I've been playing music since having piano lessons at about the age of 6 or 7. I learnt clarinet and then saxophone formally and did my grade 8 when I was 18. I also taught myself guitar and have been playing in bands with that since I was about 14. Since then I've learnt to play whatever instruments I could get my hands on - bass, banjo, ukulele, harmonica, drums... ...next on the list is cello, but jeepers that is HARD :-o I have pretty diverse tastes in music but most of the stuff I play and write is somewhere in the region of pop / rock / folk. At a rough count I've written or co-written maybe one or two hundred songs in my time, so have a fair amount of experience; but of course whether or not any of it is any good is subjective ;-) I've experimented with electronic music too on and off over the years and have a fair amount of knowledge of engineering, recording and production. I've played in a range of live acts from an acoustic duo with close harmonies to full electric bands, to even a jazz big band. In terms of influences, there are a LOT but here's a few picks: The Beatles, Neil Finn / Crowded House, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nick Drake, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blur, PJ Harvey, Pulp, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Led Zeppelin, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Jimi Hendrix, Kathryn Williams, Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer / Dresden Dolls and lots more... The free time I have to spend on music is limited these days by looking after my lovely daughter, who is 7, but it would be great to find some local musicians to jam and maybe write or gig with, in a low pressure way :)
