ABOUT
BACKGROUND
When I was seven years old, my parents bought me my first record player and a copy of the Top of The Pops LP (1979). I fell in love with the lady on the album sleeve; played Boogie Wonderland, Pop Muzik and Knock On Wood until the grooves wore out... and so my obsession with music was born.
I took up bass guitar in my early teens, playing thrash metal and grunge in small town bands, before getting getting swept up in the acid house explosion of the late-80s: pawning my guitar for a pair of turntables and a mixer; cutting my hair and spending weekends at all-night raves 😜
I ended up settling in Manchester where I began a five-year career in the music industry, working as a DJ, writer and promoter. I spun records in local clubs and bars (including the now legendary Sankeys nightclub); wrote music articles for DJ Magazine, Mixmag, UK Club Guide and others; organised parties and managed PR for a number of up-and-coming artists.
Today I no longer work in the industry, but music remains at my core and I'm as passionate about it as I ever was. I still play bass guitar and help to run the recording forum at Basschat.co.uk, Europe's largest bass playing community. I don't party quite as hard as I used to (I need the energy for chasing after my two young boys and catching spiders for my wife), but I keep my ear to the ground and love working on new projects with co-conspirators from around the world.
My influences are many and varied. Here's an unnecessarily long list to help illustrate that point... 808 State, A Tribe Called Quest, Aphex Twin, Beastie Boys, Björk, Black Sabbath, Charles Mingus, Chic, Daft Punk, Deftones, DJ Hype, DJ Shadow, Dub Syndicate, Earth Wind & Fire, Etta James, Flying Lotus, Future Sound of London, Grimes, Guru and Jazzmatazz, Half Man Half Biscuit, Hot Chip, Jaco Pastorius, James Brown, Jesper Kyd, Kraftwerk, KRS-One, Lamb, Led Zeppelin, Mad Professor, Mark Ronson, Massive Attack, Metalheadz, Metallica, Nirvana, Nomeansno, NWA, Portishead, Public Enemy, Richie Hawtin, Roni Size, Saul Kane, Sixto Rodriguez, Squarepusher, The Orb, Thundercat, Underground Resistance… you get the picture.
Oh and my name isn't really SKOL - that's just an old nickname and has nothing to do with a certain brand of beer; nor anything to do with Nordic slang for "cheers". It's a long story... and you're probably bored enough already.
I took up bass guitar in my early teens, playing thrash metal and grunge in small town bands, before getting getting swept up in the acid house explosion of the late-80s: pawning my guitar for a pair of turntables and a mixer; cutting my hair and spending weekends at all-night raves 😜
I ended up settling in Manchester where I began a five-year career in the music industry, working as a DJ, writer and promoter. I spun records in local clubs and bars (including the now legendary Sankeys nightclub); wrote music articles for DJ Magazine, Mixmag, UK Club Guide and others; organised parties and managed PR for a number of up-and-coming artists.
Today I no longer work in the industry, but music remains at my core and I'm as passionate about it as I ever was. I still play bass guitar and help to run the recording forum at Basschat.co.uk, Europe's largest bass playing community. I don't party quite as hard as I used to (I need the energy for chasing after my two young boys and catching spiders for my wife), but I keep my ear to the ground and love working on new projects with co-conspirators from around the world.
My influences are many and varied. Here's an unnecessarily long list to help illustrate that point... 808 State, A Tribe Called Quest, Aphex Twin, Beastie Boys, Björk, Black Sabbath, Charles Mingus, Chic, Daft Punk, Deftones, DJ Hype, DJ Shadow, Dub Syndicate, Earth Wind & Fire, Etta James, Flying Lotus, Future Sound of London, Grimes, Guru and Jazzmatazz, Half Man Half Biscuit, Hot Chip, Jaco Pastorius, James Brown, Jesper Kyd, Kraftwerk, KRS-One, Lamb, Led Zeppelin, Mad Professor, Mark Ronson, Massive Attack, Metalheadz, Metallica, Nirvana, Nomeansno, NWA, Portishead, Public Enemy, Richie Hawtin, Roni Size, Saul Kane, Sixto Rodriguez, Squarepusher, The Orb, Thundercat, Underground Resistance… you get the picture.
Oh and my name isn't really SKOL - that's just an old nickname and has nothing to do with a certain brand of beer; nor anything to do with Nordic slang for "cheers". It's a long story... and you're probably bored enough already.
TOOLS & TECH
I work mostly 'in the box' using Propellerhead Reason and Ableton Live. I've been using Reason since version 1 and just love its immediacy and creativity - it lets me get my ideas down quickly; its routing options allow me to create monster synths; and its SSL-style mixer is a joy to use. Ableton is a great partner for Reason and by ReWiring the two DAWs together I get the best of both worlds. All good.
It's easy to get obsessive over plug-ins! Amongst my favourites are the vintage emulations produced by Softube, especially their Tube-Tech Classic Channel, FET Compressor, Valley People Dyna-mite, Trident A-Range and TSAR-1 Reverb. Beautifully warm and analogue-sounding FX that really help bring music to life. They're always strapped to my channels and master bus when working on old school hip hop, funk and soul.
Whilst most of my production work is digital, I'm a firm believer that some things can only be accomplished in analogue - and a fat-sounding bass guitar is one of them. I play mostly modern 5-string bass but have an old Fender Precision for those times when a classic, punchy tone is needed. Like this one...
It's easy to get obsessive over plug-ins! Amongst my favourites are the vintage emulations produced by Softube, especially their Tube-Tech Classic Channel, FET Compressor, Valley People Dyna-mite, Trident A-Range and TSAR-1 Reverb. Beautifully warm and analogue-sounding FX that really help bring music to life. They're always strapped to my channels and master bus when working on old school hip hop, funk and soul.
Whilst most of my production work is digital, I'm a firm believer that some things can only be accomplished in analogue - and a fat-sounding bass guitar is one of them. I play mostly modern 5-string bass but have an old Fender Precision for those times when a classic, punchy tone is needed. Like this one...
COLLABORATORS
I enjoy making music with people from around the world. It brings fresh talents and perspectives to each project; it fosters fusions between different genres; it pushes me to do my best 'for the team'... and ultimately it's what music is all about. Here are some of the people I've had the pleasure of working with...
MIKE FLYNN - BASSIST
Mike is an award-winning music journalist and bass player, based in London. He is the editor of Jazzwise magazine; a former judge of the UK Mercury Music Prize (2008 – 2015); and a thoroughly nice guy! Mike and I collaborate regularly and have an EP in the works. He's one the most skilled musicians I know, once described by Chris Phillips of Jazz FM as a "Brilliant bassist... in the mold of Jaco Pastorius". I also worked with Mike in mixing his band J-Sonic's latest album, available on iTunes and Amazon.
Mike is an award-winning music journalist and bass player, based in London. He is the editor of Jazzwise magazine; a former judge of the UK Mercury Music Prize (2008 – 2015); and a thoroughly nice guy! Mike and I collaborate regularly and have an EP in the works. He's one the most skilled musicians I know, once described by Chris Phillips of Jazz FM as a "Brilliant bassist... in the mold of Jaco Pastorius". I also worked with Mike in mixing his band J-Sonic's latest album, available on iTunes and Amazon.
DONNE OZONE
Donnie is a super-talented rapper from Brooklyn, NYC, whose style is an ode to the old school heroes of real hip hop. An advocate of the Creative Commons movement, he brings a completely fresh perspective to how music can be made by not only making his acapella vocals freely available, but actively encouraging others to download, share and remix his creative output. Forever on beat, socially conscious and with a generous dash of humour - I'm always looking forward to the next project with Donnie.
Donnie is a super-talented rapper from Brooklyn, NYC, whose style is an ode to the old school heroes of real hip hop. An advocate of the Creative Commons movement, he brings a completely fresh perspective to how music can be made by not only making his acapella vocals freely available, but actively encouraging others to download, share and remix his creative output. Forever on beat, socially conscious and with a generous dash of humour - I'm always looking forward to the next project with Donnie.
LONDON ZULU
London Zulu is an offshoot of the seminal music collective, Transglobal Underground, who rose to fame in the 90s for their single Temple Head (used to advertise the 1996 Olympic Games). I was contacted by band leader Tim Whelan to remix their modern classic, Hoshe Mamba, with a brief to turn it into a “banging club track”… which I did with relish! It was great working with such veterans of the dance music scene, people who really know their game and can clearly express the sounds they want. The finished track was debuted at the Divan du Monde club in Paris and has since been played countless times by DJs and on radio.
London Zulu is an offshoot of the seminal music collective, Transglobal Underground, who rose to fame in the 90s for their single Temple Head (used to advertise the 1996 Olympic Games). I was contacted by band leader Tim Whelan to remix their modern classic, Hoshe Mamba, with a brief to turn it into a “banging club track”… which I did with relish! It was great working with such veterans of the dance music scene, people who really know their game and can clearly express the sounds they want. The finished track was debuted at the Divan du Monde club in Paris and has since been played countless times by DJs and on radio.