Tell us about yourself and your music
I’m a multi-instrumentalist from London England who normally makes guitar-driven instrumental music. I picked up a guitar when I was around 12 years old, I’d always had a love for music before that but wanted to play the guitar. My sister got me one as a present and from there I taught myself how to play, first learning to play along to the songs that I loved using Tab books. After around 5 years of doing this, I became keen to create my own and it was still just a hobby at this point. I managed to get a job teaching music at a prison, that’s when I started to take things seriously. I learned enough instruments to be my backing band and had access to all of the instruments there as well as the use of a Studio which I built from scratch. As I haven’t been blessed with a great voice, I decided that shouldn’t stop me from creating my music and I could use the guitar as my voice. I studied the music of Buckethead, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Paul Gilbert to name a few and felt that I could tell stories using my guitar, hence why I have the tag line “telling stories that have no words”!
Talk to us more about your latest release
My latest release is called Why Stop Now and it’s a collection of 5 instrumentals, an E.P. They’ve been composed around a really busy point in my life with the birth of my first child, so it took a little longer than I would have liked to complete but I’m happy with the end product. The songs vary in styles, even instrumental guitar-driven music can be so diverse, I have such a diverse taste in music I try to incorporate all the different elements into my compositions. It starts with a funk-driven track called “Brown fury” and goes through all the elements of Hip Hop, Rock, and Pop that I love with the common theme being the lead guitar telling the story. I decided to call it Why Stop Now as even though I still work a full-time job, I’m married with a child now and have a general day to day life to get through as anyone does, I’m not about to stop composing music because I’m “Busy”. I find that a lot of people make excuses for not being able to do things which they want to do as they feel they don’t have time but I think if you want to do something and it’s really important to you that time can be made, no excuses!
What inspired you to write this release?
I had such an amazing year leading up to this release it’s hard to pinpoint one moment. The birth of my daughter was amazing, we’ve also been able to travel to a few places and take in different cultures. It’s a mixture of all of these things and a will to not stopping what I love so much that has contributed to the process of composing this release. I’m already halfway through the follow up for this release so currently riding a really good wave!
Describe the writing and recording process
The writing process normally comes from just sitting there with a guitar in my hand. I just put things together, or a random chord structure and then think of melodies to go over it. From there I work out how I would want the drums to sound and then a bass line and try to get a groove going. When I get to recording, I normally record a rough rhythm guitar section then lock down the drums. Once I’m happy with the drums, I put the bass guitar over it to get that solid backbeat going and add in any other instruments I feel add texture at that point. Once I’m happy with the backbeat I then re-record my guitars for a more finalized version. In the whole process, there will always be changes from the original idea I had to make everything fit together and make sense but I feel working like this works for me as it helps me add different elements to my compositions.
Any plans to hit the road?
Unfortunately, no current plans to hit the road and perform my own music but I am currently in the process of potentially hitting the road with a band, more on that to come in the coming months!
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
I try as much as I can to let the music do the talking. I do a lot on Instagram, especially during the writing and recording process to give my fans an idea of how I put these songs together and so they can actually see me playing every instrument on my songs. When it comes to releasing music, I reach out to places I feel my music may get covered like yourselves and submit my music for consideration to be reviewed. What I’m really trying to get at is to get my music synced for film/tv video games, so if there’s anyone out there who is reading this and likes what they hear please reach out!
Who have you been listening to lately?
My musical tastes are so diverse, currently, my playlist has Aerosmith, Post Malone, Soja, Joe Satriani, Mr. Big, Swae Lee, myself with this new e.p, Snow, Khalid, Maroon 5, it’s really all over the place!
Who are your biggest influences?
Biggest influences in music are some classic rock bands like Aerosmith, Guns n roses, Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Megadeth and. In terms of guitarists, my all-time favorite is Buckethead and then I also have been inspired by Richie Kotzen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Prince was such an amazing guitarist that he doesn’t get enough credit for
Tell us about your passions
My passions are obviously music, my family, my daughter, and sports.
What else is happening next in your world?
I’m already recording the follow up for this release and have some major things happening in my personal life, but like my e.p “Why Stop Now?” I won’t let that sidetrack me from releasing my next e.p before the end of the year!
Thanks for an awesome interview, cknova@live.com
Connect with cknova@live.com
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