2004 - 2009

I started playing drums at age 7 when my school hired a teacher for group lessons. There were four of us to start with, and I felt like I was the slowest to pick it up. I remember him introducing flams one lesson, and I had no idea what he was on about. The others dropped off one by one, and in the end it was just me. At age 9 I changed school, and the teacher was quite nasty. He shouted at me for forgetting my sticks a couple of times and I decided I wasn’t going to turn up any more (probably should have let my parents know). I quit for a year until I went back with my original teacher at his home studio. He was Les Arnold, brother of composer, David Arnold. I stuck with Les until 13 when I took up lessons at school in year 9.

2009 - 2014

Year 9 is when I really got into it. My first performance was to my music class, playing ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin Park with a friend on piano. I was pretty cool for the rest of the day. I joined the concert band, orchestra, big band, soul band, and played in the musical each year. There were several really talented musicians a few years above me, who have gone on to prolific music careers, which was quite inspiring.

I did level 2 and 3 Music BTec where we planned and marketed our own concerts, prepared our own sets, and composed and recorded our own music. Whenever I didn't have an after school rehearsal, I would be in the music room messing about on Cubase (recording software). I also joined the A level music tech class after being kicked out of GSCE history for being too disruptive. I would have done music tech at A level but they stopped running it due to lack of intake.

I also took up bass at age 14 because I thought it would make me a better drummer. There was a time when I played more bass as there was a young talented drummer, but no bassist. I was in a string of terrible punk bands where I developed the lifelong companion of tinnitus. 0/10 - do not recommend. Since then, I have learnt the art of hitting softly and protecting me ears.

2014 - 2022

I did think about going to music college for a jazz or performance degree, but the application and audition process was terribly stressful for me, and after two gap years, I decided it wasn’t going to happen. In that time, I landed a job for Bedfordshire Music Hub, helping at events and doing odd admin jobs to start with. Eventually I applied for their full time ‘music technician’ job. I was doing that for about 4 years until I became incurably disenfranchised by the sad reality of doing ‘proper work’.

In the meantime, I was gigging with various pub bands and community ensembles, burning the candle at both ends. It was good experience in retrospect, but it eventually caught up with me, and I was diagnosed with depression and social anxiety in 2020. It’s a shame, because I could have achieved so much more I have if I had the tools to deal with it sooner, but I had brushed it under the carpet for so long that I didn’t even recognise it. Several close friends pointed it out and helped me through it. I spent the next 2 years riding the ups-and-downs of steadying my mental health (an ongoing process), whilst also teaching and getting into recording and production.

I completed an online home studio course with mastering.com. This was formative for me, as it allowed me to turn my musical ideas into songs, and I could play piano and guitar well enough to make the music I enjoy. I did a couple of low-key projects for other people, and did a lot of stuff for my band, Kaleidos. The first serious project I finished for myself was ‘Isobel’ - the song I used to propose to my wife. She brings the best out of me.

2022 - present

We got married in August of 2022, and moved to Derbyshire, where she was already teaching. I had a busy summer of gigs which was nice, but that dried up in October, and I was worried I would have no work. In a series of miraculous events, I met my cousin’s fiancé who was from Chesterfield, and he knew of some teaching work that I could get in to. I messaged Mike from Red Dog Studios, and got my first student the next day. I am greatly appreciative of Mike for providing a stable teaching job during that time. I spent a lot of that time honing my piano and guitar skills, so I can now confidently teach those too.

I finished up at Red Dog Studios in April 2025 to pursue a community campaign to save the Polygon Centre in Alfreton. I now teach is schools and offer private lessons and other musical services in Alfreton, as well as continuing to gig and work on projects with several clients.