Percussion Discussion Podcast

Joining me today is Bruce Becker, Spanning more than four decades as an educator, Master Teacher Bruce Becker has been bringing forward unique concepts in developing “The Flow”! Drawing from his more than thirty-year association with drumming guru Freddie Gruber, Bruce is carrying on the torch of a unique approach in getting the student to understand the natural principles of the physical body’s interaction with the drum set. Through the years Top Drummers like David Garibaldi, Tris Imboden, Mark Schulman, Daniel Glass, Glen Sobel, Tim Carman and many more have sought his guidance. Bruce Becker co-led the David Becker Tribune for 35 years recording 10 CDs. He has performed/recorded with Ron Carter, Mike Stern, Russell Ferrante, Barbara Dennerlein, John Abercrombie, producer Ken Caillat, Frank Gambale and many others. Bruce is performing some very exclusive masterclasses in the UK between September 27th and October 3rd. 2025 if you are in the South and would like to attend a masterclass, the great news is, there are tickets still available for one of the events at Planet Drum in London on October 3rd = here is the link for event  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bruce-becker-the-ultimate-guide-to-technique-tickets-1426104339469 Huge thanks to Bruce for sharing his story, knowledge and insights with us!

Joining me today is Nashville based powerhouse Rich Redmond. Rich is an award winning touring and recording drummer based in Nashville & Los Angeles, he either played/recorded or performed with the likes of Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Ludacris, Bryan Adams, Kelly Clarkson, Joe Perry and Garth Brooks to name but a few! He was voted country drummer of the year by Modern Drummer Magazine in 2010, 2016, 2017 & 2018, and has 30 No 1 hits under his belt. Rich doesnt rest on his laurels in his downtime though, he is a motivatonal speaker, and author an actor and a fellow Podcaster with the hugely succsseful Rich Redmond Show. Huge thanks to Rich for somehow finding the time in his crazy schedule to talk to me! please check out his website www.richredmond.com

Joining me today is Simon Merry. With over 25 years of experience Simon Merry is one of the UK’s most in demand drummers. His style and professionalism has been sought after over the years for touring and recording by such artists as: George Michael, Ronan Keating, Boy George, Natalie Imbruglia, Gene Pitney, Olly Murs, Sophie Ellis Bextor, One Direction, Gary Kemp, Paul Young, Boyzone, Bananarama, Go West and Rick Astley. Join us for a fascinating conversation as we pick through some of the amazing highlights of his remarkable career so far. We of course talk about his gig with the legend that is Rick Astley (also a mean drummer as many of you will have seen) Simon also tells us how he got the Gene Pitney gig as a teenager, Simons dad was Gene's musical director and offerd the gig to Simon, not without a proper auduition first though, so certainly no favours and he had to and indeed did deliver the goods until Pitneys death in 2006. Simon, thank you for an absoloutely fascinating conversation! www.simonmerry.com

Percussion Discussion Podcast - Episode 168 - Stan Bicknell. Joining me today is Stan Bicknell. New Zealand born Stan Bicknell has worked with Kimbra, Miami Horror, Ecca Vandal and his own band The New Caledonia, he is currently touring the UK and Europe with Natasha Bedingfield. He has worked hard to develop a very strong online presence, this was noticed by Jared Falk the owner and creator of the mighty Drumeo, the quite remarkable Canadian based drum education platform where he spent two days creating online content with them . Earlier this year Stan was one of the drummers given the opportunity to audition for Primus in a hugely entertaing and beautifully filmed and edited documentary that has been viewed hundreds of thousand of times. Stan and myself spoke about all this and much more in our Late Night /Early Morning conversation, including how his day starts at a ridiculously early time to ensure that his drumming doesnt affect his family life too much! Stan - Thank you for giving up your time so freely, it was a pleasure talking to you. Huge thanks to  @wincentdrumsticks for sponsoring this episode - please visit their website www.wincentdrumsticks.com and check out all of the wonderful products that they make and the incredible roster of artistes that play them! Facebook @Wincent Drumsticks - Official Instagram @wincentdrumsticks

Joining me today is the chairman also known as the head hog of Pork Pie Drums, Bill Detamore. Join us as we talk through Bill's amazing story from assembling his first ever drumkit as a teenager made up from different drums and how he wrapped them to make them look the same, through to working for DW Drums in there very early days and of course onto 1987 when Bill founded the Iconic Pork Pie Drums, a company that still proudly producing some of the finest drums on earth to this day. This really was a fascinating conversation, Bills knowldege of drums and drum building is second to none, no wonder that he is building shells for the mighty Rogers brand aswell as continuing to produce Pork Pie Drums. Bill, Thanks for giving up your time so generously! Please check out the Pork Pie Website www.porkpiedrums.com

Joining me today is the wonderful Gabi King. Gabi is a session drummer / percussionist who has worked with likes of Declan McKenna, CMAT, Two Door Cinema Club, Ed Sheeran, Years & Years and most recently playing percussion for The 1975. If you watched any of the recent Glastonbury Festival you will have seen Gabi with The 1975 headlining the Friday night on the Pyramid Stage! Join Gabi and myself as we have a good old chat about her drumming life including the then upcoming Glasto performance, her very first Drum Clinic at the UK Drum Show in 2024 ( i sadly missed this as it clashed with Keith Carlock) We also talk about her lack of audition for the 1975, she was asked to play for the band on The Jonathon Ross Show followed by a five week tour with no rehearsals!! Thanks so much to Gabi for giving up her time so generously.

Today im joined by Rock Royalty - Matt Sorum. Matt has an enviable CV including such incredible names as The Cult, Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver, Slash's Snakepit, Hollywood Vampires and his current gig with Billy Gibbons. Matt joins us from his beautiful home in Palm Springs for a great conversation about all things drums and music. Matt's love and enthusiasm for music is so obvious, and this comes across in the conversation! This was recorded on the day that Clem Burke sadly passed away, so of course we had to talk about the legendary drummer. Huge thanks to our lovely friend Simon kirke for connecting me up with Matt. Massive thanks to Matt for the great conversation. 

Percussion Discussion Podcast - Episode 164 - Dave Mattacks. Joining me today is the wonderful Dave Mattacks. Dave is a british drummer ( now living in Boston ) with a quite remarkable career under his belt - he is known as the Folk Drummer (much to his occasional chargrin) Having played for Fairport Convention for a long time, however he has a lot more up his sleeve, check this out for a recording and live CV.......... Paul McCartney, Elton John, XTC, George Harrison, Chris Rea, Jethro Tull, The Proclaimers, Joan Armatrading, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Richard Thompson, Steeleye Span and many many more! We had the most wonderful conversation about his career including the moment he went from trying to impress, with flashy, busy drum parts to stripping it back and playing for the song, something that is now synonymous with Dave's name. Huge thanks to our mutual pal Nigel Constable for connecting us up! Many thanks of course for giving up his valuable time to do this! www.davemattacks.com

Joining me today is Harry Judd. Harry has been playing for British band McFly for over 20 years. As well as his drumming career, Harry has found time to win Strictly in 2011, took part in Celebrity Race Across The World with his mum in 2023, Co-Host Binge Podcast with Alex Jones and is also a very keen runner. We had such a great conversation, starting from the very beginnings of his drumming journey, theough to auditioning for McFly. 2025 is a huge year for the band with several fetival appearances including a slot at Download Festival and a co-headline nationwide tour with fellow brits Busted, we of course talk about both of these things at length. Harry, Thanks for giving up your time so generously!

This is a really short clip explaining who it is that plays the beautiful Gene Krupa esque drum intro on the podcast. its none other than Homer Steinweiss! check out his incredible discography. www.homersteinweiss.com