Blast

A King's Lynn singer-songwriter has embarked upon the seemingly impossible. Sean Wright is releasing an album a month for a year and it's a project which has led him to team up with a Pakistani star.

It will result in 144 songs, and is an effort which Sean - who lives in West Winch - believes has never been achieved before.

"John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers is the only person that I have heard of that has tried it, but he stopped at six months' worth of material - the stage I'm at now," he said.

Spreading the word

The website MySpace has helped to generate interest in Sean's project as it has allowed him to put his music on the internet for free for people to listen to and download.

"I'm getting 300 to 500 plays on there a day, which is great," he said.

It was through MySpace that Sean - who is in his forties - was contacted by one of Asia's biggest pop stars, Najam Sheraz, who called his songwriting "awesome".

The two began collaborating in May, penning new material for an album project, and Sheraz invited Sean on his world tour, but he had to decline due to his family and teaching commitments at North Wootton Primary.

The event marked the 60th Anniversary of Independence for Pakistan, and as well as being watched by a crowd of 12,000 people, it was also aired live to more than 100 million people worldwide via Pakistani television network GEO TV.

"The album a month thing has created a lot of interest," said Sean of his solo venture.

 "I write and record all the tracks myself. I put down the guitar and vocals first, and then record the drum and bass parts, and then re-record the guitar and vocals again separately afterwards."

He has thousands of songs in his back catalogue, but 70 per cent of the tracks being used on these albums are new ones.

"The albums vary in style from acoustic, folk, rock, right the way through to pop."

Sean now prefers to listen to pop-rock and melodic bands such as Snow Patrol and The Kooks after being brought up on punk.

The way he has gone about tackling the challenge has been to record each album a month before its release, meaning he can get a month ahead and allow time for any setbacks.

Book break

Sean's album challenge was brought about following his success as a children's novelist.

His first book was read cover to cover - for five hours - on the BBC Radio's Big Read-a-thon, while in July 2004 the Book And Magazine Collector named Sean as one of 15 of the most collectable modern children's author's alive today, along with JK Rowling, and Philip Pullman.

Three of Sean's other short stories were nominated for the British Fantasy Award for excellence in fantasy, horror, and sci-fi writing.

The royalties allowed him to invest in some home recording equipment - and is the latest instalment in a life which has been punctuated by his passion for music.

Starting out

Sean has had a long career in music and has met and worked with some of its most influential figures, after first picking up a guitar aged eight and "plonking around".

At 14, Sean - who grew up in Peterborough and Wisbech - joined his first band and began writing proper songs.

"Back in those days gigs were easy to get, so I was playing between three and four nights a week," he said.

While there he rubbed shoulders with Liam Sternberg, an American songwriter best known for penning The Bangles' Walk Like An Egyptian.

Sean also co-wrote songs with Hollywood hit-maker Kim Fowley, who later went on to write tracks and produce for top rock acts including Van Halen, Nirvana, and Sonic Youth.

Inspiring times

Back in 1976 Sean became inspired while working with Steve Lillywhite, who later produced for acts including Morrissey, Talking Heads and U2.

Lillywhite once said to Sean: "London is a place where you can get into some strange situations."

This advice led to Sean's band, International Heroes, releasing their 1978 debut single Strange Situation, which was acclaim in the UK press and received airplay on Radio 1.

The band - fronted by Sean - have since been credited in the Encyclopaedia Of British Heavy Metal as one of the forerunners of the 1980s power-pop movement.

Billy Idol even picked one of Sean's songs for selection on his Rebel Yell album although it didn't make the final 12 tracks from the 15 that had been recorded.

Putting his personal music career on hold, Sean went on to co-manage the all-girl Swedish band, Ice Age, voted Best Female Group in the World 1989/1990 by Kerrang! magazine readers.

Back to study

After 20 years of living the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, Sean began to calm his creative interests and headed to university to gain his degree.

"I did it all backwards really," he said. "This break gave me some time to think."

He had always enjoyed poetry and writing from a young age so decided to write books.

But with six months and six releases to go, all of Sean's energies are focused on his music.

He is determined to complete the project and compares it to a memorable scene in the Hollywood blockbuster Forrest Gump.

"You know the bit where he just starts running and running, well that's kind of what I feel like with these albums," he said. "I might just keep going and going until I want to stop."

The year-long series is available by mail order from crows-wing.com, as well as by download from well-known music sites.