Before getting involved in music I had been painting and writing poetry for many years, since age 12. Back in South Africa I set up a MIDI studio which included three Roland D-110 sound modules, two Yamaha TX81Z sound modules, a Boss SE-50 effects processor, a Roland D-10 keyboard, a Roland A-880 MIDI patch bay, and a Boss BX-16 mixer. From this array you might conclude that I have a special predilection for Roland/Boss products. Actually, it's just a matter of what was universally available at the time.
Musician friends always used to quiz me about having THREE D-110's. And that at the same time as having the D-10 keyboard (which was basically the keyboard version of the modules). Well, apart from the fact that I was able to pick them up second-hand at a pretty good price, I had also programmed a shit-load of sounds for the D-10 and wanted to use as many of them as possible. I just needed some more damn polyphony. (Don't all of us keyboardists?!)
Well, with my modest array of MIDI gear I was able to mature a bit as a musician, and though it always embarrasses me to listen to some of the old pieces I composed when back in SA, I can't deny that the time I spent composing instrumental MIDI music helped tremendously in honing my compositional chops, and set me up well for some of the opportunities which would confront me on arrival in the States.
Lyrics are very important to me. After all, I started out writing poetry before I got involved in song-writing.
I'm not trying to shape my style and sound to any trends that are out there at the moment. Rather, I'm trying to just develop my own sound. I am more interested in being an original than being trendy. This said, I do not want to write songs that are so 'out there' that nobody can relate to them.
I definitely do have an attitide and a perspective on life which comes across in my music: a bitter-sweet blend of optimism and cynicism. Compare 'Rise up' to 'Accidental tourist'. I think most people swing between these different states. At different times people have different attitudes about life. At times they hate life, other times they love life. I think the only way to be a balanced person is to allow yourself to express these different feelings equally. A lot of grunge / punk-pop music out there at the moment is all negative. I think this is destructive. On the other hand, music which is all positive is also destructive since it's not realistic (never mind the fact that it makes me want to puke).
So my philosophy is to try and say it all. The good and the bad.
My instrumental music is often not easy to listen to, nor do I usually aim to make it easy to listen to. I try to push the boundaries of what music can be, in the very specific ways that I'm capable of doing that. I'm not a seasoned jazz musician, so I lack the compositional devices of complex rhythms, syncopations, and chord structures. Like somewhat of a musical hack, I feel my way around the universe of musical textures that await my exploitation.
Lacking formal training or education in music, I am constantly delighted to chance upon musical relationships that may already be "scientifically" categorized and assigned names in the field of music theory. But, what can I say? My ignorance - in this regard - is my bliss, for the whole world of music that may have already been discovered many times over is yet new and wonderful to me.
As I stumble clumsily along, I try to find ways - within the scope of my musical capabilities - to create music that will fascinate those who are prepared to make the effort to listen. Those who apply their mind to the listening experience may be pleasantly delighted by the ways in which my music may tweak with their mind.
My musical activities are now based in my private project studio located in California, USA.
I have a healthy array of different gear, including...
It's with this gear that I've spawned a new breed of songs, some light and pop-flavoured and others extremely heavy and relentlessly dark. A compilation of twelve of the less edgy of these songs can be heard on my first album release "12 Inches of Headspace".