Northern Lights (Bonus Track)

Northern Lights (Bonus Track)

Introduction to me. Part 2

My first taste of the real world as far as being a professional musician was during my 2nd year at Berklee. My great friend and drummer Alan Brown from Scotland told me there was an audition happening for a pop gig, the band was called Bliss. To be honest I had no real interest and thought I would never be good enough to get the gig anyway but had my arm twisted by Alan to go along and audition with him. I did and I have to say because Alan is such a good showman twirling his sticks and making jokes he made me look way better than I was at the time. We ended up getting the gig which was amazing and a big shock.

The label who put the band together was Terry Ellis who was the co-founder of the label Chrysalis Records and was also the guy who discovered and signed huge artists such as Blondie, Billy Idol, Pat Benatar, Huey Lewis And The News to name a few. I had a decision to make which left my parents worried as I had to drop out of school to commit to this gig. In my mind this was an obvious one because that was the real deal and an opportunity to tour the world and gain valuable experience. I hadn't met Mr. Ellis yet and when I did he was very intimidating, I remember trying to have small talk with him and he just looked at me and said go tanning and come back. I went and came back the next day and he looked at me again and said now you can be a pop star. Not exactly what I was expecting but there you go -  welcome to the vain world of pop.

There were 5 guys in the band and we all went to live together in the suburbs of Philadelphia. We filmed our first music video in New York, all signed up to a gym to get into shape and had some intense rehearsals to prepare us for the road. Filming a music video was a first for me and quite a big production, it was a lot of fun and quite a scary experience. Non of us had had acting experience never mind a bunch of cameras in our face and a director screaming at us to be cute :)

We were there for 3 months and don't really know how we managed not to kill each other. Alan and I were the only non Americans in the band and now as we were not in school our visa's were only valid for 3 months so the label had decided to send us over to Asia before everyone else so they booked us a flight to Singapore. It was all very exciting and surreal. I had never really traveled much before and never had been to the far east. The manager had warned us of all the situations to avoid in Singapore by giving us a huge booklet he had written. Some of the things were, don't eat gum, no graffiti, no drugs, don't make a scene in public and keep your passports and documents in a tidy order.

On the flight over I remember reading this and my excitement turning into fear. I reached into my pocket realizing my passport had been through the wash the night before and basically being a right mess with pages fallen out and the photo all smudged.

I walked up to the customs officer and showed him fearing the worst, luckily he gave me a 24 hour pass to basically get myself to the British embassy and get a new one made immediately. The label guy who picked us up at the airport must have been thinking who are these guys haha.

After getting my passport together Alan and I had decided to go for a wander around Singapore. We went into a food court and Alan who found a Fish and Chips place was trying his hardest to persuade me to join him in eating it, I wanted some Asian food being in Asia but Alan was telling me, come on man, it's like back home it's amazing etc, I stuck to my guns and got some rice dish while he was munching on his fish and chips, telling me man you are missing out, about one hour later he was walking around the streets throwing up in trash cans with the worst case of food poisoning I have ever seen, his face was literally green. What a sight we hadn't even been there a full day and I had to get an emergency passport because mine had been in a washing machine and Alan have being sick all over the streets of Singapore and ending up in a hospital with food poisoning!. Imagine what was to follow :)

Introduction to me. Part 1

Hi friends, I hope this finds you well.

I thought it would be a good idea to start writing a Blog - as a lot has been going on lately. I have been lazy or found too many excuses to update my website in the past but after a few people telling me I should write a journal, I decided to start writing this Blog, get a new website and get things off my chest at the same time. I will be updating this Blog regularly so keep posted.

I will start by trying to update you on all that I have been up to and where I am now.

I have to say thanks to the amazing Pati Gaitan for building my new site and generally encouraging and supporting my career. This business I am in can get really hard, discouraging and exhausting, so to have someone believe in you really keeps the show on the road. 

I have spent a lot of the last few months on the road with the amazing Indian Electronica Tabla player/drummer Karsh Kale, which has been a dream gig for me; it has fused all the elements that I have loved in music since it all began - I have loved Indian music since I was a child, through my connection with the great guitarist John McLaughlin.

While growing up in Newcastle (England), I wasn't involved in bass playing at all but I was more into being a DJ and playing dance music. I started playing the bass after I was involved in a horrific car accident which left me with a broken back; I was given a bass guitar while recovering, it was a gift to help me get over my intense depression and anxiety. I quickly became obsessed, the more time I spent practicing the less time I had to dwell on my present state and future. It became pretty obvious pretty quickly to my family that this was becoming more than a hobby but indeed a way of life.

My father had suggested that I contact my uncle John McLaughlin to ask his advice on the next steps; John has been an amazing and supportive mentor to not just my music but my life in general and has taken me under his wing. The first time I watched him on the road was with his Organ Trio featuring the incredible Joey Defrancesco and Dennis Chambers, it just seemed like the coolest lifestyle and still is today even though it's full of challenges and lack of sleep. When I first saw John with Shakti my mind was completely blown away, I was watching them rehearse in sound check the most complicated but yet beautiful and healing music, the way they communicated with each other, with love and trust, was something I had never seen before. During the show I remember feeling nervous, like a feeling that everything was about to change and pretty quickly, after that, it did. I think the reason that this music speaks to me so much is because of the spiritual nature of it, I mean the reason I started in the first place was a way for me to heal, After that show I said to John, I want to be a musician and travel like you but, am I to old? He looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘you have time, but you need to go to America, in fact you need to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston and eat sleep and drink music’. Within the next 6-8 months I found myself in another country, living another life completely.

I remember my first ensemble class was a nightmare and huge reality check to where I was musically and physically. The teacher suggested we play a blues piece to get familiar with each other, she counted it off and everyone started playing but me. I had no idea what a blues was or what to play. It was very embarrassing to say the least. The guitarist said "why don't you let me play bass and you just watch and learn" I think it was one of the worst feelings in my life. I basically went back to my room and wrote out the most intense practice schedule trying to organize my time around my classes so I could basically try and catch up.

Whilst studying at the Berklee, I got really into Jazz music and totally abandoned the DJ lifestyle. I quickly got absorbed in learning and practicing all things Jazz and if I'm honest, I can say that I became a bit of a jazz snob, disregarding all other music that actually inspired and moved me growing up. As I became more confident in myself musically and spiritually, I realized the error of my ways and started looking for my place in music...Part 2 coming soon...