Biog
I'm originally from Middlesbrough in the North East of England, but I've lived in London since 1985. I started off playing guitar and singing in punk and post-punk bands in Teesside. The most successful of which, Drop (1978-1979) was championed by Julian Cope who praised the band's "sheer confidence and succinctness". Drop have been dragged out of retirement a couple of times in the 21st Century, and may be again. In 1980 I released a 12" EP with the band Tick Tick that has remained resolutely underground ever since.
Since arriving in London, I gravitated towards the improvised music scene, initially playing toys, samplers and electronics alongside musicians such as Adam Bohman, Mark Browne, Mike Walter, Mark Wastell, Chris Burn, and others before joining the band Ticklish with Kev Hopper, Phil Durrant and video artist Rob Flint. Other groups I was in included Kelsey Michael's widescreen pop octet "Minnow" and a trio with Steve Beresford and Anna Homler. From the late '90s onwards I played many gigs throughout the UK experimental scene as well as at festivals in Germany, Austria, Holland, Denmark and France. I was also active as a promoter, organising clubs such as The Club Room (with Mike Walter and John Russell), Reaction Time, The Departure Lounge and Baggage Reclaim. For nearly 10 years I was a director of the London Musicians Collective.
In the last 7 years my interests have widened to include traditional English music and dance, taking up morris dancing (with Blackheath Morris Men) and the melodeon (a diatonic button accordion). As well as playing solo gigs with amplified melodeon, I play in the Horse Trio with Sue Lynch (saxophone and flute) and Hutch Demouilpied (trumpet), and in a trio with Mark Browne (saxophone and small instruments) and Daniel Thompson (acoustic guitar) . I'm also continuing to make music with Mark Spybey and my cousin Mark Sanderson - a collaboration that has lasted over 40 years.
In 2012 I started the label Linear Obsessional Recordings to release music by experimental musicians from around the globe under a Creative Commons licence.
In 2015 I started organising concerts at The ArtsCafe in Lewisham, South London.