| 1. When did you start dabbling in music?
I started young. My father was a Jazz piano player who would play Oscar Peterson on the piano, I would go in as a kid and sit and listen to him in wonder. When he left the room I would try and knock out tunes myself. When I was 15 I swapped my bike for a really bad electric guitar which I went home and plugged into my sister's hi-fi, she was not impressed. From there I started having bands in the garage and the rest, as they say, is history.
2. What training have you had?
As a musician, no formal training, I just picked things up by ear. Over the years I've been lucky to work and play with some of the best musicians around, that rubs off on you, playing with great people means you either get better or get a different job! As a trainer I've done a lot of public speaking, presentations and seminars to groups of anything from 10 to 3,000 people. Again, you either get good or get hungry.
3. When did you get into recording?
When I was 17 I bought myself a Tascam 244 Portastudio, that was a 4 track cassette based recording system that cost around $1800! In those days that was a miracle being able to record and mix on separate tracks. Once I got that then I was hooked, in fact I forgotten the stuff I've bought over the years, I just look music and technology and so recording ticks both of my passion boxes!
4. People you have worked with/for?
It's a long list and to name drop would sound like throwing pans down a stone staircase. I've worked with and for, in a technical and programming capacity UB40, T-Pau, Elton John, The Beat, New Order, Jools Holland, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Duran Duran, and Japan to name some of those blasts from the past... I'm old!
5. Why are you so good at training people?
I didn't know I was, perhaps it's the combination of my passion for the music and the gear coupled with a genuine desire to help people to use their gear without any barriers. I read the manual as a last resort (often because they are so badly written) so I guess that other's may feel the same, so I try to find a way of making things as simple as possible, I try not to pretend to be an expert, more a guy who's just figured it out. I also have a terrible sense of humour, which means when I train live there are a lot of laughs. |
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