Liner Notes

Growing up I used to go through my father’s record collection, and while the music was playing I would often read the liner notes. Looking back it was a valuable education, though at the time I was simply curious and enjoyed reading the stories that accompanied the sounds I was listening to. 

I had the double good fortune that my dad - not so much a jazz purist as someone only faintly aware that other music existed - had heard almost all the musicians in his record collection play live at clubs and concert halls in San Francisco. He recounted seeing Miles Davis play with his back to the audience, the time he paid good money to watch Thelonious Monk fall off his stool drunk, and how he shared after concert drinks with Chet Baker. The stories brought the music, and the culture, to life. 

I intend to do something similar here for the digital age, where music risks becoming detached from its stories, and at a time when playlists, artificial intelligence, and big tech play an increasing role in shaping the culture. I wish to share music, writing, photography, podcasts, and cultivate a space for discussion. To describe my own experience of music, as well as other people’s. 

About me

I am a composer and percussionist. I grew up in London, but now live in Valencia, Spain. Early in life I was drawn to Indian classical music, and have for ten years studied Carnatic music in London, Chennai, and online. Algorithmic music has always fascinated me, ranging from the theories of Joseph Schillinger to the century’s old practice of campanology. When I was a regular member of London’s Music Hackspace I helped convince and create an award winning music installation, The Cave of Sounds, which has travelled across the world for over a decade. Above all, I am attracted to and perceive music’s beauty in its mixture of human sensitivity and emotion, and the elegance of patterns and mathematics.