Biography

I started learning/dabbling with keyboard, acoustic guitar & recording as a hobby and diversion from working with computers. Being a 'knobs & switches' person at heart, I was influenced by the flashing light brigade of Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre, ELP etc., and built up a small recording setup over the years. Although it was a drain on our finances, my wife says at least she knew where I was in the evenings.

The 'studio' started with home keyboards such as the Yamaha PSR series, and a PC sequencer for recording. A few years later, a problem with one of my ears gave me a reality check so I decided to get serious with music 'before the other one broke', and the gadget spiral really began with a Korg i30 arranger keyboard, cassette porta-studio for mixing, a power amp. and a couple of monitors... although I'm not sure about stereo with only one good ear.

The C.A. Blues
Song writing started after some spoof songs went down well with friends and colleagues. On one occasion my wife was struggling with a course assignment for a diploma (eventually published), so I tried cheering her up by writing a song about it. Feeling quite chuffed at finding a rhyme for the phrase 'concept analysis', I recorded a song on cassette. This was all a good laugh until we were invited to an end-of-course dinner along with all the other students and lecturers, when half-way through the meal an embarrassingly familiar tune came over the restaurant p.a.

These developed into more serious attempts, and I found I liked writing lyrics which tell a story in an intriguing way, letting the listener work it out in their own time.

News for You
This was my first serious song, which evolved from a chord sequence I was dabbling with on the i30 using one its backing styles. It was also my first stab at using a proper singer on vocals, and it took some time to pluck up enough courage to play it to a 3rd. party. It was a strange but rewarding experience hearing sounds which had always been 'in my head' finally being realised properly.

A Minor Excursion
Bizarre as it sounds, an interest in astronomy and the cosmos spawned this concept album project, which is a science-fiction mystery based on how the universe evolved. The project has been shelved many times over the years, but I hope to get it finished before the universe actually ends otherwise it will spoil my version of events.

The Gate
This was my first acoustic guitar piece, and it took longer to play the song well enough to record than it did to write. Although not religious, I was intrigued by the thought of a conversation at 'the gates' when judgement time finally comes. The new arrival would be blaming everyone else; the management, the government, the system etc., and the creator(s) would be asking 'Yes, but what about all the fantastic things we made for you?'. The initial lyrics seemed hauntingly appropriate for various man-made atrocities, and they evolved into the final version after the Sept 11th incident when the line 'Why did you spoil it all?' seemed so poignant. My simple vocal & guitar demo leaves a lot to be desired but I think it captures the essence.