Your biog lists loads of stuff that you've done, tell us about your musical journey so far The bands that I played with in York went through a few different manifestations. There was a band called Wooden Horse which changed it's name later on. More recently there was a one album project called The Evernauts. That was our sort of country, hill billy type album. I work with a few other musicians who've been around in York for a long time and we use various names. I went to Boston and was a session musician there, working with a guy called Brian Gottesman. He's a great artist and he's just doing an album now that I play guitar on. Then I went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and that's where I recorded my album Heartland. How would you describe the creative process behind your songwriting? I don't know... I think there's the technical side of knowing how to put a song together, much like building a house; knowing where the walls go and that the roof has to go on top. But then there's the mysterious magical side of it which is where the creation comes from. I think everyone is an artist and some people can express that by speaking through music. That's what I try to do. Tell us about your plan to tap some of the untapped talent in this area It's early days, but the idea is to set up our own record label. I should stress that anybody hoping to make a million pounds should probably look elsewhere because that's not what we're expecting to do. We're looking to share the money that the record label makes. So if someone does well that money can help someone else who isn't doing so well, but might be just as good. York's been accused of having a sort of lethagy about new projects, do you see that being a problem? I came back from the States to be in York because I love it, but it is very true that there's often an attitude of "I'd love to do that but I can't be bothered" that surrounds many thanks here. If you want to have stuff going on and you want to be entertained it's important to realize that somebody's got to provide it, so why not get up and do it yourself. Most local bands fall down because they don't have the outlets to play and don't have the vision or the self belief to create that outlet. That's what we're trying to do, and BBC Radio York is trying to do through programmes like More Raw, give people that opportunity and outlet for their material. I think it really needs to be drummed into people's heads that there really is good music out there. How can people get hold of your album? It's called Heartland and it's currently available in Track Records in York, you'll also be able to get it through my website: www.simonsnaize.com | 
