By SimonF | Email to a friend | Digg |
Published: Thursday 18 Dec 2008
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When I was at school I was put into a special needs group for one of my weak subjects (maths) and one of my strong subjects (chemistry) I never understood why this was, especially as the head of science told me that she thought science was a strength of mine and I should have been moved up a group!
In the end I left school with no qualifications and went to agricultural college. Leaving the farming industry just over a year later I went into heavy industry and began a hobby of mountain biking. Early on when I got started in riding I had a serious accident which left me with a head injury which led me to have poor short term memory. I was not put off however and was straight back on the bike. One of the things that came from that accident was an interest in playing a musical instrument.

I started having saxophone lessons, but felt this was not the instrument for me. I tried a couple of others and landed on percussion which through being in a band led me to teach myself how to play the didgeridoo which is a rhythmic instrument just like a drum or shaker.

I had worked with several bands and worked on mastering circular breathing. This is where the player of a wind instrument breathes in through the nose while still exhaling with the mouth. This gives an almost endless sustained note.

While I was learning to play I started to learn about the Australian Aboriginal people and then recorded my debut album called ‘Well now ya here!’ .This is on CD and is distributed by Cdbaby in the USA and by myself in the UK. It also now in its second year on Itunes and on Napster amongst other digital download outlets online.

My educational workshops started after I performed at a charity event for the American Red Cross for the victims of the September 11th attacks in New York. I was asked if I would give a talk and workshop where children at a primary school could have a go at playing. I now do these workshops across the southern part of England. I have also performed at large venues like Earls Court in London and the Bournemouth International conference centre.

Aside from the workshops I am also a composer and a photographer. I can’t read music nor do I know about theory of music, So if I can do it anyone else can too! I use sample packages to compose tracks in a variety of styles covering all sorts of instruments and sounds.
Photographically I like to take photographs of the natural world, abstracts and pets. I shoot on average 30,000 photos per year and work with a Nikon digital SLR.

Simon Fielder

www.sounds-and-images.co.uk