Zach Filkins

Zachary Douglas "Zach" Filkins is an American musician who is currently a guitarist for the band OneRepublic.

Biography
Filkins was born on September 15, 1978. His childhood was spent in Barcelona, Spain, where he studied classical guitar. He later moved back to the U.S. and attended Colorado Springs Christian High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There, he played for the school soccer team. It was there where he also met future band-mate Ryan Tedder during their senior year. During a drive home, Filkins and Tedder talked about their favorite musicians, and spontaneously decided to form a band of their own. They began performing in a group called This Beautiful Mess with some of their friends, playing small gigs attended by friends and family. After the end of their senior year, Tedder and Filkins separated to attend different colleges.

Early in his adulthood, Filkins did some modeling as a side-job in Chicago, Illinois. He worked under Maximum Talent Agency and was featured in a few ads for companies like Covington and Jockey Underwear. In 2002, Filkins received a call from Tedder, who asked him if he still wanted to put together a band, and he convinced Filkins to move to Los Angeles, California. Nine months after the formation of OneRepublic, the band was signed to Columbia Records and recorded a full album, which took two years.

Two months before the album's release, they were abruptly dropped from the label. However, their MySpace profile took off and they became the site's number-one unsigned act. A number of labels subsequently offered them record deals. Initially hesitant to go under another major record label, the band eventually signed to Interscope Records. Filkins' capacity in the band was to play guitar and sing background vocals. In addition, he aids Tedder in writing and composing new music. In his personal life, Filkins was also a judge for the tenth and eleventh annual Independent Music Awards, a competition meant to support the careers of independent artists. In June 2010, Filkins' wife Lindsay gave birth to their son, who they named Leighton Zachary.

On Criminal Minds
Filkins portrayed a ranger working in California's Angeles National Forest. He appeared in the Season Seven episode Epilogue.