Lisbon-born singer, songwriter, rock n'roll guitar player, amateur producer & indie label entrepreneur: Neil Leyton became familiar with the stage while living in Canada in the 1990's, where he fronted Toronto's glam godfathers The Conscience Pilate, after starting out on bass with psychedelic art-rockers Passion'd Flower.

He launched his solo career in 1998 with the release of the critically acclaimed "Secret Avenue" album, throwing himself simultaneously into his music as well as running Fading Ways Music, his Canadian indie label. His second album, "...from the brighter side of her Midnight Sun", was released in the UK via the ChangesOne label in 2003 and in Canada via Scratch Distribution, harnessing critical acclaim throughout all of Fading Ways Music's distributed territories.

"Midnight Sun "extended the boundaries of his songwriting range, both musically as well as lyrically: influences from Shelley to modern day sociologists / psychiatrists Fromm and Gruen. Production-wise, it encompasses everything from the harshest guitar noise (think MC5, International Noise Conspiracy) to the sweetest melodies (from Jeff Buckley's high-registers to latter-day Nick Cave's more understated charms).
In 2004 Leyton launched Fading Ways Music UK, embracing Creative Commons licenses, endorsing file-sharing and cultural freedom while most of the music industry launched reactionary lawsuits against so-called "pirates".

"Blacklight Skies", a compilation featuring tracks from both albums and several Leyton EPs, was released in 2005 by Fading Ways Music UK and the German label Supermusic, raising Leyton's profile in Germany considerably, with some excellent record reviews and radio airplay.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Leyton's Stagger Twin, Rich Jones (founding member of the Black Halos), had introduced him to the Wildhearts' frontman, Ginger, and they proceeded to re-record some older songs for the Dead Fashion Brigade EP with Ginger as arranger and producer. Although there wasn't enough studio time to finish, The Stagger Twins mixed the recording in proTools some months later, and the EP was released on FW UK/Cargo Distribution. Leyton and Jones then embarked on a tour with Tyla and his reformed (but no less debauched!) Dogs d'Amour.
The new FW Finland label also released a 7" split of two of the tracks b/w Finland's Turku Romantic Movement, who had also backed Leyton on tour in Finland, Slovenia, Austria and Germany.

The Betrayal of the Self, Leyton's third self-produced album, followed the Dead Fashion Brigade EP, via FW UK and Feedback Boogie Records (Sweden). Recorded in Stockholm at Acetone studios and featuring Leyton's new Sweden-based backing unit, The Ghosts, this album proved to be his most immediate, urgent, and politicized release thus far, captivating reviewers from Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK and Canada - selling units as far wide as Japan.

Leyton and the Ghosts have so far accomplished two central European tours behind the album, while Leyton, on his own, released "Again", a limited edition x-mas '06 CDR release for fans-only (on CDR), covering tracks from several Fading Ways Artists and introducing a few new originals. The Hyperventilating tour followed in the spring of '07, and work is underway on a new album for the upcoming year as well as another tour in fall of 2007.