I'm a London-based girl drummer, just tryin' to drum as much as I can! I drum regularly for Scarlet's Well, which is Bid from the Monochrome Set's pirate-pop band.
Sometimes I do one-offs, or part-time drumming. I recorded a few sessions for Horowitz, who have produced an LP out of it! I had an occasional band called the Shallows, a 2-piece with Andy Roberts, but sadly we only played 2 shows.
I played a gig in '07 drumming for the the Dreamers, which was Kevin Wright and Sarah from Action Biker. It was a lovely show at the Luminaire, with a friendly audience, and we only had 2 rehearsals!
The New Royal Family is another occasional group. Founded by David Barnett from the Boyfriends - really fun, poppy/punky music. David seems to have written all the material as an 18 year old. Strangely, this band is the one which has had the most attention and radio play! 'Stick-in-your-head' tunes and a good live set is probably the reason for that.
I played some fun shows as part of the lovely The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra in '06-'07. They're still going, check them out!
Sadly, the Low Edges are no more. I played for them from 05-07. They were country-punk, a bit like the Violent Femmes (though they claim never to have heard them!). Peter moved up north, and got fed up with always schlepping down south to play the fragrant venues of Shoreditch. There's an excellent recording - the single that never was - I've shared it with you all here.
Well, my dad was a drummer and he always drummed on the steering wheel, and the table. And he was obsessed with music - he would tape the new entries in Casey Kasem's top 40 every Sunday, so I was bound to love pop music. He had a kit when I was about 13, but beyond attempting to teach me paradiddles (I couldn't get my head round them) I never tried the drums. Recent family drumming.
I moved to London, learned bass (4 strings=easy?), and played bass for years. In my mid-20's my desire to be a musician was put on hold for a couple of years. But after a while, I couldn't resist, and I took up keyboards with Umbrella Heaven for something to do. We switched instruments for fun at one point in a rehearsal. One day, I got on the drums and the whole way through a song. And at the end I was in love, and knew I had to learn.
My friend Tim (Guitarist of Umbrella Heaven, drummer of Long Good Luck) gave me my first lesson, where he taught me how to play the ride with the right hand and co-ordinate arms and legs. (I've tried his method with other people since, and I'm convinced that everyone can get it in one lesson!) Since then, I've been taking lessons at The Planet Drum. They really push me to keep learning.
I have given a few lessons, to a few people my age and once to 20+ 6-12 year old kids - at once! I'm not a qualified teacher, though. I reckon I can teach a beginner for about 3-4 months before they should find someone qualified!
Absolute favourite is Sean Kirkpatrick from Swell. Second favourite is Kit Shivers who used to play in Zombina and the Skeletones. Then there's Mo Tucker, Meg White (although I'm disappointed that the most famous girl drummer at the moment is one that people might say 'anyone could do that' - they can't by the way), that guy from Built to Spill, Interpol, yer Slint man. Any drummer in Smog. Also the guy in the Lucksmiths is one of the only stand-up drummers I can stomach - unless they're playing percussion or something I like my drummers sitting down playing bass drums! Have been very impressed by the drumming in Arcade Fire and Misty's Big Adventure, too. I also think Mel from Sidi Bou Said was an influence on how cool I'd want to be behind the kit. Nowadays there seems to be lots of girl drummers around, which isn't a bad thing. And Ant from Hefner has reminded me to tell you about how much I used to go on about how great a drummer he was, too!
Eddie Ryan custom kit 'won' on ebay for £200
Sabian 13" Hi-hat, Sabian 20" ride, Zildjan 16" Crash. Ziljan 14" Crash. Should add a second tom....
Yamaha e-drums set.
Drum as much as possible for as long as I can get away with it. Recording, gigs, sessions, tours, etcetera!
A few years after my drumming epiphany I was still wavering between Bass and Drums, playing drums for a sonic youth-y band and a goth band, and bass for an acoust-o pop band which lasted a summer only.
The autumn of 2003 saw me rehearsing with Picture Center to help them out with an album launch gig.
Conrad Vingoe was the guitarist for the summer's bass playing band. He asked me to drum and play bass on his demo in December 2003. I think he's doing good things in South England..
I also joined a group called Faster, who played REM-y type songs with energy and passion. Unfortunately, the début gig with me never happened, as the venue we were booked into burned down a week before the gig. an omen? But they were really sweet guys, and thanks to them for letting me put some tracks I drummed on up on the Recording page.
I played with The Debutante until mid '06, who played tuneful country/pop/rock with added flute&violin. A really nice bunch, too.
I had a life before drums, but I can barely remember it! Although there appears to be a book out about Riot Grrrl that isn't too bad at all. At least my old band Linus got mentioned in it (and a certain amount of our contribution to it). I should write my own book one day to put it all down... See it here.
You can mail me here.