So I was born in South Africa, not much of a cultural influence on my life as we moved back to England when I was about six months old. My dad worked for the Royal Greenwich Observatory, so took the opportunity to see the world when it arose. Having himself grown up in Scotland with an adventurous gene, he was more than happy to get out into the world, (not as James Whale would have it that he was running from the mob). We lived in Wiltshire for a while where my little sister was born and then moved up to Edinburgh when I was about four.
I started hitting a piano when i was about six. Not because I wanted to learn to play it, but more because I was lucky enough to have one. My dad wheeled it up the road from a neighbours house who was getting rid of it and it came to live with us. If a woodchuck could chuck wood was about as far as I got before the piano got put into storage and we moved from Edinburgh to Hawaii. Quite a change in the weather! But after two years we came back to England again and it was new schools again for my sisters and me. The best bit about coming back was that whilst my parents were house hunting, we were put up by the RGO, who my dad still worked for, in Herstmonceux Castle. It's still to date the only house I've ever lived in that had a moat and croquet lawns. Sadly we moved to Bexhill after about six months and Sussex life began.
The piano came out of storage and I started to actually learn to play it, but soon discovered rock music and moved onto bass guitar, then as my tastes evolved I picked up acoustic guitar and started trying to write songs. The learning years were fairly uneventful, I was in loads of bands and started gigging constantly when I was about fifteen, still haven't stopped. To date I've completely lost count of how many songs I've written, but it must be around the two hundred mark by now, admittedly the early ones I may deny having ever written, but it's part of the process.
When i got my faithful old 8 track, that was it for me. And I hid myself away, recording late into the night. Some of these songs are still kicking around today and can be listened to on my website. I still like a lot of them! But things have finally fallen into place with the making of 'Geography' and the coming of the band. I recorded the album with Harvey Summers, a great producer/musician/composer/godknowswhatelse at his studio. We'd been friends for a few years and he kindly offered his studio and time to make it. It was a great year! We worked slowly, had loads of curry and beer, and at the end of it all we'd created the monster. Now we needed a band! Harvey was already in place as piano/accordian player, and me on the guitar, but although we'd played it all on the album, we couldn't do it all live by ourselves! So I went fishing. And eventually found them. These are some of the finest people and musicians that a writer like myself could ever hope to find, and to have them dedicated to my songs is a gift beyond price. I found Matt Novis, (bass), living in the pub down the road. Not long after, I happened across Sacha Trochet, (drums), quite at random, when he filled in at a gig I was doing because the other drummer couldn't make it. Then Simon Shaw, (guitar), joined in and we had a band. But after a long bout of rehearsing Harvey left, he had too many commitments and wanted to concentrate on his own music, so we roped in Steve Hope, (piano). And here we are!
I started hitting a piano when i was about six. Not because I wanted to learn to play it, but more because I was lucky enough to have one. My dad wheeled it up the road from a neighbours house who was getting rid of it and it came to live with us. If a woodchuck could chuck wood was about as far as I got before the piano got put into storage and we moved from Edinburgh to Hawaii. Quite a change in the weather! But after two years we came back to England again and it was new schools again for my sisters and me. The best bit about coming back was that whilst my parents were house hunting, we were put up by the RGO, who my dad still worked for, in Herstmonceux Castle. It's still to date the only house I've ever lived in that had a moat and croquet lawns. Sadly we moved to Bexhill after about six months and Sussex life began.
The piano came out of storage and I started to actually learn to play it, but soon discovered rock music and moved onto bass guitar, then as my tastes evolved I picked up acoustic guitar and started trying to write songs. The learning years were fairly uneventful, I was in loads of bands and started gigging constantly when I was about fifteen, still haven't stopped. To date I've completely lost count of how many songs I've written, but it must be around the two hundred mark by now, admittedly the early ones I may deny having ever written, but it's part of the process.
When i got my faithful old 8 track, that was it for me. And I hid myself away, recording late into the night. Some of these songs are still kicking around today and can be listened to on my website. I still like a lot of them! But things have finally fallen into place with the making of 'Geography' and the coming of the band. I recorded the album with Harvey Summers, a great producer/musician/composer/godknowswhatelse at his studio. We'd been friends for a few years and he kindly offered his studio and time to make it. It was a great year! We worked slowly, had loads of curry and beer, and at the end of it all we'd created the monster. Now we needed a band! Harvey was already in place as piano/accordian player, and me on the guitar, but although we'd played it all on the album, we couldn't do it all live by ourselves! So I went fishing. And eventually found them. These are some of the finest people and musicians that a writer like myself could ever hope to find, and to have them dedicated to my songs is a gift beyond price. I found Matt Novis, (bass), living in the pub down the road. Not long after, I happened across Sacha Trochet, (drums), quite at random, when he filled in at a gig I was doing because the other drummer couldn't make it. Then Simon Shaw, (guitar), joined in and we had a band. But after a long bout of rehearsing Harvey left, he had too many commitments and wanted to concentrate on his own music, so we roped in Steve Hope, (piano). And here we are!
Seen live