At the age of nine Den got a chance to meet his ten year old cousin, Dave Diorio,  who had already been playing drums for several years.  After watching Dave play along to Rush's Tom Sawyer -- he was hooked
By age 14, Den had his own drumset and was ready to get a group together. Junior high had reunited him with his childhood friend Sean Tuohy, who was now playing guitar, and they formed Masquerade.  They cut their teeth on cover songs playing everything from Led Zeppelin to Metallica. 

In 1989 Sean left for Miami University and Den for SUNY Oneonta.  After two years without his favorite guitar player, Den convinced Sean to drop his studies  in Engineering, and enroll in Oneonta's Music Industry program with him.  They were soon back together, and by 1991 they were learning the ins and outs of the music business by day, and playing at night.  Needing to fulfill their internship requirement, they chose a summer job at CER Studios under the guidance of Joe Santora and Peter Zaage. During 12 weeks of intense sessions at CER, they became good friends with Joe and Pete and developed an interest in their unique musical style.

After graduating from Oneonta and struggling to find musicians with the same drive and love for music, it became obvious that Pete and Joe were the missing half to Den and Seans' musical pairing.
In 1994 they formed Joey Shaker.
 
 

Influences:
The Early Years -  John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, Neil Peart, Tommy Lee and Lars  Ulrich, as well as his teacher Ian Adams.
College - Chad Smith, Tim "Herb" Alexander, Matt Cameron, Sean Kinney.
Presently - Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Dennis Chambers, Jabo Sparks, Zigaboo Modeliste, Omar Hakim, Brain, Dave Weckl, Vinnie Coluita, Peter Erskine, Alex Acuna

 While with Joey Shaker, Den studied the Gary Chester method with Chris Adams, learning independence exercises and honing his groove.  He credits studying with Chris, reading Modern Drummer and most of all his bandmates for making him a better musician.