Dennis began his musical journey at the age of 9 in San Pedro, CA, by taking piano lessons at the local community college. After taking beginning and intermediate lessons, it was time to step it up a notch and take private lessons. Dennis had the unfortunate experience of having a teacher who was "all work and no play". Less than six months in, Dennis didn't want anything to do with private lessons. "The teacher that I had completely ruined my desire to learn. Even at a young age, I kept thinking to myself, 'why is this feeling more and more like school?'. I was verbally disciplined each time I hit a wrong note and playing newly learned compositions seemed like taking a test. I was better off at that age playing for fun at my leisure."

​

As Dennis ended his formal training for piano, he went on to do the things that most kids do. After hearing Van Halen for the first time in an Audio store, that all changed. It was 1982 and Van Halen was blaring through the stores' stereos in unison. "The sound of Eddie's guitar just hit me like a punch in the gut. I was told the music I was hearing was Van Halen". Between 1982 and the end of 1983, Dennis made sure to get each of the five Van Halen cassettes available. During those years, Dennis enrolled at the same junior college for guitar lessons that he had for piano lessons years earlier. The difference was that when private lessons began, there was no end in sight! His teacher would encourage Dennis to bring tapes of things which he wanted to learn as the 2nd part of each lesson. By that time it was 1984-1985 so bringing cassettes of his favorite Heavy Metal bands was a must.

​

Frank and Dennis met in high school and as the story goes, they formed their first band over a discussion with friends right there at school. This led to their first full-on "garage band". "We had something to aim for though", Dennis recalls. "High School parties!". "We were having a blast as a band unit!" It was a reminder of why Dennis started playing music in the first place. "We all attended our first concerts together. That was some serious motivation!" Frank and Dennis got more opportunities to play in front of big crowds including High School lunch concerts, a talent show and yes, more high school parties.

​

Dennis went to Junior college before heading off to the local university and to his delight, the others did too, meaning the band was still intact. "We started to get attention because we still looked young enough that people were surprised when we could play our instruments. We were lucky to play in Hollywood while the music scene was thriving and KNAC 105.5 was on the air". Growing up in San Pedro, California, Dennis remembers the bi-monthly trip over the Vincent Thomas Bridge to see his favorite bands at the Long Beach Arena. "Frank and I still dug all the same bands we had listened to in high school. It was uncanny how similar our musical tastes were from the start. 

​

The last several years put Dennis in the position of being the lead singer as well as guitarist of Ninth Circle. "The ongoing theme of having fun playing music has continued. Being a three-piece allows us to do what we want to do and not worry if our lead singer will show up to practice ... or even to the gig for that matter! 4 cd's later and another one on the way in 2024, the formula seems to be working.