John Slick
Encyclopedia
John Milo Slick was a Christian rock
musician from the Christian rock band Petra
. Slick is currently retired from music and works in the computer
industry.
and Belmont College and earned a B.A. in Music, in 1981.
In 1981, Slick joined Petra
and played on their albums Never Say Die
, More Power To Ya
, and Not of This World
(in this album he even wrote some songs). After leaving the band at the conclusion of the US Not of This World Tour in 1984, he worked in the Nashville
music industry, composing musicals, transcribing piano-vocal songbooks, and playing on various recording projects.
Eventually, Slick left the music industry in favor of software engineering. Slick worked five years as a product specialist for New England Digital, the manufacturer of the Synclavier
digital recording system. Slick's responsibilities included supporting the technical needs of N.E.D. customers including Miami Sound Machine, CNN
, Barbra Streisand
, Stevie Wonder
, Michael Jackson
, Frank Zappa
, Sting, Paul Simon
, Pat Metheny
, and many prominent sound studios in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Slick also spent a month in Miami, Florida
, working as a Synclavier specialist on the Miami Sound Machine album, Cuts Both Ways
. Slick received an album credit for his "Synclavier chops".
An encounter at the Las Vegas COMDEX
trade show led Slick to a software engineering job with Aware, Inc., located in the heart of the M.I.T. engineering community in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. He attended graduate courses in computer science
at Harvard University
and participated in the development of a real-time audio decompression application, "Speed of Sound" reviewed by New Media magazine.
Slick later joined Nortel Networks as a software engineer specializing in multi-platform CD-ROMs for technical product documentation. Slick continues to design and develop software applications in Java and C#. He is presently a senior software engineer and systems architect with Computer Sciences Corporation
, working on General Dynamics
in-theater military support systems for the U.S. Department of Defense
.
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
musician from the Christian rock band Petra
Petra (band)
Petra is a music group regarded as a pioneer of the Christian rock and contemporary Christian music genres. Formed in 1972, the band took its name from the Greek word for "rock"...
. Slick is currently retired from music and works in the computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
industry.
Biography
Slick received classical piano training, studied at Indiana UniversityIndiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
and Belmont College and earned a B.A. in Music, in 1981.
In 1981, Slick joined Petra
Petra (band)
Petra is a music group regarded as a pioneer of the Christian rock and contemporary Christian music genres. Formed in 1972, the band took its name from the Greek word for "rock"...
and played on their albums Never Say Die
Never Say Die (Petra album)
Never Say Die is the fourth studio release of the Christian rock band, Petra. It was released in 1981. "The Coloring Song" was a radio hit for the band and sales were higher for this album than the previous...
, More Power To Ya
More Power To Ya
More Power To Ya is the fifth studio release of the Christian rock band, Petra. It was released in 1982. Many Petra fans have long considered this to be their best release from the 80s....
, and Not of This World
Not of this World (album)
Not of this World is the sixth studio release of the Christian rock band, Petra. It was released in 1983. It is very similar to its predecessor , and Bob Hartman has stated that he considers it to be the musical equivalent of a sequel...
(in this album he even wrote some songs). After leaving the band at the conclusion of the US Not of This World Tour in 1984, he worked in the Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
music industry, composing musicals, transcribing piano-vocal songbooks, and playing on various recording projects.
Eventually, Slick left the music industry in favor of software engineering. Slick worked five years as a product specialist for New England Digital, the manufacturer of the Synclavier
Synclavier
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
digital recording system. Slick's responsibilities included supporting the technical needs of N.E.D. customers including Miami Sound Machine, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Sting, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, and many prominent sound studios in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Slick also spent a month in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, working as a Synclavier specialist on the Miami Sound Machine album, Cuts Both Ways
Cuts Both Ways
Cuts Both Ways is a 1989 album by Gloria Estefan. It was the first studio album credited to Estefan as a solo artist, but is her 11th album overall including her work with the band the Miami Sound Machine...
. Slick received an album credit for his "Synclavier chops".
An encounter at the Las Vegas COMDEX
COMDEX
COMDEX was a computer expo held in Las Vegas, Nevada, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector...
trade show led Slick to a software engineering job with Aware, Inc., located in the heart of the M.I.T. engineering community in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. He attended graduate courses in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and participated in the development of a real-time audio decompression application, "Speed of Sound" reviewed by New Media magazine.
Slick later joined Nortel Networks as a software engineer specializing in multi-platform CD-ROMs for technical product documentation. Slick continues to design and develop software applications in Java and C#. He is presently a senior software engineer and systems architect with Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
, working on General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
in-theater military support systems for the U.S. Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
.
External links
- Petra FAQ
- Petra Merchandise official site
- The Petra Zone
- PetraBand.ca (Canada)
- John Slick's profile at LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...