My story starts in Lowell, Massachusetts, but really kicks off when my family moved to Minneapolis when I was just a year old. By twelve, Chicago’s suburbs became home—specifically Lake Forest—thanks to my dad’s career. My mom got me started on the piano as a kid, and I picked up the sax in middle school, but like a lot of teenagers obsessed with sports, music ended up taking a back seat for awhile. Soccer in the fall, USSA Skiing in the winter, and baseball in the spring and summer. I even played baseball and was on the diving team in my first year of college, but suffered a shoulder dislocation (skiing. argh.) and that was kind of the end of team sports for me. I still kinda miss it:).

High school led me to Middlebury College in Vermont, where I caught the music bug all over again thanks to my buddy Clint Bierman. Clint was my ultimate musical cheerleader, reigniting that spark in our first band together (Buck-O-Five) and the next (Ushers of Jonesville). Though I was never formally trained on drums, I decided to dive in headfirst—teaching myself by watching anyone who’d let me, starting on bongos, moving to a couple of toms, and eventually building up to a full kit and the heartbeat of the band.

Five days after graduation, I took a leap of faith and bought The Pizza Cellar (then changed the name to Neil & Otto's Pizza), the local shop where I’d been working. It wasn’t exactly rock-and-roll, but it was a blast. I wrote a business plan with a high school buddy my senior year of college. We took it to the local bank, and thanks to the Small Business Administration, we got a loan to make the purchase. While I was slinging pizzas, Clint moved to Colorado and formed The Grift in 1999. I was deep in the pizza trenches (I have NEVER worked so hard. I'm not sure how we did it!), jamming and playing music with people whenever I could, but missing the feel of a real band. (Though I did manage to win a brand new PT Cruiser during those years at a pizza conference—I'll save that full story for another time!).

In 2002, Clint returned to Vermont with Jeff Vallone, and they asked me to join as The Grift’s drummer. We rocked as a power trio until the talented Peter Day joined us in 2003. Thanks to my legendary friend Scotty C stepping up to manage the restaurant, I was able to juggle band life with late nights at the shop. It was a crazy, unforgettable ride.

In 2006, everything shifted when my daughter was born. Knowing I couldn’t sustain that wild pace, I made the tough choice to step back from the band to focus on family and the restaurant. Life took a few unexpected turns from there—including a crash course in e-commerce running an online cufflink business for my then father-in-law.

By 2009, I sold the restaurant and moved back to Chicago. After going through a divorce and losing the family business to my ex, I found myself needing a completely fresh start. A friend suggested sales, so I walked into a Honda dealership in Libertyville, Illinois. To my surprise, I ended up loving it and doing really well. I adopted "Anders" (my middle name) at work just to stand out from the other Neils on the sales floor, and the nickname stuck.

Chicago also brought me Anne, the love of my life. We met playing softball, got married in 2013, and I transitioned into the craft coffee world with Tradecraft Coffee & Tea. When my daughter came to live with us full-time in Chicago, she became my absolute top priority. To keep my schedule flexible for her, I jumped into the gig economy as a driver—something I genuinely enjoyed—and saw the incredible potential of work-on-demand. I even gave professional poker a shot for a brief stretch, quickly learning it was way too stressful for me (though I did manage to hit a five-figure bad beat jackpot along the way!).

In the fall of 2019, our family decided to chase the sun and head west so my daughter could be close to her family in California. We sold our house, bought an RV, and set off in March 2020. Even with the world changing that spring, we completed our road trip and documented the whole adventure on the Matthews RV Adventures Blog.

Like so many others experienced, our shift in location and life priorities in 2020 sparked my entrepreneurial side once again. It started simply enough by helping upgrade The Grift’s website during our trip. I didn't know web design when I started, but I learned as I went, which grew into founding Anders Entertainment Group as an artist support company. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to build over a dozen websites, online stores, provide music distribution and promotion, live performances, and gone to NAMM shows. It's been so fun to be around music again.

Reunion shows with The Grift also reignited my love for performing. I’ve been playing drums and piano whenever possible, including the work I did with the San Diego band Wookie Garcia. Getting to record an album with them at Studio 606 in LA was a dream come true—and seeing it get nominated for a San Diego Music Award was icing on the cake. Continuing my odd streak of good fortune, I even got called up on The Price is Right, won my game of Tic-Tac-Toe, and walked away with an outdoor kitchen and TV.

That brings us to 2026 and my latest chapter: stepping in as President and Managing Partner at Glenn Source Records. Our core mission is simple and close to my heart—to share the music of our circle with your circle.

I feel incredibly fortunate for every detour, lesson, and person this journey has brought into my life. I’m living and working on my dream here in San Diego, and I’m always eager for the next project or collaboration. If you’ve got an idea in mind, I’d love to connect and help bring it to life!