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The Talent

Ashley Clark • Matt Lima
 Ashley Clark, sound designer/vocalist/songwriter/arranger/producer

Ashley Clark
sound designer/vocalist/songwriter/arranger/producer

ashley@3-tone.com

Born in Southampton, UK, Ashley was brought up on a diet of diverse music, absorbing the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, David Bowie, Prince, Miles Davis, Eddie Cochran, Jimi Hendrix, Steely Dan, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Stax and damn straight-up gritty blues. He started singing and performing almost as soon as he could walk. After learning his first instrument (drums) aged nine, he went on to master guitar, bass, and later, piano.

Aged just 16, Ashley was already fronting various funk and soul bands on the South Coast. At 18 he had established himself in London, co-founding a 9-piece hip hop/funk fusion outfit named Soulflower. With gigs at venues like the Jazz Café and Ronnie Scott's, Ashley honed his song-writing skills and forged friendships and working relationships with many of the industry's foremost musicians and producers. Session work followed, now as a singer, producer, guitarist and bassist as well as voice coach for artists such as Another Level and Ntyce.

Ashley's innate ability to come up with the goods regardless of musical style garnered the attention of several record companies, and he signed a solo publishing/record deal in 1995. During the mid-90's he worked with the likes of Femi Fem (Young Disciples), Simon Katz (Jamiroquai), Faze Action and Paul Powell (Mica Paris). Having supported artists such as Raw Stylus, Mother Earth, Kezia Jones and Omar, Ashley Clark is a highly respected and accomplished writer, artist, musician and producer.

When Ashley met Matt Lima in 1999 he knew he'd found his musical soulmate. Their two very different musical backgrounds complemented each other perfectly. Early collaborations grew into a great friendship and a tight working relationship and the establishment of a formidable partnership, 3tone.

 
   
 Matt Lima, composer/orchestrator/producer/programmer/web designer

Matt Lima
composer/orchestrator/producer/programmer/web designer

matt@3-tone.com

Matt Lima was born in 1976 in New York City to a psychiatric social worker and a poet who still moonlights as a chef de cuisine. He grew up in Queens, but the roots of his musical inclination can be traced to an old piano at his grandmother's house with which he amused himself as the youngest child during family gatherings. Early musical training occurred at the High School of Music and Art where he was studying jazz piano and electronic music as well as playing keyboards for a ska band. He went on to study with Mario Davidovsky and Bernard Rands at Harvard, where he graduated summa cum laude in 1998.

At 22 he was awarded a Marshall Scholarship by the British government allowing him two years of post-graduate study in the UK. He moved to London to take his M.Mus at the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Michael Finnissy. He currently lives in Paris where he divides his time between 3tone and his new music collective, Multilaterale.

Matt is very fortunate to have been accorded early recognition as a composer, earning commissions from Meet the Composer, the Manhattan Wind Quintet, the National Youth Band of Wales, the Spitalfields Festival in the City Of London and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He was one of seven invited composers for the American Composer's Orchestra's Whittaker New Music Sessions in 2000 and has won ASCAP's Morton Gould Young Composer Award twice.

Matt met Ash in 1999 during his studies in London. After hearing Ashley's music he knew he had to work with him, and 4 years and several collaborations later, he is privileged to call Ash his writing partner.