On the subject of 'Coolness' and diversity ...

This obsession, this gift that music gives has served me well.  I loved to sing from a young age so you could say these records informed me how to sing (along with Robert Kett Middle School Choir of course) I picked up a guitar because of these records.  I started to buy music magazines, gear magazines and marvel at the latest synth or guitar effects.  I made lifetime friendships through music.  My best mate David Cousins and I both shared this passion.  He was a very musical guy and his parents had a piano in their house.  He started to play the guitar and had a talent to instantly pick up an instrument and really excel at it.  It was he who shared with me some of my first chords on a guitar.  Thanks, Vid!  Vid would later mix my debut solo record Grounded (2014). He is now a successful recording engineer and musician based in Canada. 

So what is the point of sharing all this nostalgia Watson - I hear you say? 

Well, with this new record I wanted to try something new.  I went back to some of those early albums and artists and reassessed things.  I threw off those sometimes intimidating shackles of what’s cool or what isn't.  The notion of guilty pleasures I cast into the wind and,  I fell in love again with many of those records once more.  Unashamedly, I wholly accept they have all played a part in making up my musical DNA. 

As a songwriter and musician, I think we can all be guilty of worrying too much about what being 'seen' as cool and name-checking the 'right' artist and records affords us.

 I was as guilty as the next person, but trust me, you know what?  Not anymore!