I’ll keep this short because it’s better that way! I am the drummer who plays for Arketta, I’ve been with them for three years and it has been a great trip growing the band and constantly evolving. I’ve been playing drums since 1990 and before then on my older brother’s drums since aged five. I fell off my brothers drum stool at 6 and banged my head, this, my girlfriend thinks accounts my beatnik nature. I’ve gone through the system on a promise of happiness and security but came out the other side thinking that music is where it’s at!

I have session recorded for The Ricky Gardiner Band, Orange Underground, Arketta, Ockhams Raiser, Chapter 11 and many other bands requiring drums. I also have been or am the current dep’ drummer for Celtic Pride, Fat Barry’s Soul Band, GTFBi and Artificially Hip who call on my services for gigs and events. I also teach the drums and restore vintage snare drums in my spare time.

My approach to playing drums I would describe as focussed and direct and I like to draw on band influences such as The Police, Led Zeppelin and The Dave Matthews Band. Mostly self taught I like to think I can create beats and chops that fit music well no matter what the genre or occasion. My drumming heroes are – Steward Copeland, Billy Cobham, John Bonham, Buddy Rich and Dave Grohl.

I want to sustain my existence by creating on the drums and writing music, that’s it.

Check out the rest of the site, and leave comments on the music or shows....thanks for eyeballing this and get in touch if you need to.

Cheers,

Guy

I got my first bass aged ten after watching the film The Commitments, based on the Roddy Doyle book about a bunch of drunks and misfits starting a soul band in grim 1980s Dublin.  Re-watching it, the bassist is a sullen, miserable guy, but he was providing the basis for some beautiful music and that appealed to me greatly, and still does.  I still have the bass I had when I was ten - it's a gorgeous, petite thing that was passed around me and my friends whenever bass was needed.

Since then, I've dabbled with many instruments, mostly guitar and keyboard based ones, but also ones I can barely play like violin and saxophone.  I also went through an experimental music phase in my teens and made music that was either disgustingly beautiful or beautifully disgusting using computers, and got played on Radio 3's Mixing It'.  Back then, my idea of playing guitar was to let it feed back in different tunings for half-an-hour while I watched the cricket.  Oh, to be fourteen again!

I've always loved live music, and have played for bands including the Red Eared Sliders, Permanent Vacation, and the brilliantly named Pigshit.  My first real band was a Cardiff-based acoustic pop trio called The Random Lights, who blazed a trail along open mic nights in the student bits of Cardiff, and for whom I sang and played banjo and guitar.

Arketta came along at a point in my life where playing music had pretty much stopped - I was teaching guitar and bass at the time - something I still enjoy.  When I first encountered Arketta, they bowled me over with their open-mindedness, skill, and dedication.  Since joining the band, I've enjoyed creating new music, and playing gigs, good and bad.  I'll never forget one in London where an argument started in the crowd, about us, whilst we were on stage.  Something to tell the grandkids!

In terms of influences, my bass heroes are Peter Hook of New Order, Bruce Thomas of Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Charles Mingus and the ridiculous Squarepusher.  My role in this band is to be not too boring, not too flash, on time and in tune.  It may sound dull, but it's what I love to do, and hopefully you'll love it too.

Peace and Love
Steff