Composer

Music was where everything began

Music was my first great passion.

I started guitar lessons with one of my oldest friends, Nigel Rippon, and very quickly became obsessed. Like many teenagers with a guitar and a worrying amount of confidence, I wanted to be a rock star.

I formed my first band, Wraith, when I was 14. We started out in heavy metal territory, which was possibly more enthusiastic than subtle, then gradually moved towards a more progressive rock sound.

I wrote most of the songs and lyrics. I would love to pretend this was purely artistic vision, rather than a deeply practical way of making myself harder to sack, but history may judge me differently.

From bands to composition

The band changed over time. Jess joined as singer, and the music became more varied as the rest of the band explored different styles and influences.

The accident in 1989 brought that chapter to an end. In truth, I do not think Wraith was destined to trouble the charts for too long, but music itself had not finished with me.

After the accident, a friend suggested I should think about studying music properly. That led me to Chichester University, where I studied Music and Related Arts.

I had no formal music qualifications when I arrived, so it was a steep learning curve. My prog rock brain was suddenly introduced to musical styles, ideas and structures I had never encountered before. It was challenging, occasionally bewildering, and exactly what I needed.

Writing music for film and television

During my time at university, I realised that what I enjoyed most was writing music.

I loved the challenge of composing in different styles, especially when the music had to serve a story, scene, character or visual idea. That led me towards writing music for film and television.

For around eight years, I worked as a composer. My clients included Disney, Universal Studios, the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, Jaguar and British Airways.

That sounds wonderfully glamorous. The reality was that most of the time was spent looking for the next piece of work, chasing opportunities, writing demos, waiting for replies, and trying to look calm while quietly wondering whether the phone would ever ring again.

Still, I have very fond memories of that time. I was able to write music for some extraordinary clients, and I learned a huge amount about creativity, discipline, deadlines and working to a brief.

Spooky Sisters and the final chapter

In 2003, I was commissioned to compose music for Disney's first UK animated series, Spooky Sisters.

At the time, I thought it might be the project that moved me to the next level as a composer. Instead, it turned out to be the last major music commission I worked on.

That was not what I expected. I had always imagined music would be my life. Then life did what life often does, and quietly sent me down a completely different road.

Part of the same story

I no longer work professionally as a composer, but music is still part of who I am.

Writing music taught me how to listen, how to structure ideas, how to respond to emotion, and how to create something that supports a bigger message.

Those lessons still shape the work I do now. Accessibility may look like a very different world, but the underlying challenge is similar. You are still trying to understand people, remove friction, and create something that works beautifully for the person experiencing it.

I never expected my life to move from music into digital accessibility, but looking back, it all feels connected.

Music was one chapter. Access by Design became the next.