About
All of America celebrated my birth, which was on July 4th 1955 and every year they still celebrate that day!
My Dad's work meant that when I was 2 years old we left England and moved to Montevideo, Uruguay for 5 happy sunny years, living a 2 minute walk from the River Plate's beach. The other side, Argentina, was about 100 miles away.
Various sea and air crossings between England and Uruguay, in 3 Ocean Liners and a de Havilland Comet 4 (the world's first jet airliner), made a huge impression on me, particularly seeing the engine rooms of those liners.
The lively music in Montevideo, especially at Carnival time, was inspiring even if frighteningly loud. This and my parent's love of all types of music from around the world gave me 'big ears" for music.
We returned to England in the Winter of 1962-3, one of the coldest on record, and lived for a while in a drafty, unheated wooden summer house on coastal salt marshes a few miles from Southampton, a terrible contrast to the relaxed, idyllic sub-tropical paradise I had loved!
18 months after returning to UK, in July 1964, we moved to Washington D.C., USA. We sailed on the aging but magnificent Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth (1938), which later burnt out in Hong Kong Harbour. QE was the biggest liner in the world and continued to be until relatively recently, and this trip was unforgettable. My older brother and I were schooled in England and went to USA for holidays, going once more by sea on S.S. France, plus many trans-Atlantic flights on planes including BOAC's stunning Vickers Super VC 10s, still my favourite airliner. At this time the term "Jet Set" appeared, and we were part of it! During this time, from about 10 years old, I developed a strong interest in Prog, Classical, Folk, Jazz and World music. I became desperately keen to play drums, but family and teachers did not know what drum kits were or where to buy them so I was given piano lessons. I also became very keen on making things: Airfix kits, Meccano, Lego, balsa wood etc., and I loved taking things to pieces to see how they worked After nearly five years we moved permanently back to Kent, England.
Eventually I saved enough pocket money to buy a basic, incomplete used drum kit and took to it immediately, occasionally playing guitar too. I also got interested in photography, film and animation. I joined bands and soon started playing gigs and recording; I also made various small drums and accessories, gradually increasing my skills. Eventually I came to work with quite a number of rock, jazz, R&B and folk bands, played for musicals and pantomimes, and for amateur and semi-pro Symphony Orchestras. These days I concentrate on my solo work, although I do occasionally record and play gigs with other musicians. Ukulele, drums, timpani and percussion, keyboards and guitar are my regular instruments, but I also dabble at various others, I am a "Jack of all trades, master of none"!
I had long wanted to own and learn to play Pedal Timpani (the big copper "Kettle Drums" which add such drama and excitement to orchestras and brass bands) but their huge size and cost always prevented this. I ended up inventing Tour Timps (see the "Instruments" page) and was soon playing in amateur and semi-pro orchestras and occasionally in brass bands; the fact that I had my own timpani which fitted into a smallish car, and that I could get them unaided to and from rehearsals and concerts probably helped rather more than my somewhat limited skills at playing them!
One great delight was going to a concert by The Outrageously Romantic Symphony Orchestra playing Stravinski's "Rite of Spring" and Copeland's "Fanfare For The Common Man" using eight Tour Timps - a set of four I had made for them, plus four of mine, including the impressive 40" diameter one, which I lent to them. I also saw a great concert by Irish Celtic/Prog band Dead Can Dance, using the pair of Tour Timps I had made for them. A few years later during a short holiday in New York I visited a Drum shop. The owner asked me where I was from and what I did. When I told him that I made Tour Timps he told me that he had seen Dead Can Dance a few days earlier and had been amazed by their Tour Timps. As we chatted, the shop's repair technician came out to join in. He said that he was from UK but had worked his passage to New York in July 1964 on the Queen Elizabeth. I suddenly recognised him, he was the Steward who had entertained us with conjuring tricks!
After making and selling about 100 Tour Timps in London I teamed up with a Texan friend to mass produce them over there. He was an amateur timpanist and a Boeing 777 Captain. On some of my many trips between London and Dallas he was Captain of the plane that myself and some Tour Timps were on; one time I had 3 complete Tour Timps in three bags, one with all 3 stands, one with the 23" drum inside the 29" drum, and all my clothes etc. in the 3rd, and no Excess Baggage Charge! I occasionally joined in with his band in USA, once doing a gig at the exclusive Dallas Country Club, where fireworks, lavish festivities and amazing food and drink were laid on, a fine way to celebrate Independence Day and my birthday!
The skills I developed in designing and building Tour Timps led to me making many other instruments and accessories, plus making props for TV, Museums and Stage, and also games, automata, dioramas and mechanical toys (see examples on other pages of this site).
Making and playing things are still central to my life, but now I also write a variety of songs and music and have my own Home Studio. This is my favourite place to work, affording me maximum musical creativity. I have released several CD albums of my own music and songs and I am now also releasing songs and music on-line.
I have settled near the coast in semi-rural southern England where I look after seven alpacas.