Personal Profile
I am BA Popular Music Performance graduate having obtained a First-Class degree. I specialise in guitar, with proficiency across a range of genres including Indie, Rock, Blues, Soul/Funk, and Jazz. Throughout my studies, I have developed both my technical skills and musical knowledge, gaining extensive experience in live performance, studio recordings, and collaborative music projects. I am currently providing instrumental lessons in guitar to a collection of musicians taking up guitar as a secondary instrument. The lessons focus on developing both their knowledge of the fretboard and ability to utilise guitar techniques effectively. Each lesson is tailored to address the unique needs of the student, targeting specific areas that support their musical interests and current projects.
As the lead guitarist for the Leeds-based indie band The Meranos (2024a), I have contributed to the creation of a professional music video for our single Small Potatoes (The Meranos, 2024b) and performed at established Leeds venues such as The Wardrobe, Belgrave Music Hall, and Oporto. Additionally, I have recorded a track at Nave Studio, which will be featured on our upcoming album in which multiple songs were produced by myself. Beyond my band experiences, I have worked as a session musician in various bands, performing in venues like The Attic and Lending Rooms playing a variety of different genres with an extensive number of performing musicians.
I also have strong project management skills, demonstrated through the planning and execution of a successful live music event at Oporto, featuring twelve bands. In addition to my practical experience, I have conducted research into the integration of technology in instrumental lessons, which I explored in a comprehensive essay aimed at improving student engagement and learning outcomes.
Passionate about both performing and teaching, I am eager to apply my experience and knowledge to inspire and educate others in their musical journeys.
Performance Experience
The Meranos
Headlined Oporto (25/11/2024): As the headlining act, The Meranos performed at Oporto in Leeds to a full venue, showcasing original songs intended for inclusion on our upcoming album. The event featured eleven bands and focused on an indie/pop theme. In addition to our performance, my band was responsible for conducting soundchecks for all the other acts throughout the evening.
The Wardrobe (18/03/2024): The Meranos were the penultimate act of a live music event hosted at the well established Leeds music venue, The Wardrobe. A selection of original songs were performed in a twenty minute set, with the inclusion of the bands first single Small Potatoes (The Meranos, 2024c). To obtain professional photographs of this event, I collaborated with the photographer James Clifford (2023) to capture photographs of the bands live performance. Please follow the link to view the photographs from the event: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13l_MfKNDBk55cmQ4QjKDsMMWQcjXKXNf?usp=drive_link
Fenton (29/01/2025): The Meranos band opened a live music event hosted at The Fenton in Leeds celerbrating the ep release of the band Champ Kind (2023).
Session Work
Kanie Herrera (2015): I performed a mixture of original songs written by Kanie and covers at The Belgrave Music Hall and Canteed and also at Lending Room, both venues based in Leeds. Whilst performing session work for Kanie, I played a variety of songs in the genres of indie, Jazz and Funk. For the original songs, I was required to learn my parts by ear, using the audio tracks provided. Utilising AI, I used a stem splitting programme to isolate the guitar tracks to enable me to transcribe my parts to a higher degree of detail.
Alicja Marecka (2016): I have performed acoustic guitar as a duo act for Alicja at The Wardrobe and The Venue both based in Leeds. In these performances I have accompanied Alijca by playing acoustic rearangments of existing songs.
Harvey Taverner (2019): I played electric guitar in Harvey’s band at The Attic based in Leeds. For this music event we headlined the show and played popular indie and rock songs, finishing the set with Sultans Of Swing by Dire Straights.
Session Orchestra
RNCM Orchestra (09/12/2022 and 08/12/2023)
On two occasions I have played guitar in an orchestral band as part of a calloborative project with Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) based in Manchester. In this project I was sent lead sheets of songs I was required to learn with my band. These songs were rehearsed over the period of a few weeks for a live show hosted at Leeds Arts University. On the day of the show, the orchestral band from the RNCM arrived at Leeds Arts University in the morning. We had one runthrough of the show with the orchestral band before performing to an audience in an auditorium with cameras lifesteaming the show online.
Skills/Attributes
- Experience in both leadership and mentorship roles resulting in a strong development in communication. I was employed as a team leader at morrisons and I also teach guitar in 1-1 lessons
- Strong understanding of audio recording techniques and the DAW software Logic Pro due to the active involvement of recording and producing songs for my band The Meranos
- Driven with a strong focus to detail to ensure I get the most out of projects that I am involved in. I often like to collaborate with other professionals that have skill sets that can enhance my work to the highest of standards
- Passionate emphasis on expanding my musical knowledge. I like to develop my understanding of a variety of genres and experiment with different recording techniques. My most recent example is my enphusiasm to learn bass guitar to a higher standard by taking 1-1 lessons and implementing bass practise into my existing practise regime
Interests
- Coffee Barrista (home edition): I recently aquired a coffee machine so I could make my own coffee and save myself from spending all my money at Costa. This was going well until I started experimenting with different coffee beans and inviting all my friends around for coffee.
- Bowling: I am a bit hit and miss, I normally perform best on the third game of bowling. Unfortunately whenerver I go we usually only play twice.
- Cars: Although I decided that being a mechanic was not the career for me, I still enjoy fixing the odd car as I still have all the tools I aquired over my short career as a light vehicle technician
Bibliography
Champ Kind. (2023), ‘Champ Kind’. [Instagram]. Available from https://www.instagram.com/champkind/ [Accessed 23/02/2025]
Clifford, J. (2023), ‘Cliffordjamesfilm’. [Instagram]. Available from https://www.instagram.com/cliffordjamesfilm/ [Accessed 23/02/2025]
Herrera, K. (2015), ‘Kanie___’. [Instagram] Available from https://www.instagram.com/kanie____/ [Accessed 23/02/2025]
Marecka, A. (2016), ‘alicja.marecka’. [Instagram]. Available from https://www.instagram.com/alicja.marecka/ [Accessed 23/02/2025]
Taverner, H. (2016), ‘harveyleo_music’. [Instagram] Available from https://www.instagram.com/harveyleo_music/ [Accessed 23/03/2025]
The Meranos. (2024a), ‘The Meranos’. [Instagram]. Available from https://www.instagram.com/themeranosband/ [Accessed 19/02/2025]
The Meranos. (2024b), ‘The Meranos – Small Potatoes (Official Video)’. [Online]. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJtFAEeXYzk [Accessed 19/02/2025]
The Meranos. (2024c), ‘Small Potatoes’. [Spotify]. Available from https://open.spotify.com/track/33B7ykvY1QJy2JW6ptvyOo [Accessed 23/02/2025]