I guess first and foremost I’m a linguist – of natural and computer languages as well as the language of music. My interest in electronic music was triggered by Artists like Brian Eno, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. I got my first analog synth (for the nostalgics: a Roland SH-101) in ‘79 from the first music shop in my teen residence of Turnhout, near Antwerp. The little synth still operates in a place of honor on the top shelf of my keyboard rack. Together with analog wave synthesist DigIT , a fellow spin doctor from the only local New Wave hangout, I started taping sessions in the early eighties. These recordings were heavily inspired by the likes of Fad Gadget, Richard H Kirk, Einsturzende Neubauten and DIN A Testbild.

DigIt & me started distorting the pirate radio airwaves with Cold Sensations in ‘81, making the radio show one of Belgium’s first prime time Saturday eve programs entirely dedicated to the dark side of electronic music: New Wave, Electro, European and American Industrial. In ‘84, I shifted location and frequency: I moved to Ghent and combined studies with jam sessions and broadcasts on legendary Radio Toestel. Coil, Mark Stewart and Skinny Puppy had taken over as major inspiration sources by that time and continued to influence my recordings and broadcasts till the end of the decade that was the eighties.

My passion for music, languages and software development matured through various studies, including Classical Languages, Bio-Technical Engineering, Systems Analysis & Software Engineering, and Oriental Philology.During my university studies, I helped to set up one of the first IBM-compatible PC assembly houses in Belgium as Production and Software Manager. After graduating in ‘87, I spent my military service stationed in Cologne and worked on NATO project PATROL, for which I received a special recommendation from the Belgian Forces HQ in Germany. I developed the project in the first popular object-oriented business programming language, Clipper. After my one-year service, I joined the company that created the Clipper Language, Nantucket, as Technical Marketing Specialist for the Benelux and Eastern-European countries. I became a frequent speaker on international development conferences worldwide.

When Computer Associates Int’l acquired Nantucket in ‘92, I became CA’s Development Product Specialist for the Information Management Group, and was involved in the development of the Windows version of Clipper, CA-Visual Objects, as alpha tester and the global evangelists for the product, I gave lectures on more than 100 international development conferences about object-oriented database application development. Like several members of the Visual Objects development team, I embraced Delphi from the moment Borland released the first Beta version.

Captivated by early Acid House music, I started combining the use of turntables, synthesizers and samplers with computer generated graphics. What began as a very modest home studio had grown into a new media lab, where I started to compose visual material for events and other artists. By the time the dance scene had fully emerged, I toured Europe with Robert Leiner (A.K.A. The Source Experience) as the Source’s life FX technician. Leiners mastery in sound engineering exposed me to what I would refer to as “Surreal Spinning”, mixing different styles of dance music into unconventional sets of sonic bliss.

In 95, after several years of touring with Leiner, I accepted a full time mission for R & S Records as the labels New Media Manager. I created the first award-winning R & S Site with DasPascals and worked on media material in the R & S Electric Island Studios for a plethora of artists like Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Ken Ishii, DJ Krush, Aphex Twin, Mike Dred, Biosphere, Outlander, and many others. The New Media Videos and MIS technology we developed in Delphi for the label helped to attract the interest of Sony Records Japan. The Flemish Minister of Foreign Affairs announced the industry-first joint venture between R&S and Sony Japan in ‘98.

Returning from Japan in ‘99, I became an independent new media consultant and founded active6 in 1999, and have been developing artist sites and media material for DJ’s and artists around the world for the last seven years. I’m still in close contact with many of the artists I met at R & S for joint projects. The same year, I was asked to participate in a 3-year project to document and develop several Automation Projects for a major pharmaceutical corporation using Delphi. I assisted in establishing their validation documentation standards, and became intensely interested in GAMP and 21 CFR Part11.

I work closely on occasion with group94, one of Europe’s most influential Flash Web Development Companies. The synergy with g94’s Flash Graphical wizardry and so far resulted in two high-profile web projects for the Belgian National Radio & Television and the Sheraton Group.

My most extensive web project so far was for the financial sector and required development of a full 3D flash world for a major bank’s teenage clients. I designed, developed and documented a complete server solution for single and multiuser games accessible from PC’s, wireless devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles. The 3D world allows teenage users to explore and participate in an online 3D environment with forums, games, chatrooms and a high level of personalization.

In 2004, I developed a portal solution for 11.11.11 , Belgium’s largest NGO, based on the Mambo/Joomla CMS. Since then, I have become a regular contributor on the CMS forums and has released several Open Source components for the Mambo/Joomla platform, including one of the most popular HelpDesk system for Mambo.

In the last couple of years, most of my non-web projects were developed for various Pharma and Biotech companies and encompass a wide range of validation and IT activities for multinational administrative and production IS/IT Infrastructures. These projects are based on ITIL and focus heavily on security and regulatory aspects.

Recently, I’ve teamed up with Brightcove as their Senior Technical Consultant for Europe. It’s an amazing company with a great product and long-term vision.

I’m also trying to finish some albums (if I had a nickle everytime I said that…)

Hobbies? Oh you mean, besides my work? I have a great passion for Science, and Eastern Philosophy, in particular Zen and its omnipresence in Japanese culture. I’m a fervent student of historic and modern-day Zen in Japan and the West, Koan Literature, Asian Calligraphy, and several Martial Arts, and travel to the Orient to practice these arts whenever possible.