I grew up with music all around me. My Mum and Dad were in bands, both separately and together. My brother also had a band. My uncles and aunties had a pretty successful band in the 1970s and those that weren’t in the band played music too. Not only did this mean that I was going to see live music being performed all the time, but it also meant that there were some great record collections that I could listen to and borrow from.

However unlike most of my family, I always preferred to do things on my own, rather than form a band. At school we were lucky enough to have a little studio and I seemed to be the only person at school who could figure out how to work any of it. This meant that I often got left on my own in there to do my own thing and this is still the way I make music today.

Making music primarily on my own has meant that I have learnt to play lots of instruments. Apart from singing I can turn my hand to guitars, keyboards, bass, and drums. However just because I say can play them, doesn’t mean I can play them well. So I would therefore say that my favourite instrument is the computer, as I love playing around with audio, midi and effects more than anything else.

What interests me when making music is trying to meld strict electronic computer generated music with more organic natural sounds. This often involves making new sounds from strange sources. Using the computer I can alter sounds I have recorded, such as change their speed, pitch, timing or dynamics to make new sounds. I then use these to make new rhythm and melodic sounds. I also collect unusual instruments. In fact for Christmas last year I asked people to get me any that they could find. So far I have instruments including a shruti-box, an ocarina, a harmonium, an otamatone and a budda machine. I’ve found that playing with these odd instruments often leads to ideas for songs.

I’ve built my own studio in the attic and although I have very much enjoyed recording and producing music for a variety of bands and solo artists, there is nothing I like better than writing and recording my own music. At the moment I’m in the middle of writing and recording my first album, which will be called ‘Parkview’, as that is what you can see when you look out of the window in my studio.

Sitting in my studio, looking out of the window at the park. I think I really must get on with making some music.