Music has always played a major part in my life, my earliest memories include playing with my cars in the front room with the Beach Boys greatest hits playing in the background ! I was about 5 at the time I guess… I also remember having a go on my Mum’s little red mono record player in the kitchen, she’d be peeling spuds or whatever and I’d be the DJ, spinning all the latest hits, Simon and Garfunkel, Tom Jones, Herman’s Hermits and such like !! Growing up in an Irish family it was essential to have a “party piece” which would be performed on all occasions, my first one was “I am Henry the 8th I am” but by the time I hit 9 I moved on to the Irish folk ballad “The ring your Mother wore”. This song has stuck with me ever since I’m afraid!! Another childhood memory is setting up the Tupperware in the living room and pretending to be the drummer in Slade whilst my brother Paul was Noddy Holder (he always got the best parts), both miming merrily along to the delicate tones of Slade Alive !!

I started a group with my friends at school when I was 14, I was to be the drummer but I didn’t have any drums ! Eventually I managed to persuade my Dad to buy a really old kit for £50 and so I was off !! At this point I still couldn’t play guitar but as time went on I started to become more interested in learning so with the help of an old guitar which I think my Mum had picked up at a jumble sale and a Beatles songbook I learned chords. We had a lodger living with us at the time who used to write poems and he asked if I could put some music to them which I did, recording them onto a cassette recorder (sadly I no longer have any of these tapes so if you’re reading this Deano get in touch!!). After this I moved on to writing my own songs and have continued doing so to this day !!

I was joined in the bedroom studio by my brother Paul who could already play guitar (his party piece had been “Sister Jane” for many years), together we formed a group with a friend of his on drums and proceeded to play a few gigs here and there, pubs, weddings, that kind of thing. From about 18 to 21 I went through the usual group thing, people would join and leave, the band would split, reform and then split again just as something interesting was about to happen !! Eventually it was just me and my brother who were left, we carried on and took out loans to buy recording gear which cost a fortune then !! We spent a lot of time recording and sending off tapes to record companies and not getting very far with them in those dark pre-internet days !! The closest we came to a “deal” was from CBS, who liked one song in particular and wanted a few more like it, we just didn’t have the resources/funds to record any more and so we had to wave goodbye to the possibility of our first contract.

After that life took us in different directions and I began to develop my own style, writing and recording songs about things going on in my life. In the years that followed, music became more a hobby than any serious attempt to forge a career. The strains of life seemed to take over and eventually I put the guitar down altogether.

2003 was to herald a new chapter in my life. I met my wife Sharon and Father Christmas brought me a new guitar, it seemed that songwriting was destined to be part of my life after all. As soon as I picked it up I was thinking up tunes and lyrics again and putting chords to the various hums I had had rattling around in my head for so long. Since then the music bug has taken hold again and I’ve been focusing on establishing myself within the music industry as a songwriter.