I was born way back in February 1980, while "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers was No.1 in the UK charts.
I grew up in a small Welsh mining town called Maesteg, (although "grew" may prove to be slightly misleading), and as a child, my main activities involved digging, and imagining climbing the mountain behind my parents house.
I became interested in Music while I was in Primary School, attempting to play the piano, violin, cornet and various different sized recorders, mainly to try (unsuccessfully) to impress the female members of the school.
For some reason I was never allowed to play the "tulip blocks"…
I wrote my first composition while studying GCSE Music in Comprehensive School, shortly before my Music Teacher introduced me to the music of Bartok, Pederecki, Webern and Stockhausen. A seed had been planted...
In 2002, I began working at Danny Chang Music Studios, discovering not only the world of Recording Technology, but also the delights of the Electric Guitar.
I currently live in Cardiff and play the Guitar, Piano, Bass, Vibraphone, Drums and Percussion. (I'd secretly like to play the Theremin but I get the suspicious feeling that the neighbours wouldn't share my enthusiasm…)
Some of my favourite Composers, Musicians and hopefully influences include:
|
Lily Allen |
Brian Eno Bill Evans Mississippi Fred McDowell Serge Gainsbourg Stan Getz Guitar Slim Grateful Dead Simon & Garfunkel Gilberto Gil Terry Gibbs Philip Glass Howlin' Wolf The Heartbeats Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass Noel Harrison Herbie Hancock Bobby Hutcherson Buddy Holly Herbie Mann Dr. Samuel Hoffman Jo Hisaishi Charles Ives Elmore James Quincy Jones Jimmy Smith Jimmy McGriff Jeremy Richardson Joao Gilberto Scott Joplin John Jenner Kaleidoscope Mauricio Kagel Kinks Kenny Burrell Kraftwerk Rahsaan Roland Kirk Little Richard |
Lightnin' Slim |
Gioachino Rossini Sister Rosetta Tharpe Igor Stravinsky Sheb Wooley Sea Shanties Shiina Ringo Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 Karlheinz Stockhausen The Shaggs Spike Jones Silver Apples Strawberry Alarm Clock Steve Reich Tiny Tim Tropicalia Edgard Varèse The Velours The Velvet Underground Caetano Veloso Guiseppe Verdi Vashti Bunyan Vangelis Anton Webern Muddy Waters Johnny "Guitar" Watson Scott Walker Kai Winding Walter Wanderley Richard Wagner Klaus Wunderlich Iannis Xenakis Xavier Cugat Yma Sumac Yusef Lateef Los Zafiros Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention |
