Jamie Grefe was raised in a rural Michigan community. He grew up making noise cassettes, directing rough SOV horror comedies, and playing the bass guitar in local punk and metal bands. After high school, he earned his B.A. in Liberal Studies from Grand Valley State University where he continued to make short films, write, and study Japanese. After that, studied Japanese at a small language institute in Incheon, South Korea while teaching English. He spent the next six years in Japan. Grefe taught, consulted, created and performed noise music, as well as worked in media production. Grefe married and moved to Beijing where he taught at the prestigious Tsinghua International School Attached to Tsinghua University. Upon returning to the United States, he earned his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from New England College, spent two years teaching in Taos, New Mexico before settling in Southern California where he currently resides.