The Waterstrider and the Watchmaker

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Born late 1958 of Anglo german parents, I spent my early years in a small town north of Hamburg, then in various army camps before moving to Great Britain in 1968. My first sign of an interest in music was at the age of 3, showing enthusiasm (and dancing along to) Telstar by Joe Meek. I admit to no memory of this, rather my mother told me about it. My parents were avid jazz fans, and at the age of 11 I was presented with a trombone, which almost put me off music completely. My enthusiasm was rekindled when a kindly neighbour gave me an old acoustic guitar. By then in my mid teens, I bought a second hand record player from a friend. The first record I bought was “Collected Organ Works Volume 1 by J.S. Bach, shortly followed by Midnight Mushrooms by Gryphon, and Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield. Then, when I started at winchester school of art, I spent my travel grant on my first electric guitar, and then hitchhiked to college for the rest of the year. Whilst at art school I played in a punk band called the BA (The original guitarist had to drop out because he shredded his fingers in his enthusiasm), however I was thrown out because I knew too many chords, and wore a woolly hat. Subsequent bands had names such as Scavenger, the Gestalt, Big Amongst Sheep, and Elidor. They all had one thing in common, they rehearsed a lot and never played any gigs. None lasted for more than a few months. The next band, The Morrigan was a different kettle of fish however. In its 25 year history it played a lot of gigs, including 2 stints at Glastonbury in the 90’s, and released five well received albums. In the end the band did not break up, rather it retired, and might yet crawl out of the woodwork. I released my first solo album in 2001, ” Isle of Eight,” followed by “The Mad Monk and the Mountain,” “The Southern Cross,” and now “The Anvil of the North.” When not musicing I can be seen pushing a lawn mower up and down at a local school. In the last 10 years I have become interested in computer animation and games, including games music, and have been using what I have learned, to make my own music videos