After visiting Shambles Bar and Restaurant, Nub News Editor linked up with frequent pianist/vocalist at the venue, Maurice Press, to discuss his busy life.

Maurice says: "Some children with visual impairments are very closeted, I was not." 

Maurice was born in Isleworth and said he had a very happy childhood and that he had a "fantastic" family.

"My uncles would say to me 'I dare you to climb that tree' and, of course, I would climb that tree. I was very much kicked into independence quickly," Maurice says. 

As CEO of his own business, leading spin classes and performing vocals and piano and bars, restaurants and entertainment venues- you can tell a strong sense of autonomy has served Maurice well. 

After moving around a bit, Maurice settled in Teddington. Reflecting on his time in the area, he says: "I love it here. 

"There's something about this area I feel very at home in. To me, Teddington is more like a village and less like London."

Tuning his passion

He was later awarded a place at London's Royal College of Music to learn piano, singing, organ, electronic music and composition. 

Thankfully, Maurice had briefed me before that he was not sensitive about his sight impairment, so I did not need to be nervous to ask questions. I enquired how he could read music.

"There is brail music," he says, to my surprise. "You have to memorise the right hand and you have to memorise the left hand, and then play them together. It's not as if you can stick them on a music stand and play."

Maurice says most of the time when he learns new music to perform at Shambles, he learns from memory. "It's helpful to have a pretty retentive memory," he adds.

Maurice said he was the second customer to enter Shambles, taught owner Franco Langella's daughters to play piano, and even met his future wife at the bar there.

"I love classical, and jazz. I love Motown and 60s, 70s and 80 music," he muses. "Because I work in the field, I love trance-90s something I can spin to."

Trance is a type of electronic dance music. It was this introduction to working out to music that got Press hooked on spinning. 

An introduction to indoor cycling

Maurice says he was quite late to join the gym, being in his 50s at the time. He added he was very overweight and felt quite unwell.  

"I remember being quite scared at the gym and the noise at the machines," he says. "I was about to turn around and leave when I heard friends at the gym, and I wasn't so scared anymore."

Maurice wearing his cycling instructor jacket for Nuffield Health. (Photo: Emily Dalton)

He was introduced to indoor cycling at Nuffield Health. When he was told the front wheel of the bike doesn't spin round, he got involved in the classes and later qualified to be an instructor.

Despite being hugely competitive (Maurice says he "plays to win") he is a strong advocate that participants in his spin class should never compete. He says: "That is the one thing that never should happen. You should enjoy it, you should enjoy the music and do the best you can do."

Transcribing equality 

In his professional life, Maurice became Director of the Disability Resource Team (DRT) in Teddington in 2004 after it moved from a charity to a limited company. DRT provides transcription services for documents in braille, large print and audio. 

The company provides services for Housing Associations, leading financial establishments and arts and entertainment venues. It also works with Local Authorities and councils.

Maurice introducing his transcription machine which turns documents into brail. (Photo: Emily Dalton)

Passionate about local business, Maurice said: "We've done bits of work for Richmond but I feel quite saddened that the council won't use their local business.

"It's a shame because I am a great believer in using and promoting small businesses in the area."

After nearly 20 years of work, Maurice is evangelical to his transcription service and is always looking for more business. He is immensely proud he can supply transcribed documents in two- three working days. 

Maurice demonstrated transcribing a document into brail. (Photo: Emily Dalton)

"It's not an expensive thing to do, but it's an equality thing to do," he says. 

Normally, when Maurice goes into a restaurant, he asks for the menu and will be given a barcode to scan, or his wife will read it aloud. "That's no use to me," he says. "It would be nice to have a brail menu or a wine list."

Maurice says he realises there are a lot of people who aren't as fortunate to have someone or technology such as a phone to read to them. 

He says: "Therefore I think it's important to look at the equality. I think people need to be aware of what their rights are but also that they can do it.

"As a person with a disability, you don't have to wait for someone to help you or do it for you."

It's the little differences and interactions which would mean so much for individuals like Maurice. He is fully independent- having travelled around the world, running successful businesses and enjoying company of friends and loved ones.

I ask how he manages to squeeze all his hobbies and passions in his busy life. Maurice laughs at me, saying: "You should ask my wife."

"If I had nothing to do, I would be so bored"