ian davis

October 2002 . Early morning. It’s pitch black and two young girls have fallen into the River Thames.They struggle desperately for their lives as the opaque waters snake around them, pulling them under. Two men climb down Cadogan Pier in darkness toward the river, and the terrified girls. Braving the freezing temperatures, they hold on to them, keeping them afloat until a support boat arrives...Ian Davis’ story isn’t your average music industry tale of drugs and groupies. But then Ian Davis is slightly more than your average musician.In fact, he’s a copper.In the eleven years he’s walked the beat in Chelsea, Ian’s been awarded three commendations for bravery, including two for saving the drowning girls. As a riot-trained PC he’s kept the peace around Euro 96, the Reclaim the Streets protests and BNP marches. He protected a member of public from being attacked with a machete and even helped deliver a premature baby.And what of those rumours he once arrested a well-known celebrity love-rat? Well, as Francis Urquhart once said, you might choose to believe them; we on the other hand couldn’t possibly comment.- - - -Born in Harrow, 1969, Ian never harboured dreams of becoming a songwriter. Instead he discovered music purely as a means of escaping from the realities of his French-Mauritian parents’ messy divorce.“ I felt really hidden away when I was sitting behind a piano,” he explains with the calm, measured tones of someone who’s clearly used to interview situation, albeit on the other side of the microphone. “I’d spend hours improvising, learning chord structures and teaching myself to sight-read by going over classical scores over and over again.”After leaving school with few qualifications, Ian decided to go to college, funding a place on a business course with an impressive array of temp jobs including being a bouncer, backing dancer and catwalk model for the likes of London School of Fashion and MTV Milan. He’s even strutted his stuff on stage at Glastonbury alongside Gary Clail: “I was fire breathing that day,” he slips nonchalantly into the conversation.After being taken on by a local security firm Ian ended up providing protection services to some of the biggest names in the music industry while they were staying in the capital. “I’ve looked after everyone from Madonna and Prince to Guns & Roses and U2,” he smiles.After being offered a series of walk on roles and stunt work in films such as Octopussy and Carry on Columbus, it was a modelling shoot for Heineken that was to make Ian re-evaluate what he wanted from life.“ I was doing this poster campaign with one of the Generation Game girls and we were being paid silly money for about five minutes’ work. It just didn’t feel right, you know? I felt I needed to do something more meaningful - put something back.”Despite worrying that he was not really cut out for it Ian joined The Met in 1993. “It’s been so fulfilling,” he explains. “But I’ve seen things you can’t even begin to imagine.” As in his childhood his music provided a cathartic escape and he’s already written over 100 songs to date.And it’s this heart--on-his-sleeve honesty that really sets Ian’s forthcoming debut album ‘Look Inside’ apart from the crowd. Ranging from the classic pop feel of tracks like ‘Mystery’ (about the whims of women) to addictive slow_burners like ‘Meant’ and ‘Apart’, Davis covers subjects as diverse as destiny, relationships and a belief in oneself, his subtle, melodic sound already drawing comparisons with the likes of David Gray and the Lighthouse Family.“ I just tried to write about everything that was going on in the world,” he says, “maybe I tried too hard! But I have seen so much during my time in the force. I’m interested in the idea of fate and predestination (‘Meant’), and the problems everyone encounters in relationships (‘I Don’t Know’), but I also wanted to convey simple feelings of elation (‘Ten Miles High’) and positivity, of taking risks (‘For Once In Your life’). I’m not saying anything profound, I’m just trying to tell it like it is.”The product of a “gumbo of influences,” including everything from Simon & Garfunkel to Jay-Z, ‘Look Inside’ has already been given the nod by fellow musicians including Seal, who he was introduced to by a mutual friend.But it’s the reaction the album’s going to get amongst his colleagues that’s got Ian’s most nervous. “I’ll get so much stick in the station when it comes out,” he smiles.“ No one’s ever done what I’m doing. I’ll be the only working police officer to pursue a career in the music industry. It’s going to be interesting to see how people react to that.”www.iandavis.info www.amazon.co.uk www.recordstore.co.uk www.iTunes.co.uk www.music.msn.com