Knaresborough man wins Ivor Novello award

A man who grew up in Knaresborough was among the winners at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards, which honour the best in British songwriting and screen composition.

Composer and voice actor Grant Kirkhope was named alongside the likes of Harry Styles, Raye, Florence Welch and Sault as winners at London’s Grosvenor House,

Mr Kirkhope, Gareth Coker and Yoko Shimomura won best original video game score for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.

The former local band member has created the soundtrack for video games that have sold in excess of 40 million copies.

He now lives in Los Angeles and has worked on major video game productions including Golden Eye 007 and Donkey Kong 64. But his formative years were in Knaresborough, where he lived from the ages of five to 33 and attended King James’s School.

Grant Kirkhope

Grant Kirkhope in his Knaresborough days

He talked to the Stray Ferret about his North Yorkshire upbringing and winning an Ivor Novello. He said:

“My music teacher at King James’s was Mr David Turmeau, who was an absolute legend and saw something in me that I didn’t.

“I didn’t work for any local firms as I played in bands from the age of 22 —  after graduating from the Royal Northern College of Music in 1984 — to 32.”

Grant Kirkhope

Back in his band days

Mr Kirkhope enjoyed a successful music career before working on video games. He says:

“I played for York band Zoot and the Roots, who were a pretty big live band playing all over the country and Europe. Then later I played for Scarborough band, Little Angels.

“Little Angels had a number one album in the UK and did a lot of headline tours there. We also played as the opening act for Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Bryan Adams and ZZ Top, those tours were gigantic, playing arena shows to 70,000–90,000 people.

“I moved down to Ashby-de-la-Zouch to work at the video games’ company Rare Ltd in 1995, I still came back regularly as my mum was still there. I married my wife Suzanne in 2000 and she’s from Whitby.”

Mr Kirkhope’s brother Gary lives in Starbeck and he travels back to the UK each year to catch up with family.

Grant Kirkhope

Mr Kirkhope now lives in Los Angeles

He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a BAFTA, but last week’s Ivor Novello topped the lot. He says:

“I’m still on Cloud 9 really, there’s something very different about the Ivor Novello Awards compared to other awards.

“It’s very much about the actual art of song writing/composing. The panels who do the judging take a long time over it and really go over the music note by note.

“The ceremony itself is closed doors so the acceptance speeches are very personal, you really feel like it’s a room full of like-minded people who really want to hear about your experience as a composer/song writer.

“I don’t think I understood how prestigious it was until I got there, I don’t think I’m ever going to get over this one, it really is the highlight of my career so far!”

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