About
I live in the UK and music has been my main hobby for most of my life.
I was fortunate enough to be a teenager at the time the whole pop music explosion happened in the UK. It’s hard to describe what a massive life-changing cultural event this was for my generation at the time; when many of us bought guitars and drums and formed bands so we could try and make the same amazing sounds we were hearing on records. The first ‘name’ band I saw play live was The Kinks in 1965 and that raucous local concert, followed by others featuring the likes of the Yardbirds, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, Pink Floyd, etc., made a lifelong impression on me and spurred me on to learn the guitar and form my first band, The Trane.
However, my parents insisted on me following a ‘proper’ career (the music business was most definitely beyond the pale as far as most of my parents’ generation was concerned), so I studied to be a Chartered Accountant and continued playing in bands as a hobby. As the years rolled on I married, raised a family, and became successful in business. Nearly three decades ago I took up home recording and began writing and recording my own songs, and making videos for them. Now retired, I can spend more time on my music, and I'm still playing in a band!
Some songs featured on the site were written in partnership with Laurie French, who’s been a music friend for many years, (60 for heaven’s sake!), and some have been written with another long-time pal Richard Maynard. We hope you like some of the all-original songs presented here. All the recordings were done by me at my home recording studio. All vocals are yours truly except where credited otherwise. I played all the electric guitar parts and programmed the other instruments with the aid of wonders of modern technology such as synthesisers, drum machines, loops, samples, and specialist software, although in the final analysis I must take full responsibility for the worthiness or otherwise of the end products!
One of my guitars: a modern replica of Eric Clapton’s ‘Fool’ guitar by ‘The Painted Player’ company.
I’ve put together some information that might be of interest if you’re already into home recording and/or songwriting, or thinking of getting into it as a hobby, or simply curious! Please note that the information on my site is based on what I’ve personally learned over the years; so in that respect it reflects the ways I go about things. But there are many other routes depending on your musical and technical preferences, abilities, budget constraints, ambitions, etc. My perspective and recommendations are coloured by the following:
- I’m a reasonable guitarist, but not a very good keyboard player
- I don’t read music (although I know enough basic rudiments and theory to help me achieve what I try to do)
- I know enough about PCs to get by and also to get into trouble now and then.
I’ve only included information that I’ve distilled through my own learning and ‘trial and error’ processes, so there’s no vague or untested theory here, just definitive statements based on my own experiences and which I feel might help if passed on.
The music I write and record is mostly in the pop, rock, blues genres so the pages on songwriting may not be of interest to those who are exclusively into ambient, metal, rap, etc., although the pages about recording methods might be, as most of the concepts and practices are common to many genres of music.
Information on these pages may appear too complex or too simplistic depending on your particular stage of learning, but if you find just some of it useful then it’s served its purpose.
Ok, that tells you where I’m coming from, so let’s get started! Click on the headings above to visit the relevant pages.