I was born and raised in Croydon, Victoria; but have lived on the Mornington Peninsula since I was five.
I’ve always taken an interest in music; at about age three I was already fascinated with works like the great Abbey Road as opposed to anything like the Wiggles. Naturally the Beatles (and their solo careers beyond 1970) have had a fantastic influence on me, alongside other artists and bands such as the Jack Johnson, the Electric Light Orchestra, Neil Young, and Simon and Garfunkel. In recent years, however (since we upgraded to Spotify Premium) I’ve also taken a liking to more modern talents, albeit alternative ones, like Mac Demarco, Strawberry Guy and the up-and-coming Chezile.
I first began properly playing guitar in 2020 during Victoria’s first lockdown, the first of quite a few in Melbourne’s long COVID saga. At the time I was playing a beginner’s guitar, a half-sized Valencia. It may have been comedically small, but it did the trick, and it was thanks to it that I soon began starting to write my own songs.
Shortly after I began to think that perhaps I could record an entire album of original material, however back then, with a lack of expertise in recording music, my attempts to put something together were rather half-hearted.
However, the following year, both sides of my family were struck with the loss of a relative, one to age, the other taken from us far too soon. This was the start of my more religious mindset, but also confirmed to me that the cliched saying “life is short” is very much a reality. I realised that if I actually wanted to make music, I had to follow my aspiration and do so in a comparatively proper manner rather than making some rubbish little thing on GarageBand.
A few months later I acquired a ‘professional’ microphone and started recording. The first song I recorded was Good Morning COVID - a satirical, Sammy J-inspired short song about my time in lockdown, which actually went on to win the ACMF Children’s Songwriting Competition. Soon after this I got a new (REAL) guitar for Christmas and subsequently a fabulous Yamaha keyboard (bought with the prize money I received from the competition).
In early March 2022, I finished recording the album. It had now taken on a different meaning following the passing of my grandfather (an oddly vocal supporter of my music, given that he generally didn’t like much music in his time :D); the album was subsequently dedicated to him and his notoriously strong work ethic which I strive to continue.
On March 26 (the same day Good Morning COVID was released as my inaugural single), I officially founded Staunton Records as a business. I created Staunton Records with the ultimate goal of helping others with the same musical interests as myself. I’ve met many people over the years who are incredibly talented musically but aren’t able to express their talent because they have to work in menial jobs instead (cause, y’know, “music isn’t a real job” etc etc) - or often, don’t get the promotion they deserve.
This is where a lesser-known lyric written by the great Jeff Lynne resonates with me: “Don’t want to work on the milk or the bread, just want to play my guitar instead.” Why should we fill shoes that anyone could fill when we can let our own aspirations, dreams and talents shine to make the community a happier place?
On April 21, 2022, the album, titled Resignation from the Human Race, was finally released, following the release of two promotional singles. It was no Imagine, ultimately being quite rushed for a school project (and incredibly outdated, with many now-irrelevant pandemic references), but it was nice to start somewhere.
In June 2022 I decided to revisit an old work of mine, initially meant to be on the album, titled Here In This Place. This was hurriedly released on December 2, after a turbulent period involving one of the song’s inspirations.
In October 2022, the aforementioned inspiration resulted in two brand new songs of mine, written in the span of four days, one of which partially utilises old, shelved material from uncompleted songs dating back two years prior. Recording for this was completed on May 3, 2023, and the two songs were released jointly as a single, Stormy, on June 9 of that year, providing an unpopular but cathartic end to an interesting set of experiments.
At present I am trying to balance my extensive study schedule while writing plenty of new songs, many of which will hopefully contribute to a second full-length album and other releases in the future.
Thanks for stopping by; hope you enjoy whatever stuff of mine you come across. :)
