1. Jessie J looks like Jade Goody.
2. Will Champion really angles his snare.
3. Stella Mozgawa from Warpaint is amazing and has fantastic sounding cymbals, see for yourself;
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Matt Thomas interview.
Matt Thomas is the powerhouse drummer behind rising indie stars The Joy Formidable. After recently seeing them play at The Great Escape festival and witness Matt's tour de force drumming in person, I wanted to find out more about him and his journey from teaching, to being in one of the UK's best live bands.
It says on your BIO that you had a sabbatical from playing live, to teach. Was this a conscious decision? What drew you to teaching?
Before I decided to teach I was living in London working a part time job in HMV. I had completed a degree in Popular Music Performance, played a few sessions here and there and thought I was well on my way to becoming a top session player. Sadly in real life, I was flat broke selling CD's of artists I had recorded with to unwitting customers in HMV. I knew I needed to get out of there and came to the conclusion that I had a wealth of knowledge going to waste. I soon decided teaching was a platform that I could use to help others expand their musical horizons and began training soon after.
Although you're currently touring and not teaching, how important do you think gigging is to a teacher? In your experience, has it helped being an active musician?
Being an active musician definitely helps with some areas of teaching. A huge part of learning how to be a musician involves performing what you have learned either to yourself via recordings or to other people. Being in a band or group of musicians draws on a different set of skills compared to playing or practicing solo. A music teacher who has generally only performed solo may not be able to explain those group oriented skills as easily. Another important thing to remember is that it’s impossible to tour the world as a rock star if you’re currently employed as a full time teacher!
It says on your website that you had an “overwhelming urge to return to the stage” how did you get the gig with The Joy Formidable? And was it this opportunity that took you out of this sabbatical?
About a year and a half into teaching I realised that I had less and less time to play the drums. I felt separated from my instrument and started to lose interest in teaching. I didn’t want this to affect the education of my students and after an extremely difficult few weeks of decision making I resigned my position.
I fell back onto my old contacts playing weddings, birthdays and odd sessions here and there. I trawled the internet for hours searching for any kind of gig I could find and auditioned for everything. Eventually I found an advert for The Joy Formidable, loved their music and auditioned in London. I knew there was no money involved and we would have to pay for everything out of our own pockets, but I believed in the songs and was sure other people would like them too.
I found out I got the gig on Christmas Eve in 2008 and after a scarily short amount of time to rehearse we played our first gig together, which just happened to be a live session for Radio One from Maida Vale.
I noticed that you went to Drumtech in London, how important has it been and what impact has it had to your music career? With a rise in specialist music schools across the country, would you recommend this path to aspiring gigging drummers?
If you decide to attend a college or university thinking that you need a degree to work in the music industry then think again. I never tell anyone I have a degree in popular music unless they work in education. It’s not Rock N’ Roll!
If you can play well and get through whatever gig you’ve been booked for nobody really cares. Drumtech was good for me, but as with any course of education and indeed life, you get back what you put in. Work hard, keep focussed and although you may face a whole series of let downs and failures, keep believing and eventually you’ll get thrown that dream gig… Or you’ll die. Either way you’re a winner!
With the future of The Joy Formidable looking bright, what's in the pipeline?
The future involves new songs, videos, festivals, TV appearances and even more touring round the world. Eventually I’m hoping we headline somewhere enormous like Wembley Stadium or The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. You’ve gotta have a dream!
Hopefully we’ll keep writing great songs and if we’re really lucky people might like to listen to them… Ultimately a few more drum solos wouldn‘t hurt either?
www.thejoyformidable.com
www.mattthomasdrums.com
www.twitter.com/mattthomasdrums
It says on your BIO that you had a sabbatical from playing live, to teach. Was this a conscious decision? What drew you to teaching?
Before I decided to teach I was living in London working a part time job in HMV. I had completed a degree in Popular Music Performance, played a few sessions here and there and thought I was well on my way to becoming a top session player. Sadly in real life, I was flat broke selling CD's of artists I had recorded with to unwitting customers in HMV. I knew I needed to get out of there and came to the conclusion that I had a wealth of knowledge going to waste. I soon decided teaching was a platform that I could use to help others expand their musical horizons and began training soon after.
Although you're currently touring and not teaching, how important do you think gigging is to a teacher? In your experience, has it helped being an active musician?
Being an active musician definitely helps with some areas of teaching. A huge part of learning how to be a musician involves performing what you have learned either to yourself via recordings or to other people. Being in a band or group of musicians draws on a different set of skills compared to playing or practicing solo. A music teacher who has generally only performed solo may not be able to explain those group oriented skills as easily. Another important thing to remember is that it’s impossible to tour the world as a rock star if you’re currently employed as a full time teacher!
It says on your website that you had an “overwhelming urge to return to the stage” how did you get the gig with The Joy Formidable? And was it this opportunity that took you out of this sabbatical?
About a year and a half into teaching I realised that I had less and less time to play the drums. I felt separated from my instrument and started to lose interest in teaching. I didn’t want this to affect the education of my students and after an extremely difficult few weeks of decision making I resigned my position.
I fell back onto my old contacts playing weddings, birthdays and odd sessions here and there. I trawled the internet for hours searching for any kind of gig I could find and auditioned for everything. Eventually I found an advert for The Joy Formidable, loved their music and auditioned in London. I knew there was no money involved and we would have to pay for everything out of our own pockets, but I believed in the songs and was sure other people would like them too.
I found out I got the gig on Christmas Eve in 2008 and after a scarily short amount of time to rehearse we played our first gig together, which just happened to be a live session for Radio One from Maida Vale.
I noticed that you went to Drumtech in London, how important has it been and what impact has it had to your music career? With a rise in specialist music schools across the country, would you recommend this path to aspiring gigging drummers?
If you decide to attend a college or university thinking that you need a degree to work in the music industry then think again. I never tell anyone I have a degree in popular music unless they work in education. It’s not Rock N’ Roll!
If you can play well and get through whatever gig you’ve been booked for nobody really cares. Drumtech was good for me, but as with any course of education and indeed life, you get back what you put in. Work hard, keep focussed and although you may face a whole series of let downs and failures, keep believing and eventually you’ll get thrown that dream gig… Or you’ll die. Either way you’re a winner!
With the future of The Joy Formidable looking bright, what's in the pipeline?
The future involves new songs, videos, festivals, TV appearances and even more touring round the world. Eventually I’m hoping we headline somewhere enormous like Wembley Stadium or The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. You’ve gotta have a dream!
Hopefully we’ll keep writing great songs and if we’re really lucky people might like to listen to them… Ultimately a few more drum solos wouldn‘t hurt either?
www.thejoyformidable.com
www.mattthomasdrums.com
www.twitter.com/mattthomasdrums
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Teaching
Professional one to one beginner drum tuition £25 per hour, based in Brighton, Hove and surrounding areas.
Professional one to one beginner drum tuition, preferring to teach on students kit, (acoustic drum kit, practice kit or electric kit.) however other arrangements can be made on request. All ages and level of ability taken, complete beginners welcome.
I teach a fully comprehensive syllabus that will enable you to start playing straight away to the music you love. Along the way we will learn appropriate theory, teaching you to sight read and cover many styles of music from around the world.
As a working musician I have played with many different artists and producers including; Nick McCabe (The Verve) – EMI, Bright Light Bright Light – Virgin/Popjustice, Tim Larcombe (Gabriella Cilmi).
Please contact Rob Ling on; 07732 078630 or Robling@hotmail.co.uk to discuss any further questions.
Professional one to one beginner drum tuition, preferring to teach on students kit, (acoustic drum kit, practice kit or electric kit.) however other arrangements can be made on request. All ages and level of ability taken, complete beginners welcome.
I teach a fully comprehensive syllabus that will enable you to start playing straight away to the music you love. Along the way we will learn appropriate theory, teaching you to sight read and cover many styles of music from around the world.
As a working musician I have played with many different artists and producers including; Nick McCabe (The Verve) – EMI, Bright Light Bright Light – Virgin/Popjustice, Tim Larcombe (Gabriella Cilmi).
Please contact Rob Ling on; 07732 078630 or Robling@hotmail.co.uk to discuss any further questions.
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