ABOUT

I grew up surrounded by a real mix of music; Frank Zappa, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Climax Blues Band and Genesis, to name a few, but my main influences when I first started out were the new wave of synth acts in the late seventies and early eighties such as Ultravox, Numan and OMD. I started to write my own songs around 1983 before forming the synth duo Prolog with college friend Dave Holt, who I performed a small number of gigs with between 1984 and 1985. 

As a solo artist from 1985, I started recording demos in various local studios in the hope of getting record label interest but my synth-based music was out of favour. I carried on writing new songs (such as ‘Forever’ in 1998) but also started focusing on instrumental tracks and media compositions.  

In 2006, after a few years getting my head around the latest music technology, I recorded the album ‘Parallel’ at home. This resulted in some airplay on BBC 6 music.

First live gig in 1984 in Prolog. (Photo: Blackpool Gazette)

Last live gig in 2009. (photo: Blackpool Gazette)

​Two years later, I recorded ‘Slow motion pictures’ which again achieved some airplay (including on BBC 6 Music again) and a few favourable online reviews. At the time, retro synth music was finding popularity again with the likes of La Roux and fellow Blackpool artist Little Boots in the charts. I almost felt relevant. I also performed live again for the first time in 20 years.

I started working on a new album in 2010 but - for various reasons - this was put on hold. Ten years later, during the lockdown, I finally found time to finish the album ‘Tomorrow is another day’.

I can't see me recording another conventional album with vocals, but who knows? For the foreseeable future, I'm focusing on my instrumental work under the 'Friedasson' moniker.