Alchemy began in June 2000 when I relocated to New York in search of musical opportunity. I wasn't happy with the Australian music industry, it had become increasingly pessimistic during the late 90's and I thought moving to the states would be a positive step towards ensuring a fruitful career.

I landed in New York with plans of signing a U.S. record deal, it was a naïve plan but I thought just being there would prove my commitment and things would eventually fall into place.   I researched compatible labels and found a music attorney to shop my demos around but I was completely unprepared for the American way of doing business, particularly New York business culture.

When my demos came back with no interest I set out to prove my worth by building a following in the city. There must have been at least 400,000 other musos with exactly the same plan, it was an incredibly competitive scene. To get the ball rolling I played every open mic night in Manhattan, sometimes five nights a week, handing out free CDs and signing people up to my mailing list. I would work during the days just so I could afford to hang around in a bar waiting for my chance to play a fifteen minute set to a handful of people........it got old very quickly.

  Six months down the track I played a few shows in New Jersey and realised I could actually get payed for gigs outside Manhattan. Gradually I stopped wasting my energy in the city and focused on making a living from live shows.

In May 2002 I was offered a development deal with a producer in Nashville, I flew down to Tenessee to record my least favourite demos of all time. The Nashville session band completely homogenised my arrangements, the songs became easy-listening radio fodder. I had been told that signing a deal was paramount, any success could then be used as leverage for artistic control.

Although I had no faith in the strength of the demos, they were shopped around by the producer and attracted minimal interest from labels who wanted to hear more of the same. I played them my self-produced recordings, saying that was the direction I wanted to follow.   I didn't hear from the labels or the producer again.

Over the next few months I was forced to reassess my goals and realised that performing had become a way of life. Constant gigging enabled me to network with other artists and slowly I discovered a wealth of available resources for independent musicians.   Strangely enough, the option I had been avoiding all along suddenly seemed very appealing to me. Listening back on my Nashville demos I knew that creative control must become priority.

Starting a career again from scratch in a foreign country had challenged all my beliefs and strength. The songs written during that period reflect this struggle, but also show signs of hope and of beauty within sadness. Eventually I realised the goals that had drawn me to the States in the first place were no longer what I wanted for my music. This transition gave way to the song 'Alchemy', it also seemed an appropriate title for the album.

I embarked on the Alchemy recording in December 02. A limited knowledge of production and zero budget hampered my efforts somewhat, but fortunately I was surrounded by people who wanted to help. A young engineer, Jeremy Borer offered free studio time at NYU. The only downtime was 10pm to 6am. We pulled five all-nighters over the next month. Another engineer, John Leary offered access to his home studio. John and I worked together for the next nine months, he is a life saver....

Musical friends all offered to help, so many people gave generously of their time and talents this album would not have been possible without them. Other friends supported me by helping to keep a roof over my head. I moved seven times in three and a half years.

Somewhere along the way I came down with a serious case of 'Studio neurosis' and re-recorded everything I had laid down so far. The drum tracks were recorded three times with three different drummers. The guitar tracks must have been recorded at least twenty times each.

I had made it roughly half way through the album by the time I returned to Australia in December '03. I didn't touch it again until the following June. My old school mate and bassist Lance Jurd joined me on the project, Lance and I played our first gig together when we were fifteen. Another old friend Jimi Swan offered his services on drums. We rehearsed for two months and tracked in August. Various tours slowed the progress and once again, tracks were re-recorded.

Finally, in January 05 tracking was complete. By that stage all songs had been approached with at least two attempts at production techniques.   One song was recorded five times, in five different studios with different musicians each time. Maybe I was too hard on myself but I wanted it to hear it on tape the way I heard it in my head.

I am eternally grateful to the people who helped make this recording possible. John Leary and Jeremy Borer for generously offering their engineering skills and equipment. Alex   Posilkin, Matt Johnson and Jimi Swan on drums. Joe Calandra, Steven Calandra and Lance Jurd on Bass. John Leary, Stan Holroyd   and Dave Wyrtzen on keys. Adam Garnys and Andy Chen on sax. Jeff Crawley on trumpet. Anne Sobel on recorder.   Special thanks to Alison McDonald for her fantastic photos, Jo Spencer for Cover Art-layout, Brendan O'Sullivan for graphics, and huge thanks to Rob Anderson for web design.

Thanks to my family and friends both in Australia and the U.S. for their love and support, and thanks to old and new fans for appreciating what I do.  

I am also eternally grateful to the folks who let me sleep in their attic, basement, back porch, living room, spare room and bedroom while living in the U. S. and recording these songs. Much love to Joe and Sam, Matt and Rich, Ed and Aiki and all at 96 Harvey, Dave and Scott, Kate Sikora and the 217 crew, and Aaron and Dara.

Big Love to you all.

  x x   d.