As a member of Songlink International and with his music available worldwide Michael is firmly established as an accomplished singer / songwriter with a recording career spanning from the '80's to the present day and a writing and performing career that goes back even further to the '70's. He has been produced over the years by the likes of Mike Stock (Stock, Aitken & Waterman), Tom Newman (Tubular Bells), Ian Penman (Raising Cain) and most recently acoustic performance sound production specialist Mike Furness for the unplugged ‘Never Gonna Live Without It’ album. His formative years based in London as a singer / songwriter in the '80's working with various bands including The Introze, allowed him to play cool trendy venues such as the 101 Club, Dingwalls, The Rock Garden and The Marquee, sometimes headlining and sometimes supporting larger bands such as The Glitter Band and Tenpole Tudor. Various exciting production opportunities followed working with household name brands including Canon as a session singer, a member of the Eastenders cast as a musical arranger and Michael was even asked to create a jingle for The Steve Wright Show on Radio 1, based on the chorus of a single that had been released by a band of his at that time.
His songwriting collaboration with John McSkimming attracted investment in 1989 from Los Angeles based fine art dealer David Tunkl whom Michael met at the Midem music industry festival in Cannes. Third party private investment, at this time a completely pioneering strategy for artist and songwriter development, resulted in opportunities to work with producer Ian Penman at Some Like It Hot and record with session musicians such as Jeremy Stacey (Lemon Trees), Brad Lang (Wham), Gary Barnacle (Tina Turner / Level 42), John Thirkell (Level 42). Michael and John were photographed by 'Portrait Photographer of The Year' John Stoddart as part of the marketing package. An offer of £80,000 was made by Carlin Music to secure the songwriting of de Leiburne & McSkimming for their portfolio, followed by prospective artist management discussions with Simon Napier-Bell (Wham and George Michael), Tom Watkins (Bros) and Tony Gordon (Culture Club and Curiosity Killed The Cat) whom they chose to work with alongside Wow Records through BMG resulting in their success with 'Walking in the Sunshine' remixed by DMC's Paul Dakeyne (Take That) for the summer of 1993. This was promoted by Fleming & Molloy and Regional Response in the UK resulting in 'A list' rotation and over 750 radio plays. The single also became a Top 10 DMC Radio / Dance Chart Hit in Greece. Three albums were created by de Leiburne & McSkimming during this prolific era of their songwriting partnership alongside a 'special edition' compilation released by Michael de Leiburne called 'Paint Them All Blue'. These are all available worldwide as digital releases.
A business investment in 2001 provided Michael with the opportunity to expand his interest in the music industry by launching an artist and songwriter development team called WowMan the talent factory. This has now also led to the formation of a digital record label and an online music channel supporting new artists and songwriters.
In 2010 Michael recorded his first solo album 'Never Gonna Live Without It' and in 2011 put a new band together to perform it live. 2012 is set to be an exciting year for Michael de Leiburne & The Hot Wax Live Band as they explore opportunities to showcase Michael's songwriting and soulful vocal style plus the musical versatility of a superb band that includes Michael de Leiburne - vocals / acoustic guitar, Nick Candlin – drums / percussion, Peter Rhodes – piano / organ, Jon Kocel – bass guitar, Andy Ferguson - sax / flute. The collective bands influences provide a delicious mix of soul / blues / pop / jazz and as musicians and performers they consistently deliver for their audience. A special mention also for session musician Tony McCormick – sax / clarinet / flute (a veteran of pretty much every Music based show in London) for his brilliant contributions to the recording of 'In A Broken Dream' on 'Never Gonna Live Without It' and the first live shows in 2011.
Between 2012 and 2015 A ‘Cooking On Gas’ Radio edits EP was released, Michael was interviewed by Paul Mex on Radio Reverb, Michael and the band played a few selected gigs, new songs were written and new recordings made.
2016 Michael is planning to play at a few more selected gigs with the band and is currently putting a set of recordings together for a scheduled new album ‘Not That Complicated’. Michael also now has a BBC Introducing profile and BBC Music Artist page.