Bates was born and raised in
El Paso, Texas, USA. Growing up in a region of the United States not particularly known for its acceptance of the free-thinking outsider, Bates found in music something that could help him make sense of the world and partially fill the void caused by the lack of artistic encouragement. He absorbed the music of such producers as
Giorgio Moroder,
Trevor Horn,
Daniel Miller,
Rick Rubin,
Brian Eno,
Nile Rodgers,
Quincy Jones,
Frankie Knuckles,
Vince Clarke,
François Kevorkian,
Johnny Jewel,
Philip Glass,
Anne Dudley,
Ennio Morricone,
Edgar Froese,
Jean-Michel Jarre,
Kevin Saunderson,
Daniel Lanois,
John Carpenter,
Vangelis,
Hans Zimmer,
Tony Visconti,
Alan Parsons,
Craig Armstrong,
Steve Reich, major influences in the beats, sounds and remixes that Bates performs and produces today. As a young man and later as an emerging performer, Bates traveled frequently to Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australia, freely embracing the progressive music, art and cultural scenes found there, which encouraged his own artistic expression.
Like many iconoclasts who come to their chosen art later in life, Bates did not initially set out to pursue music. He earned an undergraduate degree in finance at the
University of Texas at Austin, and later an MBA at
Fordham University in New York City. Bates then embarked on a successful career in digital marketing, working for global publishing and financial services companies, which would span the next two decades. However, that’s as long as it would last. Says, Bates, “For a long time, I had been living two lives in New York City. The life of a corporate drone opposing others’ daily manipulations and negative energy. And a life that I brushed up against regularly, one of positivity and artistic creation, but didn’t live in fully yet. But because I’ve always been an adventurer and risk taker, creating music is now how I thrive. This is who I am. And my move to Berlin has taken my art to new levels.”
Bates has given performances at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week NYC, the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, London’s Factory 7, The Room in Tokyo and The Museum of Contemporary Art Miami.
