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I
was a complete music fanatic throughout my school years and was pencil drumming
on everything for as long as I can remember so I suppose I was always
drawn to it from a very young age. I was already playing guitar but what
possibly sealed the deal for me taking up drums was my first live
gig going to see Therapy? in Dundalk in my late teens. Their
drummer Fyfe Ewing totally blew me away and it was shortly after that
that I bought my first kit.
Who are your favourite
players?
Drummers
I was listening to during the early days of playing with the Rednecks probably
had the biggest impact on my style and remain firm favourites. Brendan
Canty (Fugazi), John McEntire (Gastr Del Sol/Tortoise), Doug Scharin
(Codeine/June of 44) and Britt Walford (Slint) were all big influences. Some
current favourites are Mark Giuliani, Nate Wood, Alexander Sowinski
(BadBadNotGood) and Greg Fox.
What drum gear do you
use?
Strangely
enough for most of my drumming life I was never particularly into drum gear at
all. I originally started out playing guitar so I always thought of myself
more of a guitarist who also happened to play drums and only bought guitar
equipment/studio gear while just having the core drum stuff needed. In the
last few years, I’ve started to get more passionate about drumming and have gone
down a rabbit hole of buying vintage drum gear. I’ve always been a
big fan of old Premier drums and I’m currently playing a beautiful early
70's Premier mahogany kit in 12”,14", 20" sizes. Premier
kits age so well, this one's nearly 50 years old and looks like new! It
always amazes me how Premier kits are so overlooked in the vintage market.
They’re seriously some of the best made and beautiful sounding drums out there
but are always overlooked for the big US brands. I’m currently playing all
Zildjian K / Dark K cymbals, I’m probably amassing way too many snares for
the amount of time I actually get to play them. Some favourites include a
6.5” 20-ply Pearl Reference,which was my main snare for quite a few years, 5” brass and
6.5” aluminium Pearl Free-Floating snares. I also recently bought and
restored two vintage COB snares - a 60’s Premier Hi-Fi and a 70's Pearl
Jupiter which both sound incredible. I use mostly DW flat base stands and
hardware along with some vintage stands.
Your favourite songs
or albums?
That’s
a tough one, I have such a wide ranging taste in music that seems to be
constantly evolving. Not necessarily all of drumming interest but a few records
that’s have stood the test of time for me are Fugazi - In on the Killtaker,
John Fahey - Blind Joe Death, The Beatles - Abbey Road, Polvo - Celebrate the
New Dark Age and Jim O’Rourke - Insignificance. Some more recent albums I
really love are Christian Scott - Yesterday You Said
Tomorrow, Szun Waves - New Hymn to Freedom, Skeletons - People and Mark
Pritchard - Under the Sun.
What upcoming projects
are in the pipeline?
This
year (unbelievably) marks the 20th anniversary of The Rednecks forming! We’re
doing a show in Vicar St on the 30th November to celebrate and and also launch
our new album ‘The How’. It’s our first album in 8 years so really looking
forward to getting it out there finally. We also have a second tour of Japan in
the works and will be doing some dates around Ireland next year to support the
new album too.
What advice would you
give someone wanting to take up drumming?
Learn
to play rudiments and how to apply them to the kit. I taught myself to play so
skipped that enormously important step and struggled with a much weaker
left hand for years because of it. Thankfully, with all the amazing video
content online these days it has given me a renewed love of drumming so I’ve
been actively righting all those wrongs over the last few years. Also, get
some decent ear plugs and always wear them when playing. Tinnitus is
no fun and your ears will thank you for it, 20 years down the line!
Photo Credit; Afghaniscan
