Dennis Kurt Schrader was born in Kansas and has been a plains resident his entire life. Having grown up in Iowa and migrating south to Texas, a couple of years in Nebraska and back to Kansas again.
Zodeman…Zode????? What is up with that? Well, once at a party when he was 21 years old the host suddenly jumped up, pointed at Denny, and yelled “It’s the Zodiac Killer!” And thus he became Zode.
Zode has been singing almost as long as he has been talking. In High School he took up the guitar because he was tired of singing a capella. He is primarily self taught, learning the chords to play along with John Denver, Beatles, Eagles, Dan Fogelberg, Jim Croce, Neil Young, James Taylor, etc. Primarily the 70's singer-songwriter, folk-rock style of music.
Shortly after learning to play guitar, he began writing songs. Throughout the years he has written many songs, took a few stabs at being a musician, but for the most part remained a serious hobbyist rather than a serious musician. Shortly after a bad bout with pneumonia in 2012, he decided to get busy and get some of his music recorded. This culminated with releasing his first CD titled Dennis Schrader - First Look in 2013. This is available for streaming and purchase on most music services.
Zode was absolutely walking on air after the CD was finished and in hand. Then the whole thing of marketing, advertising, making videos, playing live, and all the myriad of little things that goes into creating a presence rapidly became overwhelming while also working full time. Stepping back and deciding to eat the elephant one bite at a time, he started learning more about all the software and skills required to even think about all of this. As that journey unfolded, he bought a Nikon D3300 camera kit and also began studying photography and video.
Since fall of 2018, photography has been the primary off-work activity for Zode. Constantly learning new techniques and practicing how to use them, his camera craft and understanding of composition has continually improved. Presented with the opportunity to take early retirement and pursue his interests, Zode stepped away from his job as an IT Analyst, and is now found here!
