Alan Springate

I've been a guitarist and a songwriter since my early teens. I played with various school bands, all of which fell apart within weeks of forming.

A huge influence on my early style of playing was my elder brother Paul who fed me a musical diet of The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull and Frank Zappa. This was at a time when my class mates were listening to The Sweet and The Glitter Band. Small wonder then that those early bands refused to gel.

I got myself a small home recording set-up as soon as I was able to afford a reel to reel tape recorder and set about laying down my own songs. These were multi-track affairs with me handling all the instruments which included me burying a microphone under the sheets of my bed and then hitting the mattress with a drumstick to produce a rhythm track. Although these songs were fun to make, I could see a problem in taking them solo to an audience so they remained private.

Relocating from the out-skirts of London to the Isle of Wight I discovered the Live Acoustic Music Club and with legs of jelly I nervously played them my songs. They were all very supportive, as has been my daughter Jo, who accompanies me where ever I'm playing. I wrote Shuvani for her.

An up-to-date profile will be posted to the site soon... Watch this space.