The Crew
Prof. Stompensplatt
Professor Stompensplatt is also the narrator in an upcoming series of children’s books, which take as their inspiration the animation imagery developed for this show. The first book is “Professor Stompensplatt’s: The Little Devil in Michelle,” which explores the inspiration for Paul’s song, Michelle – with a plot twist at the end.
Professor Stompensplatt is the nom de plume of the producer/writer and lead singer/ rhythm guitarist …he is also Joe Anastasi, the author of The New Forensics, who resides in Piedmont, CA. His passion has been applying his forensic investigating skills to the music of Paul McCartney. Stroll Down Penny Lane is the result of Joe’s painstaking research, and the application of his writing abilities – using animation and other film devices – to explore what makes these songs so special. Joe has written and produced the twenty-five films that are presented as part of this show.
Mike Sugar
Mike Sugar has always been a fan of Beatles and McCartney melodies, arrangements, record production, and the fun guitar parts he gets to play for Stroll Down Penny Lane! Sugar can be heard on guitars, other instruments and vocals at the shows. He oversees the live production audio and visual tech too.
Mike is also a solo artist. His solo albums in multiple genres are available everywhere online. Some of his solo performances featured live looping with unique electric bowed instruments which are incorporated in Stroll Down Penny Lane’s live show for those iconic cello parts found in Eleanor Rigby, Yesterday, and Live and Let Die.
Mike’s various solo endeavors are well-balanced by countless sideman gigs and sessions, collaborations, and just all-out jamming, over a decades long music career. Born in New Orleans, an obsessive curiosity for music and instruments led Sugar to California. National touring ensued shortly thereafter, bringing Sugar to venues and festivals all over the states and into a variety of studio sessions, film scoring and composition work.
After settling in the Bay Area, Sugar began gigging and recording with a larger variety of acts on an increasing variety of instruments while gathering music production knowledge, which came in handy when he began work on the Stroll Down Penny Lane podcast. You’ll hear him on basses, guitars, drums, keyboards, vocals, percussion, engineering and mixing of the music, sound effects, and the overall podcast production.
Sugar continues producing and composing for his own recordings and performing projects, all the while enjoying learning and implementing new technologies. We should mention that Sugar does indeed play recorder, sometimes melodica, and even kazoo, proudly and in public! Sugar also has had some success with HDMI redundancy, recreating pet sounds, encouraging the occasional vintage duck call, reputation-saving fact-checking, very hot sauces, fuzz joy, and those pesky high vocal notes!
Mark Abbott
Mark Abbott, Stroll Down Penny Lane’s drummer, almost never made it as a drummer. Mark’s right thumb was accidentally severed during a production of Hair at the University of California, East Bay. Surgeons successfully reattached the thumb using microscopes and laser technologies. He returned to the set bandaged and continued drumming in this musical production—using one hand. This set of circumstances impressed several other performers, leading to Mark’s inclusion in the formation of the band, Box Set.
The band’s 1994 debut album was critically acclaimed by Billboard. In 1995, the band was named “Group of the Year” by the National Academy of Songwriters. Two years later, the band collected two “Bammies” (California Music Awards) for their critically-acclaimed third album. The band scored a deal with Capricorn/Polygram to release their 1998 album with producer Joe Chicarelli (producer for Tori Amos, American Music Club, and Frank Zappa, among others).
Mark’s drumming has been featured in DRUM Magazine. He has toured the country with Box Set several times (performing in every state except North Dakota) and the band sold out the historic Fillmore West three times.
Mark has recorded in some of the finest studios in the country. He has also been turfed out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for having: a) stepped over the rope, and b) proceeding to play on the Led Zeppelin drum kit, belonging to John Bonham. The physical ejection has left Mark undaunted, and unmarked. His earliest memory, however, is the day the Beatles broke up. (He asked his parents, “Why are all the hippies crying?”)
Matt Twain
Matt Twain was contacted just prior to the inaugural performance of Stroll Down Penny Lane in July 2018. With Mike Sugar requiring emergency eye surgery and potentially unavailable for the first show, Matt was approached by his longtime colleague Mark Abbott about joining the production. Ultimately, Mike returned with a full recovery, and the show’s history continues from there.
A lifelong resident of the Bay Area, Matt was born and raised in Oakland. He began his career as a child talent in recording studios, lending his voice to commercials for prominent brands such as C&H Pure Cane Sugar, Levi’s, The Gap, and Visa, among others. His passion for musical theatre soon emerged, leading him to both act and serve as musical director in university and community productions—including classic works such as Hair, Pippin, Little Shop of Horrors, and Cabaret—with Mark Abbott frequently accompanying him as drummer.
Eventually, Matt determined that his true vocation lay in playing with a lot of bands and producing music. Notably, he is a founding member of Box Set and occasionally still performs at their reunion concerts. He also played with The Fall Risk (with both Mike Sugar and Mark Abbott), and he has also played with the Sky Kings (formerly The Rangers) for over 30 years and continues to do summer concerts with them.
Outside of his musical pursuits, Matt maintains a successful career as a graphic and presentation designer, as well as a video editor, serving clients including Apple, Visa, Cisco, Splunk, and Wells Fargo.
Following the Covid shutdown, Matt has produced all the more recent videos—along with promotional content and additional visual media—for Stroll Down Penny Lane, as the show continues to evolve and showcase new material highlighting Paul’s musical legacy.
Karl Hartmann
Karl Hartmann is excited to be the newest addition to the SDPL family, taking over bass duties as Mike Sugar moved into the lead guitar slot. Karl is a proficient bassist, double bassist, cellist and aspiring flautist as can be heard in the show. A Bay Area native, he has performed for nearly 40 years all around Northern California and several other states as well as Canada, Europe & China. Karl studied at Cal State Hayward (now East Bay) and can be found playing jazz and swing, classical, salsa/Latin jazz, musical theater, the occasional Top-40 gig and, of course, the genius bass of Paul McCartney.
Avi Ofer Animator
Avi is an illustrator and animation director who specializes in a whimsical style of hand-drawn animation. He has animated projects for a variety of media, including book and editorial illustration as well as direction of animated films, both commissioned and independent. He has exhibited in art shows and screened in festivals around the world. His animation is frequently featured in TedEd videos. aviofer.com
Eric Pomert
Creative Consultant & Video Editor
Eric started life as a theater and film kid. A specialist in humor and music, he worked as a major brand tv commercial editor for 15 years before starting narrative work with his first feature “Love, Ludlow,” the runner-up for the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Audience Awards.
In addition to a slew of short films, he has edited hundreds of commercials for clients including Mercedes Benz, Heinken, Diet Dr Pepper, and Puma. His spots have won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the British International Advertising Festival, and have aired on the Super Bowl and around the globe. Eric has collaborated as an editor and producer with top directorial and technical talent including the Oscars Awards team, and he has had the pleasure to work on projects featuring stars such as Will Ferrell, Usain Bolt, Barbara Walters, Rob Corddry, Mike Myers, Lauren Bacall, and Paul McCartney. “Barry and Joan,” (www.barryandjoan.com) a feature documentary he edited and produced, is currently in festival submissions.
It’s simple, but not easy, according to Eric: “Nuance of character, storytelling rhythm – that’s where the magic lies.” ericpomert.com