The final drummer on my list is Tony Royster Jr. He has to be my favourite. I was introduced to his work by a friend when I was in drum college. He lent me his “Common Ground” video and I watched it over and over again. I know Dennis Chambers also features on that video, but it was Tony who really caught my attention. He was only 14yrs when it was made and he was absolutely phenomenal! Now for those of you who have read about my goals you will know that it’s a goal of mine to “make it” as a performing drummer and for him to recognize and appreciate my work. That might sound a little sycophantic, but I don’t mean it in any such way. I would just mean something to me to have the approval of someone I respect. To be fair there aren’t that many, if any, people in this world that I look up to or admire but if I did he’d have to be one of them. I think his groove just sounds superb, his fills are electrifying and his knowledge of the bar is astonishing. (Did you notice I tried to use all my best words in one sentence right there?!?)
I saw him live at Drummer Live 2006 and was completely blown away by his solo. I think I was more impressed because I knew a lot of the things he was doing and knew just what skill it took to have them sounding like he did. If you ever get a chance to go and see him live do so, I could guarantee you wouldn’t regret it.
The next drummer on my list is kind of an odd one, but I’ll explain why. His name is Aaron Fagon and he was in my year at college. He’s not massively well known, but some of you reading this may have heard some of his work. He was the drummer for David Sneddon, who won Fame Academy in its first year (I think.) He then went on to play on Estelle’s album and do some more work for other such artists. Now, for some reason we don’t really get on, but I do rate him as a drummer. I especially like his “sound”, and by that I mean the sound he gets from the kit when he plays. When I first heard him play the same kit as everyone else, but made it sound so completely different, it made me realise just how much a good sound can add to your playing. It wasn’t so much about WHAT he played, but HOW he played it. That really influenced me and my playing, and from that day forth I paid much more attention to how I played something.
Obviously, I’ve never heard every single drummer in the world, so I can’t say for sure these guys would still be at the top of my list had I heard everyone, but they’ve been drummers who have influenced my playing in one way or another over the years. You may have already heard of some or all of these drummers, however, if you haven’t do look them up…. It wouldn’t be a waste of anyone’s time.
Lets start from the start. This drummer was a favorite of an old drum teacher I had years ago. He talked about him quite a lot and got me listening to his stuff when I had to play a solo for a school showcase I was in. The drummer was Ian Paice from Deep Purple. Some of you will know straight away who that is and some of the younger one’s amongst you will be saying “Who??!!” Fair enough he’s a bit older now and probably not drumming as much, but he can still kick it with the youngsters of today!
My old teacher got me their “made in Japan” album, which featured a track called “The Mule”, in which Ian Paice played a solo. My teacher basically had me copy most of the solo for my performance! I must have listen to that solo hundreds of times to get it down. I can still remember some of it to this day! I also went to see him do a live clinic at the Jonglers club in Camdem, London. He was fantastic! I remember at the time thinking that I would love to be able to play as fast as he did, and now I’m doing it!!
So the inspiration for my very first drum solo ever was from the old rocker Ian Paice, however I can’t give him all the credit, a good slice has to go to my old teacher, a Mr Steve Hamper. So Steve, if your reading this, or if you know him, could you pass on this message….. Cheers geeza, you did a good job. You’re the best teacher I ever had.
