Meet the UMF Facilitators
David Browne has been a musician since he was a teenager. He left a perfectly good job in his mid-twenties, became a professional musician and toured the UK and Europe for five years playing hundreds of shows and recording in (too) many studios. When his parents were finally proved right he switched back to the "day-job", moved to Seattle, and played in a number of groups around the city. He started teaching music six years ago, focusing mainly on getting teenage kids to play instruments and sometimes getting them all to play the same song at the same time. Over the course of the years he has been the musical director or played in show bands for "The Little Shop Of Horrors", "Animal Farm" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". He's a guitar and bass player but has found a way to fake just about any instrument. He cannot sing!
Matt Taylor hails from the deep south (Georgia and Florida) but also spent a quarter of his life in NYC where he worked in audio for film, TV, radio and audiobooks before moving to Seattle in 2007. Matt identifies most strongly as a drummer but also sings, plays guitar and bass and can knock the snot out of a cowbell. He has been in bands of every imaginable genre and has spent the last 25+ years as an audio engineer, recording, mixing and producing music. He also spent 11 years as a school teacher and holds a Masters in Education. He also holds a degree in Recording Engineering from Full Sail University. His band Attack With Care (with fellow facilitators Tom Esch and Kevin Hurley), received radio play on over 125 college radio stations and can be heard featured on the Oxygen Network’s show “Best Ink”. Matt’s hobbies include skating on thin ice and exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations.
Christian Fattoruso coming from a strong musical legacy cultivated in the rock and jazz of South America began playing guitar seriously at age 12. A knack for lyrics and song writing led him to begin recording his own material at age 14, which fostered techniques of drum programming and learning to play the bass, as well. Cutting his teeth on the Big Four of heavy metal, he branched into other genres upon studying in later years with notable New York jazzers and contemporary classical and electronic composers at Bard College. Christian has played guitar and bass in many working original and cover bands in New York, Austin, Seattle and Montevideo, Uruguay (possibly the richest musical nation on Earth). Fattoruso knows practice is key and keeps a travel guitar in his car to play at red lights and dead-stop Seattle traffic.
Hamilton Skrabanek has been playing music almost his entire life. He started piano lessons at 5, but eventually settled on the guitar. Later, he studied theory and composition at the University of North Texas, picking up the arts drumming and singing along the way. He's been playing in bands and jamming with strangers for as long as he can remember, but he especially enjoys improvised music. He loves listening to and talking about music; ever the eclectic, his tastes span a wide array of genres- from bubble gum pop, to noise rock, and everywhere in between. As a fairly recent transplant to the North West, Hamilton is currently involved with several projects around town, and when he's not exploring and enjoying the city of Seattle, he writes, records, and performs music as much as possible.
Tom Esch has over 20 years of guitar, vocal, and song-writing experience. He's performed in bands, orchestras, and church ensembles. Originally from Pittsburgh, Tom moved to Seattle in 2007 and began an alt-rock recording project, Attack With Care, with Matt Taylor in 2008. Since then, Tom's music has been licensed on television, and he continues to write, record, and publish his music through his own Yeow-Meow Music LLC.
Jeffry Larson has a long and varied musical history and after living in many different places around the world brings his knowledge and experience to his adopted home in Seattle to share with the UMF community. His primary specialties are performing as a vocalist and a bassist. He has been involved in music almost his entire lifetime having began studying his first instrument, the violin, at the age of 7. He grew up practicing and playing music on parallel tracks of classical, jazz and popular music and on any give day could be found rehearsing in a symphonic concert hall or with a rock band.
Jeffry's formal training includes a masters degree in music performance on doublebass. The source of much of Jeffry’s musical and leadership experience has been the 21 years he served in the US Army as a military musician. During that time he had the opportunity to play with many high caliber musicians and for a time served as the electric bass instructor at the Army School of Music. Jeffry’s military career allowed him to lead musical groups of all kinds all over the country and around the world including multiple tours in Afghanistan.
Jeffry's formal training includes a masters degree in music performance on doublebass. The source of much of Jeffry’s musical and leadership experience has been the 21 years he served in the US Army as a military musician. During that time he had the opportunity to play with many high caliber musicians and for a time served as the electric bass instructor at the Army School of Music. Jeffry’s military career allowed him to lead musical groups of all kinds all over the country and around the world including multiple tours in Afghanistan.
Kevin Hurley The year was 1970. Vietnam was in full swing and Elvis Presley was touring for the first time since 1958. A son was born to Richard and Barbara Hurley, from Manchester, N.H. Kevin fell in love with music at a very early age after hearing "Michelle" by The Beatles on the radio during family trip. There was something in the melody that made him feel good, he was hooked. He started playing bass guitar at the request of a high school pal who's band needed to fill the void left by their previous 4 string slinger.
Bass has been Kevin's primary instrument since, but he also plays some guitar, harmonica, sings, keys, tambourine, shakers, maracas, spoons, bongos, accordion, and just about anything else he can get his hands on. Kevin's last project, The Embraced from Jacksonville, Fl had some mild success in the Southeast region of the US ultimately leading to many requests to share the stage with the likes of Sevendust, 30 Seconds To Mars, Fuel, and many more. He's been playing and recording in mainly rock bands for the last quarter century. Along with writing original music, Kevin has also played in a multitude of cover bands over the years, making him a perfect fit for UMF projects.
Bass has been Kevin's primary instrument since, but he also plays some guitar, harmonica, sings, keys, tambourine, shakers, maracas, spoons, bongos, accordion, and just about anything else he can get his hands on. Kevin's last project, The Embraced from Jacksonville, Fl had some mild success in the Southeast region of the US ultimately leading to many requests to share the stage with the likes of Sevendust, 30 Seconds To Mars, Fuel, and many more. He's been playing and recording in mainly rock bands for the last quarter century. Along with writing original music, Kevin has also played in a multitude of cover bands over the years, making him a perfect fit for UMF projects.
John Hural has over 40 years experience playing guitar. He began playing drums at the age of 7 in Los Angeles and switched to guitar at the age of 10. During his high school years in L.A. he played a mix of rock and funk in multiple bands. He also studied classical guitar formally during this period. He has since played continuously at the semi-pro level in bands spanning multiple genres including reggae, R&B, funk, rock, blues and jazz. Throughout most of the 80’s and 90’s he lived and played up and down the west coast and Hawaii. He spent a few years in Atlanta where he recorded an album with a blues/rock band called Empty Slate before landing in Seattle 15 years ago. Since arriving in Seattle he has been playing mostly reggae in local bands including Po’okela Street Band and JB Groove Fiery, but he continues to play in various funk, R&B, hard alt rock, blues and jazz bands.
Peter Benjamin is a guitar player, singer-songwriter, producer, and collaborator. His unique, masterfully melodic and textural guitar approach has helped define the sound and style of an eclectic range of Northwest bands including Seattle-based post alternative band Edisyn and Northwest country rock favorites The Sammy Steele Band. He now performs under the banner of his own 70's-evoking indie folk rock and can be seen with his band, featuring some of the area's finest players, or as a solo act, at wine bars, clubs, festivals, and private events throughout the Northwest and beyond. In July of 2013 he released his second full-length album The Victorian.