‘Fire in one Hand, Water in the Other’  - is part of an old proverb, suggesting that if you like one, you get the other too. What else could it be today, but the title of a CD? To be precise, the title of third year student Greg Harradine’s debut album.

Greg says: “I liked the idea of complete opposites which is symbolised in my music too, combining raw acoustic with folk.”

Greg describes his musical taste as having gone through a ‘musical journey’ from mainstream rock such as ‘Mars Volta’ through to heavy, experimental rock and eventually reaching his current enthusiasm for folk. Jim Moray inspires him and he is a big fan of The Fleet Foxes and his favourite band Meshuggah.

His CD is a cross between folk and indie and has an eclectic mix of songs which all have a laid back feel to them. It is the culmination of many years of passion.  Greg says:  “I am constantly writing songs, I have been since I was 14 and it took me two months to record the CD in my bedroom.”

But on Fire in One Hand, Greg hasn’t just written all the music, he has also performed, mixed and produced the entire CD. In Greg’s opinion the lyrics to his songs hold as much importance as the music. He said: “I am fed up with commercial lyrics which are produced for a mass audience.” Greg is a firm believer that the words should have meaning behind them and this is truly evident in his songs.

His inspiration for the lyrics he bases on the books he has read, Greg wrote Track three ‘Daisy Buchanan’ after having read the book ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He said: “The book ended with you not knowing what happened to Daisy, the main character and I wanted to predict what her future may have held.” He added “I want my songs to tell stories in themselves.”

The music technology course, on which he is enrolled at Kingston, has helped him to learn the necessary expertises needed to create his CD. Greg said: “I have learnt how to record, edit and mix which helped me to produce the CD.”

Greg is presently in the process of putting a band together and hopes to start gigging as soon as possible, so watch this space. His ultimate dream like any aspiring musician is to eventually get a record deal. His enthusiasm as an artist was very apparent as he said: “I will always pursue music as I have such a love for it.”

Greg’s songs are reminiscent of the early ‘Beatles’ tracks such as ‘Eight days a week’ with his vocals being alike to Paul Simon of ‘Simon and Garfunkel.’ The songs capture the listener from the beginning with their diverse use of varied instrumentals from the flute, piano through to the oboe. The songs have good dynamics and the harmonic melodies give the songs a feel-good joyful vibe.

He has pulled off a great production which I would encourage people to buy. At four pounds it is a bargain and won’t make a dent your student loans. The CD is on sale at Banquet Records on Eden Street in Kingston. To hear some of Greg’s music you can visit his myspace page at www.myspace.com/gregharradine