Born in Darlington in the north east of England, and from a musical family, Dave began piano lessons at the age of 8 and guitar lessons from his dad at 13. Dave went to the Leeds College of Music, into one of the only courses at the time to offer studies in jazz, and popular music. During his time at Leeds Music College, Dave gained two performance awards - The Sam Hood Rosebowl for Outstanding Performance and The BBC Radio 2 Best Jazz Soloist Award (for piano).