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My first recollection of music was being in my father’s car as a kid, I remember him singing along to The Everly Brothers and Fleetwood Mac tapes as he drove me to school when I was very young. Music was a big part of my childhood and something I always enjoyed. I would go and watch my father’s band perform and remember seeing the response he got from audiences and being very drawn to that. I joined the church and school choir at an early age and began performing probably at around 10 years old. I would listen to a lot of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder records repeatedly and was totally encapsulated by their energy and music. When I was 14 years old I performed my first paid gig in a venue on Scarborough seafront with my father, I continued this weekly for the next few years. I remember not enjoying getting up for school the day after those Thursday nights, but it all seemed OK, I guess my parents looked at it as if I were learning which of course, I was, and being tired (and occasionally late) for school next day was a worthy sacrifice.
I was also a very keen sportsman growing up and found myself constantly indecisive about where I thought my future might take me. In the end I went with…sport and when I was 18 embarked on a Golf & Sports degree at Buckinghamshire University. However it was when I was on a years work experience living in America that I realized sport was not what I wanted to be doing and that music was. I played a few gigs out there and when I returned home, I moved to Liverpool to study Audio Engineering. It was around this time I began to write songs and perform live more regularly. I moved to London to finish this after around a year before returning home to start life as a musician.
When I got home I was fortunate enough to have very understanding parents who let me live with them and turn their garage which was already done out as a room into a music room. I persuaded them to let me get a Piano in there and although it was old and not perhaps aesthetically pleasing they let me keep it which was very kind of them. It looked bad and didn’t sound much better but I loved it all the same. I joined a rock band and began performing 4-5 nights a week which quickly became my job and no doubt helped me with experience and taught me my first lesson…It is hard to sing rock songs 4-5 nights in a row. However as time went on I guess I became used to it. We travelled around England playing and had short stints playing and busking around Ireland. I also continued with solo acoustic gigs when I had the opportunity which I enjoyed and also gave me a chance to play some of my own solo material I had been working on.
Many different types of music influence me but mainly at this time I was listening to a lot of old stuff. I had a record player, which I restored and began listening to some of my parent’s old vinyls. Records were so cheap and a great way to listen to great old music. There is something hugely nostalgic and satisfying about having and collecting vinyls, the feel, sound and texture of them and the beauty and thought of the artwork is something i find very compelling. Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen albums became the soundtracks to my life and I was deeply influenced by American Songwriters and American Folk Rock. My Mother being American and lots of my family, gave me a strong connection to American culture and the freedom I envisioned through many different American lifestyles was a huge influence on my songwriting.
I decided in August 2010 that I wanted to record an EP. I got in touch with a contact in London I knew, who had a small studio and that I knew was a good producer. It was there, in Tottenham, London that ‘The Chicago EP’ was recorded. The EP gave me good start with my own material and gained me recognition for my songs and my music. Some of the songs were broadcast in England and parts of America, which was great. However, the EP did not reflect how I felt I wanted my music to sound and although the quality of the recording and production were of a high standard, I quickly became very disillusioned with the EP and almost did not want people to listen to or hear it. I’d put a great deal into it and this was a strange concept to some people I think, even those closest around me, but I had a vision and crucially it was not it. It was at this point that I adhered to the philosophy that if you want something doing, you must do it yourself as you can only rely on yourself. Something I discovered would be relevantly constant throughout the next year of my life.
At the beginning of 2011 I set myself out to record an album myself at home in my bedroom and garage. I had some nice guitars, mic's, a 'Dark' sounding electric piano/organ and bought a battered old bass for £20 from a friend. This album would later be called ‘Ragnorak’. I played every instrument on the album except Drums. I wanted complete control over the recording and production to get the sound I wanted from this album, it was very important to me that I oversaw and did most of the work. I did not want to rely on others to come and play different instruments for me, i did not like asking people for help and if i wanted to change something it would not be as straight forward. For the writing and recording of the album I drew on what I had learned in my time studying Audio Engineering and my experiences over the last few years. I put an unprecedented amount of time and effort into what I was doing and also kept up playing 4 nights a week to keep myself financially going. It was a long, hard, frustrating, enlightening process, making many mistakes along the way but I hope what is heard in the end product will be a true reflection of the music I wanted to create. It is a record of Isolation, freedom, life, death, darkness and light. I put absolutely everything I had into it. I hope this is reflected in what you hear.
October 2011
I was also a very keen sportsman growing up and found myself constantly indecisive about where I thought my future might take me. In the end I went with…sport and when I was 18 embarked on a Golf & Sports degree at Buckinghamshire University. However it was when I was on a years work experience living in America that I realized sport was not what I wanted to be doing and that music was. I played a few gigs out there and when I returned home, I moved to Liverpool to study Audio Engineering. It was around this time I began to write songs and perform live more regularly. I moved to London to finish this after around a year before returning home to start life as a musician.
When I got home I was fortunate enough to have very understanding parents who let me live with them and turn their garage which was already done out as a room into a music room. I persuaded them to let me get a Piano in there and although it was old and not perhaps aesthetically pleasing they let me keep it which was very kind of them. It looked bad and didn’t sound much better but I loved it all the same. I joined a rock band and began performing 4-5 nights a week which quickly became my job and no doubt helped me with experience and taught me my first lesson…It is hard to sing rock songs 4-5 nights in a row. However as time went on I guess I became used to it. We travelled around England playing and had short stints playing and busking around Ireland. I also continued with solo acoustic gigs when I had the opportunity which I enjoyed and also gave me a chance to play some of my own solo material I had been working on.
Many different types of music influence me but mainly at this time I was listening to a lot of old stuff. I had a record player, which I restored and began listening to some of my parent’s old vinyls. Records were so cheap and a great way to listen to great old music. There is something hugely nostalgic and satisfying about having and collecting vinyls, the feel, sound and texture of them and the beauty and thought of the artwork is something i find very compelling. Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen albums became the soundtracks to my life and I was deeply influenced by American Songwriters and American Folk Rock. My Mother being American and lots of my family, gave me a strong connection to American culture and the freedom I envisioned through many different American lifestyles was a huge influence on my songwriting.
I decided in August 2010 that I wanted to record an EP. I got in touch with a contact in London I knew, who had a small studio and that I knew was a good producer. It was there, in Tottenham, London that ‘The Chicago EP’ was recorded. The EP gave me good start with my own material and gained me recognition for my songs and my music. Some of the songs were broadcast in England and parts of America, which was great. However, the EP did not reflect how I felt I wanted my music to sound and although the quality of the recording and production were of a high standard, I quickly became very disillusioned with the EP and almost did not want people to listen to or hear it. I’d put a great deal into it and this was a strange concept to some people I think, even those closest around me, but I had a vision and crucially it was not it. It was at this point that I adhered to the philosophy that if you want something doing, you must do it yourself as you can only rely on yourself. Something I discovered would be relevantly constant throughout the next year of my life.
At the beginning of 2011 I set myself out to record an album myself at home in my bedroom and garage. I had some nice guitars, mic's, a 'Dark' sounding electric piano/organ and bought a battered old bass for £20 from a friend. This album would later be called ‘Ragnorak’. I played every instrument on the album except Drums. I wanted complete control over the recording and production to get the sound I wanted from this album, it was very important to me that I oversaw and did most of the work. I did not want to rely on others to come and play different instruments for me, i did not like asking people for help and if i wanted to change something it would not be as straight forward. For the writing and recording of the album I drew on what I had learned in my time studying Audio Engineering and my experiences over the last few years. I put an unprecedented amount of time and effort into what I was doing and also kept up playing 4 nights a week to keep myself financially going. It was a long, hard, frustrating, enlightening process, making many mistakes along the way but I hope what is heard in the end product will be a true reflection of the music I wanted to create. It is a record of Isolation, freedom, life, death, darkness and light. I put absolutely everything I had into it. I hope this is reflected in what you hear.
October 2011
