His debut album The Hypocrite was released in 1996 by Elton John's label, The Rocket Record Company.
[1] Two music videos were produced to promote this album: "Where Am I Gonna Run To" and "Scratch".
[2][3] Later he and his guitarist Johannes Luley opened Freudenhaus Recording Studio in San Francisco.
[1] It was during this time that Downe is credited with co-engineering and playing/singing on the Grammy Award-nominated album, Arepa 3000, by Los Amigos Invisibles.
[1] Downe then joined up with Luley, keyboardist Tom Lynham and drummer / co-lead-singer Matt Swindells to create the band Moth Vellum with whom he released one album.