Looking back to my early High School years I remember having ideas that would make "good songs", but yet I didn't really have any interest in music at the time. My main interest back then was art, which I always worked hard at. When I was 17 though (under the influence of Brit-pop and a few mates) I decided to learn the guitar, I picked up the basics pretty quickly, and not too long after I was jammin' with different guys and playing in church. Soon melodies and lyrics started to emerge, these then turned into songs, songs about the personal, the spiritual, the social and even (at times) the political.
A few years later I joined a band as the guitarist. A friend, Jonny Currie took the lead vocal, often singing my songs. Our rhythm section consisted of Tim Murphy on bass and Chris Gaston on drums. We had a lot of fun and recorded a bit, but soon, due to pressures from universities etc, things just came to a natural end. However, songs kept coming and they kept getting better too! So I decided to step up to the microphone with my acoustic guitar and take gigs as a "solo artist", over the past couple of years this is something that I've tried to develop.
Feel free to check out my upcoming dates, and if you can make it along, it'd be great to see you there. Or if you want to contact me please do so by emailing me at -
[email protected]
Besides music, I'm involved with youth work, which can be a challenge, but it has it's rewards too. I also work as a clerical officer in the good old "under-funded" NHS.
Song Credits: -
"Glass Half Empty" - this is probably the oldest song on this page. It's a very simple, to-the-point song. I've tried to disguise this though by recording various guitar tracks along with harmonica, mandolin and bass - it didn't turn out exactly as i'd planned, but i think it has an "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" feel to it, which sort of works...i think!
"Declaring My Intentions" - in some ways this is the "sister-song" of "Not So Sure". It was written around the same time, and you can hear some similar themes if you listen closely. Musically though it's quite different, i decided to introduce the banjo and mandolin for a bit of fun, and the result was rather country sounding - which i think works well along with the slightly melodramatic lyrics.
"Not So Sure" - this was my first song of '07. It was written and recorded at home on the 19th January. There are quite a few themes running behind the lyrics, but one main one i guess.
"Valley" - this is a new version of a song that used to be up here. I liked the original because it was recorded on the same day of writing, but the quality was really poor. This version's not bad though, and it sounds more like my live rendition.
"Nothing You Can Do" - this song was written a few years ago, but I shelved it for a while. It was originally a lot more upbeat, but I think this version works better. I've played it live recently and it's been well received, so I thought I'd get it recorded. It's not exactly how I want it to sound, but hopefully you'll get the idea.
"Cry of the Self-Made Casualty" - this was written in early 05 in a particularly dark moment. It was recorded and mixed by Tim Murphy at QUB Studios at a late night session on the 12th July 05.
