I have been actively engaged with music and the music industry for most of my life. I started writing melodies and songs when I was five years old, long before I had access to or tuition in any instruments. From the age of seven I began to teach myself to play the piano and was immediately able to demystify and understand complex music theory. I had a few piano lessons when I was eleven but found them to be more restrictive than anything else. In my teens I taught myself to sing by singing along to my favourite bands and later taught myself to play guitar and bass. Since then I have written hundreds of songs and been in two bands of my own - Emporia (2003 - 2005) and Origins of Oceania (2007 - 2009).
I became interested in production in the mid nineties after simultaneously falling in love with the Seattle scene and The Prodigy led UK rave scene. My first completely busked effort at production came about by accident after being asked to remix a track a friend of mine was working on. It was for a budding independent trip-hop band called Lowlife. They liked what I did so much that I ended up coming on board as their producer and recorded, co-wrote, produced and mixed (on borrowed gear) their one and only album Lovelife in 2002. This album led to a management deal and serious interest from EMI Publishing and Sony BMG. Sadly the band imploded before any deal could be done.
After this I decided to go to university to study my craft properly - culminating in a degree in Music Technology from Rose Bruford College in 2008. Whilst there, I produced an EP for my then band Origins of Oceania and conceived, directed, edited and appeared in an accompanying music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR9XK1IbCC0
During this time I was lucky enough to work with some world class musicians including famous legendary session drummer Clem Catini (T-Rex, Bowie, The Kinks etc.), awesome bassist Colin Farley (The Cutting Crew) and up and coming guitarist Dave Ashworth (currently in Charly Coombes & The New Breed who recently toured the US and opened for Taylor Hawkins and The Coattail Riders).
In 2007 I began work on the debut album from talented up and coming songwriter Carl Picton entitled 'The Death Of The Great British Boozer'. He initially asked me to record a rough demo to enable him to get gigs. Upon hearing the quality of his material, I suggested we should do a full album instead. The results can be heard here: http://www.myspace.com/carlpicton
Upon graduation I was fortunate enough to be offered the job of resident recording and mix engineer with established music producer and programmer James Sanger (U2, Brian Eno, Keane, Dido) at his studio in France. During this time, I gained much hands on experience before returning to England in 2009.
Since then I have been doing lots of solo acoustic gigs and occasional freelance production work for independent Film & TV companies whilst also working on getting my solo project MAILMAN out into the world ( http://www.reverbnation.com/mailman ).
I am always on the lookout for genuine talent to develop, produce or work with in the future. So if you need a song critique or are looking for a creative producer with a proven track record, use the interaction to send me something to listen to - I will listen to it thoroughly and tell you honestly what I think of it and what, if applicable, I think you ought to do next.
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