Welcome to the 36th Episode of The Up & Coming Drummer Podcast! Glad to be back for another week of drum chat. Joining me this time, is Drummer and Educator, Stu Fagan.

Stu Fagan has been on my radar for quite some time now. The way I found him was through Instagram. I have a Youtube Channel called "Behind the Beat with Chris Langan." One day while scrolling through Instagram, I saw a page called "Beyond the Beat". I had to do a double take! While my Youtube Channel has a name, my Instagram is just Chris Langan Drummer. Upon second glance, I noticed that this page did not, in fact, share the same name as my channel. But now that it had my attention, I figured I might as well take a look around!

When Stu and I hopped on the call, I immediately told him about my brief scare. After catching up for a few minutes, it was time to dive in and learn about my new buddy! Stu is from the UK so, at this point, he was about done with his day while mine was just getting started. So I asked him about growing up in Warrington, a neighboring city to Manchester and Liverpool. Stu gives us a nice look into the culture and music scene. We learn about when he first got into the drums, and what inspired him to do so. We discuss whether he took lessons, or if he was self-taught. Stu sets us up for how his career grew into where he is today.

Stu had always jammed with friends growing up. We talked about some of those experiences, and about how he began playing his first gigs at the age of 15. We talked about the bands that he played with throughout the years, and the bands he plays with currently. Over the years Stu has become comfortable with playing with musicians he's never met. This has allowed him to get many gigs as a fill-in drummer. Learning songs on the way to the show is a common thing for him these days. I asked him to give some advice to young drummers who want to be known as the go-to guy in town.

Like myself, Stu makes his living completely on performing and teaching the drums. We talk about what got him into wanting to teach. Stu is very eager to share his passion. you can tell how much he thoroughly enjoys what he does. He works for a few different facilities where he teaches. We discuss the different programs he's involved with and also a bit about how he presents his curriculum. What's next in Stu's teaching career? You'll have to listen to find out!

Next up I moved on to the topic of gear. Stu's kit and setup are unmistakable when you approach his posts in the Instagram feed. You can't miss him with that sweet looking DDrums kit and the orange walls behind him. Stu walks us through his cymbal setup and also lets us in on a little secret about his kit. Did you realize that the toms are actually not a part of the original kit? Stu actually re-wrapped his shells and got everything to match. You would never know it unless he told us!

With the gear comes the platform we see him on. in my next segment, Stu and I discuss his Instagram profile. I asked him what made him want to start an IG page. Over the last year or so, Stu has really built up a following! Aside from the bright orange room, he said alot of people recognize him and follow him because of his enthusiastic facial expressions. I told him that one of the things I notice about his playing is how great he is with dynamics! You'd swear he is about to bash those drums, but he plays with just the right touch and finesse. Before we wrapped up, we talked briefly about followers and why people get jaded about this number we all keep an eye on.

Stu reminds us to stay humble, be ourselves, and forget about numbers. He was a pleasure to talk with and I feel like the listeners will take alot away from this episode. We finish with having Stu tell us about some of the future goals he has set for himself. If you don't already follow Stu, make sure you head to the links below where you can f...