[2] As a teenager in the 80's, Tihista was a self-described loner and fan of heavy metal bands like KISS and Mötley Crüe until his junior year in high school when his brother gave him a tape of Meat Is Murder by the Smiths.
[3] Tihista worked a series of odd jobs until, at 21, he moved to Chicago and eventually joined Wes Kidd as bassist for the band Triple Fast Action.
After Triple Fast Action disbanded in 1998, Tihista was recruited by Veruca Salt’s Louise Post in the wake of Nina Gordon’s departure from the group.
Tihista's work with Tom and Ellis Clark has primarily been in the studio arranging and producing his songs: the three rarely perform live as a band.
Instead, on occasion, Tihista has engaged other musicians to perform on the road with him including Randy Diderrich of "Sunday Runners" and brothers Steve and Gary Vermilion of "Pheasant.
"[9] This incarnation of the band can be heard in one of its rare studio appearances on the song "Jim Henson's Blues/You're Not Bad" from the album "Home Demons."
On May 26, 2007, Tihista's MySpace blog announced that he was finishing work on his forthcoming album, "Modern Standard" with long-time collaborators Tom and Ellis Clark.
The recording is apparently the fulfillment of the song collection previously intended for release as "Modern Standard," an album title which Tihista now refers to as "cursed."
"Modern Standard" was released on July 29, 2013, by Broken Horse records and is also available with a limited edition 4 track EP on a CD-R with hand-stamped artwork.