Aaron Katz is the noom deep loom (numm da plumm) of Aaron Anders Elias Seeman. He was born July 1, 1966 at Stanford Hospital. His grandfather’s original last name was Siegelbaum, so at various points he has toyed with the name Aaron Siegelbaum or the protracted Aaron Anders Elias Seeman/Siegelbaum. Then there have been the sobriquets “Aarondo” “Duck” “Duckman” “Cat-man” and others.
In this piece of writing, Messier Katz attempts to alleviate the confusion, though just between you and me, only deepens it:
“Seeman never seemed like a good name to me. Besides its embarrassing homonym, it’s not my family’s real name. It represents an attempt to sound less Jewish (good job gramps, fooled ‘em all dintcchya!) which seems shameful. But Siegelbaum is hardly better. Though it probably goes back two or three hundred years, the Ashkenazi names were mostly forced upon my ancestors by the authorities. “Katz”, then, becomes the obvious solution. “Aaron” feels fine; it’s right at the beginning of the name book and we all know how difficult it is to read long books nowadays.”
Onward.
Immediately upon birth, Aaron decided it would be best to relocate to Sweden. This he did at four weeks, after a brief stopover in New York to visit the aforementioned grandfather as well as his grandmother. At the age of three he, boomerang-like, repatriated to California.
Farbror Katz has been giving lessons of one type or another for over 75 years. (Not in arithmatic, however.) He first taught Piano, then Music Theory, and eventually Accordion lessons. As well he teaches Digital Audio and Recording, and Macintosh Computer, and basic Web Design.
Piano lessons began at four. Rock bands at 14. Funk at 18. Accordion at 30. Destitution at 32.
Piano lessons began at four. Rock bands at 14. Funk at 18. Accordion at 30. Destitution at 32.
First computer was an Apple IIe sometime around the age of 16. With that computer came the ability to organize writing, schoolwork, and life. Before that Apple IIe Katz’s thoughts were as a formless black void, or perhaps more as a scattered scotomic fractal. At age 20 or 21 came the first of many Macintosh computers, and he has never looked back, not even during the years where Apple’s personal computer marketshare collapsed to 1%.
Over the years he has worked as the Porter College (at UC Santa Cruz) Computer Lab Technician, a music software consultant, and a freelance Macintosh Helper. He has also designed databases in FileMaker for various purposes.
Katzen first received a tattered old accordion from an ex-girlfriend’s mother Mimi Ward in the late 1980s. The accordion had, in a previous incarnation, traveled Brazil converting people to Pentecostal Christianity. The accordion spent much of the next ten years in storage, but in the early 2000s Katz got more paying opportunities for playing the accordion than for playing his main instruments, piano and keyboards. By 2005 he felt comfortable calling himself an accordionist. He still calls himself an accordionist, but does not feel nearly as comfortable.
Mr. Katz has been composing since the age of 4. For his Masters thesis in Composition he composed and produced the opera “Opium: Diary of a Cure” with a libretto by Tim FitzMaurice.
He has written many other pieces, including Urban Superhero Shadowpuppet Wars and a book of accordion pieces, “The Duck-Tempered Accordion.”
Mr. Katz has been composing since the age of 4. For his Masters thesis in Composition he composed and produced the opera “Opium: Diary of a Cure” with a libretto by Tim FitzMaurice.
He has written many other pieces, including Urban Superhero Shadowpuppet Wars and a book of accordion pieces, “The Duck-Tempered Accordion.”
Señor Katz has been involved with many musical ensembles and projects over the years, including the accordion/shamisen duo Shamalamacord and the punk rock orchestra Punk Rock Orchestra. He has recorded with Mr. Bungle, Amanda Palmer, Jason Webley, and Estradasphere. He was a touring member of the solo-accordionist extravaganza “The Monsters of Accordion” along with accordionists Daniel Ari, Jason Webley, Corn Mo, Geoff Berner, Amy Denio, and Mark Growden. He was the accordionist for the San Francisco Punk/Polka institution Polkacide. He still performs on occasion as his anseriform alter-ego, Duckmandu. He has been seen lately performing with Peter Bonos, Travis Hendrix, Ivan Velev, and others.
Katz-sama has done a fair amount of recording. In addition to recording and producing all of the Duckmandu CDs, he recorded and produced Shamalamacord’s debut CD, “Shamalamacord”. He recorded and produced a track with Joe Pop-O-Pie and Klaus Flouride. He also recorded and produced the CD “Well…” by Salane and Friends.
In recent years, he has been cleaning up and re-mastering audio, including cassette recordings. He also cleaned up and remastered the audio book version of Lori Stein’s “Charm School for Men”.
Always a great friend to cats, Katz has come to realize in the last decade or so that cats are the Source, the Way, and the Light. At present, his lord and soulmate is a Norwegian Forest cat, or possibly a Ragdoll, Gravy.
He currently lives in San Leandro with his acupuncturist girlfriend, Schnorkums and their two cats, the above-mentioned Gravy, and Frogs.