JOS'S DRUM SITE

I've been drumming on and off for about 18 years. Took lessons for a few years, and all the while played in bands at school - from death metal to easy listening...! Got more into it at University and for a few years after but played less and less as life got in the way. Have now ventured back into the scene with an electronic kit that has rekindled my love of everything drum related.

I have an old 1980's Pearl Export in black. It has a mis-mash of cymbals, from memory - a Paiste 2002 16" crash and hi-hats, a cheap ride and severely broken non-brand crash, and a Zildjian 18" China. It also sports a rather battered old cowbell. The most unusual aspect of the kit is the custom made set of four clear octobans which gave it a lift when you needed to cut through the rest of the noise the band was making. And they looked quite cool as well. Not played it for a few years now, but I know he's there waiting patiently for me to return. I have recently bought a Roland TD-8K with an additional Hi-hat pad - CY-12H. To round it off I threw in an Iron Cobra double bass pedal setup. I am loving the new kit - it has enabled me to practice whenever I want and sounds great. Never played double bass before which is proving to be an interesting new skill to learn. It's really brought me back to drumming which is great.

Early influences - all things Iron Maiden. Now I really like alternative indie and indie pop. Getting into some of the more mellow alternative stuff from the states - Lambchop and the like. Still have a soft spot for the Maiden though.

Mike Dolbear	Well. It'd be rude not too.
vdrums	Good forum in here for all things electronic drum related.
edrumming	Another good, if less lively, e-drumming forum in here.
Omar videos	Omar Hakim giving Roland's new v-drums a damn good thrashing.
Soundproofing	Good site for soundproofing materials (link goes straight to their drum product but they have other relevant stuff in there as well).
Vic Firth rudiments	Brush up on your rudiments with lots of free help in here.
Drummer World	Lots of good stuff to see and hear.
XFM	Top London based alternative radio station, with internet streaming.
Screen writing	Errr. It's a hobby of mine.
Games and stuff	Games news for when you're not drumming.

Nothing at the moment, but here are a couple from my past. Faking the Picturesque - very lyrical pop band that was a lot better than it's name, and Sunjester/Tailspin - noisey indie pop university band that we took round France for a week before we ran out of money.

I'd love to get my hands on Roland's new flagship electronic drum kit the TD-20K. And a nice big sound-proofed room to indulge in the acoustic side of drumming again.