I have been performing as a solo singer/songwriter/guitarist by the name of Nayfe SJ, as my full name is nathan inson slusarczyk janukowicz (slu-zar-jick yanuko-vich) which is about as catchy as ‘mr. nljsugf spoiyxt jsuvs’... I am a self-taught musician, playing a slightly worn but lovely takamine acoustic guitar, slide guitar, sitar and bass and have been writing original acoustic-based music and singing for the last 10 years or so. In 2001, I recorded a short cd titled ‘All About The Lessons’ featuring 8 songs, which was only intended to be a recording for close friends who liked my music. It was recorded in Aberystwyth at a friend’s home studio, and all the songs were finished in one take. I ran about 10 copies and gave them to friends and relatives. Some time later, I overheard one of my songs playing in the background of a cafe in Cardiff. People were casually eating their sandwiches - and tapping their feet to my music? I was really shocked...How did it get here? Cardiff is about 200 miles away from home! It turns out my cd was copied by friends; and friends of friends; to the point where it had left my home village in Pembrokeshire and was turning up over the other side of the country. Since this cd was un-officially released, many people have shared their appreciation for the songs I have written and this has inspired me to write more and play publicly. Having no formal lessons, I learned how to play the acoustic guitar in my own way. I progressed naturally by experimenting with a capo and unusual tunings, having to generate new chord shapes and develop picking techniques. Overall I see the music as quite quiet and mellow, but sure of itself; with syncapated plucky guitars lending rhythm and melodic vocals with a little harmony here and there. As a rough guide, people who like my music also tend to listen to bands such as: Sun Kil Moon / Nick Drake / Mason Jennings / Sufjan Stevens / Jack Johnson / Ani DiFranco / Ben Harper / Belle and Sebastian / Willy Mason / Dave Matthews Band / Jim O’Rourke / Mazzy Star / Jose Gonzalez In 2005, I entertained a request from Welsh film director Angus Dunlop, asking permission to include 3 of my songs on his new surfing DVD ‘The Elusive’ - to be released nationwide by the number one UK Surf magazine ‘Surfer’s path’. In turn, I recieved so many enthusiastic responses from surfers and musicians all around Britain that I realised I was beginning to make a name for myself in the surfing community, having songs featured on local and national surf DVD’s such as ‘Amaranth’ and ‘Outside’. It was a direction I never thought my music would take, and a sort of turning point for how seriously I would approach songwriting, performing and marketing myself and my music. I had the cd mastered last year by a very lovely man named Guy Johnson, a former sound engineer for The Acoustic Stage, Glastonbury Festival, in order to start creating a better quality catalogue of music to present to people in the music industry. I sent copies to local and national radio stations to see if they would play any songs, and to my surprise; it was recieved with a warm welcome on the Frank Hennessy show on BBC Radio 2 - with a subsequent invitation to perform a live session in 2006...one which I will gladly accept! Sales of the cd have been very successful since breaking onto the UK Surf scene, and this has helped to fund some new equipment, which I bought in order to be able to record more music as and when I write it. I am currently selling cd’s as fast as I can copy them and as far away as I can drive them - and the pressure is building from listeners to record and release new material, which I’m happy to say is ready to go. As of January 2006, I have started to promote myself on the internet - creating a website called www.nayfesj.com and have been uploading samples of music to various artist websites in order to get my music heard. I’m still a rookie on the internet, but I am starting to get positive feedback from websites - Over the last 5 years I have performed at lots of places (some rather unusual!) throughout the UK; cafe’s, clubs, and festivals - usually playing for around an hour or two. The largest audiences I have played to have been at music venues such as ‘The Lomax’ and ‘K2’ in Liverpool - averaging a maximum of 1500 people. Usually I perform my songs on my own, but when they have the opportunity; friends will back me up with some light percussion and extra instruments which makes the performance all the more enjoyable; fleshing out material for the audience too. The songs I have written were all originally intended to be played within a group - and playing and writing with a group of friends is often a tempting notion. Until that happens, I will continue to work on new material with the intention of producing a steady release of albums, whilst trying to captivate people with my short but enjoyable solo performances. Since I released ‘All About The Lessons’ - I have gone on to write a further 25 + original songs that I equally love to play. I am enjoying the evolutionary music process and I intend to record more and try to establish whether any record labels are interested in taking me on.