"Exotica" is by far my most ambitious project to date. After the release of Passionata, my musical horizons and influences were significantly broadened by the likes of Strunz & Farah, Jesse Cook, Johannes Linstead and Al Marconi. I heard new levels of compositional and guitar playing skills in the Neuvo Flamenco genre. Influenced by these masters of the genre, I set about making an album that would push the boundaries both compositionally and technically. Exotica draws on my love of Spanish guitar, Flamenco, Neuvo Flamenco, Latin and Eastern music, and features pieces of music that illustrate these influnces. Another way in which Exotica breaks new ground is in the collaborative nature in which it evolved over time. The internet has made communication across the world so much easier in recent years. I put early demos from Exotica up for review on Garageband and via the net, I was approached by a number of extremely talented musicans from around the world wishing to collaborate with me. By use of email, ftp, and broadband, it has been possible to record an album with some amazing people, some of which I've not even met in person! Through Emails, demos and Skype chats, new parts have evolved and new directions have emerged for some of the songs. Without these musicians, Exotica would not be the album it is today: Mark Barnwell: All Spanish guitars Stickz: Drums, Latin Percussion, Eastern Percussion Billy Playle: Bass Guy Bar-Tor: Bass Elad Fish: Drums Hamilton Cleverdon: Viola Chris Magrath: Piano Steffi Bridgeman: Flute Dave Beazer: Eastern Percussion Phil Harwin: Bass Chris Sampson: Cello Viktor Mastoridis: Bozouki