Born: March 5th, 1988
Birthplace: Enid, OK

The first time Justin ever sat down behind a drum kit, he was three years old on the lap his father’s business partner. It was because of that memory he always wanted to play the drums if he ever had the opportunity to pursue an instrument. Then for his tenth birthday, he received a drum kit and began taking lessons the week after.

“Neither of my parents have any musical experience or ability, so I’m not really sure where my talent came from. I’ve just always worked hard at musical things until I could get it right.” After the first year of drum lessons with Curt Dougherty, he performed for an audience for the first time. Although it was a sixth grade talent show at his school, he still knew that he wanted to play the drums for the rest of his life.

Justin continued on playing through junior high and high school in and out of multiple bands with no serious intentions or goals. “We just played to play. We didn’t know what the heck we were doing, really. Just having fun while it lasted, and through those bands I became interested in running live sound and recording.” These experiences in high school brought him to the conclusion that he wanted to go to Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida to pursue recording arts.

About halfway through Full Sail’s program, Justin had a panic attack about his future. “I didn’t know what I actually wanted to do with my life anymore. I realized that I wasn’t doing anything with real purpose. It didn’t have meaning, and I wanted my life to have a mission. I decided that God needed to be my purpose through my love for drumming.” So after he prayed and collected his thoughts, he called Nathan Lauderdale, future lead singer and pianist for Skyline Circle, to see if he’d be interested in starting a Christian band. Nathan’s first response was “Not at all,” but Justin kept pursuing the idea. After he finished up at Full Sail in November of 2007, he returned home. Nathan finished up his semester at OSU that December and returned home as well. Thus came the beginnings of Skyline Circle.