You’re originally a school teacher - where did you study?
I studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, and have a BA (Hons) HDE qualification.
What’s your real-world music experience?
After University, I spent several years gigging on the professional music circuit in South Africa, and ran my own recording studio. I started teaching guitar in 2000 and have taught over 700 students!
What do you do for a living?
I work in the documentary film and video industry as a freelance editor and camera man. Most recently I’ve worked for the Natural History Unit Africa (NHU Africa) and Pelican Pictures. When I get the free time, I like to shoot music videos. I’ve recently shot and/or edited videos for The Natasha Meister Band, Blues Harmonica virtuoso Dave Ferguson, Afro Jazz Band Hassan’ Adas, English Folk legends Magna Carta, and local prog-rock band Pebbleman.
Why do you still teach?
The call of teaching is hard to resist... once a teacher, always a teacher! After a few years off from teaching, I had several requests to start teaching again; so I’ve decided to run classes for adults on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. The evening timeslot is aimed at professionals - allowing both students and teacher to get in a full day's work, before playing guitar in the evening!
Do you still perform as a musician?
I play guitar for the rock band 45 Reasons, and also love to do the occasional "sit down on a barstool" solo acoustic gig.
