An introduction and biography

Hello there, 

Welcome to my Blog. I'm hoping to write pieces of information regarding my musical development. This is more for my own benefit I think. I have been recording music for many years, and a lot of my past experiences are now lost in my memory. I hoping to retrieve some of those memories and from now on add to them.

So, I'll start off with my biography. This was initially written to try and promote my album 21. After an eight year hiatus I started making music again, and this biography was written to try and help promote the album on social media. It has changed slightly, it was much more morose when I originally wrote it, but I have edited over the past few months to try and rectify that...

I started out in 1997 when I picked up my brother’s guitar and learned a few basic chords. Having grown up in Shoeburyness, Essex, I can’t explain why I became hooked on the guitar. I had spent the last 7 or so years of my life listening to Jungle and Drum & Bass exclusively. I had tried to become a DJ but struggled to keep two records in time. Maybe the guitar seemed easier?

From the very beginning recording my ideas was something I wanted to do. With the little money I earned from my job in a record shop I purchased a cheap ¾ size folk guitar, a Tascam 4 track tape recorder, and a horrendously cheap microphone.

With my inability to play an instrument well, and my knowledge of recording music seriously lacking, my early recordings are painful to listen to. However, they are part of my development as an artist, and without them nobody can see how far I have come.

In the year 2000 I was made redundant. With the money I received I purchased a new guitar, a digital 8 track recorder, a substantial supply of hash, and I also paid my parents a year's rent. My intention being, developing my craft, recording a breakthrough album and getting a record deal.

It’s ridiculous when I think back on it now. I wasn’t that accomplished, I didn’t play live, I had no band. Although I sent my recordings to every record label I could, I received no reply. Hardly surprising as I had little to offer them.

I became more and more reclusive, more and more agoraphobic. My smoking habits didn’t help. I became very paranoid. I was certain that my hedonistic lifestyle from my youth would catch up with me, and that I would just die. I reached breaking point in late 2003, I melted down and eventually sought help. First by speaking to my family, second by seeking professional help. Most importantly I think, I gave up drugs.

I always continued writing and recording songs throughout these troubling times. Purchasing new equipment through the years. I used my music as my therapy, developing my style as I went. I guess at its essence I would describe my music as rock, but it is heavily influenced by the electronic genres of my youth.  

In the year 2004 alone I released 8 albums. When I say released, I mean that I passed them out amongst my friends and family. By this point I had come to the conclusion that nobody (in the industry) really cared. These songs meant nothing to anyone but me. As with any artist, I guess, they are a musical diary of my life. Stress, anxiety, phobia and paranoia it seems are perhaps just not everyone’s cup of tea.

From 2005 onwards my writing and recording slowly decreased. My life was changing. I was slowly becoming less scared of myself, I went out with friends and family, and most importantly I established a long term relationship. Music was no longer my therapy, or it was less and less a part of my therapy.

In late 2013 I relocated from Essex to South Lanarkshire. My 20th album was released in early 2014, I stopped recording entirely at this point. The reality is that I’d fallen out of love with recording my music, and the longer I didn't record, the harder it became to find the enthusiasm. 

It is an incredibly time consuming process, and it became a chore to carry out that process. I would occasionally pick the guitar up and play it, but even that became less enjoyable as I became less proficient. Song-writing itself also became non-existent. In the past I had written about being unhappy, however I now found myself a much happier person…

Fast forward to April of 2021. I started the process of uploading all of my previous albums to Bandcamp. It made me realise what a huge part of my life music was. Around July the same year I started messing around with a few riffs and samples that I had.

I had no intention of making a new album, I was just enjoying the process again. It took me a few more months to get the sounds I wanted again. I upgraded some of my recording equipment, and set about remembering how to record and play. Encouraged by my partner Vicky who co-produced with me, I took time to craft the songs slowly. In the past I had very much worked with the attitude of "that'll do" whereas with these songs if I was unhappy with something I would return to it. Again and again if necessary until I was happy with the results.

During the promotion of this new material I discovered a thriving indie music scene on the social media site Twitter. This had not really existed for me before, and to find like minded individuals was a breath of fresh air. It is through this community that I have been inspired to continue making music, and so after 8 years I’m in the position of releasing two albums in 2022.