"There's no way you're supposed to be. There's nothing you're supposed to do. There's nowhere you're supposed to go. And you'll find you're in an eternal here and now. That's your way of discovering who you are, and how the universe works, and what man's place in it is. I want you to do something that expresses you. No more playing games with me. I want to see you."
Alan Watts, as heard in STS9's "Totem"

Those were the first words I heard, an Alan Watts sample opening "Totem," the first track of STS9's evening set at Dominican Holidaze on December 5, 2015. A four day festival on the beach at Breathless Resort and Spa in Punta Cana, with Umphreys McGee following right after for the sunset show.

The sun had been beating down all day, that thick tropical heat that sits on your skin, and the air carried that warm, salty ocean breeze the whole time. I'd been dancing for hours already, through Totem, Moon Socket, ReEmergence, and Inspire Strikes Back, when Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist came on and spoke to my soul so deeply it changed me forever. That Watts quote had already cracked something open. It was time to start finding out who I actually was, and I've been on that road since, chasing what really expresses me.

Later in the set, The Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature brought the clouds and the rain in with it, and the storm drove off almost everyone, ninety five percent of the crowd running for cover back to their rooms. I didn't. I welcomed it, kept dancing, rain running down my skin like it belonged there, and the band kept playing, going off for the twenty or so people who stayed. Breathe In set the tone for what came next, and by the time When The Dust Settles hit, it went off harder than anything I've heard before or since. It was close and unfiltered, everyone left in the rain loving the moment as much as I was.

By the time the storm passed and the sun came back out, the sky over the ocean was beautiful, Majestic even. I walked back to my room a different person. The name came instantly. Sol, for the sun, because it had just been part of a Majestic moment that transformed me. I needed to figure out how to give that experience to others. The lights, the music, the energy. I wanted more than anything to be able to give someone that feeling myself.

Since then, I've built a growing catalog of electronic and rock leaning music out of Madison, Wisconsin, the city I call home. Madison isn't just where I live. It's woven into the music itself, the daily life, the people, the experiences that shape every release. Every track to date has been written, recorded, and produced entirely solo, though that's starting to shift, with collaborations now shaping what comes next.