Artistic, poetic, creative to the point of obsession, fragile, fierce, paradoxical, capricious - a well-behaved yet zealously untamed creature clinging blissfully to the outer edges of this dimension and facing this mad, beautiful world with all the stubborn optimism of a puppy running the wrong way on a conveyerbelt . . .
What I Do (the short version)
Put simply, I am a composer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist and producer.
I tend to mostly work on my own solo projects, but I'm also very interested in recording or arranging for others. If you'd like to work with me, please do get in touch.
As far as performance goes I can offer vocals (lead, backing and texture - listen to my work to hear examples of what I mean by this), violin and piano. I also offer arrangement and production services, and I love to work with film and other media. If you like what you hear on this site and are interested in any of this, let me know and we can discuss your ideas. I don't set any fixed rates, as I find every project has different requirements.
A Butterfly in a Hurricane (the long version)
I could fill this page with boring, ordinary facts such as how long I've been playing the piano and how long I've been composing music, and the people I've worked with and the places I've been and the qualifications and prizes I've been awarded and what I do for a living aside from all this, and so on. However, since that tells you next to nothing about me and my passions, and since it's all quite irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, (well, what isn't, really?) let's just skip those bits . . .
Music is something that, to me, has always represented freedom of the most beautiful kind. At every corner of my life it has been there to embrace and transform me, faults, weaknesses and all. As many people do, I use it to escape, to reflect, to heal, to evolve, to let go, to remember and to forget. I've often thought to myself that I'd be nothing without music; over the past few years I've come to understand that, on the contrary, the apparent necessity of being something is a burden that it allows me to escape again and again and again. In creativity there is nothing but the raw, the naked and the genuine. There is no greater freedom. ♥
For a long time now I've felt that, as life unfolds around us, we unravel in layers. There's a tightly bound knot I've been picking at for years. :) I have spent too many of my 23 years of existence worrying endlessly that nobody really knows who I am. I used to think it was a terrible thing to be quiet, introspective, watching; living quietly. I'm still living quietly. I still don't belong anywhere tangible and I don't think I've marked anything that wasn't already marked - life leaves its fingerprints and I've acknowledged them, embossed them and framed them for the world to see because we all have the same marks and we all feel the same things. Art (as in the whole range of expressions, including music) is a lot of things to me; a gateway to my kindred spirits is just one of them.
It's also my own personal looking glass. It's a connection to everything that I am, have been, might have been, can be, will be and want to be. It's hard to explain in words just how much of my spirituality lies within my musical universe. To say music is sounds and notes on a page, or systems and theories, is completely mad. I'm baffled by those who treat it - or any art - as something to be systematically mastered. It's a whole other universe.
Musical Language
I always found it incredibly difficult to choose a genre/style and define myself by it. My music mostly sits within a modern, melodic, ethereal vein of pop music with a mixture of electronic and acoustic elements. I suppose it's characteristically whimsy and poetic, from the heart.
That said, the new album is set to explore new territory. Who knows what it might uncover? There are a lot of things I haven't really learned to express yet.
I'm predominantly a songwriter, because that's what comes most naturally to me and I really like the directness of expression through song, but I also like to write instrumental music and soundscapes. I enjoy exploring different textures and the digital manipulation of sounds. Certain styles are easier for me than others, but I'm always enthusiastic about trying new things. I don't want to stand still for too long.
Inspirations and Influences
Being inspired and creating anything is really a bit of a philosophical process; life experiences, encounters and relationships are my biggest inspirations. In exploring what it means to be alive, to feel and to be human, I find endless inspiration. I'm always meeting people who challenge me, fascinate me and make me question what's in front of me. :) Most of these people have no idea how much they give me; they're just being themselves. It's lovely.
I'm fascinated with the treasures of the collective human imagination, especially mythology and fantasy, although I prefer the darker and more enigmatic facets of fantasy, rather than the obvious. I really don't want to write about dragons and faeries and unicorns and angels that aren't layered and wild and dark and real. That's why I loved Jan Siegel's novel Prospero's Children so much. There's such a haunting beauty in that book. There is a lot I'm unwilling to reveal on a public website, but I do get frustrated with shallow, watered-down portrayals. I love fairytales because there is so much depth to their symbolism and they can reveal so much about both humanity and ourselves as individuals. There is really a lot of inspiration there, especially in those tales that are stranger and lesser known. One day I have to make an entire full-length album solely based on fairytale material.
I'm inspired by the realms of poetry, metaphor, imagery, symbolism. I'm inspired by art as a whole, and what it stands for. Art is as limitless as our imaginations, and as artists we aren't bound by any rules. We can choose our paths; it's our freedom to create. Art is about expressing something, having something to say and being bold. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering. It usually isn't. I'm constantly inspired by the artists I know - the painters and the poets and the photographers and the writers and as well as the musicians. It is really touching to see people expressing pieces of themselves, their dreams or their emotions and I think it can be really, really brave to express in such an honest way. I feel constantly driven to project something more real and more honest and more individual.
Visions and Ambitions
I really am fiercely independent, in all aspects of my life but especially my music. I get so frustrated when I can't so everything myself, because I have such a clear vision in my mind of what I want my music to be that I'm convinced it will be spoiled by interference! That said, I do love to collaborate - that's a completely different kettle of fish. If something is shared from the start, the life it takes on is totally different. It's rewarding and refreshing. If I work on a piece of music with somebody else, and we both engage ourselves fully in it, I tend to feel a lot closer to that person at the end of it - there's something special about it that's hard to explain.
If I have a vision for my music it's just to let it take whatever shape it needs to take. For me, there is a big difference between making music of a certain type because somebody is paying me to do so and making music of a certain type because that was a part of its natural growth, independent of what anybody expected of me. I've discovered over the past few years that the first sort can be quite stressful for me if it means that I have to override my natural expression. It doesn't always happen that way - sometimes it's really beneficial and can lead to genuine new creative discoveries. Sometimes it really drains me. I am interested in pursuing collaborative opportunities that genuinely inspire me (so if you are interested in working with me then please let me know, and we can discuss!), that can teach me something and help me to grow in the right direction.
One of my biggest barriers at the moment is my technology. All my creative ideas are in limbo while I attempt to save up enough money to invest in some decent recording equipment. I am really excited about that, obviously! :)
I'm also excited about my label, Faefly Records. It's all just a very small seed at the moment, newly planted, but I'm prepared to work at it and I hope that someday I'll be helping other people to achieve their own artistic visions as well as fulfilling my own and building up a network of like-minded souls. Time will tell. For the moment, I'm the happiest I've ever been just doing what I do.
