Brendan Doherty - drummer with Cloud Castle Lake

What type of drum kit do you use?

It's kind of a mix and match kit made up of '60s Rogers toms, an old Premier 20" kick drum from the '50s and a '70s metal shell premier snare. I use Istanbul Agop Cymbals.

Who are your favourite players?

Elvin Jones, Earl Palmer, Danny Richmond, Jim Keltner, Paul Motian, Ringo, John Bonham to name just a few.

What are your favourite albums / songs?

Stone Flower - Antonio Carlos Jobim

Good Old Boys - Randy Newman

Mingus Oh Yeah - Charles Mingus

Hosono House - Haruomi Hosono

Somewhere Else - Sun Ra

Swing Slow - Swing Slow

How did you get involved in Cloud Castle Lake?

Through a friend. They were looking for a new drummer and a mutual friend recommended me, so I went in and we played through some stuff and it just kind of clicked. It's been a great experience playing with them, and many of the other projects I'm now involved in came about through connections I made through CCL. So I'm forever thankful to the guys for having me on board.

What current plans do the group have? 

It's been a pretty quiet year for us. We're all involved with other projects outside CCL and were all pretty busy individually for the past year, so we didn't have much time as we'd like to focus on the band. Once this lockdown ends though, hopefully, we'll be back in the studio working on new music!

How are you spending your time during this COVID-19 lockdown?

I've been having a crack at learning Ableton, which I've been meaning to do for a long time. Doing a lot of cooking, walking, listening to music. It's been a good opportunity to get some practise done. I don't have a kit set up at home so I've just been doing some much-needed hand technique practise

Photo credits; Igor Kwasniak and Red Keane.