Mansfield beginnings
I grew up in Mansfield, between 1992 and 2012. Music was there from the start. I learnt piano, and I played trumpet in a brass band, where I first felt what it means to be one small part of a much bigger sound.
Around 2008 I picked up a ukulele, then a guitar, and I started playing open mics and live shows. I wrote my own songs too, and a couple of them, The Doctor Said and Hero, became fan favourites. In 2012 I played Oxjam festival with Takeover Radio, and around the same time I played on Mansfield 103.2’s New Music Monday under the name Robdenn Landrie.
500 people in Sheffield
In 2015 I reached the semi-final of Open Mic UK and found myself on stage at Sheffield City Hall, in front of about 500 people, singing Jamie Cullum’s “When I Get Famous”. It was a brilliant, fun experience. Around the same time I was gigging regularly as an acoustic artist.
Stepping away
In 2016 I made a hard decision and stepped back from music. I’d started working in fine dining and Michelin-star kitchens, and I couldn’t give everything to both.
That same year I moved to Leeds. Music didn’t leave me completely, though. I found a pub in Otley called The Manor House, and every week, late at night, I’d sit at the piano and play for the regulars. Looking back, those quiet evenings kept a light on.
Building something of my own
After the Michelin years I went self-employed as a chef consultant. By 2018 I’d become known as a reliable hospitality expert, and I began building my own business, The National College of Hospitality.
Between 2018 and 2020 it grew faster than I’d imagined. I moved back to Nottinghamshire, and more than 300 clients, both businesses and individuals, came to me for advice, training and expertise. I built a name in food safety, became Director of Culinary Education at Unichef, the national chefs’ union, and then the Food Safety specialist on the HSE People’s Panel. In November 2019 I invested heavily to open the college’s own premises. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction.
When the world stopped
In March 2020, COVID shut everything down. Weeks turned into months, and months into a year. Clients closed or couldn’t afford training, and the finances began to strain. For the next four years I worked overtime, often weeks without a break, to pay off the business debts.
In spring 2024 my final education contract was cancelled. I came close to giving up. Almost on a whim, I downloaded TikTok and posted a video. People enjoyed it, so I posted another.
That autumn, it all caught up with me. I burnt out completely and spent two weeks on the sofa, barely moving. By Christmas I couldn’t pay the rent, and I became homeless in Manchester. It was the lowest point of my life, and it was also where the piano found its way back to me. Every night I played the public piano at Manchester Piccadilly station, the same piano gifted to the city by Season 2 of Channel 4’s The Piano.
A piano in the mountains
By February 2025 I was in Betws-y-Coed, North Wales, working as a chef again. I bought a piano and started composing. The mountains, rivers and quiet of the Welsh landscape went straight into the music.
I’d begun livestreaming on TikTok in summer 2024 as 88wrongnotes, and the name says it all. I believe in imperfect, human notes, the ones that show there’s a real person at the keys. I’ve even played 24-hour pianothons with the people who tune in. Early on, a TikTok music agency invited me to join them. Within a couple of months I’d become one of their top streamers, and they asked me to be one of their live coaches. I went on to run 200 one-to-one sessions with other creators.
On air and on stage
In March 2025 I opened Rock the Mic at Viva in Blackpool, a black-tie charity night for Combat Stress, the veterans’ mental health charity. That summer I joined Dreamcatcher Radio as a featured host, presenting Morning Motivation and Late Night Lullabies every day. Playing for listeners first thing in the morning and last thing at night taught me how much a few gentle notes can mean to someone. I’m still close to the Dreamcatcher team and hope to be back on air one day.
In September 2025 I released Piano Lullaby, Vol. 1.
Back to Manchester
In 2026 I was featured on Season 4 of Channel 4’s The Piano. On 9 August my episode aired from Manchester Piccadilly, at the very piano I’d played every night while I was homeless. A week later, on 16 August, I was back as a wildcard at London Liverpool Street station. Sitting at that piano, with people stopping to listen, I felt how far I’d come.
That year I stepped forward as Pianist Brendon Ireland. Between June and July 2026 I released five original pieces on Spotify: Loss, Hurricane, Tremolos, Emergence and Inspiration. On 19 August 2026 I played my debut concert at the 1901 Arts Club in London, alongside pianist Sean Phillips.
The story so far
Today I’m on a mission to write 100 original piano compositions, cinematic and emotional, shaped by Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Beethoven and the Welsh hills around me. I also teach online, offering piano, music theory and entertainment coaching.
Next, on Friday 13 November 2026, I’ll be playing Healing Hands in Harmony, a candlelight fundraiser for Conwy Mind at St Mary’s Church, Conwy. Mental health matters to me more than I can say, so this one is close to my heart.
Every note so far has led here. I can’t wait to see where the next ones go.
