You can probably guess I dabble a bit on the old drumkit myself, and it is always difficult trying to explain to someone what it looks like sitting on that throne—the best seat in the house. With my images in the book I try to give a flavor of what the guys at the top of their game see when they get behind their kit, and I’ve tried to capture the excitement, energy, and emotion of playing live. I like to think I’m putting drummers in their own spotlight.
There are over a hundred drummers in the book, and many of the shots catch the likes of Dave Grohl, Joey Jordison, Neil Peart, and Chad Smith in mid action, on stage and behind the scenes. I’ve been lucky enough to be on the road, at concerts, and festivals with these legends, and I’ve evaded flying debris, braved security, avoided pyrotechnics, and been shaken to the core by PA’s to get some amazing shots of them playing live.
I can’t tell you how honored I feel that some of the greatest legends have agreed to let me include them in my book, including Ginger Baker, Nicko McBrain, Mitch Mitchell, Roger Taylor, Dennis Chambers, Mike Portnoy, Nick Mason, Alex Acuña, Dave Weckl, Josh Freese, Zak Starkey, Joey Castillo, Thomas Lang—the list goes on and on and on!
In between all my other jobs I took the pictures, wrote the anecdotes, briefed the designer, organized the printing of the book, and did all the marketing—well, perhaps my wife Kim helped a little too!
I couldn’t have done this without help from my many friends in the industry. Terry Bozzio wrote the foreword, and he summed this up by saying how it’s so inspiring how the drumming community pull together and support each other. This has certainly been true in publishing my book, and I’m very grateful to many people that helped me.
To learn more about A Drummer’s Perspective, go to www.music-images.co.uk.