About
I came to music late in life after a spell skilfully avoiding work to play the guitar in the royal navy. A brilliant time of intense guitar loafing sadly interrupted by an angry Margaret Thatcher and her epic designs in the cold and distant south Atlantic, the Falkland Islands. A good time for calming guitar sounds, the troops slept well as I played the Argentinean music of Jorge Morel
Instinct led me away from the navy to a more peaceful career in music. I gained a 1st in Jazz & Contemporary Music at the Leeds College of Music. Since then I’ve enjoyed a diverse career composing, teaching, performing, design innovation and making beats with my hip-hop rapper son G.I. Joe.
On my way, I’ve had the good fortune to study music with the author, teacher, historian Graham Wade at the Leeds College of Music; the gifted teacher, trombonist Iorweth Pugh at Exeter College; with guitarist conductor Steven Gordon at the Dartington College of Arts and the guitarists Bill McIntyre, David Stanley, and an inspirational lesson with the legendary flamenco guitarist Paco Peña. I’ve been commissioned to write music for guitar festivals and have written extensively for solo and ensemble guitar. Currently, I live in Bangor north Wales teaching veterans suffering from PTSD from various conflicts, writing, performing and running our micro company Mundo 
Music Gear. I started Mundo Music Gear after I created an ergonomic system to deal with my repetitive strain injuries after years of playing guitar. It was also an opportunity to give our teenage son some meaningful work.
Somebody asked me why I write music for the guitar? I said I don’t know, never had a reason, I just do. Truth is, I’m always playing the guitar and when I’m not, it’s on my mind, it suits my way of thinking, it’s a way of life. I come from a big, creative family from parents who understood encouragement not boundary. We made everything, from clothes to guitars.
Big brother Paddy brought the guitar to our house; he made his own. He had a way with the rhythm & blues, he knew the chords, had the touch and could improvise all day. He acted on instinct, taught me the art of doodling and planted the desire to be creative. Today, most of my work is sculpted through continuous doodling, I hook into an idea then hours and hours of improvisation, moulding, shaping and discovery goes on. If I’m lucky, something will emerge in an hour or two, but mostly it takes days, months and even years. At times, I’ll play the same riff over and over until my fingers ache so much I have to stop. Other times I’ll work with a blank score no fingers, no guitar just the imagination.
I once heard Lennon & McCartney saying they wouldn’t learn to read and write music. They thought it would inhibit their creative flow. Well, it’s true, you needn’t learn to read music to write it. I don’t remember seeing the ‘Rolling Stones’, the ‘Who’, or maybe ‘Led Zeppelin’ or the ‘Sex Pistols’ with music stands on stage. Imagine what Jimmi Hendrix might have done with one? Personally though, I think it’s a great thing to do, something that enhances the creative flow and for me the best part of everything is finishing the written score. Everything comes together, new ideas are found and old ones are polished.
Performers who’ve inspired my playing: big brother Paddy an intuitive and very talented rhythm & blues player; the gifted guitarist composers Gerry Cahill and Jorge Morel; the flamenco guitarist Paco Peña and the brilliant classical guitarists Julian Bream and John Williams among others. In my writing, as far as I'm aware, I'm influenced by the work of Jorge Morel, Augustin Barrios Mangore, Paco Peña, Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), Villa Lobos, Django Reinhardt, J.S. Bach, an old blues playing shipmate Sugar Ray Somerford and my rapper son G.I. Joe.