The album that made me want to be a drummer...

My dad used to play this when I was young. Where he worked there was a drum kit and I'd go in and try and play the 'Rhythm of the Heat'. I was probably 5 years old and I suspect my interpretation left a lot to be desired. I also didn't really like loud noises at the time.

It's still one of my top 10 albums. The African inspired percussion extravaganza at the outro of the first track is still awesome. Track 6 (Lay your hands on me) is still one of my favourite drumming outros. "I have the touch" is one of the coolest drum grooves on record. None of these are stereotypical drum grooves, but they are ace.

I highly recommend adding it to your collection. It's cheap as chips on Amazon (UK,US).

David Cross gig in Rome

Last Thursday I flew to Rome with the David Cross Band for a one off gig which is supposedly going to be aired on some Italian TV show and possibly streamed on the internet, though I don't know the details.

It was a great gig. Unfortunately there wasn't time to see anything of Rome apart from the airport and the venue. We flew RyanAir - a first and hopefully a last for me. Sure the tickets are cheap, unless you want to take anything that has any weight then they sting you at 8 quid a kilo. The seats also seem to be designed to stop you from getting any sleep whatsoever.

The whole thing was over in 24 hours. I got an hour and a half kip at a hotel after the gig. I saw a bit of Italy's 'Deal or No Deal' - 'Dealio or No Dealio' (it might not be called that). I think a week of sleeping on friends' floors, living off lion bars and rehearsing in studios with no air took its toll on my immune system and the days after the gig were mainly spent in bed.

Anyway, the gig was fun. There are a few photos here, though as usual I don't feature in them.

Hopefully there'll be more David Cross stuff in the future. I love the music and the guys in the band. Check out the MySpace page for more info on the band (it's not me on drums on the recordings).

Joe

News Update - Feb '07

What have I been up to lately? Well, I've been spending a lot of time recording and editing video lessons for the lessons page. They seem to have been quite well received so I'm working on more of those. It's unbelievable how long it can take to edit 5 minutes of video. I have a new found appreciation for guys who edit 30 min documentaries.

I've been doing some dep teaching at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford. I'm enjoying the teaching and it's great to meet so many enthusiastic young drummers. That gig is becoming more regular. Hopefully at some point it'll become a more permanent thing. Time will tell.

Gig-wise I have a gig in Rome with the David Cross band coming up, then Pendragon are headlining RoS Fest in Philadelphia on April 28th which should be great fun. I'm thinking of picking up some new hihats while I'm out there.

There are a few other projects in the pipeline including working with the guitarist from the David Cross Band, Paul Clark. "Clarky" has just released a CD entitled "Shredz at an Exhibition" which is his nimble fingered musical take on some famous works of art. A recent review of the CD gave him the first 10/10 they've ever awarded and he's about to be reviewed in Guitarist magazine. Some live gigs with his band should give my double kick playing a bit of a work out.

I submitted one of the articles from my lessons page to Modern Drummer for publication. It should be featured in an up-coming issue. I'm quite excited about that and it's encouraged me to write more. I'll be adding articles to the lessons page as and when I have the time/inspiration to put pen to paper (or fingers to keys).

That's about all for now. Time to practise.....

Cheerio,
Joe