Despite having hacked around on the edges of the music business for over twenty years, neither Ivan nor I have ever made the move into professional musicianship. And although we come from quite a small town, we didn't actually meet face to face until Summer 2003 when we were introduced by a mutual connection. I had just moved back to Ireland after a 14-year stint in London writing code by day, and playing Bass in various bands and producing music in my home studio by night. Somewhat jaded with playing live, I was looking for a studio project; session work or production maybe. Thing is, I'm not much of a writer so I had all these tools at my disposal but no decent material to work with. Ivan had just picked up his guitar after a three-year layoff and found he had quite a lot to say musically. With an ....nal of over 100 tracks, a beautiful guitar style and an immediately recognisable voice, he was all ready to cut a memorable album but he needed a Bass-player, a drum-programmer, someone to do backing vox, produce, engineer, mix and master. He didn't think he'd get the whole package in one person though. Then fate intervened in the form of my neighbour, Ivan's daughter Zoë, choreographer and dancer extraordinaire, who connected us up. It was a match made in studio heaven and the album 'Monster Shoes' is the result. Albums two and three; 'Valuable Lives' and the third as yet unnamed, but mostly recorded, are to follow soon. Enjoy. Mick, Jun 2006.