Eric Appapoulay (born 21 December 1971) is a British singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, programmer, multi-instrumentalist and guitarist. Appapoulay has been the guitar player for

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...

, the musical director for

Daniel Bedingfield Daniel John Bedingfield (born 3 December 1979) is a New Zealand-British singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the eldest brother of fellow singers Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. He was a judge on '' The X Factor New Z ...

, the bassist for both

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

and

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney , D.Mus (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian a ...

, and the performing artist on the debut album ''Faith is Trust''. Appapoulay is also currently the guitarist with

Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...

.
He is the co-owner of The Sanctuary Recording Studio in London, and member of SMV known for their work on the 2010 award-winning

album, ''

The Defamation of Strickland Banks ''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'' is the second studio album from English singer and rapper Plan B. It was released on 12 April 2010 by 679 Recordings. The album is a departure from the sound heard on Plan B's debut album '' Who Needs Acti ...

''.

History

Appapoulay was born in East London to Mauritian parents. He has two siblings named Maryse Appapoulay and Caroline Appapoulay. He began playing (sega) traditional music from Mauritius at age eight alongside reggae, calypso, soca and high life. He studied classical guitar privately, inspired by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

. He listened to flamenco guitar,

Paco de Lucia Paco is a Spanish nickname for Francisco. According to folk etymology, the nickname has its origins in Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the father of the Franciscan order; his name was written in Latin by the order as ''Pater Communitatis'' (fat ...

, also blues, rock and country, and artists such as

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

Kelly Joe Phelps Kelly Joe Phelps (October 5, 1959 – May 31, 2022) was an American musician and songwriter. His music has been characterized as a mixture of delta blues and jazz.Ann Powers, ''The New York Times'', February 9, 2000. Career Kelly Joe Phelps grew ...

and

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

. Much later jazz/fusion influences from

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fin ...

Larry Carlton Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. He has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorde ...

Robin Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springf ...

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

, Bireli Lagrene and

Scott Henderson Scott Henderson (born August 26, 1954) is an American jazz fusion and blues guitarist best known for his work with the band Tribal Tech. Tribal Tech Henderson formed Tribal Tech with bass player Gary Willis in 1984. Under the direction of Hende ...

Career

Band

Founding member of Quite Sane, the 1995 Capital Radio young band of the year.

Production

He was a composer with Lounge Productions in the UK. In 2006, he set up The Sanctuary Recording Studio with partner David McEwan. With a career in the music industry for over 25 years he has worked with many artists that include:

Yusuf Yusuf ( ar, يوسف ') is a male name of Arabic origin meaning "God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning "YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name ...

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent as a songwriter and background vocalist for ...

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

Don Blackman Don (Donald) Blackman (September 1, 1953 – April 11, 2013) was an American jazz-funk pianist, singer, and songwriter. He performed with Parliament-Funkadelic; Earth, Wind and Fire; Louis Hayes; and Nicolas Dietz. Biography Blackman was bor ...

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke an ...

Lucie Silvas Lucie Silvas (born Lucie Joanne Silverman, 4 September 1977) is a British singer-songwriter. Early life Born in Kingston upon Thames, England, her father is from New Zealand and is of Jewish descent; and her mother is Scottish and is Christia ...

MPHO Mpho Skeef (pronounced /mpʰo skʲɪəf/), known by her stage name of Mpho, is a South African-born British singer-songwriter based in London. Early and personal life Skeef was born during the apartheid regime in South Africa to Sipho Mabuse ...

Patrice Bart-Williams Patrice Babatunde Bart-Williams (born 9 July 1979), better known as Patrice, is a Sierra Leonean-German singer-songwriter, music producer and film-maker. Raised by a Sierra Leonean father and a German mother, Patrice Bart-Williams grew up listenin ...

Terri Walker Terri Walker (born Chanelle Gstettenbauer, 14 April 1979) is an English R&B and soul singer-songwriter. Walker has released four albums in the United Kingdom, ''Untitled'', '' L.O.V.E'', ''I Am'' and ''Entitled''. She also provided the majority ...

Nate James Nathaniel James Speas, known as Nate James, (born 15 September 1979 in Lakenheath, Suffolk, England) is an English singer-songwriter. James released his debut soul album '' Set the Tone'' in 2005 which won him two MOBO Nominations for Best Newc ...

Tackhead Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, indus ...

, Anette Peacock, Ola, New Sector Movements, Liquid Biskit, Zen Badism, Jhelisa Anderson,

Glen Scott Glen Scott (born Glenvin Anthony Scott on 29 August 1973) is a British producer, arranger, mixing engineer, singer-songwriter, and session musician. Glen Scott is currently living and working in London. He has worked with artists such as Jame ...

, Wisechildren,

Colin Emmanuel Colin Emmanuel aka C-Swing is an English music producer, remixer and writer who works across most genres including Hip hop, R&B, Alternative and Soul genres. He has produced, remixed or written for the likes of; The Beta Band, Jamelia, KRS-One ...

Jimmy Dawkins James Henry “Jimmy” Dawkins (October 24, 1936 – April 10, 2013) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer. He is generally considered to have been a practitioner of the "West Side sound" of Chicago blues. Career ...

, DJ Pogo, Mc Ty, Jonzi D,

Manifest Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Aus ...

Wunmi Wunmi, real name Ibiwunmi Omotayo Olufunke Felicity Olaiya, is a singer, dancer and fashion designer.

Kojo Antwi Kojo Antwi, also known as "Mr. Music Man", is a Ghanaian Afro pop, highlife and reggae musical artist. Born Julius Kojo Antwi into a family of 13 siblings, he grew up in Darkuman a suburb of Accra. He has 22 albums to his name, with "Tom & Jerry" ...

, Vikter Duplait, Eska Mtungwasi, Marcina Arnold, Natalie Williams,

Julie Dexter Julie Dexter is a British singer, songwriter and producer, whose music spans the categories of jazz, soul and reggae. She was born and raised in Birmingham, England, and has been based in the United States since 1999. Notable musicians with whom ...

. Appapoulay was the touring Guitarist for Neneh Cherry in 1992, Musical director for New Sector Movements in 1997, Bass player for

between 1998–2000, Musical director for Daniel Bedingfield's band between 2000–2006, Co-writer of the song " Do Ya" with

for his 2004 album ' Just For You', touring Guitarist for Natasha Bedingfield in 2007 and

between 2007–2008. He toured with

Patrice Patrice is a given name meaning '' noble'' or '' patrician'', related to the names Patrick and Patricia. In English, Patrice is often a feminine first name. In French, it is used as a masculine first name. Popularity In the United States, the pop ...

between 2008–2010 and

since 2008 and undertook a tour of Europe in May 2011 with

(aka

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

) as a guitarist and lead vocalist. He also produced tracks for British MC/Singer

for his number 1 award-winning album ''

'', including the top 10 single " She Said". He was the bass player for 90% of the Plan B's album alongside Jodi Milner, and also did backing vocals, piano and additional guitars. The bulk of the material on The Defamation of Strickland Banks was recorded by Eric Appapoulay and co-owner David McEwan at their own studio in South London, The Sanctuary Recording Studio. Partly because they were simultaneously working on its hip-hop counterpart.

Making of the album

Prominent in both The Sanctuary Recording Studio and on ''

'' is Appapoulay's upright piano. Ben Drew explained that "Because of how old it is, and some things are slightly out of tune, it reminded me of those old hip-hop records where the sampled piano does sound a little but gritty," "That's why I loved it. It looks great and it's got a proper resonance." In a SOS interview, Appapoulay described their process during recording sessions: "It was just Ben and myself and Richard and Tom. We would be in the room together, Ben’d be on his acoustic guitar in that little doorway bit with his mic, setting down the guides. I had guitar in the Fender Twin, drums just clean, and then the bass I put through the LA2A, because I love the way it warms it up. Then we were using the bass amp as well, because we had the whole band in one room — the control room was in the drum room that you see now — so we were jamming like in a rehearsal. It had a band feeling, like Motown, where they just used to sit in one room and record together. That was the idea with this place, I wanted the whole band to feel like it was a gig scenario, playing as a band." After the album's completion it shot to the top of the European charts, won several awards in 2010, and is nominated for February 2011's

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

for two awards including the MasterCard British Album of the Year.

Discography

Vocals

*2000 Various – '' Adventures in Clubland 1990-99: The Stress Decade'' ( Stress Records) *2006 Marcina Arnold – ''

Introducing Introducing or Introducing... may refer to: Albums * ''Introducing'' (Bombay Rockers album), 2003 * '' Introducing... The Beatles'', 1964 * '' Introducing... Mari Hamada'', 1993 * '' Introducing...Rubén González'', 1997 * '' Introducing ... Tal ...

'' ( Counterpoint Records)

Instruments and performance

*1994

Interference Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to: Communications * Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message * Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extr ...

– '' Global Game'' ( Blanc Records, Trinity Worldwide Records) *1996 Various – ''

Audium Capsule 1 Audium may refer to: *An American voice over Internet Protocol company acquired by Cisco Systems. * Audium (theater) * Audium Records, the former name of MNRK Music Group MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records an ...

'' ( Blanc Records) *1997

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

– ''

So Help Me Girl "So Help Me Girl" is a song written by Howard Perdew and Andy Spooner, and recorded by American country music singer Joe Diffie. It was released in January 1995 as the third single from his fourth studio album, ''Third Rock from the Sun'' (1994). T ...

'' ( BMG UK & Ireland) *2000 New Sector Movements – '' No Tricks EP'' (

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

) *2000 Murky Waters – ''

Check Yourself "Check Yourself" is a 1961 song that was released as a Miracle label single by Motown singing group The Temptations; and written by Motown president Berry Gordy, and group members Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Elbridge Bryant, and produced ...

'' ( Main Squeeze) *2000 Various – '' Family Planning Vol 1'' ( Main Squeeze) *2000 Friends From Rio – ''Cravo E Canela (Remixes By IG Culture)'' (

Far Out Recordings Far Out Recordings is a UK-based record label specialising in the music of Brazil. It was founded in the mid-1990s and is run by DJ, entrepreneur and producer Joe Davis. Music released on the label extends from samba, jazz, MPB, soul and disc ...

) *2000 Likwid Biskit – '' Substance'' (

People Records __NOTOC__ Over the course of his career James Brown owned and operated several different record labels, which he used primarily to release his own Record producer, productions of artists associated with his revue. Try Me Brown founded his first la ...

) *2001 New Sector Movements – '' Download This'' (

) *2002 Quite Sane – '' Child of Troubled Times'' ( CoolHunter Music) *2003 Ty – '' Upwards'' ( Big Dada Recordings) *2003 Ma Futura Feat. Hylton Smith* – '' Penny Dun Drop'' ( Main Squeeze) *2003 Various – '' Family Planning Vol. 2 Sampler'' ( Main Squeeze) *2004

– '' Wrap My Words Around You'' (

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

) *2004 NSM – '' Turn It Up'' (

) *2004

– '' Nothing Hurts Like Love'' (

) *2004

– ''Second First Impression'' (

) *2005

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brow ...

– ''Gilles Peterson Presents – The BBC Sessions'' ( Ether Records) *2005 Mpho Skeef – '' Don't Like You'' ( Documented) *2005

– '' Dámelo'' ( Little League Productions) *2005

– '' D'Illusions of Grandeur'' ( Little League Productions) *2005

– '' The Way / Ain't Nobody'' (

) *2006 Marcina Arnold – ''

'' ( Counterpoint Records) *2010

– ''

'' ( 679/Atlantic) *2010

– ''She Said'' (

679 Recordings 679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England. It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with Warner M ...

) *2010

Selah Sue Selah Sue (born Sanne Greet A. Putseys,Wensink, Herien (2009)A Flemish singer with a Jamaican soul, NRC, 21 August 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2010 3 May 1989) is a Belgian musician and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Selah Sue'' (2011), was a maj ...

– ''

Raggamuffin Ragamuffin or Raggamuffin may refer to: Film * ''The Ragamuffin'', a 1916 American silent film by William C. deMille * ''Ragamuffin'', a 2014 film directed by David Schultz about Rich Mullins Music * Raggamuffin music, or ragga, a reggae and dan ...

'' (

Because Music Because Music is an independent record label with headquarters in Paris and London. Because Music SAS is the main label, with Because Music Ltd handling the British artist roster. Because Music was founded in 2005 by former president of Virgin F ...

)

Writing and arrangement

*1996 Various – '' Eclectro'' ( Anti Static Recordings) *1996 Various – ''

'' ( Blanc Records) *2003 Various – ''

Family Planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...

Vol. 2 Sampler'' ( Main Squeeze)

Featuring and presenting

*2000 Various – '' Co-Operation Volume 1'' ( Co-Operation Recordings) *2001 Ty – '' The Nonsense'' ( Big Dada Recordings) *2001 Ty – ''

Awkward Awkward may refer to: * Awkwardness or embarrassment, an emotional state of intense discomfort with people * ''Awkward'' (TV series), an American teen comedy series * ''Awkward'' (album), a 2001 album by Ty * ''Awkward'', a 1999 graphic novel by ...

'' ( Big Dada Recordings)

Production

*2000

– ''Peace of Mind'' (

Blackbyrd BlackByrd is a South Africa pop trio from Cape Town. Formed in 2012, the group currently consists of Tarryn Lamb, Axene Chaberski and Tamsyn Maker. BlackByrd’s sound is firmly rooted in pop-country with ballads about love and heartbreak. The b ...

)

References

External links

The Sanctuary Studios website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appapoulay, Eric British record producers English record producers Living people 1971 births