Percussion Discussion Podcast

Joining me today is Chris Maas.

 Chris was born and bred in Luxembourg, he came over to the UK in 2006 to continue his musical studies and to further his career, he has since played for/collabarated with The Pierces, Maggie Rodgers, Mumford and Sons and of course his current huge gig with Sting that has been touring around the globe for the last 18 months as Sting 3.0! 

Join Chris and i as we talk about his amazing career so far including his musical education in Luxembourg and how he found his way over to the UK in 2006 finding a college to continue his musical education, taking a year off to work and never acrtually returning. 

We of course talk about the Sting gig, including the pressure of the remarkable cast of drummers that have gone beore him! Chris shares a wonderful story of how Sting took him to lunch to discuss going out as a Trio, Chris had no idea he was goinig to ask him to be the drummer and was asking eagerly which drummer was going to get the gig! 

This was a mindblowing experience to chat to Chris and i would like to thank him or giving up his time so generously! im sure you will enjoy every second.

Percussion Discussion Podcast - Episode 154 - Donavan Hepburn. 

Joining me today is Drummer, Programmer, Musical Director and Tutor Donavan Hepburn. 

Donavan already has a glittering career under his belt having recorded or toured with the likes of Mis-Teeq, Lemar, Adele, Ms Dynamite and many more his current gigs are with Take That, Gary Barlow and Jeff Lynne's ELO! Huge gigs! 

Join Donavan and myself as we pick through some of his remarakable career so far, including how the Take That gig came about and what it entails to pull of this huge gig! 

We of course had to talk about his gig with Jeff Lynne's ELO and how Don worked really hard to replicate the sounds and wonderful drumming of former ELO Drummer Bev Bevan. 

We also talk about the different approaches to each different gig that are neccesary to be the first call session drummer that Donavan is! 

We had the most wonderful chat, Don is very easy to get on with and a remarkably humble gentleman - Thank you for giving up your valuable time so freely to talk to me!

Joining me today is Elliott Henshaw.

 Elliott is one of the most in demand drummers in the UK, he has performed with many household names such as Tony Christie, Leo Sayer, Tony Hadley and over 20 West End Shows.

 Join myself and Elliott as we pick through his amazing career so far, we of course talk about his early days through to his first big gig playing drums for Andy Prior's amazing big band, at this time Andy was a huge name in the UK eventually landing his own TV Show. 

We talk extensively about working as a pro reading drummer and having to work with Musical Directors and the many things to watch out for. 

Elliott shares with us the INCREDIBLE story of how he prepared to do a couple of shows as a dep on a major west end show and how he got to play for none other than Phil Collins on a TV show......No pressure eh? 

This was a fantastic and fascinating conversation to have, i really hope you enjoy it and i would like to thank Elliott for giving his time up so generously. 

www.elliotthenshaw.com

Joining me today is Andy Gangadeen.

 Andy Gangadeen is one of the original and leading Hybrid drummers in the world today, effortlessly fusing together acoustic and electronic drums creating grooves and sounds beyond the wildest dreams of your average drummer!

 Andy has honed both his immense drumming skills and technical knowledge since late 80's playing for the likes of Lisa Stansfield, Massive Attack, Duran Duran, The Spice Girls, Jeff Beck, The Bays and the huge English Drum & Bass duo Chase and Status.

 Join Andy and myself as we chat about his incredible career to date, from his early days with racks and racks of samplers and other equipment needed to recreate the electronic sounds that Andy wanted to achieve. We talk about how he goes about recreating the complex drum beats live that Chase & Staus use on their albums.

 The first time i became aware of Andy and his immense playing was with the house band on Jonathon Ross's Last Resort TV Show on Channel 4 along with band leader Steve Nieve, this was a wonderful band, Andy took over from Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello & The Attractions) he tells us all about this amazing gig backing artists of the highest calibre, James Brown to name just one! 

It was a real thrill to chat to Andy, I know you and going to enjoy this as much as i did doing it! Cheers Andy

Here we are with the final episode of 2024.

 Firstly, huge thanks to everybody that has watched, listened, shared, commented or contributed this far, i really appreciate the support. 

Todays episode focuses on drum education, there are quite a few options to choose from when thinking of either teaching or taking drum exams, my personal favourite and definetely one of the market leaders is Trinity Rock & Pop, i have been teaching this Syllabus for many years now and it is always met with enthusiasm from my students.

 I am thrilled to welcome Toby Davies - Trinity's National Advisor for Rock & Pop and JJ Wheeler - UK & Ireland Development Manager - Music to the podcast. Trinity are not known for appearing on podcasts so i am very grateful to them for this opportunity. 

We talk extensively about the Rock & Pop Course, what it entails, why you should do it, what it can do for you., other subjects include online exams versus in person, rudiments, repertoire and many other subjects. 

If you are a drummer thinking of taking exams, a drum teacher looking to teach a new syllabus or a drummer already teaching this syllabus but looking for some more information then this is the episode for you to listen to.

 Huge thanks to Toby & JJ for taking the time to do this - its hugely appreciated.

 if you would like more information on the Trinity Rock & Pop Syllabus please get in touch with JJ via email - [email protected]

Firmly back in the legends lounge for our landmark 150th Episode with none other than Bernard ' Pretty' Purdie.

 Bernard is without doubt one of the most legendary names in drumming! he has played on over 4000 album and worked with such incredible artists as Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Miles davies, Hall & Oates, BB King, Cat Stevens, Tom Jones, The Rolling Stones and 100's more!

 Bernard joins me straight ater receiving his richly deserved lifetime achievment award at the UK Drum Show 2024.

We spend an hour talking about some of the many highlights from his illustrious career including the recording of the iconic Aretha Franklin track 'Rock Steady' and so much more!

Huge thanks to Anne McCoy and the wonderful gentlemen at Drum.Dog for giving me this wonderful opportunity!

More Huge thanks to our sponsor for this episode - Protection Racket
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Joining me today is Scott Travis. 

Since 1989 Scott Travis has been the powerhouse drummer for British heavy metal legends - Judas Priest. 

Join Scott and myself as we have a brief chat about drums, Judas Priest and the current Invincible Shield Tour. Scott tells us as he is almost at the very end of an extensive US tour in support of the stunning new Priest album The Invincible Shield how the fatigue is setting in and how the band are looking forward to a few months off to recover after giving 110% night after night on a very long and gruelling world tour! 

We had to talk about Scotts introduction to Judas Priest and Metal fans in general with the now legendary drum intro to Painkiller. Scott tells us how he came up with this now iconic drum part! we also talk about another great drum intro from earlier in is career with Racer X on the song Scarified, an album i bought as a spotty long haired youth purely because it had a cool album cover! thankfully i instantly loved the content of the album too! 

Huge thanks to Scott for giving up his time so generously especially during a world tour! Massive thanks to my buddy Adam Parsons & Jayne Andrews for arranging this for me - hugely appreciated. www.judaspriest.com

Joining me today is American drummer and producer Joey Waronker. 

Joey has played for some legendary names througout his career so far including Beck, R.E.M. Roger Waters, the supergroup Atoms For Peace featuring Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Thom Yorke from Radiohead. Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Leonard Cohen and many more! 

Join us as we pick through Joeys' spectacular career so far including a large chunk about Roger Waters and a very long time on the road and how this affects family life with a wife and young son back at home. 

We talk about his recent performance with Beck and the Boston Pops Orchestra and how dynamics play a huge part in making this a success (in my opinion Joey is one of the most dynamic drummers around today).

 Joeys' British affiliation doesnt end with Roger Waters though, in late 23' he recorded an album with Liam Gallagher & John Squire that was released inMarch 24' to critical acclaim, he tells us about the experience of recording and touring with these two giants of the UK music scene. 

Huge thanks to Joey for taking the time to do this during a particularly crazy time! looking forward to part 2!

Beyond thrilled to welcome an incredible musician and a good friend of mine to Percussion Discussion Podcast - Ged Lynch.

 Ged has a remarkable list of household names on his CV including the likes of Peter Gabriel, Black Grape, Clannad, Tom Jones, Hanson, Electronic, The Icicle Works, Michael Hutchence, Joe Strummer, David Silvian, Dr John, Natalie Imbruglia, Cat Stevens, Suggs, Birdy, Seth Lakeman, Chrissie Hynde......i mean, where do you start? 

At the beginning of course, in Geds native Blackburn, we talk about his early days of playing in working mens clubs (these were staple gigs in northern towns and cities) playing all manner of gigs including backing strippers...... as a 14 year old! 

We pick through some of the many career highlights including waiting by the radio on a Sunday evening to find out where Black Grapes debut album had charted (number 3, later number 1!) through to getting the gig with the legendary Peter Gabriel, and some of the many amazing adventures that took him on, including a co headline tour of the US with Sting with none other than Vinnie Colaiuta occupying stings drum chair! 

Ged gives so many beautiful little nuggets as we go through our conversation, i really hope you enjoy it as much as i did doing it! He is one of the nicest and most gentle souls on this earth and i was very grateful for this oppurtunity to grab a very very rare interview with him! Cheers Ged! 

www.gedlynch.com

Im Joined by John Macaluso to calebrate the launch of his brand new book with Hudson Music - Linear Rock Drumming - United Sounds Of Seperation https

://hudsonmusic.com/product/linear-rock-drumming/?wcacra=3123599

 John who has an incredible CV of names that he has played for including ARK, Yngwie Malmsteen, TNT, James Labrie, Symphony X and many more talks through the concepts in his newly released book, explaining how the chapters are acompanied by videos of the examples played by John! 

i hope you enjoy our conversation and buy the book and develop your linear drumming skills!