Creating Music to Enrich the Heart by Garry McAulay

Ian Cameron Smith is a self-motivated, self-taught musician who is taking the ambient music scene by storm. Apart from a couple of years classical guitar tuition in his late teens, music has just swelled from his inner being. He started teaching himself guitar from the age of 10, inspired by the guitar playing of his older brother.

"I've always had a passion to compose my own material. I've never had an interest in playing other people's music - I always had a desire to compose my own work right from the word go."

And compose is what he has done. In a decade, he has busily composed seven CDs. His latest, Comfort Zone, follows Euphoria, Seventh Heaven, Heart and Soul, Inner Tides, Lunar Reflections and Rhythmist. Rock and roll stole his interest during his teenage years and he also had an interest in a broader musical spectrum such as light blues and jazz. But a friend's interest in classical guitar inspired him to learn and then transfer that style of playing to his own compositions.  

"After those two or three years of classical tuition, I went back and applied that to my own work and it has been a progression of that, over the past 15 years now".

Spiritual Wake Up

Ian says he woke up to himself spiritually at about the same time he was learning classical guitar as a 19 year old.

"I just started to realise that there was more going on out there than just rock and roll and the things you do as a teenager. I started getting into the deeper side of life, started reading and just thought that to create music that was life enhancing for people, was a good approach".

But Ian is very clear that his approach to his music is not just for his audience to enjoy and grow with.

"It's all for my own growth too. The work I do and the music I compose is part of my life's learnings. It's all connected. Nothing is disconnected at all. It's enhancing my life and I want it to enhance the lives of my listeners as well."  

Ian is disciplined and determined. While he pushes himself to learn more and to grow with his music, there is a positive and progressive attitude to his business. His brochures and CD covers are healing artwork in their own right and the energy of his music overflows into his presence as well as from the written material which promotes and explains the energy of the music.

Pushed Without & Within

The commercial world and a regular job as an electrician beckoned until about 14 years ago but it was always a means to an end and wasn't the fulfilment of his dreams.   

"Back in early 1992 I just said right, enough is enough. I really want to follow my dreams and my passions now and I just wanted to take that leap of faith and go for it. My determination has kept me going and for anyone who wants to fulfil their dreams, it's just so rewarding to take that leap of faith. It's incomparable."

He says that although it's scary, it's also a very natural thing to do.

"I was just pushed and driven by something. It didn't seem an unnatural thing to do at all", he remembers. "If you have enough faith, everything else seems to follow. If you wait for the finances or what have you to come, it doesn't necessarily follow in that order, but if you follow your dreams with enough faith, the rest falls into place for you".

Ian recalls that is how it happened for him. He says things would crop up for him out of the most unexpected places to allow him to keep going and fulfilling his goals and dreams. Ian's passion is to continue to produce the best music he is capable of doing and create life enhancing albums for people.   

"When people buy one of my albums as part of the soundtrack to their life, I consider that an honour that they want to do that. There is a lot of fantastic music out there and when people come up to me with positive feedback, it's the most satisfying thing that they have chosen to include you in their life in the form of a CD".

If you can perceive it - you can conceive it and achieve it

When Ian recorded his debut album Rhythmist, he didn't set out to compose a certain kind of music for a particular market or audience.

"I just dearly wanted to fulfill a long time dream to record the music that came naturally to me. I figured that if other people enjoyed my music too, then that would be a great bonus. The fact that I began to receive so many lovely comments about the relaxing and uplifting effect my music had on people and the positive difference it made to them, was truly inspiring and motivating for me. So in 1992, I took a HUGE leap of faith and left my trade as an electrician to follow my dream. Funnily enough, back then, I was reading many inspirational books by authors like Napoleon Hill, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra with messages like, ...if you can perceive it, then you can conceive it and achieve it,... that encouraged me so much.

Other Projects

Not one to rest on his laurels, when he's not composing his own CDs, Ian has also played on a number of other CD releases as well as co-producing piano virtuoso Yen Wynddancer's debut release, From Earth to Sky.

Ian has played guitar for renowned UK composer Kevin Kendle on two of his CDs, Butterflies and Flowers. Kevin's mesmerising keyboard tapestries providing the perfect inspiration for Ian's heartfelt guitar playing and with the aid of modern technology they were able to collaborate from opposite sides of the planet to showcase a masterful collaboration.

"One of my favourite projects was also composing a chillout track for for a great One world Music title, Elysian Vibes 2"

Future Goals

But his ambition extends beyond his current expertise and desire to produce better and better work.   

"One day, I would like to compose a modern guitar concerto with an orchestra."   

Ian is now looking at doing more live performances of his music. He says that performing live is a totally different experience from being in a recording studio even though he loves being in the studio,creating.

"To have the interaction with a live audience is something quite special again".