I learned how to sing the same way I learned to play drums, guitar, and bass- I just started doing it. I have to credit my family, though, with being my initial inspiration and my gateway into music. My father, several uncles, my step-father, were all musicians, all in bands at one point or another in my early childhood. I had a mother who would sing to me all the time, and a grandmother who loved to play the piano. I can remember melody affecting me at a very young age. Certain songs would bring me into a state of uncontrollable joy, where others would move me to tears. The 70's was a great time to be new to the world and to really hear the rich textures coming from all different kinds of music.
I never thought I'd end up doing lead vocals, but as with so many others, it was born out of necessity. A band I was in had a singer who flaked out 3 weeks before a studio date, so I said, I'll do it, and if it stinks we can just erase the vocal tracks and use the instrumental recording to try and get a good singer. It came out way better than we expected, so I moved from drums to the front.
I use a hybrid style of vocals, a mix of various types of singing and screaming/growling. You can hear some samples
here. The first song is an audition demo I did for a band called Make Way For Man, though they are located too far away for me to commit full time to. This has mostly clean vocals.
Frost Giant is my current project, and
Machina Infernus was the band I moved from drums to vocals on (the vocals on these, as well as the drums and bass on Write Your Name in Blood and All Hail the End, are me).
Though I primarily write and record metal, I love all kinds of music. In fact, there isn't a lot of metal I really listen to that's modern, maybe a few European bands. I tend to stay away from anything that's too commercial or too trendy. And that's about it.