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It appears you guys love lists, so following the big response to my list of favourite vocalists, I’m turning my attention next to the world of drummers.

Some of you will know I can play the drums myself to a very basic level, and played on the first Cosmograf album End of Ecclesia, although it was very apparent that if I was ever to progress further in the world of prog I’d need a real drummer to take the music to the next level. I did make a brief return as the drummer on ‘Aspire Achieve’ on ‘The Man Left In Space’, but nothing since. I’ve remained an avid student and admirer of the great players though. This list represents those drummers that have moved me the most, and not really a list of who I think is the greatest on the kit. I value groove and feel way above technical showmanship and there are many incredible players that just won’t appear here. As with all the lists, it’s a very subjective view..Feel free to post your own choices but as previously, my views are not facts and are my own, so not wrong..

Ian Paice – The one and only consistent member of Deep Purple since the band’s inception in 1968. Like many players of the era, Paicey brought the swing of Jazz into Rock music and you will see that’s a persistent theme in my choices here. He is for me the flat out best rudiments player of anyone here. It’s all about the snare with him. Every song combining singles, doubles, paradiddles. When he plays it looks like he’s casting spells rather than hitting the skins such is the magic he conjures at the kit. Take a look at this video on Youtube where he performs a breathtaking snare focussed solo as well as a demo of his signature single handed drum roll. New drummers could do far worse to forget about the rest of the kit and just learn what he does with the snare. It will take you about 50 years to get close to his talent.

John Bonham – Conversely to Paicey, Bonzo is the king of the kick drum pedal. Things just sound more exciting when you put 3 beats over a bar of 4 and Bonham was the king of triplet feel. What he lacked in versatility he more than made up for in the most bodacious kick drum technique coupled with scary loud snare hits. It was of course the foundation of the Led Zep sound locked solid with the bass of John Paul Jones. The thundering drum track of Kashmir is a case in point but he could also knock out some very feelsome ‘Purdie’ shuffles such as on ‘The Fool In the Rain’.

Gavin Harrison – I only really became aware of Gavin’s ability from first hearing Fear of a Blank Planet and the the opening salvo of Anaethetise in particular had me hooked. The way the drum part progresses is a work of genius changing dynamic from intrigue to raw power and back. Gavin is a master of preserving time through a fill which so many drummers fail at, as well as ignoring all the obvious stereotypical drum fills. Check out his wonderful explanation of the ‘Bonnie the Cat’ groove in particular, watch the ghost notes on the snare. Incredibly it’s in 4/4 which is the most prog thing ever…A total troll on the myth of common time being boring. This is the work of a master craftsman who thinks intently about his role in the band.

Stewart Copeland – I loved the way he regularly put 4 on the floor or put the kick on beat 2 and 3 instead of 1. Techniques more akin to Reggae which was such a big part of The Police sound. Listen to ‘Can’t Stand Losing You’ for some of the most creative, individual drumming you will ever hear on a record. He also had some of the best sounding kits of all time.

Phil Collins – By far, the best singing drummer that’s ever been. But his stratospheric success as the Genesis front man and even more so in his solo career sometimes overshadows the fact that he was also one of the best drummers in the world too. Let’s not forget he wrote the most famous drum break of all time.. For the more muso side of his playing try ‘And So to F’ Brand X from 1978 where he was probably at the height of his powers as a drummer. Despite his amazing prowess he had a terrible posture at the kit. A rounded spine, neck constantly in hyperextension and sitting probably too low would have likely contributed significantly to the spinal and nerve damage that ultimately forced him to stop drumming.

Nick D’Virgilio – I’ve been blessed to work and tour with Nick and he’s one of very best musicians I’ve ever worked with, as well as being a lovely guy. He played on 3 albums for Cosmograf and had a ridiculous ability to learn a song within a few minutes of listening to it. On the first take he’d felt his way around it and by the second he was already pushing it in different directions, fleshing out grooves. The magic happened on the third take. For ‘The Unreasonable Silence’ he smashed out the entire album in around 5 hours…such was his work rate. He plays very much in the Collins style, groove and feel and a rare talent for making odd time sound completely natural as if it’s common time. There’s a distinct ‘snap’ to his snare hits that other drummers don’t seem to get even using the same snare. Conversely to Collins, NDV also has the best posture I’ve ever seen in a drummer. He sits as if suspended by strings, like a Marionette doll, symmetrically aligned, head central above a straight back, and of course we’ve all seen the trademark ‘De Niro’ face he pulls when getting on a groove.

Larnell Lewis – I came to Larnell via Snarky Puppy. He’s another drummer that has an insane ability to learn parts by ear even without a set of drums. He reportedly learned the parts for Snarky Puppy’s album We Like It Here during a plane journey to a gig in Europe. He was a last-minute replacement and had about 7.5 hours to learn the music by ear before the session. He has a deep musicality and has demonstrated insane chops playing everything from Jazz to a famously epic cover of ‘Enter Sandman’ on Drumeo. Check out this very unusual drum solo where the keyboard player is the one keeping time and he swings the timing so hard it goes way out and back in. He literally plays around him.

Neil Peart – It took me a long time to appreciate the true skill of ‘The Professor’ and my early naive impressions of him were that he was maybe too metronomic and lacking feel. Some of that I think was about how effortlessly he despatched the more complicated parts in Rush’s canon. He was heavily influenced by Buddy Rich and this wonderful video of him playing ‘Cotton Tail’ demonstrates he’s probably the only drummer that could be considered equal to that particular legend. . I love Neil though for always giving me the biggest urge to ‘air drum’ every time I hear it. Tom Sawyer was my favourite song to drum along to when I was learning… but of course I couldn’t get anywhere close to it. He had an almost comedic simian posture at the kit which implied he was going to hit hard…His music certainly did.

The discussion of Neil Peart brings me neatly on to a more thorny issue. You will have probably noticed that there isn’t a single woman on this list. Please understand that this isn’t some level of misogyny on my part. The music I listened to as a teenager, just didn’t have many female drummers…It’s getting better. The barriers are starting to break down and we are seeing a new generation of uber-talented females going head to head with male counterparts across all instruments. But gender means nothing in music, it’s about ability. I’ve seen ridiculous notions in the last few weeks since the Rush tour announcement, about lack of stamina, hand speed, wrist action and whatever else grotesque sexist bollocks that insecure male egos displaying small dick energy want to comment about the recent appoint appointment of Anika Nilles. She’s not in this list because I’d never heard of her before the Rush furore. That’s a combination of my ignorance and the still sexist world of rock music keeping her talent out of the limelight. From what I’ve seen she will more than do it justice..

Taylor Hawkins – The Foos already had a legendary drummer in the band, so to say this was a tough gig was a bit of an understatement. I just love the way he played, delivering straight head rock songs with real verve and swagger. He cited his single biggest influence as Roger Taylor but he played quite a bit differently. His performance on ‘All My Life’ was typical of his explosive power. I remember being absolutely gutted when he died.

Bill Ward – Bill put the swing into Sabbath. The founders of Heavy Metal really had a Jazz drummer on the throne. Check out the swung shuffle feel on ‘A National Acrobat’. It works so well and is one of those great examples where a seemingly contradictory ingredient brings out magic in the finished result.

Vinny Appice – Following the Sabbath theme I really couldn’t leave out Vinyl purely for his stellar contribution to my favourite metal band. He was such a perfect fit for Dio-era Sabbath and made the band even heavier. Mob Rules is one of my favourite albums of all time. He has this wonderful fill he repeatedly uses throughout the album, snare, tom and ending on the kick which is the perfect foil for Iommi’s planet crushing power chords.

Bill Bruford – Simply a legend in progressive rock drumming. Bill has that thing where you are sure he has separate brains in each limb.. A master of polyrhythmia decades before that was even a thing.

Ginger Baker – Always loved his upside down drumming style with Cream, putting the snare on the 1 instead of a 2 and giving the groove far more interest. His use of West african inspired beats were legendary and was an intoxicating mix with his early jazz influences. I think he was an incredible drummer but an absolutely appalling human being. The documentary ‘Beware of Mr Baker’ gives you an insight into how un-glamorous the life of a violent and cantankerous rock star could be. He dreadfully abused his own son and it’s not hard to see that his own childhood was unbelievably miserable too. Despite all this he remains one of the most cited influences to other drummers.

Chad Smith – One of the funkiest drummers in rock. I love the way he plays, so much feel and and in the pocket groove. He hits really hard too.

Dave Grohl – He’s in elevated company here to be honest but he has an incredible heritage with Nirvana and QOTSA, and some of the most recognisable drum parts ever. I love his playing and his infectious personality and enthusiasm for rock music. He was also outstanding with the super group Them Crooked Vultures which showcased his more esoteric abilities much more. I think he will be one of the few Gen X rock stars to be considered a legend.

Lastly but not leastly,

I’d like to mention Cosmograf’s own drummer,

Kyle Fenton – Kyle has been Cosmograf’s drummer now for 5 albums since The Hay Man Dreams in 2017. He’s influenced by Gavin Harrison, NDV and Craig Blundell but has a style of his own. He just gets better and better each time and his work on ‘The Orphan Epoch’ had some real stand out moments. Check out the intro ‘Purdie Shuffle’ on ‘Division Warning’ and the Crimson-esque breakdown on ‘We Are The Young’. One day he’ll get the call from a huge band…he deserves it.

Some final mentions:

Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys, great young player with boundless energy), Nic Collins (Just a frightening talent in his own right), Ronnie Vanucci Jr (The Killers. Constantly entertaining and a unique style). Vinnie Colaiuta (Just brilliant through Sting’s work). Brad Wilk (Audiosalve, RATM. Love his straight ahead rock style), Nick Mason (OK, no virtuoso, but has to be here just for being the sound of Floyd. How could I not?), Roger Taylor (Queen – Same reason as Nick.) Steve Gadd……

As with all these lists I could go on for hours and 10mins after posting this I will have doubtless thought of someone else I’ve missed. I should also state there are some famous names I’ve left out, a few I think are overrated or it’s just their work hasn’t connected with me. Feel free to share your own suggestions.

Photo: Robin Armstrong taken of Kyle Fenton’s recording kit for ‘The Orphan Epoch’. Taken at Aubitt Studios Southampton.

Why we might now need to disconnect…

There’s a funny video circulating around the internet of the Trump/ Zelenskyy meeting in the Whitehouse except it has been manipulated with AI and Zelenskyy punches Trump in the face. We laugh, of course. It relieves the tension from what was the second most disturbing news footage I’ve seen this year so far. The most disturbing one was the footage of Musk hanging around the oval office directing the media, with his kid on his shoulders like he was waiting in line for a ride at Disney. If there was ever a more chilling image sent to the world, this is it. America can be bought. Musk was parading around like a tourist who’d bought the most expensive VIP ticket ever. He literally bought the presidency. America sold out, Tesla’s stock price doubled over night…and he now has your tax dollars.

If there was a blueprint for taking over the world, it would start with controlling the media. You use it to convince the world that the existing world order is corrupt and evil and then you insert a new power to control the population.. and erase those that don’t comply. We’ve been here before, Germany in 1933. The next stage of the game is to ban protest..

But it gets worse. By the end of the decade AI will be so sophisticated that you won’t be able to tell anymore what is real and what isn’t. The funny ‘Zelenskyy punch’ video won’t be funny any more because it no longer provides an alternative humourous version of something we know DID happen. At this point we stop laughing because we think it’s real. It will be possible to manufacture any situation to be 100% convincing. The only evidence we will then have to go on is trusting the source… either enough first hand account or enough faith in whatever media outlet is broadcasting the information to believe it’s true.

There is little faith already in either, and we are also seeing an increased resistance from many people to accept established facts preferring to rely on their own belief systems.

So, what to do?… Plenty are fighting online and we’ve seen Tesla’s stock price fall like a stone since its massive hike, due to falling sales, a protest toward its sociopathic founder. I think it’s important that people write and share their views, as I am doing here. But maybe an equally valid response is to do nothing…Intransigence might just get us out of this mess, ignoring it all might do too. As a prisoner to the regime, your only weapon is old fashioned resistance and the fact they can’t take your mind.

‘The Orphan Epoch’ was an album title that was rattling around my brain for some time way before these current events. I pictured my own adult children bewildered by the media and I came up with this idea of a disaffected youth in stereotypical raised hoodie, an indifferent expression and hidden eyes, walking through a vapid landscape. They had chosen, to walk alone, to refuse to accept binary choice, to ignore the narrative and define their own reality.

Despite enjoying many of the attractions of modern technology, in many ways I am ‘analogue man’, and here to remind you of what we have all lost in the unstoppable procession into the future…But maybe we haven’t lost much at all?

If you are old enough to remember the BBC series Tomorrow’s World that was very popular in the 70s and 80s, they delighted in showcasing the ‘Home of the Future’ giving us all a tantalising taste of how we’d all be using laser disc players, video phones and have robots doing the housework. Well elements of all those things came true, but maybe not quite as literally as they were depicted by Judith Hann and Michael Rodd all those years ago. The thing they didn’t factor into their futuristic predictions is that people don’t conveniently follow technology curves, throwing out everything that’s old and replacing it with new. They didn’t factor in that people kind of like old and new stuff and mix it all together.

Now we have smart phones capable of video calls, and there’s no need for laser discs, video recorders and minidisc players…. But get this! We ‘stream’ our music from data servers whilst still buying something called ‘vinyl records’, remember them?

You see, a lot of us still have this profound underlying need to connect to bygone eras. It’s not just nostalgia for Boomers or Generation X’ers either… Generation Z’ers are buying LPs for the first time and discovering The Beatles and The Stones. And they are finding out all about this historic music from their smartphones watching something called TicTak and FaceTube. This is the beauty of marrying old with new.

In the real world of Tomorrow, the wonderful thing is, you get to pick and choose. Our Homes of the Future are typically an eclectic mix of 4K TVs, smartphones with more processing power than Houston Mission Control in the 1960s, and carpet and furniture designed in the late 19th century. The Kubrick 2001 ‘esqe vision of bright red plastic furniture and white walls was cool for a while, but we got tired of Spaceman fashion and craved a return to the more sartorial elegance of an Edwardian country house. Just as long as there are enough USB charging points and a decent internet connection.

How many of us still read good old fashioned books but purchase them from Amazon on an iPad or Phone? Technology hasn’t yet killed off the book, and I don’t think it will kill off the CD either, which is another weird anomaly that is set to survive the streaming revolution.

My other job is repairing, and servicing vintage watches and to some extent I also make music ‘of a bygone era’, where again, I mix, quite literally, the old and new. I’m now the proud owner of a 2020 spec Apple Silicon M1 powered computer running the latest version of Logic which I can seamlessly interface with my handmade valve powered microphone pre amp designed by Universal Audio in the late 1960s.

Rolex steadfastly still make the most desirable and iconic watches in the world and, they are also the most environmentally sustainable too. They require no power, no nasty lithium mined batteries, take minimal energy to manufacture, last 100 years + and are worth more in 10 years than when you bought them. They are also less accurate and useful than a £30 Smartwatch. Which is why the two happily co-exist at the same point in history.

The thing is, the past is full of imperfection, crackles, hiss, noise, smell, heat, weight, inaccuracy, inconvenience, danger, and the digital world promises to solve all these problems. But we forget that we become fond of things that aren’t perfect. The imperfections that the analogue world creates, are the very imperfections us humans grow to love.

The crackle and warmth of vinyl, the distorting characteristics of an overdriven valve amplifier, the sound of the Mellotron trying to imitate a choir or strings. Then there’s the orange glow of filament bulbs, the smell of a leather interior, the sound of a V8 engine under load…You get the idea..

Some of these things disappear but they come back in digital form. Then people wonder how good the emulation is and get excited about rediscovering the original analogue design. Before you know it we are all paying ridiculous sums of money for stuff that was thrown out in the rubbish 50 years ago.

In the music production world we have plugins that emulate classic analogue circuitry. LED lights now mimic the look of filament bulbs and once we are over this initial phase of electric vehicles with the aesthetic appeal of household domestic appliances, my prediction is that a new era of EVs will arrive that resemble the classic lines of yesteryear. I have no doubt that EV sports cars will also come with a choice of organic engine noises played in the cockpit to hide the really awful ones like brakes squealing and tyres rumbling.

A good friend said to me once, that one day the digital world will be better at being analogue than analogue is….He may be right.

But on that subject of old things becoming desirable again. Here’s a fascinating question.. What are we are throwing away now that will become priceless to collectors in the 2070s?… Answers in the comments please…

Facebook has this feature called ‘Memories’. When you click on it, the app shows you everything you posted on this same day, going back a number of years. On News Years Eve in 2019 I posted about how my mental health had declined in the previous year and jokingly said that my mind Failed Under Continuous Testing (FUCT). I had identified that I was spending too much time trying to fix the unfixable. I had somehow smashed the pottery into a thousand pieces and was berating myself for not being able to put all the pieces back together. This is such a common theme for me. I am completely unable to let things go, to sweep the pieces into the bin and start again.

I admire those people who can do this, intently, the ones that can accept with good grace the deal that life has dealt them and start again. For me, the agony is continuously replaying the trauma on a loop. I still want to replay the same sorry scenario over and over, like some demented software engineer who’s trying to find the exact line of code where it all went wrong.

For me, 2022 has been all about fear and loss… I lost an old school friend to cancer back in August and it deeply affected me. We barely spoke in recent years but we were connected by the whole life forming experience of being great mates at school and subsequently bandmates with hopes and dreams of rock stardom. Rob was an extraordinary character; he couldn’t see any barriers in the world, just opportunities. He suffered appalling circumstance on many occasions, but just got back up undaunted. It seems such a cruel irony that life turned around and finally pulled the rug from under him at just 52, when he was so well equipped to deal with its numerous downs.

I was and still am the opposite.. I can see hurdles from miles away, perceived hazards, pitfalls, possible things that can go wrong, and people with dishonest intentions. Some would say that this is a fantastic life skill, and it’s certainly saved me from disaster on a number of occasions, but also it can be all so overwhelming, putting plans in place to achieve anything of worth is often too anxiety-inducing to contemplate.

I very recently discovered I may be suffering from something called ‘Hypervigilance’ which is the mind being in an elevated state of constantly assessing potential threats around you. It can have all kinds of unwanted consequences, but does have at least a flipside in that it unleashes a wonderful creativity for writing concept albums.

I wrote this song called ‘If Things Don’t Change’, and it’s very clear things are very much going to have to change in 2023, and for a lot of people.

Increasingly in 2022 I found myself incredibly angry about politics, and I have subjected friends and family to more than a few rants. But I think we are heading for disaster… Just on one level, my energy bill for December was £400. Just one month.. I can’t afford this, and I don’t know many people who can, where will this all end?

I am thankful for a few things. The very few genuine friends I still have. The adage about finding out who your true friends are has never been more resonant. Also family and the opportunity to keep trying, even if every year it feels like an ever increasing incline. I think of Rob and also former bandmate David Longdon who will never get that chance… As I wrote in the song..”As long as I can feel the sun, I’m willing to try..”

Cosmograf reached its most critically acclaimed heights yet, this year with the new album, even though the sales remain frustratingly low. It’s the latter point and the growing cost of living which is causing me the most anguish I think… The constant mismatch of putting your heart and soul into work that for the most part is not valued except by those very loyal dedicated fans that continue to support me. I joked to my parents in law at Christmas, that I could have built another company by now and retired, but like so many of my fellow muso friends struggling at the moment, I sold my soul to rock and roll.

To be honest, I don’t know how much more time I can dedicate to music, when it pays so poorly…and I think 2023 will see me put more effort into building other income streams, including my watch repair business.

Forgive my lack of positivity for the new year, but at the moment I feel like that great quote from Noel Gallagher describing his brother, Liam:

“He’s a man with a fork in a world of soup”.

Those that follow me on Facebook and Twitter may have noticed I’ve become rather animated about politics these days. When I started my adventures as Cosmograf, I formed a firm opinion that it was best if musicians simply stayed out of political issues. I watched as some of my contemporaries clearly put their mark in the sand and pinned their party political allegiances to the mast, and I thought they were making a terrible mistake, dividing and alienating a potential audience when, it was all too difficult to get any attention at all for your music.

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