a little about me as an artist…
I just wanted to give you a little background about me as an artist and what I am doing now and have done in the past.
I am a singer/ songwriter and composer from the UK who emigrated to Los Angeles from London in 2010. I’ve been lucky enough on occasions to be compared to such luminaries as David Gray, Damien Rice, John Mayer, James Taylor and Paul McCartney.
In 2005, I signed a publishing deal with Cheeky Music (Faithless, Dido) and subsequently a record deal with Champion records. In 2006, my song “Ache” was featured in the hit U.S. television series “Smallville.” Within 24 hours my previous website and Myspace site had taken over 130,000 hits, which led to me becoming the number 1 artist on Myspace in the US in that category for several months.
Since the “Smallville” debut, “Ache” has also been featured on the hit US TV shows “ER”, “Side Order of Life”, “One Life to Live” and just recently “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Lying Game”
Around that time my music came to the attention of film composer Klaus Badelt (Pirates of the Caribbean, Poseidon, The Pledge, 16 Blocks and Constantine).
Klaus commissioned me to write a song for the Werner Herzog movie ‘Rescue Dawn’ starring Christian Bale for which he was composing the score. The song “Lights” ended up being used on the soundtrack of the film and became Herzog’s favourite song on the album. As a result Klaus ended up generously collaborating and producing and financing my record The Dreamers Machine and took over my recording contract from Champion records, signing me to his label, Label Zero based in Santa Monica, California.
Two of my songs were also used on the award winning documentary, Skid Row featuring Pras Michel fom The Fugees about the desperate plight of the homeless in LA and I was heavily involved in the score working alongside Craig Eastman and Klaus Badelt.
I had the immense privilege of recording the album The Dreamers Machine at the infamous Henson studios in Los Angeles, in Paris and at the legendary Abbey Road studios, and it features some of the world’s greatest session players including:
Michael Landau (Joni Mitchell, James Taylor) Luis Conte (Phil Collins, Madonna, Jackson Browne, Sade) Tom Coster (Santana) Abe Laboriel (Dolly Parton, Elton John, Ray Charles, Madonna, Paul Simon), and Abe Laboriel Jr. (Paul McCartney, Sting, Eric Clapton)
James Guthrie, the Grammy Award winning producer and engineer of Pink Floyd, mixed an co-produced the album. It was mastered by Doug Sax who has worked with such luminaries as The Who, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, James Taylor and Jackson Browne. The strings were recorded with the London Metropolitan Orchestra in London’s famous Abbey Road studio one.
As a writer, i’ve been incredibly fortunate to write with the following award winning writers:
Sacha Skarbek (James Blunt, Jason Mraz, Adele, Miley Cyrus)
John Trivers and Liz Myers (Tina Turner, Eddie Money, Blue Oyster Cult, CBS Evening News)
Blair Mackichan (Will Young, Paloma Faith, Lily Allen),
Martin Briley (Céline Dion, N’SYNC, Michael Bolton)
Jamie Hartman (Rag’N’Bone Man, Christina Aguilera, Lewis Capaldi, Jennifer Hudson)
Mateo Laboriel (Jamie Foxx, Sex and the City, The Proposal, Step Up)
Ian Honeyman (Pirates of the Caribbean, Miami Vice)
Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, Paloma Faith, One Direction, the Libertines)
Paul Freeman (100 years war, Roger Daltrey)
I am currently finishing recording my 4th album which will be due for release in January. It has been a true gift to be able to do this during the pandemic and I am forever grateful to have been given the opportunity in the midst of such a difficult time.