CURRENT OCCUPATION: Drum Teacher - Priesthorpe School, Pudsey, Bradford / Drum Teacher North Leeds Music Centre (Carr Manor High School, Leeds) / Music Library Assistant Leeds Central Library / Peripatetic Drum Teacher (supply) - Artforms (Education Leeds), West Park Centre, Leeds.

PLAYING DRUMS SINCE: 1990

TEACHING DRUMS SINCE: 2000

RATES: £15.00 per one-hour lesson

TEACHING LOCATION: Home or student's residence

PREVIOUS BANDS: THE DRAGON RAPIDE (Leeds UK) / ORIGAMI (San Francisco USA / Melbourne AUSTRALIA) / THE LAPSE (New York USA) / KITO (North East UK) / TWO OUT OF THREE RULE (London UK) / SOFAHEAD (Darlington UK) and more.

TOURED IN: USA / UK / FRANCE / BELGIUM / GERMANY / CZECH REPUBLIC / POLAND / DENMARK / ITALY / SLOVAKIA / SLOVENIA / SWITZERLAND / LUXEMBOURG / AUSTRIA / NETHERLANDS / HUNGARY

TEACHING DETAILS: Beginners / Intermediate / Advanced / Theory / Grades / All ages / Rudiments / All genres and styles / Sight-reading / Tuning / Set-up / Technique / Influential drummers / drum kit building etc

KIT: Ludwig Club Date 4-piece kit in red sparkle (circa 1964-67). Ludwig Supraphonic 400 snare drum. Istanbul and Zildjian cymbals. Gibraltar, Premier, DW and Ludwig hardware.

PERSONAL PROFILE:

I started playing drums at the age of 17 whilst at Sixth Form College (where I played my first gig) and within a few months of buying my first drum set a 1960s Premier Olympic, had joined my first hardcore punk band.

I joined my second and third bands in 1991 and 1992 and in 1992 had my first experience of touring, when I played shows in the UK and Europe. Since 1992 I have toured with a number of bands (see above) extensively in the UK and Europe and still tour on an annual basis with my current band CISSY. In 2001 I also toured with New York band The Lapse, across the East Coast of the United States.

Having studied Film and Television Production at University in Middlesbrough I moved to Leeds in 1998, where I attended Leeds College of Music, studying Music Theory (Grade 5 to Grade 8), Composition, History and Principal and Secondary Instrument studies. Although I did receive drum lessons whilst at LCM I have always remained a self-taught drummer and studied sight-reading and composition privately and without instruction.

I began teaching privately in 1999, from my home in the Hyde Park area of Leeds, where I still live. Hyde Park (or LS6) is well-known in Leeds and all over the UK and Europe for its DIY / Underground music culture; it's wealth of good musicians and bands and its strong sense of community. I continue to teach privately at my home residence, where I have a kit set up in my basement.

I secured my first job teaching drum classes in 2007 when I took up the post of Teacher of Drum Kit at North Leeds Music Centre in Leeds. There I teach classes of up to 8 students of all ages and backgrounds. More recently I took up the post of Drum Teacher at Priesthorpe School in Pudsey (between Leeds and Bradford), where I teach Year 7 - Year 11 pupils.

My teaching style is informal but involved, with the emphasis on individuality, expression, melody, style and freedom. I encourage my students to approach the drum set as a melodic rhythmic instrument, to discover both their creative and expressive ranges and to listen to as many different kinds of music as possible. I believe that the key to becoming a good musical drummer and good musician is to embrace as much style and content as possible, from traditional approaches to more contemporary ideas. I encourage my students to be musical and to develop a keen ear for what is appropriate, relevant and contextual. I also encourage my students to be free-thinkers, to develop their own ideas and to play the way they want to play, not necessarily the way tradition dictates.