Born in February 1972 in a small town in Southern California's Mojave Desert region, J.H. spent much of his teenage years and adult life in Humboldt County, Northern California.

Music became part of J.H's life early. He began playing guitar and drums around the age of twelve, developing his abilities largely through years of playing, listening, experimenting, and finding his own musical voice. At eighteen, his life took a very different direction when he joined the United States Army—an experience that would become one part of a much larger collection of experiences that ultimately shaped both the person and musician he became.

Today, J.H. is a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass, and drums and serves as the primary male vocalist for Rising Sphere. He is also responsible for writing much of the band's music and lyrics, helping establish the emotional and musical foundation behind Rising Sphere's sound.

Although Rising Sphere moves through rock, heavy metal, atmospheric passages, and deeply emotional material, J.H's influences extend well beyond heavy music. Among the guitarists he has admired are David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton, particularly Clapton's work during the Cream era. Their emphasis on expression, phrasing, and allowing a guitar to communicate something beyond technical ability can be heard in J.H's own approach to the instrument.

Away from Rising Sphere, his listening habits can be surprisingly different from the music he performs. Classical and ambient music frequently occupy his time, providing a way to quiet his thoughts, focus, and step outside the heavier emotions that often find their way into his songwriting.

Naturally quiet and introspective, J.H. tends to look inward rather than say a great deal about himself. Much of what he doesn't express in conversation eventually finds another outlet.

It comes through the guitar.

It comes through the words.

And perhaps most noticeably, it comes through his voice.

His life has carried its share of difficult experiences, and rather than separating those experiences from his music, J.H. allows them to become part of it. There is a weight behind the way he sings and plays that cannot simply be manufactured in a studio. Whether a song calls for aggression, isolation, reflection, loss, or hope, the performance comes from somewhere personal.

For J.H., music has never been only about playing notes or writing songs.

It is a place to put the things that are sometimes much harder to say.