Indie/Pop/Rock Session Drummer

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: Other than Bastille, which obviously shaped my life in a very dramatic and positive way, I've loved working in my newer song-writing/producer role. Charlotte Plank's has been brilliant to work with, as I was privileged to be there at the inception of her project, and to see what she's gone to achieve since has been immensely gratifying.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both! Use whatever fits you best. People often get too hung up on the gear, and not what you're doing with it. I've heard some unbelievable music made with stock plugins and little else. It's about bringing your idea to life as quickly as possible, so that you can run with it and feel creative and develop it further. We're all here to create music, express ourselves and hopefully make people feel something.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I promise to make the process as fun as possible and always strive to end up with a song that we're both proud of.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Are there any reference tracks you have in mind? That could be to do with examples of a certain sound you want, or a style of drum part you're after. As much up-front information is always helpful and will help us get the end product you're hoping for.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Don't be afraid to ask for what you want and don't be afraid to ask questions. There's no such thing as a stupid question. Ultimately if someone like myself is going to put their name to a project, they'll want to deliver the highest standard of work possible. So having either a clear idea of what you want, or being open to collaboration is very important. I just want the whole experience to be fun for everyone at the end of the day. Also, don't be intimidated. People are sometimes too afraid to raise an issue they have a with a part or a recording just because "they're not a drummer, so don't know enough about drums to have a say". Some of the coolest and most memorable drum parts have come from the minds of 'not drummers', so don't be afraid to say exactly what you're imagining the drum part to be.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Macbook, interface, SM7b, Telecaster and a football. You could make pretty much any music imaginable with those things, and I'd have time to practice my keep ups in-between songs.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I've been playing drums for over 25 years, 18 of those professionally. I first became interested in studio recording at 16 and worked as a runner in various recording studios to learn on the job. I studied drums under the late, great Bob Armstong for 4 years, and he transformed the way that I play and the quality of sound that I'm able to perform with. I played in countless unsigned and function bands in and around London until my little indie band 'Bastille' became a lot less little. I've since toured the world many times over, headlined festivals, recorded on multiple studio albums, played on nearly every late night US TV show including SNL, and also performed with several orchestras. Since moving out of London 8 years ago, I was able to build a proper studio at home and have been recording out of there ever since. I have the most enormous fun making music with people, even if it's via email from the other side of the world.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Hard-hitting but tasteful. My drumming idol was always Dave Grohl, purely because his parts would make non-drummers want to air-drum along with the music. So I always have that in mind when putting together my own parts, always asking 'Could you sing this fill?' or 'How would this beat make people want to move?'. I'm at my happiest when either laying down a simple feel-good track, or getting to absolutely tear through a pop punk tune.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: Skrillex, purely because I want to gain any insight into how he makes his tracks hit so hard.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Every section of the songs needs to matter! If an element of the music isn't making you feel something, then it needs to go. Aside from that, a plugin that I swear by is auto-align from Sound Radix. It eliminates phasing issues on multi track recordings and makes the drums sound extra full and clear.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: I often record drums for Pop, Indie and Rock acts, although I've had previous experience in creating breakbeat and Drum & Bass recordings too. You can loosely summarise my body of work as being radio-friendly.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Playing with a solid feel and bringing sensitivity to the music. It's all about the song, not my ego!

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Having worked for many years in the production and songwriting worlds, I have an understanding of what it's like to create a finished product. I don't just think like a drummer, I understand the nuances that go into pulling many smaller elements into something greater than the sum of their parts. We're all working together to bring someone's artistic vision to life.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I'll receive the demo of the song and typically record a couple of rough takes to send back to the client. The first take being what I would describe as tasteful or playing for the music, the second take might be pretty wild and over the top with lots of ideas that may not get used, but may contain the odd exciting idea that the client wouldn't have thought of otherwise. Once we're happy with the part, I'll then take the time to tune the kit properly and check phasing issues on the microphones. I'll then make a 10 channel multi-track recording of the drum part as agreed. Once that's all done, I will send over the raw stems as well a briefly mixed down stereo bounce of the part. The reason for the stereo bounce is so that the client can instantly drop a more finished sounding drum part into their project. This gives an idea of how it might sound once the song is properly mixed and finished, and most importantly, means that they can keep working quickly on their project instead of immediately getting dragged into drum mixing.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have an almost totally deadened drum room as the space is limited, but I've always had very positive feedback about the sound of the kit and recordings in this room. I record through a combination of my 8 channel Neve 1073OPX and a UAD Apollo 8p. 10 channels in total; 1. Kick In (Shure Beta 91) 2. Kick Out (Yamaha Subkick) 3. Snare Top (SM57) 4. Snare Bottom (SM57) 5. Rack Tom (Audix D2) 6. Floor Tom (Audix D4) 7. Overhead Left (Neumann TLM-102) 8. Overhead Right (Neumann TLM-102) 9. Hats (SM7b) 10. Mono mic over bass drum (Beyerdynamic M160) My go to drum setup is my 60's Ludwig kit which just sounds great without any processing or EQ, as well as some vintage 50s hi hats that sound amazing through the mics. Those hats have appeared on a lot of records as they've had all the nastiness beaten out of them over the years, so they sound almost pre-mixed.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Ash Soan is a big one and has really shown that drummers can achieve high quality recordings working from their own spaces, rather than having to record in big expensive studios. Eric Valentine and Rich Costey are two producers whose drum sounds I've always admired.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: I collaborate on and remotely record drum parts for artists in my drum studio.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Creating music is what I've always loved to do since I was 14 and that's never changed. I still get the same buzz from hearing a newly finished track now as I do then.