About Me

Communication.  Honesty.  Integrity.  Punctuality.  Hard work.

These are the core principles I hold for all aspects of my life. Now that I've got the buzzwords out the way (as truthful as they are), it's time to answer the questions - who exactly am I, and how did I get here?

Early Life

I grew up in a little village on the Hertfordshire/Cambridgeshire border. It was a lovely place, but I definitely appreciated gaining access to a car once I was old enough to drive!

I surprised my parents when I was 6 years old by suddenly declaring that I wanted to play the trumpet. That was the start of my musical life, something that has grown to define who I am. I still play the trumpet in high level amateur orchestras and bands.

Around that time, I started to take an interest in programming our Amstrad CPC-464 computer, writing little games in BASIC.

As I progressed through school, it became clear to me I wanted to keep music and software development in my life. I became one of the top students in Music and Computing at my secondary school, and I had a difficult choice to make for my degree.

University

I did my Computer Science degree at Swansea University, which at the time was in the top 10 universities in the UK for that course. It was a long 4 hour drive to get there, but it was a real treat to study in another country, by the coast.

I joined the karate club in my first year, and as I had some previous experience, I quickly rose through the belts. I competed in a kata contest and won, but unfortunately I had to step back in the final year so I could concentrate on my studies.

In my second year, I founded one of the first university airsoft clubs in the UK, which quickly became well regarded. We had regular meetups, had several weekend training sessions, and played with other teams throughout the UK. It was a lot of fun, and I made some good friends that I'm still in contact with to this day. It was one of my proudest achievements while at university.

Post-University

After graduating, my career began developing custom websites for mobile phones. This was before smartphones, so mobile web technology was extremely limited. After 2 years, I was then given the opportunity to realise a long-held dream of mine - to work in the games industry, and I was thrilled to join Jagex as a web systems developer.

In almost 10 years working at Jagex, I worked my way up to a Team Lead role, which included line-management responsibilities, and team recruitment.

 

Blowing my own trumpet

During this period, my musical life exploded. I played full-time in one orchestra (first trumpet) and a brass band (solo cornet), and was often asked to help out in other orchestras and bands. I became a dependable freelance trumpet player in my region, and was busy rehearsing and performing most weeks. My brass band promoted me to principal cornet, meaning I was essentially the band leader, which was a real honour. After a few years of this, I decided to step back from my full-time musical commitments, as I needed to balance my life a little better. I still play in bands and orchestras in the area, now in a freelance capacity.

I also rediscovered my joy in composing music, this time making the most of new technology and vastly improved virtual instruments. You can hear my published tracks on my SoundCloud.

 

Learning to ride

While at Jagex, I ticked another item off my bucket list, and learned how to ride a motorbike. I still ride to this day. This is despite a fairly major accident I had a couple of years in, and somehow I wasn't injured - it seems this is a rite of passage for motorcyclists!

I currently ride a 2004 Suzuki SV650S, a fun little bike, but I am looking to upgrade at some point soon.

 

Getting in front of the camera

Over this time, I made another profound realisation. I'd been fascinated by "behind the scenes" features on movies, and it suddenly occurred to me that I'd like to get involved somehow. I signed up to several extras agencies, and had my first job in 2016 - as a Stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Last Jedi!

I wanted to do more than just be in the background, so I did my first acting course, then joined a local filmmakers group. My appetite for knowledge and experience has only grown, and I'm now always reading new acting books, exploring acting courses, and filming self-tapes.

 

Becoming inhuman

One of my favourite film and TV genres is science fiction. I particularly enjoy watching the special features, and seeing how they are made. When I found out the Doctor Who aliens were made by a SFX company not too far from me, I got in touch, and to my surprise, they invited me to become a creature prosthetic makeup model for their training school. And yes, that is me in the photo!

I realised that it's something I thoroughly enjoy, and would love to do it for film and TV. I'm fortunate to be represented by Second Skin Agency, an acting agency specialising in these sorts of roles. As these roles are often physically demanding, it was also the push I needed to improve my fitness and mobility, something I now enjoy working on.

 

New beginnings

After nearly 10 years working a Jagex, I started to feel I needed a change. They were very good to me, and I enjoyed working there, but I needed something new. So in 2016, I left Jagex to become a freelance software engineer.

Since leaving, I've now worked in several companies, in a freelance, contract, and a full-time capacity. I've broadened my experience in so many areas, and learned so much, both personally and professionally.

It's also given me more flexibility and time to pursue more acting jobs.

Going freelance was a scary lever to pull, but I'm glad I did! If any of this resonated, I'd love to hear from you, so please do say hello 🙂️.