Circa 1990 I went into a studio in Belfast with Iain Archer (subsequently co-writer of global smashes with Snow Patrol) and had a bash at making a cassette album. One of us became very successful! I was never much of a live performer, and quickly realised that, but I loved the notion of creating music in studios – like making sculptures, one-off pieces (which didn’t have to be recreated live on a stage the following night).
Circa 1997 I made another cassette album, this time with a load of friends from the local music scene in Belfast. I was getting better at it. In 2004 I had a lot of fun writing for and co-producing Janet Holmes’ The Road To The West CD; and in 2005 I was involved as writer and/or contributor on several tracks of The Wildlife Album.
In 2007 I corralled the best of my existing recordings from the previous 10 years along with a lot of newly recorded stuff with a lot of wonderful collaborators onto Freedom & The Dream Penguin, credited to The Field Mouse Conspiracy. The all-instrumental concept album Titanium Flag followed in 2010, and in 2011 Rust – a short album of new vocal pieces – sneaked out in small numbers (both under my own name).
In February 2016, Sunset Cavaliers was released by arrangement with Market Square Records, containing an hour of music – half new, half resurrected/remixed – on the theme of a cultural age in autumn. It is the first album for which I have sought a national release, and is available from amazon.co.uk and elsewhere.