At some point between the ages of five and seven, Bradley
Royds began to teach himself to sing and play the guitar.
He quickly picked up the piano, bass, and drums, and
even started writing and singing his own songs. By the
time he reached his early teens, Bradley was already
a seasoned player.
"I remember riding in the car in the seventies
with Mom and Dad. They played 8-track tapes and flipped
around those cool radio stations that seem to have disappeared
ever since Clear Channel took over. As Dj's they had
very little musical prejudice and certainly no shame...so
in a short ride we might listen to standards, classical,
rock & roll, classic rock, musicals, some really
bad disco, and even some punk stuff. One day Mom said
something so simple and yet so illuminating...'just
listen to the way the sound goes up and down...the way
the notes move...they way the words flow'...suddenly
it all just made sense. I could feel my whole being
just drop into it... an epiphany of sorts. I had been
hearing the music for several years, but that was the
moment I 'got it'....when I learned to listen.
That
connection with sound and song just seemed so natural...and
far more fun than the team sports that dominated the
Houston social scene...I tried all the sports....I was
catcher in baseball....goal tender in soccer....football...forget
it....There was a popular saying in the fuzzy liberal
seventies..."If it feels good do it." Playing
music feels better than diving for leather balls any
day of the week....and honestly...I was addicted...just
loved it....
As
a teen in his hometown of Houston, Texas, Bradley played
both acoustic and electric guitar and sang in various
bands. He explored his own sound and style in several
avant-guard instrumental projects, and further developed
his incredible finger-picking and rythmic in-the-pocket
strumming abilities playing solo and in bands like folk-rock
group 'Homeward Bound.'
"After
a few years of self-taught exploration, I decided to
take some guitar lessons. At the end of the second lesson,
the teacher...Skip Saffron...told me he ws thinking
he should pay me...to be in his band!" I thought
they were 'old guys', but in retrospect I guess they
were 20-something. Great folk-rock stuff...Simon &
Garfunkle...Dylan...finger pickin'...playing live...heaven.
Have not spoken to Skip in years...he did teach me quite
a bit about songs...playing live...and just being cool......hay...if
you're reading this....call me:)
I
started jamming with my old friend Harry Green when
we were in sixth grade....he recently reminded me how
it all started...I rung his mother like six times while
he was at camp explaining that he just had to get back
to me as soon as humanly possible....made sure she understood
that this was of the utmost importance...when we finally
spoke, I have a vague memory of proclaiming that we
were going to play the entire rock opera Tommy....pretty
ambitious...we actually came up with some very interesting
instrumental bits of our own.....he's a really great
drummer...and has become proficient guitar, vox, recording......not
to toot our horns...but we were both way beyond our
years in talent back then....unfortunately we STILL
have never recorded together...well...not true....had
a great track that got destroyed by an adat foul-up....we'll
do it someday...and I'm sure it'll be the best stuff
either of us has done....
Bradley
was still in junior-high when he was lured on weekends
to Austin, where he jammed electric, acoustic, bass,
and even guitar synthesizer with a very loud party band
called "The Electric Space Blues Orchestra."
During his High School years Bradley honed his solo
acoustic skills and earned a reputation for being a
master of the six string.
"These
college kids would throw outrageous parties with names
like the 'Farm-Fry'... they would be called 'raves'
today...and everyone would get busted for sure! A friend's
older brother introduced me to Bill Cheek...he led the
band that played all the events...it was kinda like
The Dead...jam all night...kiss the sky.....He just
wanted kickin' players and didn't care that I was a
snotty little kidd. I just wanted to party and play,
and these guys amazed me by really kicking it up on
both fronts...Lucky me!"
"During those formative years, my brothers Richard
and Carleton also had a big influence on my musical
outlook. They bought records...lots of records...Carleton
was attracted by eclectic 'heady' artists...Django Rheinhart...Stephan
Grappelli...and he played odd instruments like the lute.....Richard
played bass and was in to what is now considered 'classic
rock' ...Zepplin...Stones...Bowie...The Police....and
my fave The Who...to this day I think I've purchased
like three albums...Cd's...as for online...well....
I never download free tracks as far as you know......but
I just got an ipod...Carleton bought it for me....insisted
that I can't be in music these days without it....how
cool is he!!!!!???......sweeeeeeet device.....but so
far I only have my stuff on it....
In
addition to his dedication to music, Bradley focused
on his education. He earned a 'high-honors' Political
Science degree, and attended both the University of
Texas and The London School of Economics.
"School
was cool...I did it well...done deal"
When
Bradley moved to Los Angeles to dive into the big bad
music industry in the early 1990's, his career took
off quickly. Within a few months, he had landed a gig
playing guitar with Boy George on TV, started a multi-year
stint scoring television ads and movie promos for Warner
Bros, took the helm as producer of a sydicated talk-radio
show, and established relationships with a slew of heavy-hitters
in the industry. Since his early years in Hollywood,
Bradley has participated in literally hundreds of musical
and artistic projects.
(go
to credits)
"The
90's Hollyweird years were the dream some dreamers dream......bands...scoring
and sound design gigs...big houses in the hills...recording
studios...making money doin' music...and of course countless
wild parties and loud moments.
"My
first month or so in LA, I was staying at the home of
my friend Sven, whose dad is a rock-star and scoring
artist. While I was living in London a couple of years
before, I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time
in his studio. I spent weekends toying with his state-of-the-art
computers and recording gear. Billy Pollina, an incredibly
creative writer, producer and artist, used to hang around
the LA house as well. He was hooked in to producing
tv ads, movie trailors, and promos for Warner Bros.
One day he asked if I could score to picture...Of course,
I lied and said I was the new 'cool' in the world of
song and sound...I ended up doing countless commercial
projects...learned a lot.
I
also met Daniel Lin early on. Daniel...wow.....more
on that later....she introduced me to new age health
and spirituality at a time when it was still considered
almost cult behavior....I produced The Daniel Lin Show....also
did the music....produced the advertisements....there
are tons of shows like it now...but at the time it was
very unique.
And
there were live gigs...solo and with bands...
My first live gig was pretty cool. I played with Boy
George and an all star band on The Arsenio Hall Show.
Total coup! I was so green it was funny. My friend Mitch
was working at his "uncle's label" (Virgin),
and he recommended that they audition me for the gig.
I met with Bobby Z and Paul Peterson (St. Paul) in a
Hollyweird hotel, smoked a j and jammed for half a moment...got
the gig...yeeehaw:) George asked me to play a concert
with him later that year....totally cool as well....I
got to work with a full Hari Krishna choir....the real
deal....great singers....and they baked some fantastic
cookies....the gig was a benefit....and it happened
to be George's birthday......I remember Mayor Tom Bradley
showed up....Apollonia and Edward James Olmos hosted
the evening....wish I had a pic of the backstage scene.....
"Around
1992 ,I dragged Carleton and our old friend Billy West
in to the west coast scene to launch my band The High
Court....great players those boys.....great drummer
too...Albe Bonnacci....I was doing this progressive
rock thing in the midst of an industry high on grunge....in
the words of one record company exec, THC was "either
7 years before or 20 after our time...it was all very
theatrical...interesting if not commercial. We recorded
demos that became Cd's when I refused all the bad deals
that came my way from all those now-defunct record labels
and managers. Schyeah!
Bradley
is The Acoustic Bomb.
Guitar
guru Jim Kaughman of Sunrise Pickups said it...well...actually
it was the name of a stripped down demo EP I had recorded
in search of a record deal after I killed The High Court...Jim
said "Ah The Acoustic Bomb....YOU are the Acoustic
Bomb"...now it sort of goes beyond 'acoustic' referring
to 'unplugged'...I use it for all of my solo output....electric,
acoustic, or otherwise...I'm recording some new songs
now...I'll share 'em soon.......boom!
AndRoyd
is Bradley Royds and Andy Hay. The duo's songs and score
cues can be heard in some of the biggest video games,
and they work wonders producing solo artists and bands.
With hard hitting techno-rocking songs and over-the-top
production AndRoyd will pick you up, toss you around,
and leave you feeling well caffeinated.
"I
started working with Andy Hay when we recorded the last
THC demos together. Shortly thereafter we did the Che
Malcom project. We subsequently produced several songs
with David Rice. The recordings helped land David a
major label deal with Sony/Columbia. About a year later,
my old friend Randy Eckhardt, who had worked his was
up as a music supervisor at Electronic Arts, was proud
to tell me that he had landed all sorts of big names
for Mattel's Hotwheels Turbo Racer vid game. I told
him I could deliver better music than Metallica and
whomevah-whatevah-screw-those-guys-anyway...he laughed...but
then we whipped out an instrumental that was so perfect
for the game they had to have it.....and they asked
for more....that was the start of the vid game thing."
It was obvious to me anyway that we were 'AndRoyd'....uh....And
y Hay and Bradley Royd s.....and the creation of AndRoyd
Audio was easy....when its appropriate I call on this
group of talented lads...we can do anything sonic....anything.....
I
pulled Andy in to help me produce UK band 'FreeFall.'
I was developing the band along the way...so the recordings
took a while.....they were called FreeFallUk when we
made the record...now they are calling themselves The
Hiding.' And they are gettin' a new drummer 'cause Dan
Medland exploded (actually he's working in artist management...which
is kinda the same thing as exploding)...aaaaaanywho.....I
worked on this one pretty hard.....recorded in the UK....Los
Angeles...Boston...as i said...they were developing...and
the songs weren't all there yet.....had to kinda cobble
them out of what we laid down in a week of sessions
at Purple Studios in Norwich....and from a couple of
days in Zoolopa in Gloucester...... it was great for
me because I had so much leeway...had to build the songs
out of what we had.......but lucky me....whatever I
wanted to do......they didn't mind...rare that a band
would be so open.....I ended up playing lots of guitars....keys...singing
backing vox...rewrote lyrics............Andy played
too.....and his input was what made me realise I could
make this a great record...I went in to it thinking
rough demos.......he had a lot to do with turning the
turd I was polishing into a diamond.....aaaand he lived
at my place for a couple of months recording and mixing
it with me...he's so able...just fantastic.....thats
dedication....soooo it would be nice if you would buy
it at RUniverse.com...I've spoken with the band off-n-on
about recording again... the band is a band...so the
sound and outlook is ever-changing...and they are eager
to prove that they are now cooler and harder and better
and faster and all that rott....perfect...love those
kids!
In
1998, Bradley and Andy Hay (AKA. AndRoyd) landed a song
on the soundtrack for Electronic Arts/Matte's Hotwheels
Turbo Racer video game. When more gigs began to arrise,
they formed AndRoyd Audio, a music production group,
to provide sound, songs and recording services for commercial
projects.(See
Credits)
"I
have handshake deals with several prolific composers
and producers who I have worked with over the years.
Individually or as a team, we are albe to provide services
in all areas of music and sound production. We can do
anything...all styles...any genre of entertainment...any
location. No project is out of reach. So far we have
lots of vid game and television credits...and we have
studios in Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Boston,
and Lake Tahoe.
Phil
Bryte...'Pfilbryte.'... Around 1998, a manager at Left
Bank Management was trying to sign me to a deal, and
put me together with this incredible composer-producer-recording
artist. We recorded four of my songs in a day. Ultimately,
I refused the management deal, and Pfil dropped the
guy too. But instrumental versions of the songs we did
together are now in several hit TV shows.
Pfil
and his partner Donny also have a band called SpaceStation.
FusiPumper Records released their latest Cd in April
2004. I played electric and acoustic guitars, citar-guitar,
and mandolin...check out the downloads. Must say that
Phil is probably the most straight-shootin' dude you
could meet in this biz, and I swear he has over 1000
songs in use in TV shows right now. Five record deals...MTV
vids...all the smack...and he's totally cool about it
all...no 'tude'...Plan to record with him soon.
More
on Billy West, Haddon Kime, Nick Rivera and Tom Manche
soon...
By
the end of the 1990's Bradley was more and more in to
the east coast....and less and less in to the west...so
he started spending more and more time one the east
side...and less and less on the west.....
Come
back for more.......I'll talk about things like uh.....loved
LA but....turn of the century.....short move to Austin....drinking
vs. playing...Boston theater....Boston rock......the
new decade.....lots has happened...lots is happening........think
we will go back further in time too....like did I ever
tell you about being arrested by the KGB in St Petersberg
in 1987?????
Currently, Bradley is rocking his way through
the ever-changing music business. His songs can be heard
iin hit television shows and commercials, top selling
video games, and you can't miss him on the net.
"I
have done hundreds of gigs, producing bands and solo
artists, playing live shows, scoring, licensing songs
for video games, television ads and shows, promos, theater,
internet audio....you name it....I've done it...uh....except
score a feature film...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I'm off to
do more!!!!!
