The beginning...
I am British, born in Plymouth, raised mostly in London. I’m a singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer who has been working in the industry since 1995. I always had a great interest for music, and from a very early age I remember having immense pleasure singing to myself when I was alone in my room. My father was a guitarist, and I have nice memories of him sitting on the staircase with his guitar, where I would sit beside him and listen. Sadly, he passed away to cancer when I was 6 years old and I never really got a chance to know him well. I’ve always been an introvert, and so it’s no surprise that when I found an old upright piano in one of the classrooms in my school I would sit on the stool and teach myself to play by ear instead of playing outside with my classmates. The guitar came quite a bit later on in my life in 1995 when I heard the music of Hank Marvin & The Shadows for the first time. My first guitar wasn’t electric like Hank’s though, it was a Hohner classical guitar I got in a second hand store for about £30. A couple of months after buying the guitar I found myself homeless, kicking around in the West-End of London and the guitar and my voice became a way to make some money. Very quickly I learned some chords and lyrics to songs and began to perform in the streets and subways. It was not an easy way to earn a living and the conditions were tough. I managed to make a few pounds here and there throughout each day to eat which was all I needed in that moment. I would visit the Library on Charing Cross Road each morning to photocopy some of their music books and to take a brief nap in the armchair much to the dismay of the librarian who shooed me away after a few minutes. It was a good source of chords and lyrics which were needed to improve and expand my repertoire and skills. Despite times being difficult I did have some incredible encounters with some celebrities like Paul McCartney, Dame Maggie Smith, Richard O’Brien, Bette Midler, James Belushi, Rod Stewart, Dustin Hoffman, Julie Andrews, Robbie Williams, Timothy Dalton, Petula Clark and many others. The most incredible experience I have are my working experiences and long time friendship with the American singer/actor/poet Art Garfunkel. Artie and I go way back to 1997 where we met after one of his shows.
Art Garfunkel...
I was traveling back from a gig somewhere in London on a night bus in 1997 with a South American guitarist I was working with at the time. He was reading the newspaper and mentioned that Art Garfunkel was doing a show later in the year at the London Palladium. I had no idea Garfunkel was still touring, and so being a massive fan I busked like crazy the next day to buy a ticket. The big day finally arrived, the show was brilliant and I launched a letter I had prepared onto the stage at the end of the concert. I watched Art stoop down to pick it up as he walked off stage into the wings. I waited at the stage door where he eventually exited from and he began signing some albums and concert tickets. Suddenly it was my turn to greet him, he was in front of my with his Philadelphia Phillies cap on signing my concert ticket. He looked at me and said “I got your letter, gonna read it in the bus”. A few days later he called me out of the blue and asked to meet up. I traveled to Nottingham to meet him at his hotel and we instantly began a long discussion about music and life in general and quickly realized we had quite a lot in common particularly our love of melody and beautiful songs. He offered me a room in the hotel and I stayed the night to watch the show again, only this time I had backstage access and a front row seat!
The next morning the crew and musicians took the tour buses to Plymouth, while Artie invited me to ride the train with him . After the show in Plymouth he offered me a job on his future tours as his personal assistant where I got to open shows for him on many occasions. We traveled together across much of Europe, North Africa, and the United States. On a visit to New York he even came to sing a few songs together with me in one of the subway tunnels where I was busking. We discovered our voices blended very well together, and often we would find someplace on a hotel stairwell or a tiled bathroom (where the acoustics were good) between shows, and just enjoy singing a few of the Simon & Garfunkel tunes, James Taylor or the Everly Brothers.
On the 19th of November 1997 Artie invited me to Ted Spencer Studios near Riverside Drive on West 72nd street where we recorded a song together. I’d never heard the tune ‘Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter’ by ‘Herman’s Hermits’ before, but Artie insisted that it would be a nice one to do, and of course I happily obliged. I was about to make a record with my favorite singer, I would have agreed to do any song with him. I quickly learned the chords and the lyrics, and three days later we were in the studio with Ted laying tracks! I played Ted’s ‘Martin’ acoustic guitar and sang main vocal through a Neumann microphone. Artie played percussion using a ‘Snapple’ bottle top in front of the mic and he sang harmonies. It was my very first time in a professional recording studio, and being in there with my favorite singer and new friend was quite surreal! The entire experience was incredible. I remember days waking up in luxury hotel rooms, standing in front of the mirror wondering how the hell this was all happening and was I dreaming? But it really did happen and I still feel blessed every time I meet him. I learned to play and sing listening to a cassette of ‘Simon & Garfunkel’s greatest hits’ given to me by an Italian girl I’d dated in London. And then, suddenly he was not only in my ears through my earphones, but actually became a huge part of my life in reality!
Performances...
One of my most memorable concerts (probably ever) was with Art Garfunkel on Saturday 5th July 1997 when I performed as ‘opening act’ at the Westfalen Park ‘Out On The Green’ festival in Dortmund, Germany. It was by far the biggest audience I had ever entertained at one time where people gathered on the green in the thousands. I took the stage 20 minutes prior to Artie with my Washburn acoustic guitar and vocals. It was raining when I approached the mic stand and gazed nervously at the people and I remember thinking I had never seen so many umbrellas in one place before. I was a little shaky, it was the first time I had opened show, but I had always dreamed of playing a concert of this magnitude. After 20 minutes it was over, the crowd was kind and I came offstage feeling amazing. Artie’s band members were in the wings watching and listening and they were very supportive. Warren Bernhardt and the late Eric Weissberg were particularly kind to me, these guys were so much fun to tour with and incredibly talented musicians. I immediately rushed back to the dressing room to assist Artie prepare for his show. I walked him to the stage wing and watched him wave to the crowd as he approached where I was standing just a few moments before. Not a quarter of an hour ago I had got to witness that very same view, and feel the magical energy of the audience that my music idol had been experienced for decades and was willing to share with me. What an incredible moment that was! Thanks Artie!
After the tours with Artie I moved to Italy where I lived for 14 years. I played all kinds of events from weddings to birthday parties, local pub gigs, and hotels. Mostly I played in the streets with good speakers and a nice sound. The first years I sold cassette tapes of my albums, and then when CD’s became more popular I switched format. I must have played all over the country, touring with a motorhome in Sardegna, Venice, Genova, Milano much of the time before finally settling in Florence, Tuscany.
For 10 years I did shows most nights outside of the Uffizi Art Gallery in Florence for tourists and locals. It still remains to this day one of my favorite and most memorable places that I ever performed in. The beautiful architecture, the art, the history, and the wonderful acoustics made it the most magical stage for concerts. The lighting the city hall added to illuminate the statues in the Piazza della Signoria were like stage lights. It was damn near perfect! I had so many wonderful concerts there, playing for people from all over the world who were passing through Europe, or studying Art and Architecture. I met some very interesting people during this period of my life.
After my departure from Florence, I moved to the North-East of the UK where I performed for 10 years in the clubs and pubs. I played in many all over Newcastle Upon Tyne, Durham, Darlington and the surrounding areas. One evening I was entertaining at a golf club in Blyth doing a gig for a trophy night. The World Champion Golfer Lee Westwood was there giving out cups to the clubs members. He was kind enough to take a picture with me and even autographed golf balls for many of his fans that night. The northeast was not an easy time of my life as it was a struggle to make a living with only music. I had to find some side jobs sometimes to make ends meet.
Teaching...
It was during my time in the UK that I focused my attention more on the teaching aspect of music. I began to run a YouTube Channel with the help of a good friend in Tennessee. I wrote tabs to sell on my website, created some backing tracks and taught guitar online and in person. I spent much of my time between performances assisting my clients with their audio technical setups by connecting remotely to their computers to install and configure their software so they could play and record their own music at home. The guitar lessons were conducted via Skype and Zoom to people all over the world from the USA to New Zealand. It was a great way to be in touch with people, and meet new friends too.
Guitar Building...
For years I had always had this idea to build a guitar of my own, so in my small garage in the UK I gradually got together some specialized equipment and tools, and with the help of online research began to teach myself to make Stratocasters. Luthier schools although extremely useful, are very costly. I preferred to spend the money on gear and materials and teach myself everything necessary. My first guitar was quite unplayable and the learning curve was steep. But that first build was the answer to many questions, and the inevitable mistakes proved to be extremely valuable for my next projects. I have produced around 3 and a half guitars up until now. Unfortunately since I moved to Belgium and started working full time I have had to put this on hold for lack of time. I do intend however to continue with this again someday as I still need more practice. I have yet to experience spraying and finishing the instruments. My first guitar was finished with wood dye and Tru oil rubbed on with a cloth. I did some small repairs for my clients guitars. Mostly changing pickguards, tuning keys, bridges, and pickups and adjusting the action and string height for better playability. It is incredibly satisfying to take a block of Maple and shape it into a working guitar.
Covid-19 and the European Parliament...
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, like many musicians I lost the possibility to make live performances and had to find another way to earn a living. Luck would have it that I moved to Brussels, Belgium where I was given the opportunity to work in the European Parliament in Information Technology. Since November 2020 I have been in the Remote Conference Service Unit (R.S.C.U). My job involved initially some server networking, switch configuration, and computer set-ups. Right now my main focus is assisting on the political conferences where recently I began a new project testing participant speakers before the main meeting to ensure good sound/video quality, and to demonstrate ‘Interactio’ the software interface that we use for remote meetings.
During this period of time music has taken a backseat except for evenings and weekends where I still practice for my own pleasure. I also make some audio recordings every now and again for YouTube whenever time permits. Making videos and teaching is not possible now for lack of time and space.
Climbing...
I started climbing again this year. The last time I climbed was several years ago and it has been nice to rekindle these skills again. I have had to relearn to tie many knots that I used to know and had forgotten. Also I’m learning some new climbing techniques I hadn’t previously tried. The first time I ever climbed was on an outdoor education trip with my school as a kid. They took us to Pencelli in the Breacon Beacons, South Wales where I got a taste of climbing and abseiling. There were a number of other activities too including mountaineering, canoeing, potholing, caving and orienteering. When I lived in Italy I was climbing frequently. When there are no rocks faces to use, trees make a pretty good substitute.
Shooting...
Target shooting is another of my many hobbies. This hobby also evolved from my time with the Air Cadets. I learned to shoot with a .303, a .22, and an Enfield SA80 (L85) 5.56×45mm NATO with the SUSAT scope. During my years in Italy I owned a firearms licence and had several handguns and rifles of various calibers in my possession. I began to resurrect this passion again in Belgium where owning a firearm is also possible. In the picture on the left I am using the rest to calibrate the scope. I love the precision of placing a projectile onto a specific point of a target. It gives enormous satisfaction. It’s a great way to pass a couple of hours outside.
Current music projects...
Currently I am putting together a new show with mostly new songs, and will be performing in and around Brussels by the end of the year. I will be doing songs of Coldplay, Duran Duran, Elton John, Chris Isaak, as well as some other classics of Paul Simon, The Eagles, and Dire Straits. I have spent a lot of the last year or so developing the extension of my vocal range to open up a wider repertoire of music. My intention is to try to perform digitally rather than analogically. I am getting some great results using computer technology and digital mixers. If I can manage to do it it can be a different and easier way to get my gear around. Computers mean less cables and physical equipment. I can also make live recordings very easily like this.