About Me
I'm a multi-instrumentalist musician
from Liverpool, Great Britain
Guitars/ Piano-Keys-Synth/ Electronics-Elements Sequencing/ Drums/ Bass
I first recognised my passion for music when I was just 8 years old when introduced to the keyboard. My very first instrument was a Casio PT10. Although naïve and unaware, I was setting foundations that would ultimately last a lifetime and define who I was going to become and who I am now.
I progressed with this instrument and upgraded twice along the way until the age of 12 when I was introduced to Iron Maiden's 'Killers'. This was when I discovered a desire to play drums.
This was the dawn of a new and exciting time being introduced to technical and colourful heavy music which set a new bench mark in terms of desire and inspiration.
I was 14 when I joined my first band. I was the drummer for a local metal band called Carnage. It was at this time I found myself associating with a group of local kids who were listening to the same music and this is when I discovered Metallica.
Unfortunately as a result of living at home with my family, it was sadly established that drums would not be a welcome outlet for me. I was forced to part with them and my new position as the drummer in Carnage! However, nothing was going to stop me fulfilling my desire so I used the money from the sale of my kit and purchased my first guitar, it was an Encore beginner electric.
By this time I had turned 15 and remember feeling frustrated and defeated due to not being able to play a basic F major chord. It was then that I decided if I was going to learn I would have to teach myself. I closed myself off from the outside world and devoted the entire summer holiday learning licks from Metallica's debut "Kill 'Em All". By the time I went back to school I had longer hair and was a confident and aspiring guitarist! Mission accomplished!
I went back to school which was De La Salle in Croxteth and joined my next band "Treason". My position was vocals and lead guitar. I was fortunate to have such an open, caring and professional music teacher, Mrs C Anderson, who encouraged me to be the best I could be, and rewarded me with opportunities such as playing the Lord Mayors Parade, the Matthew Street Festival, Liverpool Football Club's Kemlin suite as part of a nationwide project for schools and as a result managed to end up recording my first ever demo 'Hang 'em High' in Liverpool's Flying Picket recording studio. Sadly, I do not own a copy of this recording.
My willingness to progress was on fire. Metallica opened a door for me and I was running wild and free. In a general sense I travelled forward with my desire for heavy music and found myself in a Black Metal band called Dark Towers. I was fortunate to play "decent" venues and broke out of Liverpool and tasted my first "on the road" feeling with a band. Sadly, this project was not for me and I decided that I would let the wounds of an extreme metal lifestyle heal.
A new dawn was upon me, it was time to grow…
On this new journey, I discovered Mike Oldfield, Nick Drake, Radiohead and many more. During this time, my playing style had calmed down but progressive none the less.
Looking back, the best school for me as a guitarist was learning, playing and progressing with metal music as with the same, boundaries are often pushed and techniques are exploited. I spent the next few years drifting and experimenting in a general and social sense whilst playing and writing along the way.
The next band was one called Loafers which adopted a more pop/rock approach however being who I was, the heavies found a way in without taking the music off the path. I was now 20, a new band, new style of playing and a new girlfriend who was later to become my wife. Loafer's however, for one reason or another simply died without warning or explanation. I decided to dedicate myself to becoming a guy in a relationship who played his own music. This went on for some time however the itch of wanting to play 'live' and in a band grew.
I recalled time spent with Gary Hill while in Dark Towers, he was the "assigned" engineer. I always had a good personal and creative relationship with him so decided to call on him to start a new project. This became Avalon which was basically two mates getting together, recording riffs and bonding. This went on for a couple of years.
I was married in Sri Lanka and during that time, I became more involved with my brother in Law, Darren White, who and incidentally was the original frontman for Liverpool's own, Anathema. Straight away we hit it off and thereon decided that we would look to the future professional and this was when Serotonal was born. I drafted in my friend Gary Hill as joint guitarist for this project and soon it progressed to a full band set up and gigs were plentiful. We recorded our first promo EP entitled 'The End of Everything' which soon became popular on the underground scene. Our second EP entitled " The Futility of Trying to Avoid the Unavoidable" soon attracted attention from as far as the Czech Republic which was when we, (I) had my first experience of being professional musician. The band was soon playing massive stages on the continent, open air festivals and the like. I was where I wanted to be. We soon signed our first recording contract with Union Black Records in 2008 followed by a release joint headlining slot with Anathema at the Birmingham NEC Hellfire II Festival. Unfortunately and without too much detail, the band sadly broke apart.
I have maintained a personal and musical relationship with Darren and I am still in contact with Gary, sadly however, I no longer see the rest of the boys.
I am here now simply writing from an individual point of view whilst contemplating a band set up in the near future.
This is my first ever biography and a challenge at that however I really hope you enjoy the music I have presented to this point and would humbly urge you share your thoughts, better still… share the music.
With love and respect.
Jon Francis-White