Retreat co-mentor May 31st - June 7th
Ian Dench was the guitartist and principal songwriter in the band EMF, who scored a major international hit with the song "Unbelievable" reaching number 1 in the United States.
He co-wrote the duet "Beautiful Liar" for Beyonce and Shakira for which he won an Ivor Novello award in the Best Selling British Song Category in 2008.
Beyonce’s album I Am... Sasha Fierce saw a further three Dench songs "Disappear", "Ave Maria", and "Satellites".
Other hits include “Tattoo” for American Idol winner Jordan Sparks, "Red" a top 5 UK hit for Daniel Merriweather and "Gypsy" from Shakira's She Wolf album.
Dench spent 2 years as Vice President of A&R at Epic Records in New York.
In 2013 he collaborated on the Sub Focus track "Endorphins" reaching No 10 in the UK charts, "The Conversation" by Texas and "Astronaut" and "Run" for newcomer Joel Compass.