This is the Album/Ep I recorded to help book my first solo tours of the Australian East coast back in 2012.

My partner had left, I had sold all my belongings after a meltdown and left the farm to pursue my dreams... Payed my debits, bills and my final months rent.

I used the money raised from selling my personal belongings (recording gear / music gear and household furnishings) to Record this Ep set up a website and promote the first leg of my first ever tour.

Songs on the album :

SUPER SONIC : A reggae rock, fun piece. Writen after returning from a trip to see a friend in the UK. I came back with a heart full of inspiration and this was the first song written after arriving home to Australia. Its about how the world seamed to me at the time of returning from a place like the UK. So much music, so many people, so much clutter and so many people going so many directions but no one seaming to really go anywhere. My first and last impressions of London where that it is a melting pot of people seeking opportunity. Everyone is in the pot together, doctors, Lawyers and street sweepers. I remember one night in Camden Town, looking out from a store-top house over the street i remember thinking how all the doctors and Lawyers would be in trouble if the street cleaners weren't there cleaning there rubbish up at night and how the street cleaners would be in trouble if the doctors and Lawyers weren't walking down the street dropping the rubbish everywhere. I saw everyone as equal in London. Everything working in a big synergistic mess. I wonder what its like now. I really enjoyed traveling the UK, but it also opened my eyes to a lot that i hadn't previously considered.

PATTERN PAINT : Was written on a long walk (4 hours) home. After hanging out with a friend into the wee hours of a Saturday night (getting up to a bit of mischief), i had decided to walk home rather than stay the night. We had been listening to funk and soul tunes ad i had the beat in my being. As I walked, I sang in reflection of my life as an artist and how it was all unfolding. singing to the beat of my step, the song stayed with me, so i wrote down the lyrics and put it to some funky-jazzy kind of chords. It turned out to be a much better piece than i had given it hope for, so when I came to record the Ep, i had to add it to the mix. I still enjoy playing this one a bigger gigs where a party vibe is on the menu.

NATURE BOOGIE : Another song written in my head. Sung as I went about my daily tasks. After a few weeks of this song manifesting in my head, i sat down with the guitar and put some chords and rhythms to it.
Again, I still play all these tunes at bigger gigs and this one is always a bit of a crowd favorite. Over time the middle section has evolved into a full Ska-reggae jam sections. So its a truly eclectic song with dance, funk, soul, reggae and ska elements all rolled into one.

GIVEN LIFE : This is an older song that I used to play with my band Mandala. We were together for a short while and didnt do much recording. Our only studio recording is available here as a digital download. This was a tune that always went down well at gigs so I decided to capture it here on Times Not Waiting. Its a very simple funk-groove song. I guess you could say there are Jazz elements in there? The lyrics sing about letting your soul sine on and how this life is a gift to you and you should feel free to be you and enjoy life as you wish.
Feel free, feel free Yeah !!!! ...or something like that.

DAY FAR GONE : This song cuts through the flesh and into the bone. A mellow reggae-soul song written in memory of one of the best friends ive ever known in this life. Darren was like the brother i never had, and i remember the day he said that to me, i was very lucky to have a friend like Daz. Darren was one of those guys who everyone loved. He made you feel like you were the most important person on Earth, just by his smile and the way he would look at people and see who they really are. He never judged anyone and was so accepting of all people for who ever they were. Darren always seamed to find the good in people, no matter who, what or where they came from. Occasionally i remember him being unsure about some people and his instincts were always right on track. A gentle and humble soul with an amazing ability with music. Daz was one of those incredible guitarists who we all knew as one of the best in the world, even though the world never got to experience his music the way we did.

I had previously recorded Day Far Gone on an Acoustic Bedroom album called 'BLACK AND WHITE', But wanted to record a full band version to honor Darren, so I added it to this album.

I wrote this song after Darren's passing. IN a freak incident, he was murdered on a train while coming home from VCA Music school. Darren had just started at VCA studying Guitar as his main instrument. He was chosen out of hundreds of people who apply each year to be one of the 2 Guitarists accepted into the coarse. A testament to his talent. I'm not exactly sure how many weeks into the coarse he was, but i know he had only just started when he met Corey (his killer) on the train ride home that day. An incident that shook my world and the whole community to its foundations.

Darrens been gone for a few years now, and although things will never be the same now that hes gone, knowing Darren has made me a better person, a better musician, and just more grateful for each day i am blessed with this life. Someone like Darren should never be taken in this way, but it just goes to show how precious life is and how no day is guaranteed.

Live your life to the fullest, be the best you can be, tell your loved ones how much you love and cherish them, as you just never know what is around the corner.

Rest in Peace my brother. Forever a piece of you travels with me and I thank you for everything you were to me. I hope that i was half as good a friend to you as you were to me and I'm forever grateful for having the opportunity to know you and call you friend.

Love fills my heart when I think of you.

Rest peacefully my friend xo

STARLIT SKY : This one is probably the closest thing to Blues on the album.... and its not blues at all really. More of a soul tune with a bluesy element. It starts off like this and then evolves into an Acoustic, soulful uplifting vibe towards the end.

The song is a more introverted look through my eyes out at the personal world around me. How i see myself fitting and how i effect the people in my life at the time.

I was not in a bad place, but there were many changes to come.
This was the second tune i wrote after arriving home from the UK.

I guess i was saying that I didn't want to hurt anyone, or leave anyone behind, but i had to make changes and those changes meant that things, situations friends and relationships were bound to change and shift... and change and shift they did.

Sometimes, if were not quite the person we wish to be, or if were not quite where we wish to be in life, we have to make changes and sometimes those changes mean people we love will no longer be around, the shift is always done on the inside before it manifests in the physical world. I think song was part of my internal shift occurring as my outside world began to shift and change.

I hope you enjoy these songs and the stories that explain them.

This album kept me on the road touring for 18 months.
A good start to my touring life.