I am a composer/musician based in Nottingham, UK but originally from the seaside town of West Kirby on The Wirral. I have been writing and recording music in various forms since my teens – teaching myself the basics of guitar and cassette based recording.
Sadly my shoe box of cassettes from this time disappeared- I’m sure they’d contain all the cliches of teenage songwriting, alongside some pretty ‘naive’ guitar playing, but it would be nice to have a document of these early days! I think part of my drive to make music nowadays is a kind of yearning to recreate these lost gems- even including the odd wonky mix and interesting timings. 😉
Having explored many musical styles I gravitated towards the earthy tones of folk music and learnt how to make sounds out of fiddles, whistles and accordions. This, coupled with doing a music tech course at Clarendon College in Nottingham, led to my current musical mish mash of folky sounds fed and processed through my trusty old mac (the cassette recorder chewed up its last tape sometime in the early noughties).
I have released a number of albums/eps to date, some on small labels, some self released. My latest album ‘How I learnt to Disengage From The Pack’ was released in January 22 on The Slow Music movement and received a 4 star review (as well as folk album of the month) in The Guardian. My next album is a collaboration with U.S composer/pianist A Spot On the Hill, called Everything Was Different Yesterday, released 8th March 2023.
After years of this mainly being a recording project, i am now starting to perform this stuff live- check out my Live section for some videos and gig list and do get in touch if you would like me to perform for you.
In April 2023 I was selected to receive support from Help Musicians to release my next album on vinyl and tour it… all going to plan, it will be out in Autumn 2023, with more live dates around then.
I perform regularly with childrens theatre company Handmade Theatre as a performer musician. They are an amazing company and its great to interact with the kids on stage.
From 2018-19 I toured with the fantastic poet Andrew Graves on his ACE funded show God Save The Teen, providing incidental music to this poignant and funny work exploring Andrews teenage years and the (now pretty much obliterated thanks to the current government) youth service.
I have had a few stints with the fantastic Seas Of Mirth over the last 10 years. Whilst other commitments have often got in the way its been wonderful to share the stage with them in lots of weird and wonderful places.
I also write music for use on TV and other media. I’ve had music on Springwatch, Countryfile, The One Show and much more.
Photo top : Caroline Daryanani @