EVER since he was a student at Excelsior High School, Huntley Vassel had dreams of being a singer. But though he sang in a band during the early 1980s, most of his career in the music industry has been as an audio engineer.

Last year, Vassel revived his vocal ambitions. Recording as Picstitch, he did the song Pick Up The Pieces for PicAxe Production, a company he operates with veteran bass player Danny ‘Axeman’ Thompson.

It is one of several songs on the Pieces rhythm, due for release in May by PicAxe Production.

“I work on a few things over the years, but this is my first professional release. It feels good, things looking good so far,” he said.

Given their history, it seems only natural that Picstitch’s first song is co-produced by Thompson, whose impressive credits include recording and touring with Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Ini Kamoze and Sugar Minott.

They were schoolmates at Excelsior and performed briefly together in a band called African Disciples.

August Town-born Picstitch eyed a career as a vocalist in the mould of Pablo Moses, Burning Spear, Dennis Brown and Culture. But after migrating to the United States in the late 1980s, his focus changed to engineering.

Since earning a certificate from the Institute of Audio Research in New York in 1990, he has worked on songs by Richie Spice, The Gaylads and hip hop artiste, Fetty Wap.

Picstitch was also engineer for the Pieces beat which has songs by George Nooks, Lukie D and Patra.

He finds satisfaction being a singer and engineer.

“A singer is a talent and over time you can improve upon that talent and get better at it. Mixing is a science that involves basic physics; with regards to the frequency spectrum; anyone can learn how to do it,” he explained. “Being a mix engineer, I see vocals as another instrument to be placed and processed in the frequency scale.”

— Howard Campbell