Jay Stapley (born 13 April 1957) is a British musician.

Career

Stapley started his musical career playing with local bands in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and Sussex in the UK. In 1978 he became involved in the London music scene and became a

session player Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

and gigging guitarist. He worked alongside various artists and producers on international tours with Roger Waters and

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

, the film

Withnail and I ''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Gran ...

, and on the albums of

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was firs ...

, Toyah and Scott Walker. In 1983 while performing live work with

Julian Dawson Julian Dawson (born 4 July 1954 in London) is a British singer–songwriter, guitarist and author. His style has been compared to Wilco and Ron Sexsmith. He is fluent in German and French. Outside his solo work, acts he has recorded with (as si ...

in Germany, he met producer

René Tinner René Tinner (born February 18, 1953, in St. Gallen) is a Swiss recording engineer and producer, who has produced over 200 studio records and numerous live performances. Career Tinner began his career as the audio engineer of the German ro ...

and began working in Tinner's Cologne studio to record guitar tracks for various projects. Stapley also recorded and toured with Westernhagen, and became his co-producer and musical director. During the 1990s Stapley recorded four instrumental CDs for WEA. In 2008 CD he released his most recent recording, ''Edge of the World''. He specialises in acoustic and instrumental works. Stapley has worked with Roland Corporation and

Digidesign Avid Audio (formerly Digidesign) is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum mac ...

, demonstrating guitar equipment for both companies. He built his own studio in London where he produces music CDs, as well as television and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

s. he has taught privately, and became one of the first teachers at the Guitar Institute (now called The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, ICMP). In 2011 he launched the record label Dammit Music, specialising in unusual music projects and contemporary works with singer/songwriters and acoustic music.

Musical history

;1979–Present *Guitarist/Musical Director/Backing Vocals. Recording sessions and international tours with artists including Roger Waters, Mike Oldfield, Suede, Scott Walker, Slim Whitman, David Allen Coe, Kirsty MacColl, David Dundas, Westernhagen, David Mead, Henning Staerk, Toyah Wilcox, Bucks Fizz, Peter Jay, Michael Kamen, etc. Film + TV soundtracks including "Withnail and I", "How to get Ahead in Advertising", "Hale and Pace", "The Duty Men", etc. ;1981–1993 *Whilst working at Roland, Stapley developed and delivered staff training on guitar-based products including guitar synthesizers, samplers, synths, effects processors, sequencers, etc. Developed and delivered

product demonstration In marketing, a product demonstration (or ''"demo"'' for short) is a promotion where a product is demonstrated to potential customers. The goal is to introduce customers to the product in hopes of getting them to purchase that item. Products offere ...

s of hardware and software at international trade shows. ;1986–2005 *During this time Stapley made 7 Platinum Discs, and was co-producer/musician on various CDs for German artist Westernhagen ;1991–Present Westernhagen (Million-selling CDs), Ian Hunt, Wives and Servants, George Frakes, The Cry Baby, Lou Cowell, Pat Orchard, Bill Conlon, Bacardi Europe Cinema Ad, etc. ;1996–Present *Audio Editor/Sound Design non-musical industry sectors. *Audio editing/recording/sound design for SDL, Teletubbies, PlayStation games (various) CD-ROMs (various) voice-recording for TFL, EDS, Thales Information Systems, Interalia, Information on Hold, BBC, etc. ;1997–Present *Technical Director of Dammit Ltd, responsible for studio management, audio engineering, production, script consultancy, software development. ;2010–Present *Director of Dammit Music, responsible for A&R, production, marketing and artist development. ;1991–1995 *At the Guitar Institute Stapley developed elements of syllabus, administered grades, and administered Live Performance Workshops ;1993–1997 *Stapley developed and delivered product demonstrations for Digidesign of industry-standard "ProTools" hard-disc recording software at international trade shows. ;2004 *At Guitar X Stapley also developed and taught Music Technology course and administered Live Performance Workshops ;2008 *At the ICMP (institute of Contemporary Music Performance), London Stapley was teaching Guitar skills, live performance skills, studio technology. Writing Degree-level course materials and teaching at degree-level.

Discography

* '' Radio K.A.O.S.'' (1987) - album by Roger Waters * ''Southern Fried'' (1986) - album by Tim Stone / Jay Stapley * ''Blue Lotus'' (1991) - album by Jay Stapley * ''Tower Of Babel'' (1992) - album by Jay Stapley * ''Wanderlust'' (1994) - album by Jay Stapley * ''Ambient Blues'' (1996) - album by Jay Stapley * ''Edge Of The World'' (2008) - album by Jay Stapley * ''Plans For Love'' (2006) - album by Wives & Servants

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapley, Jay 1957 births Living people British male guitarists