Brushes..? Nah. Hit 'em as hard as you can.

I have no qualm about the quality of the contemporary repertory.

I've wanted to be a drummer since I was about five years old. I used to play on a bath salt container with wires on the bottom, and on a round coffee tin with a loose wire fixed to it to give a snare drum effect. Plus there were always my Mum's pots and pans. When I was ten, my Mum bought me a snare drum. My Dad bought me my first full drum kit when I was 15. It was almost prehistoric. Most of it was rust.

Drumming was the only thing I was ever good at.

Not everybody likes or understands a drum solo, so I like to bring in effects and sounds to keep their interest.

There were times when I blundered and got the dreaded look from the lads. But that was a good sign. It showed I'd attempted something I'd not tried before.

Most of it was nuts, but I was determined to be a drummer as soon as I left school.