Rory

I’m sure many of you will already know Rory, so I don’t need to give much of an introduction! I was so excited for this shoot, because Rory’s accomplishments inspire me to work hard everyday in making this project a success, and he is testament to the fact that the perceived limitations of autistic people are entirely false. I had such a fantastic time taking pictures of Rory and meeting his lovely mum, he showed me his two amazing studios, played me a track and showed me a small selection of pictures of him with his celebrity friends! Rory has done so much for the autistic community, and still remains super humble despite his success. The best thing about this project is most definitely the amazing friends I have made, and I’m so happy to call Rory a friend of mine! Rory has just released a new disco track ‘Red Jacket’, which can be downloaded here. He also has a new book coming out in august called ‘The Beatles Acting Naturally (Rare, Unfinished and Abandoned Film and TV Project of the Fab Four)’. If you want to check out some of Rory’s fantastic and inspiring achievements you can follow him on facebook or view his website.

‘It was great seeing Alex and having a photoshoot! She asked me to write a little about myself - in fact, I could write about anything! As I know more about me, here goes, and I hope I don’t sound like I’m bragging too much!

I am actually a multi-award winning music producer/DJ, author and film maker! I have released seven albums on various worldwide labels and hundreds of singles, EPs, remixes and collaborations, and I love creating music.

In 2018, I wrote the guide to the late 1990’s dance music movement, big beat (I’m a big fan and my early roots were definitely with this type of music), with The Little Big Beat Book, published by New Haven Publishing, to critical and commercial acclaim, where I interviewed 120 artists from the time, including Fatboy Slim and The Prodigy - in fact I may have been one of the last people to interview Keith Flint before he sadly passed away. A Bookazine edition called The Story of Big Beat followed a year later. I have another new book coming out in August called ‘The Beatles Acting Naturally (Rare, Unfinished and Abandoned Film and TV Project of the Fab Four)’. The book is also published by New Haven.

I have  DJ-ed at many major festivals in the UK and this is really my passion. I love being on stage in front of a big crowd, and I use the stage to it’s full advantage!  I’ve supported Craig Charles on his Funk & Soul tours and Craig plays my tracks regularly on his BBC6 Funk & Soul Show. I’ve been on British and American TV, Radio and Press a number of times and have seen praise from artists such as Paul McCartney, Fatboy Slim, Craig Charles and others. 

My tracks have been used as syncs for the likes of Disney, Google, Sony BET TV, ITV, Costco, Buzzfeed Yellow, Google, FOX TV and Audi.

My earlier years were taken up with film making, and my film ‘Autism & Me’ was published as a DVD and booklet through Jessica Kingsley Publishers. It was though this that I suddenly appeared on British and American TV, and I spent a couple of years going to schools and organisations where they showed my film and I did a Q&A session afterwards. I still get e-mails from all over the world from families who have seen my film - in fact one American mum said she felt she knew her son for the first time having watched my film, which is pretty awesome!

I was the winner of the Yorkshire Young Achiever of the Year Award, hosted by ITV, in the Arts category, which I won alongside actor Mikey North from Coronation Street. I won a Film 4 Youth Award, presented by film director Guy Ritchie. I was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award, have a UNICEF Award, 4Front Award and Wavemakers Award among others. I’m youth patron and ambassador for a number of charities, and was invited to be a Royal Commonwealth Associate Fellow. 

Everyone is special, everyone is different, and everyone has something to offer the world!’ - Rory