Q: Do you think you would have had the success as a teacher if you had continued as a jobbing drummer?

Possibly not. I can remember even as a 15 year-old in Yarmouth, a guy coming up from the kitchen asking me to show him some stuff on the drums, so even then I was teaching. I just seemed lucky enough to have a natural ability to show people how to do it. A good drummer does not necessarily make a good teacher. I hate the adage that 'There are those that can and those that can't, and those that can't, teach'. It's the teacher's attitude and motives that makes the difference. If you're only teaching for beer money then you should be doing something else.

Q: You were very ahead of your time then, talking about the Jim Blackley book, the Gary Chaffee book, linear phrasing and the Moeller Technique, which are widely known now. Where did it come from?

Subconsciously it came from Joe Morello. I knew I was a good player, but something was not right. All the time I was watching drummers like Joe and Buddy Rich and asking what they had that most don't. Then I was in Manchester playing at the Golden Garter and I met Dave Hassell. He invited me to his house one day and showed me some stuff from the Jim Blackley book. I instantly knew that was what I wanted. It was like the door opening. That week in Manchester changed my life and the way I thought about drums. Thanks, Dave!

Q: And what about the Gary Chaffee books?

There was an article in a US drum magazine, with a free tape, and I heard it and thought, 'That's where it's going'. Or had already been, as Steve Gadd did it on Paul Simon's '50 ways to leave your lover'. I got such a buzz from it, and started to teach it. Now I ask people if they can do linear phrasing and they say 'Yeah, done all that', but when I have a look it's all wrong. They don't want to got to the cornerstone. Doing linear phrasing doesn't make you a good drummer, your not a bad drummer if you can't. What makes a good drummer is if you can do it in time.

Q: When I was coming to you we worked on the Chaffee stuff as part of a programme. I'd been seeking something that wasn't there for me, and you had many answers. Plenty of your other students feel the same, we all came away with something. How does that make you feel?

I'm very proud of what I do and equally proud of you guys. To see you and Andy Gangadeen win the recent polls, it makes me as proud as punch to think that I might of had something to do with that along the way. Like any job, there are good days and bad days, but I only need one guy to come in and play really well and I get the same buzz I used to get on a bandstand.
I took a young kid on six months ago. He came to me as a complete beginner, something I don't usually do, but this kid pestered me with calls saying that he wanted to be just like you, Steve, and in the end I took him on. He's now out working with a band. Some of that's my teaching, yes, but some of it's his passion for the drums and working his socks off.

Q: So finally what makes a good teacher?

Love (long pause). Love for the instrument, and being excited by it. A caring attitude and an understanding of what it's like to be in the student's shoes. There's a wonderful quote in Jim Blackley's book which goes, 'A true master is full of compassion for those just starting out, for he knows the perils of the journey.