Q: When you were just starting out where did you get your inspiration from before the advent of the drum video and the internet?

Buying loads of LP's with what money I had, and on my old Dansette record player, slowing the records down with my finger to try and work out what the guys were doing. I've got a drawer full of Buddy Rich stuff in the filing cabinet, but the most important thing was watching good drummers, talking to good drummers and being hungry for knowledge.

Q: Which drummers were you watching back then?

Ronnie Verrell, Phil Seaman, Jack Parnell, Bobby Orr... Ronnie was a great inspiration to me. We were once on the same session, and I made a mistake, and the MD just went for me. In the break Ronnie went up to the guy and said "you shouldn't do that, he's a young kid just coming up through the business, give him a chance". Ron was always there for the guys coming up. Ronnie Stephenson was also a great inspiration, and Kenny Clare if we're talking about Brits. Then there was Joe Morrello and Buddy.

Q: And what about nowadays?

Oh, too many. One of my favorite all-time heroes and my best buddy is Harold Fisher. It's nice to see him getting some recognition. A guy that's really freaking me out at the moment is a drummer called Luke Parkhouse who plays with a drum 'n' bass band called '4 Hero-monster!' As for the Americans, there's Philly Joe, Elvin, Ed Thigpen, Grady Tate and a drummer called John Guerin who never got the recognition he deserved. He did the Hawaii 5-0 theme. Then along came Steve Gadd, who changed everything. Also, Bill Stewart, Ndugu Chancler, Omar Hakim, and Peter Erskine is very special to me.