Songwriting is therapy for me. I love it.

As a contrast to composing to picture, the freedoms and challenges to make something stand alone as a complete entity is exhilarating. Plus it feels good to sing.

I’ve written and recorded songs for the Stephen Poliakoff films Friends & Crocodiles and Capturing Mary, and had many others featured as source music in various dramas. The songs for Capturing Mary were written and recorded to sound like 1960s records.

I’ve been lucky recently to co-write with Jon Allen. We came up with the track here, On he Avenue. Find out more about Jon at his official site. It’s well worth a visit and check out his albums also. He’s one of the best songwriters I know.

The other two tracks posted here are co-writes with Jess Greenfield. Her voice is so impressive, and matched by her all round musical talent. It’s a huge bonus, when writing, to know you’ll be able to record the results with a brilliant vocal performance. I really like these two songs we did. I ended up doing the demos in eighties and sixties styles because I find that an interesting process, and it felt right when I first heard her sing. However, Jess is currently writing and performing some really lovely contemporary music.

Another recent collaborator was Craig Gannon (The Smiths, Aztec Camera) which was a real treat as I’m a huge fan of his work with Terry Hall.

I continue to indulge this passion at every opportunity.