Well, I’m Justin Vencel and I would be the person responsible for this site. I’ve been on the web for quite a while now but I’ve decided to finally dedicate a simple site to myself, the silly things that I do, and the things that I beleive in.
Where the Heck Did This Guy Come From?
I was born outside Chicago, IL and spent my impressionable years growing up in the suburbs. I attended James B. Conant high school were I learned gymnastics, played trumpet, and harassed poor chemistry teachers. In 1996 I shipped myself 50 miles west to attend Northern Illinois University where I spent the next 4+ years torturing myself with IBM mainframe assembly language, and JCL programming. Eventually I was able to emerge with a CS diploma in hand and a healthy disgust for crusty out-of-date programming technologies.
Thrust Into the Real World
Now a college graduate and smack in the middle of the dot-com bubble collaspe, I managed to land a job with Kemper Insurance programing with good ole Microsoft Visual Basic. Unfortunately the company ran into serious insurance claim issues and I was was let go along with most of the rest of the organization. This prompted my move to Ulta Cosmetics where I spent the next few years learning hard-core stored procedure programming and the many ways a company can fail to ineffectively motivate employees. Kaplan publishing in downtown Chicago was to be my last stop in the business community of Chicago before I decided that it was time for a life change. I packed everything up amd moved to Los Angeles, California in early 2007. It was time for a change and LA was an attractive alternative to my former mid west life.
Ape Trax Recording Studio
After a few years with Kemper Insurance and a billion dollars in aspestus claims I found myself downsized and was now officially unemployed. With my newly-cleared calendar I was now attending as many shows as I could at The Metro in Chicago when I decided to start my first company–a Chicago Recording Studio called Ape Trax with a former band member of mine Jason Tallungan. We created a simple, affordable, and high quality studio for local musicians to record at while providing a comfortable atmosphere that so many other Chicago studios lacked. Ape Trax is going stronger than it ever has today thanks to the great management of Jason. If you know of any local Chicago musicians in need of recording services and a kick-ass studio…look us up.
