My 15 mins of fame

[karatestu]

I have often said that i am a drummer (honestly, i am) .Well i have been for the last 30 years or so. Started when i was 15 playing along to cd's on headphones with music like Guns n Roses, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, The Doors, Pink Floyd and Aerosmith. I soon progressed to playing along with much harder rock music like Led Zep. Joined my first band in 1990 and we were called My Stupid Life.

The next few years were a haze of different bands in York and i found the bass player with whom i still play in a band with today. Over a period of 10 years we played in countless bands together and at one point we were in 5 different bands at the same time.

I always practised every day for at least a couple of hours. This was quite easy when growing up on a farm and having parents who were really laid back. Not being trained i learnt from copying other drummers by playing along with cd's until i had mastered them. Rock music gave way to other types of music, particularly jazz with stuff like Herbie Hancock, The Crusaders, Weather Report, Buddy Rich, Chick Corea etc etc. I cant say i could do all the fills in some of these records but i got damned close and never stopped trying.

A million gigs later (some of the stories i could tell) and i ended up in a band called Lo Beams in York. One of our friends was called Chris Helme and along with another of our friends Stu Fletcher, they were recruited by John Squire (Stone Roses guitarist ) to play in his new band "The Seahorses". A few top ten hits later and many albums sold they suddenly split. Chris Helme (singer with seahorses) decided to form a new band and i was picked to be drummer along with fellow lo beams singer/guitarist Dave Keegan, seahorses bassist Stu Fletcher and ex band mate and shed7 keyboard player Frazer Smith.

We did a Uk mini tour which climaxed at the Improv theatre in London, 1999. Nothing came of it in the end but here [urlhttp://www.nme.com/news/music/the-seahorses-2-1392452[/url] is a very brief NME clip where i am mentioned. What do bloody NME know anyway. Unambitious Rock is how they described it and i probably would not disagree. Not the best band i have been in musically but who could blame me for going along with it.The strangest thing was people asking for my autograph and they didn't even know who i was. There were added bonuses like getting to shag some pretty fit birds and i became very popular in my home town for a while.

Bands have come and go since, i still play with the bass player i was in countless bands with (not Stuart Fletcher), at one time we were the ryhtm section for hire in York and i even remember getting paid retainers not to leave. I continued at a semi professional level for a while, even selling my soul and joining a Queen tribute band (i hate queen) for a couple of years. Eventually becoming a parent put a stop to it all but now they are 7 & 4 i have starred again with some old chums and we have the beginnings of a latin jazz rock band. Think Santana but nowhere near as good.

Happy times........

[Nigel]

Great read and I salute you. Keep it up, it must be wonderful to actually play music. Love the fusion bands you mention. I went to see Carl Palmer last week, 67 years old but he's still got all his skills. I passed him in the theatre as he was about to go on stage, I was going to the toilet after drinking too much beer. I never said anything to him because he looked in another place. Totally focused and psyched up for what was about to take place. Not relaxed at all.

[antonio66]

Didn't know we had a rock star on the forum.

[karatestu]

Didn't know we had a rock star on the forum.

Ha ha Hardly. It was a lot of fun though. Went to Gail Porter's birthday party in a club in London the same night as that gig and met a few famous people.

I still know Chris Helme - he is still performing but his main job is in the Civil Service. He did get to buy his house outright from the money he got from the Sehorses only album. A lovely guy, very polite and a good laugh.

[CN211276]

A good read. A dodgy review in the NME is a compliment.

[Andy-831]

Nice one and a good read.

We are kindred spirits on the Queen thing, I never got them and always thought they very overrated.

Latin Jazz Fusion sounds very interesting. Are you doing covers or are you writing your own Stuff?

Andy

[karatestu]

A good read. A dodgy review in the NME is a compliment.

Yes i often thought that. I dont think we took much notice of it. I remember being on top of the world at the time i felt invincible

Nice one and a good read.

We are kindred spirits on the Queen thing, I never got them and always thought they very overrated.

Latin Jazz Fusion sounds very interesting. Are you doing covers or are you writing your own Stuff?

Andy

There are only two or three Queen songs i like. I didn't like them much when i joined the band and liked them even less by the time i left

The latin jazz rock is all our own stuff. Nothing groundbreaking but good rhythms (some in 3/4, 7/8, 6/8, 5/4 or 9/8 time) and more rhythm than lead guitar. No Carlos Santana in this band. It is all rhythm based with some funk thrown in (think Crusaders, The meters, The J.B's)although Santana can be funky at times. For a drummer it is really interesting and my drumming these days is all about the groove, not showy fills although i like to put one in now and then.

[Andy-831]

Sounds interesting Stu. I would like a listen at some point maybe you could knock a demo cd together?

Mind you your in the North riding, so presumably not a million miles away from the West riding, maybe I will come up for a listen when you have a gig organised.

Andy

[karatestu]

We are in the early stages so no demo yet, but will let you know in due course.

I love playing things in time signatures other than 4/4.

I used to be in a couple of bands with pianist Frazer Smith before Chris Helme and the work he did with Shed seven (another York band who did quite well). I had not seen him for a long time and then he popped up in an interview on the news about sound engineering.

Most of the musicians i know have other jobs and continue with music as a sideline or a hobby. We are getting on a bit now and it needs to be fun or there is no point doing it.

[ArloFlynn]

Excellent Story Stu.
I went to seen the Seahorses in 97, It was one of my/our most anticipated concerts of the time, So disappointed..So disappointed. Don't know what the hell Squire was attempting at that time?. Chris Helme however was the best part of the band I thought.
Maybe they should have had you on drums then too. You never know what might have been. As they say, without Reni, the Stone Roses would never have been.

Kevin.