If we go back to the very beginning, what sparked your interest in music?
I suppose my first memory of music was my Welsh nan, who used to play the piano and sing dirty songs, which used to make me laugh! Then later on at school, when I wasn’t really happy studying, I’d hang around with some friends and play at lunch break in the music department. That started to get me excited about making music with other people and the fun we could have creating stuff together. I didn’t really start properly until I was a lot older, around 18, when I first started hanging around with proper musicians, and I realized very quickly that I belonged amongst that group of people. The kind of people that make music – creatives – just seem to make sense to me. And this sense of purpose and excitement to play music started then and has never stopped since.

How come you ended up behind a drum kit? Were you always drawn to drums and was it your first and only alternative?
I actually started, weirdly enough, on cello when I was a youngster, but my school music teacher was a bit of an old dragon and that really put me off. Drums came later on, I think mainly because the other two guys I was messing around with played lead guitar and bass guitar, so it just kind of happened like that. Like most professional musicians, I’ve messed around with lots of other instruments and can get a tune out of most things, but drums have been the only instrument I’ve been serious about. I played bass for quite a while to try to understand how a bass player makes their noise, so I could try to lock in with them. That was a good exercise in appreciating how another musician approaches their instrument and their sound. This is especially useful when I try locking in with a new bass player.

To you, what defines a great drummer? Name a few that you think stand out in today’s scene (regardless of genre) and some that helped shape you as a drummer growing up and learning the instrument.
There are quite a few elements that I think, for me, define a good drummer. Firstly, as I’ve got older, I’ve learned to appreciate character and someone with a unique voice. Playing in such a way where you lay yourself out and your personality can be heard – at least when appropriate – I think is a great thing. There are plenty of great players out there who sound technically incredible, but it’s much more interesting to me to hear somebody with an individual voice rather than just a groove or a chop. Great time, groove and feel are obvious things as well that I like to hear. These are things I’m constantly chasing and looking to improve in myself as well. Great groove and time aren’t just confined to groove music – every genre of music has a groove and feel, whether it’s metal, thrash, jazz or soul. I’m currently loving listening to guys like Josh Freese, Ilan Rubin and Steve Jordan, but have spent plenty of time obsessing about the older greats as well, like Ringo, Keltner, Bonham, Levon Helm, Bill Ward and Simon Kirke.

You played with Iggy Pop for years, toured with Razorlight, jammed with an amazing cast in Gutterdämmerung and much, much more. Looking back on your journey as a professional drummer, what would you say stands out? Any milestones or moments along the way that you think you’ll remember or cherish forever?
The first time I recorded with Thomas Dolby at Real World Studios was a big thing. The first session went really well, and as a result of that I learned a lot working with him and met some really great musicians, which eventually led me on to other great stuff as well. My first gig with Iggy was also a big deal. It was a festival called Down the Rabbit Hole, and I remember being on that stage with him for the first time, looking out at the audience while we played “The Passenger.” There is a breakdown in the middle of it where it goes down to just drums. I was playing that, looking out at the massive crowd and almost got lost in the moment before having to refocus myself and make sure I stayed on the ball! Playing for Gutterdämmerung had some crazy brilliant moments as well. Sharing the stage with Henry Rollins, Grace Jones, Alain Johannes and The Eagles of Death Metal – all at the same time!! – was pretty awesome and unforgettable!

When you’re not behind the kit, you’re teaching – both privately as well as at one of Europe’s most respected music colleges, The Academy of Contemporary Music in the UK. How did this come about?
When I was home from touring with Iggy and I had some downtime, I did a few masterclasses and one-off lectures for ACM. I really enjoyed that and got a lot out of chatting with the new, young and up-and-coming guys. As a result of doing that, I just kept doing a few masterclasses here and there and the odd one-to-one lesson, and it’s still something I enjoy doing. I still greatly value the advice I got from older guys when I was young and learning. I learned so much from them. So if I can pass on a little bit of knowledge that I might have picked up along the way, I think that’s great.

On the subject of teaching: What is your number one tip to someone aspiring to make playing the drums a career?
Two points, I think – and quite simple things. The first thing is to get out and play with as many people as you can. Every gig and every rehearsal you do is a lesson – the more people you get to meet and play with, the better. You’ll become a better musician and you’ll get your face about. I can’t think of anything more important than being out there actually doing it, meeting people, making mistakes and getting better at it. The other thing would be, and this is also quite simple, to just not give up. Keep going, keep working, keep trying to get better – and just keep at it. I think a lot of people try for a while, find it too hard, understandably, and go and do something else. Be the dogged person that keeps going, keeps getting better and keeps trying – in my experience, that eventually pays off.

If you weren’t playing music and being a touring drummer, what would you do for a job, do you think?
Do you know what, I really don’t have any idea at all! My life has been dominated by music, which I’m eternally grateful for. As a youngster at school I was sporty, so maybe something to do with sport perhaps. But to be completely honest, I’ve only ever wanted to do one thing, set my heart on one thing, and that’s brought me so much happiness I can’t imagine doing anything else.

What drum kit do you use for live shows and the studio?
Well, that changes depending on the gig. Live, I’m always using one of my trusty Ludwig kits. On my more modern gigs I’m using my new Ludwig Classic Oak kit, which sounds fantastic. It’s modern-sounding, punchy and reliable out on the road. For some of the more vintage-sounding music I get involved in live, I’ve been using my ’60s classic Ludwig recently. You can’t really beat an old Ludwig for that vintage sound. In the studio I’m generally using one of my Ludwig kits – the ’60s and ’70s Classic Maples or the new Classic Oak. Sometimes I also use my Hayman kit, which is fantastic in the studio. That kit also appears in the Fields of Rock SDX, as well as a lot of my other kits. Cymbal-wise, I’m always using my Istanbul Agop cymbals. They’re just fantastic and all their ranges cover everything from the vintage-sounding 30th Anniversaries to some of the more modern-sounding stuff they do – they’re just the best thing out there and are all over the Fields of Rock SDX as well.

A few years back, you did the Fields of Rock SDX together with Tom Dalgety. How did your paths cross and what was the experience of making this project together like?
I think Tom and I first crossed paths on one of my early gigs with Iggy. We were supporting the Foo Fighters at the Milton Keynes Bowl and Royal Blood were also on the bill. Tom was there supporting those guys, so I think we became aware of each other then. Working on this project with Tom has been fantastic. It was great to be in the studio with him and the whole experience was just a lot of fun. It’s really good to spend time just geeking out about drum sounds and recording drums, especially with someone like Tom, who is at the top of the business when it comes to that stuff. As a drummer, you take an interest, obviously, in the process of recording the drums – especially as I’ve recently set up my own studio – so working with someone like Tom and picking his brains was fantastic. I think we also both have similar work ethics. We wanted to record as many drums and cymbals as we possibly could, so the days were long, but we had a great time and recorded a lot of stuff!

You were recently involved in a big West End production in which you relied heavily on Superior Drummer 3 for your work. Tell us more!
That was a really cool show working with KT Tunstall. KT had a very specific idea about sounds for every track in the show and using Superior Drummer 3 allowed us to build custom kits for every single track. It was a really diverse set of kits, going from punky-sounding Green Day vibes to lo-fi Alanis Morissette sounds and even to a 1920s big band kit sound. We could’ve never done that with anything other than an electronic kit and Superior Drummer 3. One of the big challenges of that was playing vastly different sounds for each track, with each kit feeling and sounding so different, but it was a lot of fun and we really got to dive deep into what the program could do. It was awesome!

What surprised you most about working with e-drums and Superior Drummer 3 at that level?
I wasn’t really surprised by working solely with e-drums and Superior Drummer 3, but the tech team and I definitely learned some stuff. For the entire show we had about 37 different kits, sometimes swapping three or four times in one tune. To do that smoothly and change instantly between those massive kits we’d programmed took some working out. We ended up using a great program called Gig Performer that managed all the kits seamlessly.

To finish off: What’s the most surreal moment you’ve had on stage or in the studio (or both!)?
I’ve been really lucky in my career to have had lots of surreal moments, pinch-me moments if you like. The most recent was when I got to work with Thom Yorke developing work he was doing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. We didn’t have a bass player at the beginning, so Thom played bass for the first couple of days. Looking over and being part of a rhythm section with Thom Yorke, jamming and working through the tunes, was pretty surreal. And to top it off, Klaus Bang was part of the ensemble. I’ve only just recently watched him in The Square. That felt pretty surreal!

And finally: What’s next on the horizon for you?
Well, I’m just prepping for a couple of dates with Marc Almond in Europe – Croatia and Austria – and then I’m back out on tour with Thomas Dolby. We’ll be in the US for a month, then coming back for a month in the UK. I’ve not played with Thomas for a while, so it’ll be great to be working with him again, and it’s also with the incredible Gail Ann Dorsey on bass, so I’m really looking forward to that!

To rewind to the very beginning, how and when did you discover you had an interest for music and recording?
I discovered recording when I was about 20 years old, playing in bands. There was a college recording program not too far from Toronto that had a legendary producer named Jack Richardson teaching there. I thought it would be really cool to work under him and learn how to make real records. I spent two years working and learning from Jack and the other professors.

Are there any albums or projects you’d say “put you on the map”?
I would say probably Steel Panther’s first album “Feel the Steel,” Anthrax’s “Worship Music” and Stone Sour’s “House of Gold and Bones.”

Name a few productions from your catalogue that you feel particularly proud of and why?
I think the three records I just mentioned are all excellent choices, they each defined a sound for me that many clients have often referred to as the reason for reaching out to me!

In a mix, where do you usually start – the drums, guitars, vocals or something else?
I try and balance the entire mix as quickly as possible. No drum samples, no EQ and no compression other than the stereo bus, which is always ON and being mixed through. The quicker I can balance the mix and get a vibe, the better. Then I start fine-tuning, bringing in drum samples if necessary, adding more re-amping to guitars if I think it’s required, creating a vocal space with EQ and compression etc.

Is there any instrument you generally struggle with more than any other in a mix?
I think acoustic guitar and piano can be challenging in a dense mix. Upright bass as well can be very challenging.

You’re a producer, engineer and mixer – sometimes all of them at once. Is there one out of these roles that you prefer over the other?
I would say I enjoy mixing the most. It’s very fulfilling. Producing is great too, you get to be very creative. Engineering is second nature at this point, I do it without even thinking.

Name a few all-time favorite albums that you did not work on where you think performance, sound and feel all come together in perfect balance.
Led Zeppelin “Physical Graffiti,” The Cure “Disintegration,” Tears For Fears “Songs from the Big Chair,” Iron Maiden “Powerslave,” Metallica “Master of Puppets,” Soundgarden “Superunknown,” David Gray “White Ladder,” Radiohead “The Bends,” Pantera “Far Beyond Driven,” Jeff Buckley “Grace,” Faith No More “Angel Dust” and Rush “Moving Pictures.”

If you produced an album that you couldn’t mix yourself, who’d be the first name on your list for the gig?
Andy Sneap for metal, Neil Avron for rock/alt, Mark Lewis for heavier metal, Brendan O’Brien for anything alternative

If you weren’t producing records for a living, what would you do for a career, you think?
Scuba dive master, ocean preservationist.

Which Toontrack products do you regularly use and where in the creative process do these come into play?
I use Superior Drummer during the writing process, and now in the final production of the drums, depending on the artist.

Best studio moment ever?
Probably recording Brian Wilson and his daughters in Wilson Philips. Peter Asher was producing. Incredible day!