Born and raised in South Philadelphia, Heller was a prolific participant in the local bar band scene. A self-taught arranger-composer, he migrated to Hollywood in the late nineties, and set to work producing a series of critically-accclaimed independent records (both as artist and arranger/producer). In 1999, he scored the film _Man Is Mostly Water, A (1999)_. Shortly afterwards, he wrote the bulk of the new music for The Flintstones: On the Rocks (2001), and music for an episode of the popular cartoon Dexter's Laboratory (1996). He continues to be active as player, composer, and bandleader.