In contrast to my debut album ‘Paranoid Rage’, ‘Black Swan’ steps up in melody and is less reactive, more reflective. This album is truly from the heart. I wrote these songs during a time when I was broke, in debt, heartbroken, alone, overweight and severely depressed. I’d been through turmoil with different rock bands and my mental health was in pieces. I’d hit rock bottom. But… with the breakdown came a breakthrough. I knew I had to create a new life for myself, believe in myself again. The mantra I’d repeat to myself was: “When in hell, keep going!”

Fate helped me bring the album to life by reuniting me with an old friend, producer and musician Misha Nikolic (Martin Turner Ex-Wishbone Ash), who taught me at college back in 1999. Although I felt like a grungy, struggling songwriter whose turbulent creative career would put him off, Misha reached out and offered to produce the album.

Recording took place at Monster Trax Studios in Newark, and it was full of rockstars. The great musicians that took my work seriously and featured on ‘Black Swan’ were the other members of Martin Turner Ex-Wishbone Ash: Misha Nikolic on bass and guitar solos, Tim Brown on drums, and Danny Willson on harmonies. Amazing stuff.

‘Black Swan theory’ refers to unpredictable, rare, extreme events that have potentially catastrophic circumstances. It feels ironic and fateful that this album – originally named ‘SWANS’ when I began writing in 2007 – took shape during a global pandemic. You probably won’t believe me, but in 2019, the new title ‘Black Swan’ came to me out of nowhere, as though someone was whispering it to me. That same winter, I went to visit a studio for rent in the countryside, and staring at me from a pond just outside was a pair of real life black swans. True synchronicity from the universe. How wild is that?

Black swans are symbolic of a high level of personal power, of having courage and determination to overcome hard times. Metaphorically, the black swan is not afraid to go against the flow on its own non-conformist path — just like me. I want to inspire others to do what’s in their hearts regardless of what society thinks, to embrace their black swan side. So let’s see if my new album, this 20-year feat, proves the black swan theories right.