F. Valdez is a New York-based guitarist, composer and producer with a wide range of work spanning the music, interactive and film/video realms. As a teenager, Fred grew up on progressive rock and in later years immersed himself in jazz and went on to study performance and composition at The Aaron Copeland Conservatory and later wth legendary jazz educator Charlie Banacos.

As a guitarist, Fred has shared the stage and/or studio with artists such as Peter Fish, Rachel Z (Peter Gabriel/Wayne Shorter), Aria-Award winning Australian singer/songwriter Max Sharam (Warner Bros.), Shahin & Sepehr (EMI/Higher Octave), Pascha (Universal), Risa Binder, Dave Sharma (Bombay Dreams), DJ Boo (Juggaknots, APSCI), and Rodney Jones. Most recently, Fred contributed to a forthcoming album from Mexican producer Gustavo Naranjo (Pascha/AntiFaz). Fred is the co-founder of the ambient/experimental/rock group Root Valdez along with Christopher Root Heinz, whose debut CD "Mycelia" was recorded and mixed entirely at Groove York City studios in Long Beach, NY.

As an engineer, credits include sound design, post and/or composition for several acclaimed and award-winning indepedent films, including Facing The Habit (2007) by Magnolia Marting, and Pop Rocks (2008) by director Alex Lubliner. He combined original music and post work on the Fox 5 News special "Paws for Style", hosted by Animal Fair editor Wendy Diamond and featuring celebrities such as Richard Belzer and Howard Stern. His other credits include audio/podcast production for ABC's coverage of the 77th Annual Academy Awards, and interactive producer credits on Toon Disney's JETIX Cards Live, for which he received a 2005 Technical Emmy Award for Best ITV Production.

Expanding beyond the studio, Fred recently completed a book on Adobe's Soundbooth CS4, as part of the Web Premium Suite For Dummies on Wiley Publishing, and created and conducts a new Pro Tools course at SUNY FIT in New York City.