Hi there I am a New York-based technologist with a creative bent and diverse interests that have shaped my work as a product leader, helping me innovate and effectively collaborate with teams. Below is a selection of my professional work and personal projects.

Reach out if you'd like to chat.

Work

Most of my work days are spent defining, building and managing useful and impactful software products. I currently lead Product and UX teams at , focusing on transformative solutions and exploring opportunities to leverage generative AI.

Over two tenures at my teams launched new, ML-enhanced tools and grew platforms including Material Design and Google+.

Earlier in my career, I focused on UI development and lead engineering teams at MLB's BAM Tech (which has since become Disney Streaming), Meebo and other startups.

Along the way, I founded two companies

, the music collaboration platform described as "GitHub for music" was backed by Betaworks and launched in 2013. My team and I grew the product into a global community of more than 500K music collaborators, remixers and learners whose creative workflows were streamlined with a fast, cloud-backed file sync solution, while regular artist features, contests and promotions fueled creative output.

With its mission to help creators succeed, Blend also offered a crowdsourced label that let artists on the platform distribute their music to all digital streaming services once their releases achieved community engagement milestones. The Blend Label was covered by Billboard, among others.

In 2015, about a year and a half after launch, Blend was acquired by ROLI, the London-based maker of award-winning musical instruments. At ROLI, I concieved and brought to life NOISE.fm, a Blend-inspired platform that was fully integrated into ROLI's Blocks hardware and mobile apps which debuted in an exclusive partnership with Apple in 2016. I shared a few thoughts on Blend's 2024 sunset.

, was a photo management and sharing platform I bootstrapped in 2005.

An early adopter of Amazon's S3 service - the first and only AWS product at the time - Gallerama offered free and subscription-based plans, and served photographers and their audience on desktop and iOS for more than 15 years. I wrote about lessons learned from building Gallerama on Medium.

For a closer look at my professional work, check out my profiles linked below.

Recreation

When I'm not building and shipping software with teams, I'm drawn to creating in other areas. While this is a good way to unwind, it also keeps creative juices flowing and satisfies my urge to continuously ship new things.

Here are some of my interests and projects.

Sound Design

Deep interest in audio has led me to a more intentional and structured approach to designing and publishing sounds. Below are links to original collections released through BandLab. Feel free to use these sounds however you like.

Contours - Volume 1

Edgy beats and effects, perfectly sculpted for hard-hitting electronic tunes.

Contours - Volume 2

An experimental collection of hypnotic, industrial vibes, hits and textures.

Glitchwave - Volume 1

A cyber-futuristic pack of spacy beats, effects, pads and melodic leads.

Prepared Guitar

Guitar sounds, plucks and strums processed through unconventional techniques.

Morph

Coming soon

Glitchwave - Volume 2

Coming soon

Audio-reactive Promo Video

I am far from a TouchDesigner expert but am learning, and have enjoyed making audio-reactive promo videos for these packs. Here's one, made with only sounds from that pack.

Photography

Years of photography resulted in a diverse collection of images, some of which are available for licensed use on Getty Images, iStock and Shutterstock. A few faves are below.

A selection of photos are available for free use on Unsplash, including the ones below. As of August 2024, these images have collectively had over 2 million views and more than 55,000 downloads on that platform.

You can catch an occasional post on Instagram, and on Threads (which is somehow the best place to share photos online nowadays).

Music Production

AKRS and KOAL are separate projects that explore different styles of electronic music. From energetic club tracks to more experimental sounds, these productions can be found on various platforms, including Spotify and Beatport.

DJ mixes

An odd mix from my DJ days in the 2000s NYC club scene, along with newer mixes and productions, is available on SoundCloud. Here's a recent mix of original tracks.

Guitar

A lifelong passion for music was fueled with guitar playing as a teenager. This included playing in various bands, notably Kill by Inches, a New York-based group that often performed in the city's music scene. (Check out that snap from a show at McCarren Park in Brooklyn. The guitar in the photo is still by my desk and I maintain a strong taste in headless guitars.)

David Gilmour once noted that sometimes you pick up a new guitar and "it gifts you a song". This phenomenon is something I can relate to. Over the years I've owned more than 30 guitars though most of them end up sold leaving a much smaller collection.

Sometimes a guitar riff comes to you and you just have to run with it. Drums, bass guitar and keys often complete the idea. And, a quick video captures the performance and makes it easy to revisit.

After a few of these, I challenged myself to make such a thing every week for a year, posting these creations on @riffsonbeats on Instagram. After a brief break, the series continued at a more sensible pace.

A few years ago, I recorded a video of myself playing the Guns N' Roses classic Sweet Child O' Mine, on my son's mini Les Paul guitar. Surprisingly popular, that video has over 700,000 views on YouTube.

Guitars

Guitar tinkering eventually led to building them nearly from scratch. Now, the hunt is on for unique vintage parts that deserve a second chance. When something special turns up, it's a chance to get creative - preserving the old-school vibe while adding some modern magic. I'm branding these creations: Futro.

Futro #3

Born on September 7th, 2024, this guitar features a distinctive Japanese neck with scalloped high frets, showing signs of being well-played over many years before it found its way to me. After extensive restoration, I paired it with a custom-made body, stained with leather dye and finished in layers of Tru-Oil. Its soul lies in a unique set of second-hand pickups, arranged in a configuration I’ve yet to encounter elsewhere.

Futro #2

While some of these instruments are designed to highlight their age and mojo, the goal with this one was entirely different. Assembled in August 2024, this guitar is an old fantasy finally realized. Gloss black with light colored binding is my all-time favorite finish and it covers a carved top holding a set of Tom Anderson P90 pickups; the heart of this guitar.

Futro #1

This project kicked off with a vintage neck from the 1980s, which I sanded and refinished. Next up was leveling and polishing the frets - a first time endeavor. The body was built by Warmoth in Tacoma, and was stained with leather dye and lacquered in my backyard.

In August of 2022, I gifted this guitar to my father - my first guitar teacher - and it has lived in my parents' home in Belgrade since.

Futro #0

This stratocaster clone was spec'd and assembled in 2021 around an exceptional second-hand neck and vintage Fender pickups. The USA-made swamp ash body was finished and aged by MJT in Missouri. I assembled and lightly aged the rest to match its vibe.

Custom Guitar Pedals

Also on the DIY front, a couple of custom pedals have been soldered together - think tweaked circuits in custom designed enclosures.

Inspired by the Zvex Fuzz Factory circuit, Fuzzzilla's germanium transistor sounds monstrous.

Rise & Shine is a clone of the classic Ross compressor, and delightfully tames dynamics.

See you around

Originally from Belgrade (former Yugoslavia, now Serbia) I've spent most of my life in New York City, and live in Brooklyn with my wife and our two kids. Say hello if you spot me at a local music show, a Knicks game at the Garden, or at a coffee shop in the neighborhood.