“… My Dad had an old 12 sting guitar in the house that used to belong to my uncle. I remember it only had maybe two or three strings on it and they were easily on there for 20 plus years, but I would sit with this guitar and pick melodies out from songs or whatever and try to find the notes on the guitar. My cousin then gave me his old electric guitar and amp when I was 14, I bought a book to get me going and I started learning to play properly. When I heard Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction, The Black Crowes’ Shake Your Money Maker, Aerosmith’s Rocks and Led Zeppelin II they completely blew me away! It was as if those records, or rather the guitar work on them, taught me what a guitar should sound like….. how cool and interesting guitar playing could be… and I just went at it, learning as much as I could. Blues was also a huge influence, probably because so much of the music I was listening to was blues based rock. Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Peter Green……so much passion and soul in their playing.

Me and a few buddies from school started to meet up, bring our guitars and began playing together. We’d spend hours listening to the Stones, Guns, Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Queen etc and try our best to recreate those songs. We were terrible, then not so terrible, then OK, then pretty good… we spent all our free time playing music together until we became good enough… then we started writing our own songs and playing live. Once you hit the stage and play in front of people it all kind of makes sense……… the hours rehearsing and honing your craft pays off…… the buzz was addictive.

Phil, Kie and I met when I was playing in my first band….. we’d bump into each other at gigs or in bars and talk music endlessly, putting the world to rights etc. Then we started playing together in Million Dollar Reload which was a lot of fun, we fulfilled some of our childhood dreams in that band …… really got our first insight into touring, festivals, record labels etc. When that all came to an end we three decided to keep playing together and alongside Fionn and Kevin started Blackwater Conspiracy. When creating music with your buddies, telling your stories in song, it’s a way of life that you can’t ever imagine not being involved in. Music is therapy, it’s a drug, a language, an art, and something I’m extremely grateful to have! …”