About Me
Part one
I was first " taken over " by music at the age of six or seven , when one day , whilst passing by the "dansette " record player , at ear hight , my entire body was filled with the voice of Howlin Wolf ( thanks to my older brother John who had rich friend , who bought blues recordings from America ), and I was transformed into a person that began to notice sounds and " collect " them too...the sounds I liked made me feel good , they triggered my emotions , happiness , sadness, exhillaration , calmness ...My father was a piano / organ player with a classical training but with a love of jazz and my mother being Irish , had various rebel songs and uillèann piping records knocking around , so there was no shortage of influence or reference ..Part two
After sporadic schooling, none of which gave me any vision of my future , I stumbled into guitar playing based on the fact that I LOVED the sound that was being used at the time ( Bluesbreakers Eric C, all Jimi H )...and began following my favourite local blues group Blind Eye around helping them out with the gear at gigs etc ..Brian Roberts was and probably still is the best guitarist I ever heard as was Jackie Bond the best harmonica player ever ..I finally did my first live appearance as a guitarist with them as second guitarist at a rugby club dance ! Apart from the fact that I thought everyone in the hall was looking only at me ( I was really nervous ) , it went well and there was no looking back after , and I knew then that music should become my passion in life....Part three
Luckily , those times were still ripe for what I wanted to do , the world had not yet turned into the " if it doesn't sell , it's no good " all consuming business machine that is in practice today .. I went on to play with various formations , notably Alberto Y lost Trios Paranoias , playing with them from quite early days untill just after the play ( Snuff Rock ) perfomed for six weeks at the Roundhouse Theatre in London, ( by that time I had switched to bass , having heard Larry Graham with Sly and all the James Brown bass players ) After The Alberto's , needing to be a bit more " seriously" musical I joined The Durutti Column, with Vinnie Reilly a remarkable guitarist way ahead of many more famous in my opinion , and Chris Joyce and "Cowboy" Dave Rowbotham , us three plus Bob Harding also ex Alberto's formed the original Mothmen after two years of " wild " experimentation we toned down and made it as far as the BBC "Round Table " only to be rejected as " not suitable " As we all know ..no radio play equals not much chance of success , so , completely pissed of with the whole deal , we stopped , I met and " messed around " with Mick Hucknall for a few months doing some interestig experiments using the new technology ( a Drumatix ! ) and old style music , JB style .The meeting eventually led me to Simply Red ... ....I had also produced With Bob Harding , the first studio album " Do animals belive in God ? "of Pink Military , a seminal Liverpudlian group of the seventies and eighties , there meeting the great Charlie Griffith . pioneer in analogue synthesis and computering who initiated me into the practice of passing a lot of time in front of a computer screen !
I tried to get Charlie into Simply Red too but that .......Hucknall was too short-sighted to appreciate the possibilities ..ah well ! ...Simply Red , for me , lasted as long as I could tolerate being a" second class "person working for an......... boss and his ........... management . The first couple of years were good though , we had a good energy and could play great live , in a time when machines and playbacks were becoming more and more common ...Part four
After dedicating my time to family life for 6 years, living in Italy proved more difficult to "restart " my career ...I collaborated with Vittorio Cosma and Demo Morselli , then in the UK with Barrington " Bazza " Stewart ( alias DFREEK ..check him singing on Chains , We Can Do It etc ) , Roger Lyons , Max Belladonna and co. on various studio projects ConcreteWig being the 1 ! still alive in spirit ,. .I did live concerts with Giancarlo Parisi's " Cantiere Parisi " an ethnic Sicilian outfit playing what 's now called "world " music...I have also recorded experimental music with Giancarlo , a great all-round reed and flute player .. I also collaborate with Maurizio Belli , a great percussionist , on various projects (including the Sainkho album where he made a major contribuition ) in 2002 I produced an album ( Who Stole the Sky ? ) for Sainkho Namchtlyak , providing all the musical content apart from her voice ..by this time , after twenty years of listening to and enjoying music from all over the world , mostly of " tribal or "ritual " content ,like the M'buti from the Ituri forest or the Master Musicians of Jajouka , with whom I passed an unforgettable five days in 1997, I re-disovered my Irish "roots " and took up playing the Uillèann pipes and whistle then the traverse flute , although now I'm using a Bansuri or Indian cane flute ..Whilst recording the Sainkho album , I met Lao Kouyate a kora playing , singer Jali or griot . We having been writing and playing together ever since( I also recorded two albums for friends of his Lamp Fall Milan and Nes Desnes ) , and now , with Filippo Scrimizzi , a noted " Goa" rave DJ and programmer under the name ot Plantation , we have almost finished a first album which we would like to take out live .
I currently play bass , guitar , U Pipes , flutes , whistles and various percussion instruments , to a varying degree of proficiency , concentrating mostly on the sound !
The SOUND has always been more important for me than the actual notes or arrangement , although both can be important , it's the SOUND that has most effect !
Home ( ..is where the right sounds are )I have a small recording system at home and I record and produce from there and when necessary , I use other studios , like if someone else is paying !
I am open to interesting projects as a player and or producer / arranger .DiscographyPink Miltary Stand Alone :
Do Animals Believe in God ? co-producer on Last Trumpet RecordsAlberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias :
1st (album )
Italians From Outer Space ( album )
Skite ( album )
Various singles on " Snuff Rock "STIFF Records , Dead Meat , Heads Down ..The Duruti Column :
1st EP ( and release ) on FACTORY RecordsThe Mothmen :
Does it Matter Irene ? EP on Absurd Records
Pay Attention ( album ) on ONUsound Records
One Black Dot ( album ) on DO IT Records
Temptation ( single ) DO IT Records
Wadada ( single ) DO IT RecordsSimply Red :
Picture Book ( album ) on Elektra
Men and Women ( album ) on Warner
A New Flame ( album ) on Warner
All singles through that period ..Concrete Wig :
Keep It Together ( single ) CGDSainkho Namtchlyak
Who Stole The Sky ? on PONDEROSA MUSIC as producer and player..Glenwash
1st EP recorded and produced ...Ray Tarantino
Riding Rhymes (album ) bass and co-production
