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DAVID
SNEDDON is a
Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer. He took an
unusual route into the music business via performing on stage and television
and he sang lead roles in musicals in Glasgow.
He went on in 2002 to win the first series of the BBC's music competition
"Fame Academy." He released his single 'Stop
Living The Lie' which was a number one hit single selling over 250,000
copies, making it the 12th highest selling single of the year. Sneddon's debut album "Seven Years
-Ten Weeks", released April 2003, reached No.5 UK Albums Chart. He had three
further UK
hit singles - "Don’t Let Go" No.3, "Best Of Order" No.19
and "Baby Get Higher" No.39. His song "Baby Get
Higher" was a hit on the dance floor for Almighty Records and a chart
hit for Van Velzen and for Emin Agalarov. In October 2003 he moved from being a
popstar to working as a songwriter. Sneddon signed to major music publisher
Sony/ATV Music Publishing as a songwriter in 2009 and he describes his music as
melody driven pop. He is one of the
more successful graduates from a reality tv show and has built a long career in
music.
David Sneddon’s Songs – Nate James (“The Message”),
VanVelzen (“Baby Get Higher”) Hurts ("Illuminated", "Blood,
Tears and Gold", "Silver Lining"). Matt Cardle (“Slowly”,
“Letters”), Lana Del Rey ("National
Anthem") Newton
Faulkner ("Pick Up Your Broken Heart") Charlie Brown
("Dependency"). Greyson Chance ("Sunshine City
Lights"), David Archuleta ("Don’t Run Away").
He works with producer James
Bauer-Mein as "The Nexus" songwriting and music production
partnership for high profile and highly-anticipated emerging artists in the US and the UK. They have written for -
synthpop duo Hurts 2010 global multi platinum debut album Happiness –
“Illuminated”, "Silver Lining" and "Blood, Tears & Gold.”
The single "National Anthem" for Lana Del Rey's number one
selling debut album "Born To Die" 2012. The video has received 19
million on YouTube. "National
Anthem” also
appeared on Del Rey’s international multi platinum hit album “Paradise” which has had record sales of over 4
million and made No.1 in eleven countries. Newton Faulkner's "Write It On
Your Skin" contained Nexus songs -"Pick Up Your Broken Heart",
"Soon" and "Feel" - made No.1 UK Album Charts. Shane
Filan, formerly lead singer with Westlife released his first solo EP Everything
To Me in August 2013 which included 2 songs co-written with David Sneddon and
James Bauer-Mein (The Nexus) - Everytime and Today's Not Yesterday. They have
built a strong reputation as songwriters have
worked and released with artists such as Lana Del Rey, Hurts, Newton Faulkner,
Morten Harket, Will Young, Nicole Scherzinger, Olly Murs, Pixie Lott and Kristina
Train. In April 2013 The Nexus became part of 365 Artists.
http://www.365artists.com/producers/the-nexus.php
David Sneddon grew up in Paisley Scotland
with mother Anne, father David Snr and younger sister Pauline. David studied
music at school, won several talent competitions and played lead roles in
musicals both at school and at PACE Youth drama. When his parents bought him a piano he taught
himself to play and discovered he enjoyed writing songs. Sneddon was inspired
by his father’s record collection of The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison
and in particular Elton John - "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.".........?" David
enjoyed performing in musicals from a young age. At Primary school a teacher
suggested a Youth drama group called PACE and it proved one of the best
experiences for David and gave him confidence to perform. He attended PACE for
twelve years from the age of eight.
After attending the University of Paisley for a year, where he met Danny
Dyer, with whom he forged a close personal relationship, Sneddon decided to
pursue a career in music. He performed in musicals and sang with bands in Scotland for
several years, while he continued working on his songwriting and sending off
demos. He was offered a role in a musical in London, and a part in a young boyband called
Arena. He 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. The Martians busked and did shows during the Edinburgh Festival. Sneddon was performing
with The Martians in 2002 when he decided to enter the BBC's first series of Fame Academy.
After David won the show he brought John down to London to co-write his debut album and go on
tour with him. Sneddon also played in the indie-rock band The Sham with John
Kielty in 2004 and 2005. Since then The Martians won the Highland Quest
for a new musical in 2006 - The Sundowe was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and
toured the Scottish Highlands in early 2007.
MUSIC
CAREER
Sneddon
became known when he won the BBC's first series of a reality tv music
competition called Fame
Academy in December 2002.
He was not selected for the first show, but was drafted in as a replacement
when one contestant withdrew from the TV show due to illness. Sneddon, with his
high tenor voice and easy going, personable charm, went on to become a
favourite with both the audience and his fellow contestants. He won the final
of the show winning the voters attention for his memorable versions of "Don't
Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John, “ I Don't Want to Talk
About It" by Danny Whitten, and his own composition "Stop Living
The Lie" and won the public vote with over 3 million votes(3.5 million of
the 6 million public votes cast). He was the TV show’s most prolific
songwriter, writing at least one song a week. He was voted as the most
inspirational and original writer by fellow students. Sneddon is a naturally
gifted musician, and one of the most musically gifted contestants to appear on
a TV talent search. On the sell out Fame
Academy tour in April 2003, David was
thrilled to sing live at Glasgow's
SECC venue.
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 remaining place.
However when another contestant Naomi Roper pulled out due to illness, he was
offered her place and entered the program two weeks late. Playing a game of
catch up David went on to win over the public vote on the TV show each week.
After performing one of his own songs at the piano "Stop living The Lie"
he was made the grade A student that week, and made it through to the final
show.
David signed a Record contract with Mercury Records and was
given a luxury penthouse, Audi car and more as part of his prize. He shot his
music video for his first single at Abbey Road Studios. His first single
"Stop Living The Lie", was No.1 in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks
in January 2003, and in the UK Top 40 for a full nine weeks. David is the only
artist from a reality TV show to have a number one hit single with his own
composition, without working with any co-writers. He also had three further UK
Singles Chart hits with his own compositions - "Don’t Let Go" No.3,
"Best Of Order" No.19 and "Baby Get Higher" No.39.
"Baby Get Higher" has since been a success hit on the dance floor for
Almighty Records and a singles chart hit for Dutch singer Van Velzen.
"Seven
Years - Ten Weeks" Sneddon's album, was released in April 2003, four
months after he won the show, and entered the UK album chart at No.5. The album
contains all original compostions written by Sneddon, two co-writes with Scott
MacAlister and four songs co-written with Martians member John Kielty. David wrote songs about his seven years after
leaving university when he worked with bands, and on stage - and about his ten
weeks singing live on the BBC TV show. It contains his three chart singles
"Stop Living The Lie", "Don't Let Go" and "Best of
Order". The album was produced by Hugh Padgham who produced Phil
Collins and Peter Gabriel in the 80s, and was recorded with Elton John's band.
There was a Scottish album launch for the release on April 27 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 in Bristol and Elton John in Hull. David
also performed on TV many times, including the BBCs famous chart music program
Top of the Pops. David was also a guest presenter on The Saturday Show (BBC TV
series) and the BBC Scotland Children in Need Appeal, and he took part in Avid
Merrion's comedy show 'Bo Selecta' on Channel 4. Sneddon signed an exclusive
Publishing deal as a singwriter with Universal Music Group in October 2003.
David's main interest has always been his songwriting, he 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..........?"
Acoustic Songs
In 2004,
David was songwriting in London,
when he formed an indie-rock band The Sham with John Kielty in 2004 and 2005.
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 2006 David started writing for a new
solo album. In July he showcased his new songs in a series of intimate,
acoustic gigs with John Kielty in London, Essex
and Scotland.
"It’s not what people are expecting, I’m trying something a bit
different. The feedback, from people who know me from the show, on the new
songs has been incredible." FPR Radio Interview Oct 2006.
He released a 5-track EP called "White Noise"
in January 2007, his first recorded work for several years. The 'White Noise’
EP topped the Indie charts for 3 months, remained at No 1 for over a month, and
then at No 3 for another month. It was recorded in 'one live acoustic take' and
has melody-driven piano songs. TRACKS: White Noise, Time, Lady Lullaby, One
Old Soul and Wish You Well. Sneddon played acoustic gigs across England and Scotland in 2007, with backing
guitarist David Mullins. He also presented a radio sports show called 'Keep Off
the Grass' on BBC Radio Scotland
in June 2007. In August 2007 he performed three sold out gigs at the Jazz Bar
Edinburgh Festival to good reviews. In 2008 David continued with his writing
work and played gigs in London.
He describes his music as 'melody driven'. Sneddon's top selling No 1 EP
"White Noise" returned to the top of the Indie store charts Jan 2007
(a year after it was released in January 2007) and at no. 1 in August, Sept,
Nov 2008 and March 2009.
SONGWRITING:
David Sneddon's
musical journey and songwriting successes have drawn from his influences from
the songs of Elton John, The Beatles, Paul Simon, Dylan and Coldplay. David had
written for some top talent in recent years. In October 2003 Sneddon's
song "Baby Get Higher" had reached
No.39 in the UK Singles Chart and the song achieved further chart successes in
November 2003 when the dance label Almighty Records produced an exclusive promo
remix which was a dance hit. The label then recorded a version featuring Belle
Lawrence, which was included on several dance compilation albums. In November
2006, the song was also a singles chart hit for Dutch singer VanVelzen.
In 2005 Sneddon wrote the international hit "The
Message" for UK Soul singer Nate James which was released as
a single in the UK,
and was on James's debut album, ''Set The Tone''. It charted in Italy and Japan in 2006.
In 2009 he signed a new deal with major Music publisher (popular music)
Sony/ATV Music Publishing and will be writing for labels Decca Records,
Universal Music Group and Syco, which is Simon Cowell’s label. Quote from David
in Paisley Daily Express, “This deal has been in the pipeline for a year…we
wanted to wait for the right deal. I don’t think there has been another reality
TV winner who took a back step to this side of the industry but I like being
able to get on with my work. We had to prove ourselves...and so that’s why we
did a lot of development work."
In 2008 and 2009 David
decided to focus exclusively on his song writing career, while he also
performed a few occasional gigs in London
over this time. Sneddon signed in 2009 with new management Three Six Zero Group
and to Sony/ATV Music Publishing in July 2009, as a songwriter.
The Nexus
Since 2003 Sneddon has
worked with James Bauer-Mein in a London
recording studio discovering, producing and writing with new talent. Sneddon
and Mein (The Nexus) have written songs for other artists such as Hurts,
Morten Harket of Ah-ha, X Factor winner Matt Cardle and number one
selling American singer Lana Del Rey. Sneddon writes with producer and
guitarist James Bauer-Mein as "The Nexus" songwriting and
music production partnership for both high profile and highly-anticipated
emerging artists in both the US
and the UK.
They have been building a strong reputation as songwriters the past years. Mein
worked with Sneddon when he toured and recorded his debut album in 2003 and he
has been writing with him for the past ten years. In 2009 they decided to call
themselves “ The Nexus”.
They wrote songs for the
synthpop duo Hurts 2010 global multi platinum debut album Happiness – “Illuminated”,
"Silver Lining" and "Blood, Tears & Gold.” Radio
One DJ Zane Lowe gave the song 'Blood Tears & Gold' its premier in January
2010 as his "Hottest Record in the World" and two of the tracks would
go on to become singles for Hurts in 2011. Hurt's Happiness reached the Top 10 in 12 European countries, and has sold
over one million copies worldwide. The band has also sold more than one million
singles worldwide. Sneddon and Mein (The Nexus) have written "Letters" and "Slowly"
(co-written with Cardle and Eg White) for X Factor winner Matt Cardle’s
album Letters which was released in
October 2011 and charted at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart. In 2011, he became
engaged to his long-term girlfriend, who works in television in London. In April 2012 The
Nexus was listed as the writers for the song "Keep the Sun Away"
for Morten Harket, best known as the singer of the Norwegian
synthpop/rock band A-ha, solo album "Out of My Hands”. In 2012 Emin
Agalarov released "Baby Get Higher" as
the first release from his album "After the Thunder" and the song
received BBC Radio 2 A List airplay.
The song "National Anthem" was co-written
with The Nexus for Lana Del Rey's debut album "Born To Die"
which was released in January 2012 and reached No.1 in the UK Albums Chart and
became one the fastest-selling albums of the year, selling 116,745 copies the
biggest first-week sales of 2012. They also co-wrote the song "Driving
in Cars With Boys" with Del Rey. The Nexus song "National Anthem”
was confirmed in May 2012 as Del Rey’s single from her album and was released
on July, 2012. The music video for the song premiered June 27 2012 and depicted
Del Rey as Jacqueline Onassis and A$AP Rocky as John F Kennedy. Del Rey said
the video was "definitely the most beautiful thing" she had done and
the video had received 19 million views on YouTube.
The single "National
Anthem” appeared on Del Rey’s international multi platinum hit album “Paradise”
which has had record sales of over 4 million and made No.1 in eleven countries. Newton Faulkner's
third studio album "Write It On Your Skin" contained two Nexus songs
-"Pick Up Your Broken Heart" and "Soon" - was released in
July 2012 and reached No.1 UK Album
Charts. In 2012 as well as developing their own artists, Sneddon and Mein have
written with Greyson Chance, Eliza Doolittle and Dionne Bromfield..
David Sneddon’s Songs – Nate James (“The Message”),
VanVelzen (“Baby Get Higher”) Hurts ("Illuminated", "Blood,
Tears and Gold", "Silver Lining"). Matt Cardle (“Slowly”,
“Letters”), Lana Del Rey {"National
Anthem") Newton
Faulkner ("Pick Up Your Broken Heart") Charlie Brown
("Dependency"). Greyson Chance ("Sunshine City
Lights"), David Archuleta ("Don’t Run Away").
2013 Nexus
song releases. Charlie Brown’s single “Dependency” released
December 2012 and produced by Mushtaq and co-written with David Sneddon with a
mix by the mighty Sticky. The track features street star Yungen and vocalist
Mrs D known for her part on Wiley’s recent No.1, Heatwave. Brown's album "Dreamstate"
is due for release in 2013. American pop singer Greyson Chance single “Sunshine
and City Lights” released in November 2012 on his “Truth Be Told Part 1”
EP was co-written with The Nexus during a late session. The Nexus produced
American Idol finalist and runner up David Archuleta's single “Don’t
Run Away” on 12th February 2013. Shane Filan, formerly lead singer
with Westlife released his first solo EP Everything To Me in August 2013
which included 2 songs co-written with David Sneddon and James Bauer-Mein (The
Nexus) - Everytime and Today's Not Yesterday. Shane released his solo
album You and Me in November 2013
which also contained the Nexus songs and he is doing a UK Tour next year.
In April
2013 The Nexus became part of 365 Artists. The Nexus have worked and released
with artists such as Newton
Faulkner, Morten Harket, Will Young, Nicole Scherzinger, Olly Murs, Pixie Lott
and Kristina Train
