Back again! I took a year off last year while I readjusted my life after a monumental period of change, but I wanted to celebrate my achievements and pick back up where I left off, so this timeline begins mid-2021.
Kicking off I was delighted to join emerging pop megastar Macca Wiles for a few festival shows covering for my good friend and tip-top drummer/MD David Dyson. It involved tour managing, drumming, MD-ing and (naturally) covering playback duties. No small feat but it was great fun to be involved with for a long weekend!
Next up my solo events act Ultimatum was booked at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane for a corporate do. They were a smashing bunch and it was an easy peasy show to squeeze in between being a drummer! Thanks to Jon Ray for the exquisite mix and for not smashing his head into a wall because of the the woefully inadequate sound system (you’ll hear it in the clip).
Shortly after I received a call from musical director Mike Park tagging me in for some music direction duties with another up-and-comer - Erica Manzoli. I enjoyed the day shaping a live set from a raw but stunning selection of songs. She’s a real presence with an exceptional vocal!
Then came the debut show with a new artist I’d begun working with - St. Lundi. Another phenomenal songwriting and performance talent, we spent a week rehearsing as a duo in Brockley Studios before heading to Hamburg for the debut showcase. Things were still pretty wrapped up in COVID of course - check out the markings on the floor of the venue photo. Surreal doesn’t quite cut it.
Wrapping up 2021 I performed at the Relais Hotel with Ultimatum to see in the new year. My brother-in-law Gabi joined me on FOH duties in the absence of any other engineers being available and did a terrific job! A nice little way to draw a very difficult year to a close.
Heading into 2022 I was extremely excited to begin rehearsing with the phenomenal IDER in preparation for their UK / Europe tour. Not only are they the most exceptional songwriters and performers, they’re incredible human beings! The tour was a blast and I made new friends (shout out driver-TM-supreme Tico Richie and FOH legend Jordan Hayward)
In the middle of this tour I had an Ultimatum show booked at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham, so managed to configure the logistics such that I was able to hop out and back in without excessive faffing. My drums stayed on the tour bus and I managed to borrow a kit from the hero that is Dave at Brockley Studios in order to make this show work. This required a LOT of brain power to make sure I didn’t forget anything on either side - although a single drum trigger managed to go missing on my return to tour (it was hugely optimistic to think I wouldn’t loose anything among the many moving parts involved!).
August brought an unexpected call from my good friend, and phenomena talent, Jacob Atwool - to join him in a band video shoot for his distinctly brilliant project Thirty Something, to be released next year. I briefly became a Tik Tok celeb as it turns out!
After a busy summer of more events work and lecturing, it was back with St. Lundi to prepare for a landmark show - we’d been invited out to Portugal to play ‘Festival do Crato’. It was a spectacular way to draw the gigging season to a close. Having St. Lundi been a two-piece so far, we recruited a guitarist and keys player to enhance the live band. The brilliant guitarist Dion Rushe joined, as well as the uniquely talented Christian Grace on keys - a chap we all ended up in awe of for the entire trip as he amazed us with the magic. I mean, it really is ridiculously good. Shout-out to Tim Wearden who did a fantastic job on FOH, too!
