Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your debut EP ‘DISCOVER NOW’ ?
To explain what I stand for as a musician and to understand me better, I have to go back to my youth. As a child, I grew up in a working-class family and I am one of five children in that family. While my mother had her hands full taking care of the family at home, my father worked many hours a day to support his family.
The house was always filled with music because the radio was on all day. Tom Jones and the Beatles are some artists that were played a lot at that time. My love for music grew and at the age of 12 I became completely captivated by music when I heard SLADE. Coz I love you, Look what you’ve done and Take me back home to name a few. Noddy Holder’s voice was amazing to hear and the rhythm of the music made it impossible to sit still. The enormous appreciation for their music has never gone away. But as I got older groups were added such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep and Pink Floyd to name just a few.
Because I also had to work for my own family, I never had time to start with music myself, but the urge to do something with it became greater and greater.
I was around 50 when I saw my opportunity to join a group in the area. They didn’t mean anything but I loved it and I learned a lot. In the years that followed I changed groups several times and through this I learned to play many styles of music.
It was inevitable of course, because the time was right for me to start making music myself, but the members of the cover group I played in didn’t like the idea.Once again I had to wait and put my plans aside.
In 2019 I decided to move to Spain, more specifically the Costa Brava region.
The new language, Spanish, made it difficult for me to connect with other musicians and it was very frustrating, so in 2022 I decided to just try it on my own. The first thing that came to my mind as to write a song about my father. The good man suddenly disappeared from my life, but now, many years later, he still lives on in my thoughts.
After thorough preparation, several new songs were released in 2024. To give people a better chance to discover who I am as a musician, these songs were released in an EP Discover Now.
Your music seems to be rich in storytelling. Can you describe the process of how you develop the stories within your songs?
When I write a song, I take the necessary time and I want the lyrics to have a meaning. Most texts start with something I have experienced in my life. It gives me more satisfaction to create meaningful texts. I think it is also more pleasant for the listener and fans if they recognize themselves in one of my stories.
Each track on the EP has a unique theme. How did you choose the stories you wanted to tell in ‘DISCOVER NOW’?
It may sound strange, but I don’t think about what I want to write. Memories spontaneously surface and then the idea arises to make a song out of them. If you have to think about what you are going to write, it sounds forced and I want to make music and lyrics in a spontaneous way.
In this way you automatically create more variation in your musical trajectory, which in itself is more interesting for the audience that listens to your music. It should never be predictable, but should always be a journey of discovery.
You’ve cited influences like Peter Frampton, Pink Floyd, and Slade. How have these artists shaped your musical style and the sound of your EP?
By listening to music from other artists, you absorb those influences unnoticed and carry them with you into the rest of your life. It’s almost like making soup, you mix all kinds of ingredients, vegetables and herbs together and suddenly the magical moment appears when you have created a wonderful whole that is appreciated by the taster. Not everyone will appreciate your soup, but the people who like it will want more of your creations next time. You can see my music as ingredients from different artists flavoured by my own feelings.
What was the most challenging part of creating this EP, and how did you overcome it?
It is mainly working alone that I experience as the biggest challenge. It’s true, you can do your own thing, but it takes longer for a new creation to become an image of what you had in mind. In a group you come up with an idea and the other group members help develop it into a full- fledged project. In the near future I hope to collaborate with one or more other musicians. However, it should never lead to a maze. My original ideas must of course remain intact. But with the right people around you, it can only become even more beautiful.
You describe yourself as a ‘music lover through and through’. How did your passion for music develop over the years?
The love for music is something that happens to you. Just like falling in love with a new partner in your life. You can’t force that, it comes naturally. If you have found a new love and it becomes a soulmate, the passion in the relationship also grows. I experience the same with music. As a young guy I went to a party or youth center. You could always find me near one of the speakers. I was in such a trance that people thought I was on drugs but music is the drug for me. It’s so addictive to listen to beautiful music over and over again. That is also why I became a playlist curator. You keep discovering new things and that is so valuable.
What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from ‘DISCOVER NOW’?
Like most artists, I hope people appreciate my music and listen to my lyrics. These are honest lyrics and come straight from my heart. If I can convey that and take people into my experience, then this makes me very happy.
What are your plans after the release of this EP? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you can share with us?
I am currently working on two new songs Time and Haunted for life. I recently moved to the Barcelona region and hope to be able to collaborate with other musicians in this way. I also hope to be able to release duets in the future.
Further developing playlists and Facebook group Independent musicians network to bring musicians closer together and designing Merchandise to support these goals. You will notice that I still have many ideas and I can continue this way for many years to come with a lot of love for the music.
