Drumstars UK - Pupil news and review.

I started playing drums about two years ago in lessons with Amy at Drumstars. I started as a total beginner at 16 so I could get up to a good standard to pass my audition for a music course at college. My two main influences are Nicko McBrain and Lars Ulrich, but I also really like Shannon Leto and Michael “Moose” Thomas.

My first experience of playing in a band, and live in front of an audience was when I started college last year. My first time performing was a Halloween themed gig put on by my college at a pub called The Smugglers. There were quite a few bands playing so everyone played a two-song set. The songs I played were “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr. and “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon. The night went great and I wasn’t nervous like I thought I might be.

The best gig I’ve done so far was another one put on by my college at The Sage Gateshead. It was a great venue and we played in Hall Two in front of around 300 people. My group did a medley of four classic Disco songs, we got a great reception from the crowd and everyone enjoyed themselves.

I’ve really enjoyed my time at Drumstars and learned so much thanks to the great teachers there. In the future I’ll be constantly trying to improve my playing, learning new techniques, and hopefully getting a band started and doing my own gigs. And thanks to an evening put on by the Drum Shop, I got the chance to meet Nicko and buy a signed Iron Maiden snare!

Next year I’m getting the chance to go to New York with my college and work with some musicians over there. Then once I finish college I plan to do a foundation degree course at university, and to think all of this happened because I started getting drum lessons two years ago at Drumstars.

Andrew Skelton