The Bad Hawaiian Shirts is a solo project but I am open to bringing in other musicians to collaborate from time to time. I record for the fun of it, in the basement"Almost all the early recordings were instrumentals but I am now experimenting with vocals.
I started playing drums in my teens, played in a couple of bands at school but nothing serious. I learned to play classical guitar in my twenties and then forgot how to in my thirties! We moved to the US in 2003 and we had more space and fewer neighbors to annoy so I bought myself a drum kit and started playing again. I followed this up with a cheap guitar pack and then bass, keyboard and 8 track recorder. We moved back to the UK in 2008 and I have continued to play, but mainly guitar. In the last two years I have started singing and the new recordings are all vocal tracks.
Yes
I like everything from soul to hard rock. I grew up in the UK listening to everything from Northern soul, punk, new wave and classic rock. Currently my favourite rock band is The Tragically Hip but I also love the Scottish band The Bathers and Anna Calvi. Other artists on heavy rotation are Arcade Fire, The National, Sophie B Hawkins, Springsteen, Tom McRae, Ray Lamontagne, Pearl Jam, Shiney Toy Guns, The Hothouse Flowers, Ismael Lo, Robert Palmer & Big Head Todd & the Monsters.
Fender American Professional Telecaster, Fender Japanese Stratocaster, Fender Corrinado, PRS, SE Santana, Epiphone, LP, Tanglewood TW40, Ibanez, Yamaha guitars, Boss, DOD, Ibanez, Danelectro, Korg, Electo Harmonix, MXR, TC Electronics, Fender & Behringer effects. Vox AC15, Boss Katana, Fender, Vox,Crate, Line 6, Behringer and Peavey amps. Yamaha keyboards. Shure mics. Alesis SR16 drum machine. All recorded on Fostex digital 8 track, Tascam 24 track digital recorder. All songs mixed and mastered using Cakewalk.
Yes, for anyone out there thinking of recording I would say give it a try, you will be amazed at the sound quality you can get out of very inexpensive equipment.