Hello!
Hitting the not-so-tender-anymore-but-still-sort-of-a-bit-tender age of 30 is a landmark for anybody. So it comes with a tad more reflection than is typical that I look back on my most varied, chaotic, and downright bloody enjoyable year as a professional musician to date.
Maida Vale bbcr1
Kicking things off in January I hit Maida Vale with IDER, for a Radio 1 recording session.
IDER are a duo led by Meg and Lily - a veritable pop powerhouse who have written some of the most beautiful pop songs I’ve been lucky enough to record to.
Lily and Meg listening back to the mix with in-house engineer Simon.
Astraea filming
Shortly after this came another wonderful Mahogany session, this time with Astraea, who I had begun to work with last year. It never gets old watching an artist grow, and this project is certainly no exception - Jennifer is not only a phenomenal vocalist and pianist, but a composer of very high esteem indeed. Not only a performer, she composes and arranges wonderful re-interpretations of famous songs which have appeared in a multitude of nationwide commercials of recent years, such as this year’s ‘Very’ Christmas advert.
Happy drummer!
A silhouetted look for the Astraea session
music direction for ADMT
Donning the Music Director cap I headed up North, incidentally to my birth-town of Doncaster, to meet and begin work on the live show for pop R&B artist ADMT. An immense vocalist (and drummer), we had a great couple of days of laughs and rehearsal to prep him and his band up for Live and Leeds festival.
Declan J Donovan
This was concurrent to touring with rising pop star Declan J Donovan - already established in Germany, the crowds were packed, and as always in Germany, wonderfully warming. It’s a super fun project to be involved with, not only is Declan a consummate professional capable of dealing with all the stresses and strains of touring and live performance (and only 23), but the team are all top-notch human beings. With music direction from Mike Park, FOH from Matt Acreman and Tom Rogers, TM duties provided by Andy Bibey, and bandmate Scott Nelson - it’s a great feeling when everyone pulls together to create something greater than the sum of it’s parts.
Waiting for Smith
Next up was beginning work with the effortlessly cool Waiting for Smith, having been invited in by the brilliant music director and drummer Luke Marc Hughes. This was a really slick operation from the get-go, Luke having assembled a great team. Non-stop jokes and laughter, as well as fantastic music of course - sending hearty big ups out to Harry Lloyd (the artist!), Tim Hillsdon (drums), Carl Holt (bass), & Alex Lanyon (Guitar/keys).
Tom Walker in Lisbon
As we entered the summer I began gearing up for another couple of shows with team Tom Walker, this time a headline show in Lisbon, Portugal, as part of the festival NÖS Alive 2019, and a pop festival at Arena Birmingham.
For NÖS Alive, once again sitting in for Alastair Thynne, the show has developed a great deal from the last time I performed with them 9 months ago, so it was a lot to get through - and a full 60 minute show. It’s no small thing to perform to 50,000 people after being away from a project for so long, but everything went smoothly and I had a ton of fun with the guys as always. Shout outs to Dave Glover (TM), Pete Lee (keys), Sam Odiwe (bass), and of course Tom, for being a bunch of bloody legends, super warming, and incredibly easy to work with.
Ultimatum
Nearly immediately having retuned from Portugal, it was a giant head-space switch back to my solo production Ultimatum, to get ready to showcase for a number of events entertainment agents at Music Bank. The show was already well underway and receiving bookings, so I’ve put a little collection of best bits below.
More Declan J Donovan!
Back out is was for to make my debut on a tour bus, for a good long stint back with Declan and the boys. Some highlights below, as well as an entire concert if you’d like to make yourself a brew and check it out (looking at you Mum and Dad).
If they didn’t have enough of me already…
Sticking with Declan, we then rounded off the tour with a stint in support of Tom Walker! Two parts of my professional life came together is an unexpected and lovely way. The tour finished with a show at Brixton Academy - and in another bizarre serendipitous twist - where in the past I performed with The Beach on my birthday and had happy birthday sung to me by the crowd, this particular show landed on Declan’s birthday, and we got another round sung for him!
Lauren Marsh came along for the photos, and took some of these winners below.
Who would’ve thought that on the two times I play Brixton prior to becoming 30, Happy Birthday featured in the set on both occasions.
A very happy chap.
Music Direction for KOKO
As the winter set in, I began work as musical director and drummer with the incredibly exciting new band KOKO. Without revealing too much at this stage, here’s a shot from the first rehearsal!
Family and Friends
Finally, of all the things I’m extremely grateful for in my life, nothing makes me more so than to have the family and friends I do. Here’s a few highlights from the year!
The big 3-0. This took place at a place called Novelty Automaton - one of the most idiosyncratic and delightful museums in London. GO!
The two people that enabled me to have the life I live!
My fiancée and I represented in a pretty accurate depiction of our lifestyle!
A new little man in the family!