eales was born in aberbargoed, wales. when he was eight years old, he learned 12-bar blues from his father, a pianist in a local dance band. in school he studied classical piano and french horn, becoming a member of the glamorgan youth orchestra and the national youth orchestra of wales. he attended cardiff university, receiving bachelor's, masters, and doctoral degrees. in 1980 he was awarded a ph.d for his large scale orchestral work "an american symphony" and a setting of dylan thomas' poem "in the beginning" for tenor, french horn, and piano.