I first started creating music and playing live in 2015 and I am forever grateful for all those people who have offered support and encouragement. My first ever ukulele tutor Jessica Bowie got me into singing when she came to give me a music lesson and having never done any singing before it was (‘m being polite here) a very new experience. Her encouragement kicked off my musical journey and to my surprise and delight she agreed to be in my first band “The Small Change Diaries” named after Tom Wait’s album ‘Small Change. Next year I am reforming the band to play part of a support slot with Martin Simpson as part of the Music for Head and Heart 4th showcase. How mad is that?
I’d only played two small local support gigs with “The Small Change Diaries” in 2016, when we were invited to play at Lagoa Guitar Festival main stage. We got the invite because I had created a great online presence for the band, which suggested we’d been around for a very long time. This was the first baptism of fire and set the scene for a pretty wild foray into “the music business”
It took me three albums, numerous airplays and some professional artist feedback to finally begin to believe in my own work! I remember playing the first Small Change Diaries album to a famous professional musician and praying he didn’t start shaking his head of say something like “interesting” which of course is a polite non comment. Instead, he gave me some great practical feedback and encouragement. Another massive support was my producer Carl who has been a constant support and key catalyst for musical creation. In 2015 when I was first in the studio all I could do was to focus enough to play in time and get close to being in tune! With each album this got a lot easier and these days I’m pretty relaxed about the whole process and much more ambitious. Self-doubt is a two-edged sword; it can propel you to create better work, but if you don’t keep it in check, it’s easy for it to end up in a downward spiral!
Enter Agi, the vocal gamechanger
I first met Agi almost exactly four years ago and her vocal support and musical encouragement has been invaluable. I decided to get vocal lessons and she looked like a great option. I remember in the early lessons thinking “Fucking hell, this singing requires a lot of paying attention!” For the first two years all I could hear from her in my head was “MORE EXPRESSION!” She was of course 100% on the money and has become a dear friend, a brilliant tutor as well as contributing to over 50 tracks to date. We played live together with “The Caravan of Dreams” and during covid we used lesson time to put down vocals on dozens of tracks. She has a unique skill in creating harmonies and is a genuinely wonderful human being.
Band member support
I parachuted into playing with a number of seasoned musicians in later life and these folks have been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. many have played on my albums, and I am flattered that they would do so. The list includes Laurent Zeller from France who I first met in Lagoa, Michael Ross from Nashville and Towse from California. the latest album “All is fine ’til the world goes pop” brings together many of these great artists and I’m super proud of the result.
Stay away from the status seekers and those with poor manners
In contrast to all of the above there are of course others who are definitely don’t really embrace the idea of support and enthusiasm unless it’s for their own personal agenda. I remember one artist comment “Never collaborate with anyone unless they are higher up the musical ladder than yourself” Another similar mindset took the time to post a dismissive comment online regarding the new album, calling it ‘a vanity project” I pointed out how disrespectful that was to all those across the globe involved in making this music.
Worse still, the exact same person was more than happy to use a quote I provided for him for his one-man business! The fact that somebody would go out of their way and to take the time to post such stuff really tells me all I need to know about them.
I mentioned that I’d now personally take the time to pass on his comments to all those artists who played on the album, and all these professional artists can decide for themselves what kind of motivation is at play here with such behavior. The first one responded saying ‘This bitter character has way too much time on his hands” Of course, this is just one example…
Fortunately, I have few such folks in my orbit and instead focus on working with those people who can agree to disagree without such immature behavior which makes for very poor business and personal relationships.
Green Eyed Records for “creativity through collaboration”
I set up Green Eyed Records to help support artists and encourage “creativity through collaboration” There’s really no downside for any artist involved but amazingly I still heard on artist superfan comment ‘I don’t think GER is really right for artist X” I was astonished as the exact same artist was endlessly bemoaning his lack of reach to a wider audience and financial status and GER would have manifestly helped address this longstanding problem.
The association was good enough for the likes of world class journalist Sylvie Simmons to be involved as well as hugely successful artists like Jim Glennie, Jon Gomm and Martin Simpson all of whom demonstrate the exact ethos of GER and are happy to help others. In my view that’s one of the reasons why they are so successful and continue to expand their audience. It’s a joy to host both Martin and Jon with musical showcases through GER and Music for The Head and Heart. Both Jon and Chris Catalyst from the Sisters of Mercy were also kind enough to give really well considered testimonials on some of my work.
