Jan Mosiewicz, Songwriter - the Bio

The Biography of
Jan Mosiewicz

I always describe myself as a bit of a Heinz 57 Varieties.......

I was born in `57 in Northern Ireland, my maternal grandfather being an Ulsterman and my grandmother a Yorkshire woman. My mother had been born in India and, as my name suggests, my father was Polish (though his mother was Austrian). I spent my formative years in Ireland and Argentina and only started becoming English when I was 8. My years in Buenos Aires account for my love of Latin rhythms and passion for dance.

I started learning piano when I was 9 but didn’t practise as much as I should. This made me an adequate piano player with a penchant for melody lines whilst not worrying about accompaniment – something my producer has commented on often. I started composing within months of learning the scale of C. Some say I haven’t progressed much since then and they may be right. By the time I left school I had done all my grades, written a number of classical pieces and abandoned any ideas of being a songwriter. Grammar schools in the 70`s had no careers advice for songwriters and only outstanding classical players were encouraged to consider a life in music.

I graduated from Liverpool University in 1978 and decided to pursue a career in business. However, I promised myself that by the age of 50 I would be able to retire and go back to my musical ambitions. In the interim years I played only occasionally and did little composition. I did however become a keen amateur writer and director of revues, shows and pantomimes which is how I developed a talent for writing lyrics and a willingness to sing in public.

By some miracle I not only made it to 50 but also managed to leave the rat race and turn once again to my first love – writing music. In 2008 I met Phil Lane – a larger than life producer/studio engineer and musician who was willing to listen to some songs. He started to arrange and produce for me and kept telling me that they were worth listening to. With his encouragement, musical talent and technical wizardry an album has been struck and more songs are being produced than I ever expected.

I believe that because I spent so long waiting for a chance to write and record I now not only have a mass of latent material but also a depth of emotional experiences that give my music meaning. All the songs that I have written reflect either a personal event or emotion of my own and each song has an accompanying story which I won’t bore you with but which underlines the words and melodies. The love songs in particular blossomed from my relationship with Souren Mousavi, an amazing woman and incredibly talented artist. (www.sourenmousavi.co.uk)

I have four children from my first marriage none of whom yet think of me as a songwriter but they are now admitting that they listen to some of my work more than once! My youngest son in particular is a great supporter though he’s not sure about telling his schoolmates what I do. Souren is far more enthusiastic and is convinced that a superstar will hear one of them and immediately want to record it on their album – I hope she's right!