There’s got to be another way.” I even told this to my mother, who tried to talk sense into me saying that I need to make sure I have something to fall back on just in case. To no surprise, I deliberately disobeyed her (Lion King reference).

After learning the ins and outs of what it really means to be a band director, I came to the conclusion that it was definitely not for me. The struggles and the low pay did not seem appealing, so it was made up in my mind and heart that I was going to go the performance route, thus bringing me to the days I studied jazz performance in the Jazz Studies program.

There are absolutely no regrets that I could possibly have from the days I was a jazz studies major. That year and a half consisted of the largest growth musically I had ever had. It is no exaggeration to say that my musical growth in that short span of time was larger than all of my other years combined. Unfortunately, that blissful year came to an end very quickly when I learned from a friend, who made the same switch, that the jazz program would delay our graduation date by about two years. As a result, I made a final switch to a Bachelor of Arts in music to avoid incurring any more student loans, a situation that was already looking dire due to the fact that I was already on my 5th year in university, not even on my master’s yet!

My days of schooling had ended, but the journey had just begun. It was time to finally pursue my real dream:

To be a rock star!

Although I was no longer a student, I found myself studying harder than I ever had before. Diving into self-help books and learning about music business, I was determined to become a rock star so that I could gain status and fame in order to be able to shove it in all the people’s faces that had never accepted me into the circle. It was such a strong desire to make it big so I could tell all of those girls that rejected me and all those guys who did not invite me to the party who were supposedly my friends to go to hell. The power of having such a status was so attractive to me.

During my journey, I attempted to get a few musicians together to form a band, but nobody was on the same level as I was as far as wanting to make a real career of this. My desire was at such a high level, but nobody could match it. It was the same pattern over and over again: Find some musicians. Nobody practices nor is dedicated. Break up. Find other musicians. Repeat the process.

It wasn’t until the year 2017 when I got an email from a local band that I had been a fan of, saying that they were holding auditions. This band was one of my favorite local bands, and I really loved everything they did. Sure enough, I took my chance and set up a time to show them what I’m made of on my electric guitar. On the first day, after talking to me and witnessing what I could do, the band leader gave me the green light, and I was in.

The name of the band is Fear Control. My time with them was perhaps the best year I had experience-wise. Thanks to that band, I got to experience what it was like to tour, what it was like to have a crowd go crazy when shredding on the axe, and what it was like for people to want pictures with me and signatures from me. Shows were lined up, and I was getting the attention of people from different cities. Things were going well.

However, this dream too was to come to an end. One night, there was a very bad incident involving one of the band members. It was to the extent that the rest of us could no longer associate with that individual, so, in the blink of an eye, the band was disbanded (pun intended). Even with the collapse of that dream, the remaining three members decided to stick together and start something anew. We were all talented and knew that we could start something even better than what we had before.

Now, the thing you need to understand is, by the time all of this had occurred, I had been studying Japanese for a while and had been gaining some popularity with the Japanese community. One of my friends from the amazing Aichi Prefecture, home to the city Nagoya, had been very supportive in my journey learning Japanese. She set me up with an opportunity to do a presentation on Japanese hip hop and rappers that I was a fan of, all in Japanese to members of the Japanese community (which actually did consist of people directly from Japan). She also helped me to place 1st at the Texas State Japanese Speech Contest in 2019, at which I was awarded a free plane ticket to visit Japan.

My passion for learning Japanese and living abroad had overtaken my passion for music, which at that point was just becoming tiring for me. I was just so tired of the constant disappointments and decided that music wouldn’t be for me anymore. As a result, there came a time when I had skipped a rehearsal with the guys from the new metal group we were trying to make and confessed to them that I wouldn’t be joining them in their journey moving forward.

This is when I went full force with my Japanese studies and spent hours per day learning grammar, hiragana, katakana, and kanji. My goal was to become fluent in Japanese and make my new life in Japan, where I thought I would find my real home and success.

As previously mentioned, I was very fortunate to have been awarded a free plane ticket to Japan when I placed first in a Japanese speech contest. Upon my 3-week trip to Japan, I instantly fell in love and decided that I found my new home. The convenience of the trains, the delicious food, the ability to easily strike up conversations with locals just because of how many things there were to talk about due to our differences, it was all too perfect.

After my vacation, I hit the books and studied hard to get TEFL-certified in order to become an English teacher. This was going to be my method for getting to Japan, as it is well-known that this is the route people take in order to make it into the dream land.

The company that I decided to apply for was a company called the JET Program. It’s is widely known amongst people who want to become ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers). Sadly, I did not pass the first interview. Luckily enough, I was placed on a waitlist, but at that point I figured that the chances of people canceling and opening up a spot for me were very small.

Next, I applied to an English conversation school called AEON. The reason why I knew about them was because I had seen their schools everywhere during my vacation. To my luck, my initial application was accepted! Then came the first interview. Pass! Second interview. Pass! Third interview. Disaster!

I waited for the interview results from AEON for a while, and to no surprise got the notice that they will not be moving forward with me. What a waste! I gave up music to study Japanese so I could go to Japan, only for it to end up like this. JET still hadn’t got back to me, so I assumed that this was it. Maybe I wasn’t meant to go to Japan after all.

Once I had concluded that my dreams were a bust (again) I figured it’s time to get my life together and start preparing for my boring old life in the U.S.A. I began to settle and to prepare to go back to school. My father even bought me a $400 golf club to add to my set so we could enjoy our outings at the course together. Just when I was getting back into the flow of things, one day I received an email while I was at work. It was from the hiring staff for JET, and the subject title included the words “Upgrade Opportunity.” There was no way! Was there?

Before it was my official break time, I got up from my seat and stepped out onto one of the patios that were at the workplace in my building. As I read through the email, everything that I expected had been confirmed. I could go to Japan after all!

This news was so exciting that I had to share with everyone that was close to me. My parents began to help me right away to prepare with the move. Even though there was a disappointment lingering in the air because of all the preparations we had been making for me to stay, this opportunity was too exciting to let those insignificant feelings bog us down.

As if the situation wasn’t already exciting enough, a few months after accepting the position, I received my placement email. Where was I to be working at? Kyoto City! You can’t imagine how ecstatic I was in that moment. My parents were in the house at the time I received that email, and I called out to them to let them know the great news. We all celebrated together. Massive joy had filled the air that day.

There were a lot of bothersome hurdles to overcome to get to Japan since it was during the COVID pandemic. Even so, I eventually made it and began living out my dream.

The first year in Japan was fantastic. I got to see many friends I had made before, both from the previous vacation and others I had met online. It was basically vacation mode. During that time, I got a slight itch to do music again, so I bought a Casio CT-S400 just to play every once in a while. Here and there I would compose some ideas and keep a voice memo of them, but that was the extent.

During my second year at Japan, things started to change, and reality started to kick in. My lack of awareness of the financial situation I was in came to bite me in the butt, and I had to learn the hard way that my salary was not as good as I had thought it was due to the depreciation of the yen. The fresh feeling of being the new ALT wore off with the students and co-workers, and I started to get the real experience of what it was like to live in Japan.

This topic could open up a whole new can of worms, but let if suffice to say that my situation was worse off than where I had come from. MUCH WORSE! However, during this second year somebody had entered my life who was going to be very impactful, and I had no idea at the time. That person is the lady who was to be my wife!

I had a “senior” upon arrival to Japan. He had been working at a school he really loved and had set up a day for me to meet one of his co-workers. It was an attempt to hook me up with a chick that he thought I would dig. Our gathering was at an izakaya (Japanese-style bar, possibly the best type of bar in the world), where my “senior” and his friend were planning to set me and this woman up with a date night without us even realizing it.

The four of us sat, ate, and drank gleefully. After a couple of hours, my “senior” went off to see his girlfriend, who is now his wife. The other sly fellow invited us to go to a place called Maruyama Park to view the spring time cherry blossom tree that is iconic in that area. We went for nighttime viewing, and after talking a walk through that park, Mr. Slick-Guy said he was busy and had to go, leaving the two of us behind.

To be honest, this woman and I were not really feeling each other too much, but by this point, we were alone and had to take the train together until separating at our respective stops. While waiting for the train, I was thinking of asking her for her LINE (a communication app), but she beat me to the punch. Just as intended from the beginning, we ended up exchanging contact info and kept in touch.

The following day, we decided to meet at an Italian restaurant, and meeting each other weekly became a regular routine. Now, one thing I need to point out is that I had just broken up with my ex-girlfriend about a month before meeting her, so a real relationship didn’t occur to me at this time. Furthermore, I was very upfront about that breakup when we spoke on the date, so I thought for sure she had no intention whatsoever of being my girlfriend. But, she saw something in me that I didn’t think anyone would see.

After about three to four weeks of meeting up, I thought she was cool and decided that maybe I could try a relationship with her. I didn’t think it was too serious, but we got along well, so I figured it could be like having a close friend.

When my inner circle got the news I was dating again, there was not one person who approved. My sister called me stupid. My mom said I need Jesus. My dad didn’t say anything. My best friend was upset because he wanted to holla (or “rizz” like he would say) at girls with me. Nobody approved. Even I didn’t approve, but there I was like a brainless idiot in a relationship AGAIN.

A few months passed by, and summer vacation had initiated. My family was going to visit me in Japan for the first time, and they were going to meet my new girlfriend for the first time. Boy was I worried there was going to be trouble. Instead, my mom, for the first time ever, said that she loved her. My sister liked her, and my dad especially got along with her. Even my friend, who had met her before then, thought she was super cool. Everybody liked her! So stage 1 was completed.

Stage 2. I’m not sure why, but for some reason I felt like 6 months was a good mark to determine whether my girlfriend was really somebody that I could stay with or not. We made it to six months, and this basically sealed the deal. One year passed, and we celebrated our anniversary on April 15, 2024.

During that first year with her I started to deeply reflect on my career. What was I to do? My current situation wasn’t fulfilling. I had a wonderful lady in my life, a great boss, and a badass friend, but I wasn’t doing anything I was passionate about. The life situation I was in was also bringing me down. So, I had to decide it was time to make a change.

I knew my passion was music, but could I really go back to something that doesn’t pay well, something as unstable as a career like that? The thoughts went through my brain:

“I love music so much. I put so much effort into it, but how can I pursue it while still being able to make enough money to survive?”

“How can I make this work to where I can still enjoy what I do but also make a living?”

After pondering on such thoughts, the puzzle pieces finally started coming together:

“What is something that I like to do in my down time when I want to escape from everything? Video games. I always resort to video games, and I also love music.”

After these two realizations came to me, I had an “AHA” moment:

“That’s it! I can become a video game music composer!”

It all made sense. My musical talent is something that I needed to take advantage of. If I could combine that with a powerful industry like the gaming industry, it would be possible to finally become successful at something! Thus, the decision was made.

I began searching for resources to help me learn skills to become a good composer, and this awesome site called Composer Code came up in my search. The owner, Matt Kenyon, was also a massive help in getting me started on my journey as a composer. I think that if it wasn’t for him, I probably would have never taken the step forward.

What’s very funny is that when my friend and wife found out that I was taking a composer course, they thought that I was just doing something for fun. When they heard the stuff that I was composing, however, they were actually shocked to see how seriously I was taking this stuff.

I’ll never forget my wife’s reaction the first time she heard my compositions. There was surprise written all over her face, and at that moment she told me that she did not expect me to be at that level. It was then that she told me I need to stick with this and become a pro, and she has been supporting me ever since.

My friend had a similar reaction. He thought I was just doing some low-level stuff for fun, but he was completely blown away the first time he heard my compositions. Basically, the words that came out of his mouth were along the lines of, “Man. I did NOT think you were writing on this level already!” He, and another awesome guy in our friendship circle, are extremely supportive of what I’m doing.

Funny enough, on May 2024 I posted my first official composition online on my YouTube channel. Seemingly within hours, I got my first hit to compose for a game. Without even having a DAW on my computer at the time and not really messing with sample libraries, I felt so underprepared for this opportunity. The person I trusted most was Matt Kenyon, to whom I reached out. His response to my concerns was to just do it and learn as I go. He assured me that I was ready to take on this project, and so I did. There is not enough gratefulness in my heart that I could give him to express how happy I am that he encouraged me to give it a shot. Every since then, I have been selected to compose for different projects, and any time I work with a team, my other members are always happy with what I provide.

So, the year I began my composition journey was the year when I realized that my chances of getting married were more than likely. To push me in that direction even further, my mom messaged me one day saying that I need to propose to that girl. I agreed and went shopping for the engagement ring. There was really no plan for how I was going to engage, I just knew that I was going to do it. As if fate was on my side, my soon-to-be wife and I were planning a trip to Okinawa. That was my chance.

When we got to Itoman Beach on the first day of our vacation, I decided to bust out the ring and go through with the proposal. Unfortunately, I’m not very smooth with my words, so all I said was, “Be my wife.” She didn’t care though. She was excited and super shocked that I had proposed to her then.

A couple of months later, we officially got married on October 22, 2024, and have been in a state of jubilation ever since. We now live together in the Kansai area of Japan, and I get to see my mother-in-law quite often, whom I adore so much. My wife is still pushing me to become a professional composer, and when she hears my tracks, she will often say, “Let’s quit to become a full-time composer!”

One day, I will take those words seriously when the time is right. I’m hard at work every day learning to be the best composer I can be. This is what I do best, and I have no intention of ever giving up again. I know what happens when one quits, and I’m not about to try to take the easy way out when things get tough. I am a composer, and I will do what I can to make sure it stays that way.

To my wonderful game devs out there:

I’m here to make your games’ OSTs sound fantastic! Not good. Not okay. Not alright. ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING! Music that will keep your customers wanting more. Music that will make your game stay in your customer’s head for the rest of their lives! This is my goal, I will will do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.

Let’s work together and make your game a memorable one!