Which colour would you like? All of my life I've had a foot in two very different camps! Sometimes being totally confused and wondering who I am!
Being of mixed race and heritage; meant me having quite a diverse artistic palate, resulting in a musically eclectic taste. It's taken me a number of years, if not decades to come to terms with this conundrum.
I remember doing some early 4 track demo recordings of my songs which had a rocky vibe, where the engineer/producer said, ‘I think you should be doing reggae not rock’.
I couldn't help thinking, he's basing this assumption on the way I look. Naively I didn't challenge him, but did seek to ponder!
During my formative years living in North East England, my early venture playing in bands (predominantly dominated by wanna be rockers) resulted in me unwittingly suffering an identity crisis. Certainly in musical terms!
Now, years on, and with all the experiences I've gained through listening and playing various musical styles, I've learned to embrace the fact that we are all different, no matter our background.
So here I am now, totally at ease with all these influences, giving me the artistic freedom to write songs and music from many different perspectives!