When did you start drumming?
I
started drumming when I was about seven years of age. My Dad played a lot of
traditional sessions and I joined them on Bodhran pretty early on. I had poor
technique back then but I did have a knack for rhythm alright.
Progressing
from there to a full drum kit I joined a rock covers band in school, you know
the usual story, Guns N’ Roses, The Beatles, things of that ilk,
After
studying for a year in London I came back home to Cork.
Now
my primary instrument is a Cajon and I play as much as I can in any musical
style that I can get my grubby hands on.
‘The
Shruggs’ is my main band in terms of regular gigs, but I also work with: ‘No
Direction’ and most recently: ‘THE COVID COLLECTIVE’ (a musical collaboration
in self-isolation) where we get together some of our most talented musical pals
and record some videos for online.
Who are your favourite players?
For
drum-kit: Buddy Rich is KING!
I
Love Steve Gadd, he was a big influence early on. Then you have the absolute
groove merchants like: Zigaboo Modeliste and Manu Katché, Bonham too,
I
have to give a mention to Brian Downey, who is probably one of the most
under-rated drummers of all time. It’s really tricky to play-along to his
stuff, (bit like it is to play-along to Ringo as well),
it’s
all about the feel (check out Nate Smith too).
I
also love to watch Richie Dittrich, he is a super player and an even nicer guy,
recently discovered Dylan McCormick Moran too. The drumming future in Ireland
is very bright.
For
Cajon: I love the flamenco Players:
Pirana,
Jose Montana, Paquito Gonzalez and many more real virtuosos, they are a real
inspiration.
Paul
Jennings, Ross McCallum and Heidi Joubert have some excellent free tutorials
online so I owe them a massive debt of gratitude on the hand percussion side of
things.
What are your favourite songs or albums?
At
the moment, I’m listening to a lot of Nick Drake,
I
really enjoy: Kind of Blue by Miles Davis,
anything
by The Rolling Stones,
Led
Zeppelin’s ‘In Through The Out Door’ is always on heavy rotation…
it’s
difficult to pick just a few, (I could go on for ages).
If
I had to bring only one album to a desert island I would bring: ‘The Beatles 1’
compilation.
What’s your current gear setup?
My
Drum Kit is a purple standard Pearl Export, with my Powershifter eliminator
Single Bass drum pedal (which I’m so enamoured with that it’s nearly dangerous).
As
I said, I play Cajon mostly now, and do most of my Live gigs and Recording sessions
with a:
Sela
Pro Cajon. (it’s got a lovely high-end ‘snap’ and a great low end BOOM with
excellent zone definition).
For
home use and Practice I sometimes use a Cruz Cajon or a Duende .both lovely
bits of kit altogether.
What advice would you give someone wanting to
take up drums?
Do
it, have fun.. Music is flippingGreat and it will give you opportunities that
you would never get otherwise.
In
terms of learning the instrument, I would say spend as much time as you can on
correct technique, it’s not a race,
oh,
and
the
best advice I ever got from a tutor remains:
“Don’t
practice when you play and don’t play when you practice”.
How are you coping during the current Covid19
shutdown?
I’m
really trying to keep positive, I miss my band mates so much, I miss the buzz
of live gigs and I miss weekly rehearsals. It’s really driven it home how
important music is in a number of ways.
Luckily,
with ‘THE COVID COLLECTIVE’ at least I’m kept busy online, the first song we
covered was ‘Stand By Me’ which seems to be going down really well. I’ve just
recorded a part for another one, so keeping things ticking over, it’s a new way
of working and will hopefully keep our musicianship sharp and makes us more
rounded players when we come out the other side. My aim is to keep improving
and stay connected
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheShruggs