David Sneddon

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David Sneddon
Origin	Scotland
Years active	2003–present
Genres	Pop, Acoustic, Indie

David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978, in Paisley, Scotland) is a British pop singer-songwriter who sprang to fame when he won the first UK series of Fame Academy in 2002. David had a number one hit single with "Stop Living The Lie" in January 2003, and a number 3 hit with "Don't Let Go", in April. His debut album, Seven Years - Ten Weeks, released in April 2003, entered the UK Albums Chart at number 5.

He is currently signed to Universal Music as a songwriter. In 2006 David began writing and recording a new solo album, describing his new material as 'acoustic based indie pop' [1].

Contents 1 Origins 2 Music Career and Achievements 2.1 Performing 2.2 Songwriting 3 Discography 3.1 Album 3.2 Singles 4 External links

[edit] Origins

David enjoyed performing in musicals from a young age, and when his parents bought him a piano he discovered he loved writing songs, and taught himself to play. David was inspired by his father’s record collection of The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison and Elton John, and he cites the Beatles as a huge influence. He studied music at school, won several talent competitions and played lead roles in musicals both at school and at PACE Youth drama. "The person who has inspired me the most is Elton John. I love the Beatles, but as I was growing up, I always wanted to play the piano like him. I've never had any lessons, so he has been my only teacher.".........?"[2]

After attending University in Glasgow for a year, David decided to pursue a career in music. He was offered several opportunities – a musical in London, and a part in a young boy band called Arena. He performed in musicals and sang with bands in Scotland for several years. He also presented 'Inside Out' a children's show on Scottish TV. While acting in Romeo and Juliet he met John Kielty - David was Romeo and John was acting Juliet's father. After playing some acoustic nights together at the Tron in Glasgow in 2001, they decided to start a band, and called themselves The Martians Band.

[edit] Music Career and Achievements

[edit] Performing

David was performing with the Martians in the summer of 2002, when he decided to enter the BBC Fame Academy show. He made the final stages in London after auditioning in Glasgow, but was not selected for one of the final eleven places. On the first show he came second to Sinéad Quinn in a public vote for the last place. However when another contestant Naomi Roper pulled out due to illness, he was offered her place and entered the program two weeks late. David went on to win the final showdown with 3.5 million of the 6 million public votes, competing against Sinéad Quinn and Lemar Obika.

He signed to Mercury Records in December 2002, and shot his first video at Abbey Road Studios. David's first single "Stop Living The Lie", which he wrote when he was 17, stayed at #1 in the UK Charts for two weeks in January 2003. To date, he is the only artist from a reality TV show to have a no.1 hit single with a self-written song.

His debut album, "Seven Years Ten Weeks" which refers to David's seven years of struggling and his ten weeks on the TV show, was released in April and entered the UK album chart at #5. The album was produced by Hugh Padgham, and recorded with Elton John's band; it contains all original material written by David, and some co-writes with John Kielty. There was a Scottish album launch, for the release on 27 April, when David performed 7 gigs in 10 hours all over Scotland.

Throughout 2003 David and his band played a University tour, the Box Live and Summer XS tours, headlined at the 'Pop on the Rock' music festival in the Channel Islands, and supported Bryan Adams and Elton John. He also performed on TV many times, including Top of the Pops, as a guest presenter on CBBC's The Saturday Show and the BBC Scotland Children in Need Appeal as well as appearing in Avid Merrion's comedy show 'Bo Selecta' on Channel 4 [3]

David left Mercury Records and signed a publishing deal with Universal Music in October 2003. David said "I've loved all the music side of it, it's everything I hoped it would be - the recording, the studio, writing, but the other stuff..........?"[4]

David began to focus mainly on his songwriting, sometimes with John Kielty. He returned to performing in 2004 and 2005 as the lead-singer with indie-rock band The Sham. They played a number of gigs in London, Scotland and the North of England, and headlined at the Hogmanay Celebrations in Aberdeen. The Sham included Ed Carlile(drums),Si Jones(guitar), Jake Gosling(keys), John Kielty(guitar) & Jay Mein(bass).

In 2005 David started writing and recording for a new solo album. In 2006 he showcased his new songs in a series of intimate, acoustic gigs with John Kielty in London, Essex and Scotland. John moved to to San Francisco in January 2007 to continue his acting and writing career there. David now has David Mullins [5] as his new backing guitarist.

In January 2007 David did a tour with singer songwriters Jake Hook and Chris Townsend. For latest Gigs Listings - David's MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/davidsneddon

David released a 5-track EP called "White Noise" in January 2007 which has been at the top of the Indie charts since it's release. Tracks: White Noise, Time, Lady Lullaby, One Old Soul and Wish You Well. www.indiestore.com/davidsneddon

[edit] Songwriting

David co-wrote the song “The Message” for UK soul artist Nate James which was released as a single in the UK in 2005, and was also a track on Nate’s debut album “Set The Tone”. It charted in Italy and Japan in 2006. David is currently writing with 18 year-old British singer Julian Perretta for his debut album, penned for release in 2008. [6].

In October 2003 David’s single, Baby Get Higher, made the British Top 40, and this song has subsequently achieved chart success. In November 2003 the dance label Almighty Records [7] produced an exclusive promo remix, which proved to be hit on the dance floor. The label then recorded a version featuring Belle Lawrence, which has been included on several dance compilation albums. In November 2006 this song was a Singles chart hit for Dutch artist Van Velzen [8]. In 2006, David had four songs picked up by other artists worldwide.

• Awards - Nordoff Robins Award for Contribution to music 2003.
• Radio Forthone Newcomer award 2003.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Album

Seven Years - Ten Weeks (2003) #5 UK

TRACKS:

1. "Best Of Order"
2. "Time To Fall Down"
3. "Stop Living The Lie"
4. "All My Life"
5. "Follow Me"
6. "Don't Let Go"
7. "The Bluebird"
8. "Lazy"
9. "OK"
10. "Without You"
11. "Neverland"
12. "Long Time Coming"

[edit] Singles

1. "Stop Living The Lie" (2003) #1 UK
2. "Don't Let Go" (2003) #3 UK
3. "Best Of Order" (2003) #19 UK
4. "Baby Get Higher" (2003) #38 UK

[edit] External links

• David's MySpace - www.myspace.com/davidsneddon
• David's Indiestore - www.indiestore.com/davidsneddon - WHITE NOISE EP, released January 2007
• Official site - www.davidsneddon.biz - Latest news, Multimedia, Gigography, Interviews, Photo archive, and Forum
• Julian Perretta's MySpace Page - [http:www.myspace.com/julianperrettamusic]

Fansites

• www.davidsneddonfansite.co.uk- Biography, Fan Gig Reviews, Photos, and News
• www.myspace.com/davidsneddonfans - Photos, Biography, Blog.
• www.shamfansite.co.uk - Sham Info & News, Fan Gig Reports and Photos.
• www.the-martians.co.uk - Official Martians site: Latest News, Articles, Blog, Forum.
• www.themartiansfansite.co.uk - the Martians Bio, John Kielty Bio, News, Gig Reports and Photos.