My love for Ska began at an early age, growing up in the Midlands of England. The region had a vibrant Caribbean community, and local and Jamaican reggae bands regularly toured the cities. This cultural shift inspired young musicians to experiment with new sounds, eventually leading to the creation of Two-Tone Ska. Coventry, home to bands like The Specials and The Selecter, and Birmingham, known for The Beat, became the epicentres of this movement.

I attended as many Ska gigs as possible and was deeply involved in the scene. I cofounded and later managed a band called The Defectors. During that time, I had the privilege of meeting Laurel Aitken, often called "The Godfather of Ska," who had been living in Leicester for years. He expressed interest in transforming The Defectors into a Ska band as we leaned more towards Punk-Reggae.

Though the experiment didn’t work out, Laurel found himself without a manager and asked me to take on the role. From that moment, my journey with him began, and the rest, as they say, is history. In the 1990s, as part of a booking agency, I worked with some of the most iconic Ska bands of the era, including The Skatalites, The Selecter, Special Beat, The Toasters, The Slackers, and The Pietasters.