ABOUT ME
I started my career in music working for Studios 301 as an assistant engineer in 1987. During my time with the company I had the privilege of working on sessions for soundtracks, jingles and albums for artists including Noiseworks, Slim Dusty and Icehouse. It was an incredible experience and an enviable "fly on the wall" education learning from some of the best producers and engineers in the business. Despite the opportunity, after a while I realised engineering wasn't the direction I wanted to go and left the company to pursue my dream of a career as a guitar player.
At the time I'd been playing for 10 years and had studied under a number of teachers. I was also playing with several bands in pubs and clubs around town. I started teaching a small number of students while continuing self-paced study and lessons with various teachers across a variety of genres.
I began my full-time teaching career in 1990 after accepting an invitation from a local high school to initiate a guitar program. Within 5 months I was teaching over 60 students a week. This lead to a 20-year stint of teaching guitar and bass in several schools around Sydney, while also teaching thousands of hours of private lessons.
In the early 90s I began studying and experimenting with MIDI sequencing and music production. I also worked as a session guitar player on several television and radio ad campaigns including Delva Shampoo, Australian Red Cross & Coca Cola. Around the same time I was hired to write and produce the revamped jingle for Jamberoo Recreation Park, which I also played all the instruments on. The campaign was a huge success and remained on Australian television for many years.Â
These days I run a private teaching studio based in Belrose on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Sometimes I help students prepare for upcoming gigs including performance coaching and gear advice. In other lessons I may be taking someone through a technical or theory aspect of the instrument or teaching them a song they love. Many of my current and former students perform regularly and some have gone on to record albums, tour nationally and appear on television. Although some students want to prepare for exams or tertiary study with a view to a career in music, most people want to learn to play just for the enjoyment of it. Students range in age from pre-teen to retirees and in skill level from complete beginner to advanced. For me the best part is meeting people from all walks of life and helping them experience the joy of playing and achieving their musical goals.
After all these years I'm still as passionate as ever about music and playing guitar. I listen to country, pop, rock, jazz,"acoustic singer/songwriter", folk, blues and more - I love it all. Outside music some of my favourite things are weekend BBQs, quality time with family and friends, watching Sea Eagles games and time spent outdoors.
