Drumming

I started drumming in my teens but for a whole multitude of reasons only stuck at it for a couple of years. In 2006 I formed Uncle Fester and shortly afterwards in 2007 joined Backissue. Sadly, Uncle Fester split - musical differences etc - without playing a gig! However, the core of Uncle Fester have continued with two new members as Random Numbers. The change in name was thought appropriate because, apparently, Uncle Fester is cockney rhyming slang for Child Molester.

My main kit is a Pearl Export ELX. I started off with a Zildjian ZXT cymbal pack but pretty quickly the harshness of the crash cymbal started to really annoy me. I bought a Zildjian K Custom Dry Crash and it's a huge improvement but for live gigs I use both crashes (because that means I can make more noise!). I've also spent more money than I probably should on a Zildjian K ride cymbal. So far, I am not sure it is any better than the one in the ZXT pack but it looks better! For gigging I've found that the bass drum needs a boost and recently invested in a specialist kick drum mike which we feed into the PA system. At home I practice regularly using a Roland TD3 electronic kit. It interfaces beuatifully with my computer and doesn't disturb the neighbours.

Click on the image at the top to see a slideshow of pictures.

My favourite recordings so far are a cover of Cold Play's Don't Panic with Uncle Fester, recorded in a studio at The Forum in Darlington 2007. It's played a little fast but I still like it. At the same session we also recorded a cover of The Killers' When we were young. I like this partly because its the first time I was really happy with my rolls around the kit. There are two nice examples about 70 secs into the track. However, generally the track needs a more racous sound. I only have rough recordings of Backissue but I like I can't stand the rain despite Fiona's laughing, a version of Tracy Chapman's Give me one reason and a cover of Paul Weller's You do something to me. You may need ITunes to hear some of these tracks.