Life is a series of chances and opportunities.

I grew up in a working-class mining area of South Wales UK at a time when opportunities to expand your horizons were few and far between. As an adult, my options were to work in the mines or other heavy industries, but I wasn't a good school student and fell into the latter. Through chance and opportunity, the head of the tech college's department put me forward as a candidate to work in engineering design. This life-changing opportunity allowed me to be creative and travel, and I am forever grateful to Gareth Hughes.

I've always wandered around as a kid, wanting to know what was beyond the hills of the Welsh Valleys. Itchy feet, as my mother would say, and I have travelled extensively from my early 20s until putting my roots down in Aotearoa, New Zealand, over 20 years ago.

During my travels, like others, I would arrive in a country armed with my lonely planet guide (pre-socials) and follow what other people have done. I have many albums of photographs, with pictures taken in notable places, just like every other visitor. There are lots of faces I do not remember, but there are some that hold a special magic. The best memories were just the simple, nuanced things: spending time with the locals, chatting and then eating at their homes, being told their stories, and learning what the landscape means to them, they held a story.

In our photographs are mountains, seas, and forests, but look closely; there are fields and homes; look closer still; there are people, families, and their lives, and they too are looking out towards you: an eternity in an image.

Those memories have stayed with me, and it was while visiting Aotearoa in 2002, travelling the tourist trails, and by chance, stopping one day to spend time with local people at a small festival outside Geraldine in the South Island that galvanised the feelings of connectivity. Rather than being just a tourist, it became the reason to emigrate and make Aotearoa my home.

These stories and experiences have shaped me into who I am today and influenced my music. Chance meetings and opportunities have always led to adventurous outcomes and more profound creativity. My mission is to create music focusing on the nuanced and the local.

I hope that, by chance, coming here to hear my music and read my story may impact your adventures and encourage you to stop and spend time off the beaten track and learn about the local landscape and culture, particularly from a Māori context. Lord of the Rings may show the majesty of this extraordinary land, but there are more profound meanings to what you see and ways to discover. You can use this as an opportunity to make it part of your adventures, no matter where you travel.