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History
Inveterate
white collar computer-basher and songwriting impersonator;
born in Salonika, Greece in 1953; resident at Herga, Maidenhead
& St Albans "Windward" folk clubs; 30+ years with 'the
best girl north of the South Pole' (Vanessa); a son (Martin,
b1982); a daughter (Aliki, b1985); a grandson (Timmy, b2002); a dog
(Lyddie, b1997); and we all belong to the amputee cat (Archimedes,
spawned from the jaws of hell in 1993).
The music:
I've always been involved with music in one way or another. From
school choirs (where I discovered Carmina Burana by Carl Orff), in
the 60's I was guitar-bashing protest songs in Greek 'boites' and
briefly playing lead guitar in a teen band ("Drosophila
Melanogastris" - "aphids" to the rest of us), while
also discovering mediaeval French and Italian songs; at teenage
parties in Greece at the time about 50% of the music was
English/American - the rest was Italian and French pop (I still
drool over Mireille Matthieu's eyes & voice); in the UK in
the 70's I fell in love with folk and tried my hand at it in the
Midlands, both solo and in a trio (Cosmopolitans), but I also heard
the wonderful sound of the King's Singers and got some more
madrigals under my belt; in the 80's I rediscovered
Byzantine chant and sang in a choir that won the 1982 Eisteddfod;
in the 90's I found some gems in the Netherlands, like the group
Flairck (ears that have not heard them are impoverished) and the
wonderful Angelo Branduardi (superb application of traditional style
to contemporary subjects); and in the 2000's, back in the UK once
more, I picked up the folk threads again with the help of the Herga,
Maidenhead and St Albans folk clubs. All along, I had of
course been listening to contemporary stuff, from my generation's
staples (Beatles, Who, Canned Heat, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, ELO
etc) to Jake Thackray, Clive James/Pete Atkin (still top of my all
time list, their stuff is the best kept secret in the music world),
Tom Lehrer (his mastery of language and rhyme leaves me crying with
frustration - his songs leave me crying with laughter) and more
recently Stan Rogers, Graeme Miles, Robb Johnson, Dave Webber,
Steve Hughes and the multitude of superb contemporary songwriters
that enrich folk music and of whose ability to create beauty from
words and sounds I am always deeply jealous.
The songs:
Then, in April 2001 something happened. I am still not sure
what it was, but the result is 104 songs and four albums so far:
'Countryside Like This' and 'Perfect Moments' came out in October
2002 under my home-label of Mellows Productions, and 'Silent
Majority' in March 2003 under Robb Johnson's UNLaBELLED label.
"Life as usual" was released in March 2004, also under
UNLaBELLED. What's more, people seemed to like them, and I started
getting invitations for gigs. And more important, singers like
Martyn Wyndham-Read, Roy Bailey, Andy Irvine, Vin Garbutt,
Cloudstreet, Joe Stead, Roy Harris, Johnny Collins, Cockersdale etc
were asking to sing my songs. Things were becoming serious, perhaps
my 'faffing around' was producing something worthwhile! But I
don't want to let it become so serious that I will stop enjoying it.
I just consider it a lucky 'streak', and I intend to ride it as far
as it will take me.
Looking back at what I have written so far, I now realise
something that must have been there all along, yet I had never
acknowledged overtly: I am driven by love of people with their
imperfections (BECAUSE of their imperfections, even) and love to
watch and support them as they struggle through daily life. It was
always there; the songs acted as the relief valve to let it out. I
still carry idealism too, no longer naive but tainted already with
the compromises and stresses of adulthood. In a way, my songs are a
cry of fear that I might one day lose my idealism altogether. But
still, in my world all is not gloom and doom; there are lots of
perfect moments, and I am determined to enjoy and celebrate them
all.
Of course, I don't know how long this will go on. Is my songwriting
just a phase? Will the next song ever be written? Will I know it
when I have "dried up"? God knows. Meanwhile, I am having
the time of my life; and meeting lots of people in the folk circuit;
and making friends - good friends; and when, every now and then, I
hear another voice singing a song of mine, I feel the need to say
"thanks".
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