The bio that is more relevant and less twatty

Here is a breakdown of the history and progress to date of the various instruments I play, the roles I have fulfilled and anything I feel may be worth a mention. My skill set and level varies depending on each instrument, so I shall list these beginning with what others would consider my most prolific and useful.

VOCALIST

Singing is something that has been a part of my life through its entirety. At a very young age I could hold a tune, but it wasn't till my late teens when I first started being involved in garage bands that I started trying to attempt to sing like artists I was listening too. Listening to bands such as Iron Maiden, Pantera, Marilyn Manson, Korn and the like pushed me into a singing style that helped me develop a bit of venom in my voice. I began to sing backing vocals in various bands I was involved with; also a change in musical inspiration led me down a more eurometal/rock route, which helped me temper the attack with more range and control. 

As the years passed I discovered that instead of singing in my own voice, which I always had considered rather bland, I tended to mimic the artist I was singing along too. This became very handy when I eventually was asked to sing in covers bands, as I could add touches of the original artists flavour for more of an authentic sound. As covers band gigging became a regular feature in my life, it led me on different ventures and opened me up to singing various other styles and also some rather interesting collaborations and shows. I have been lucky enough to do various bits of tour work with various artists including singing for Carmine Appice, Michael Angelo Batio and Elliot Dean (RIP you awesome man) on their English Dean/DDdrum tour.

I have also of late, performed and recorded for various music library sessions for American companies doing the vocals for trailer and film music. 

In short, my singing is what gets me my most work. My influences are beyond count and I'm always looking to expand my style and voice vocabulary. When it comes to performing live as a front man I am very much a man who loves to entertain and gets just as much enjoyment, if not more, from the reactions of a crowd. I very much enjoy spontaneity and onstage antics when appropriate, without compromising my performance.

Vocal range wise and am very lucky to have what is very nearly a 4 octave vocal range. My lowest being a D1, in falsetto I can hit (on a good day) a B4. Generally I would consider myself a tenor for chest voice and can sing in the range of most of the classic rock bands from the past decades.

Bass

Bass is an instrument I came too more out of necessity than voluntarily. Due to a severe shortage of bass players at a certain point in my cover band history, I found it was easier than hunting round for a bass player, to just pick up the bass and learn enough to get by with what the band needed. After this I found that more and more work started coming in for stand in bass jobs and I ended up playing many shows with various people. I also ended up doing some tour session work which I never had anticipated, with Carmine Appice on his drum clinic tour of the UK.

I never intended to be a bass player. As I said it was more of a convenience thing and ways and means of helping people out of a sticky situation and to help with my own songwriting.

But people need bass players it seems, so here I am doing my best to pretend I am one lol. Hence why I rank this at number 3

GUITAR

Oddly enough, guitar was one my main instruments through my early teenage years. I started playing at around the age of 14 due to being massively influenced by the Britpop era of the 90's. Couple that with having grown up listening to bands such as The Eagles, Jim Croche and my own fathers playing, it was kind of inevitable for me that I’d pick up the guitar at some point.

I found with guitar my love and skill of acoustic playing outstripped my electric guitar playing and I found myself doing more acoustic and vocal performances than anything band based. I have played acoustic sets at weddings, birthdays, christenings and the like. Also in pubs, restaurants and most other occasions that required such things.

My electric guitar skills have mainly served me in my songwriting for various projects and serve me well enough...but I think that’s where they should stay lol

SONGWRITING

After writing some very bad teenage poetry about girls, (we've all been there) I didn't go near any kind of songwriting until around year 2010. I was right in the height of my power metal fandom and decided to sit down one day and try and write a power metal song. From this spawned a flurry of activity and almost complete obsession which lead to me writing the album "light years from destiny" for my own band "Guardians of Andromeda". It was a self-release that got some decent reviews and allowed us to play some shows at places like Bloodstock and Hammerfest in the UK.

I carried on writing more material in the background over the years in preparation for a second album, which turned out to be quite more advanced than my initial efforts. The orchestration had become much more involved, songs were far more intricate and the whole general feel of the material had become far more prog metal. Sadly due to musical commitments on other fronts this material has had to go on hiatus but hopefully when time allows, will be picked up soon.

After taking a break from songwriting I was asked by American music library Alibi to contribute to a rock album they were working on in which they needed lyrics to already completed songs. 

Songwriting is a passion of mine, but sadly as stated before, performing does tend to get in the way of my personal and original musical ventures. But such is life and we all have bills to pay ;)