I started drumming from a very early age and eventually got my first drumkit when I was 11 years old. I then started playing with bands at the age of 12, around my home town of Sheffield. This is when my feet took their first steps on the weird and wonderful path of Rock n' Roll!
By the time I was 19, I was playing for yorkshire's top Rock cover band 'Guns & Oatcakes' we played extensivley throughout the U.K. It was with Guns & Oatcakes I had my first taste of playing abroad, including 25 shows in Israel.
My next move was to the North east of England to join 'Alexanders Palace' in which I was with this band for 8 years, in that time I constantly toured throughout the U.K, Europe and middle east.
In 2002 I was asked to perform with Baileys Comet, a band put together by Dez and Mick Bailey (The Bailey Brothers) who had international success as D.J's, Music journalists and Presenters of the biggest show on MTV at the time. The vocalist with Baileys Comet was Tony Martin (ex Black Sabbath) who sang for Sabbath for 10 years. The shows we played included "The Gods of Rock" in 2002. It was around this time Tony Martin asked me to join his band that he was putting together in the near future.... That phone call came nearly 3 years later when 'The Tony Martin Band' was born. The first show was headlining an Italian Rock festival where we took to the stage immediately after the Legendary 'Carl Palmer'. I'm lucky enough to work alongside Geoff Nicholls who was the keyboard player for Black Sabbath for over 20 years. In the 2 years that I have been playing with The Tony Martin Band, we have done many tours and festivals throughout europe and some fantastic sold out arena shows in Russia.
In April 2007 I did a successful European tour playing in 6 countries with a German based band called 'Razorback'. I got asked to do this tour as 'Mike Terrana' (The Rhythm Beast!) was busy on tour with 'Masterplan'.
I have done many memorable shows around the world during my career. I enjoy playing every gig, from the smallest venue, to the 'Kremlin' in Moscow Russia. I am constantly busy with drumming, whether it be touring, recording or teaching.
Artists / Bands I have toured with include:
Whitesnake, Glenn Hughes, Tony Iommi, Uriah Heep, Bonnie Tyler, In Flames, Helloween, Foreigner, Y&T, Stratovarius, UDO, Rick & Adam Wakeman, Nazareth, Tim 'Ripper' Owens, Carl Palmer, Gotthard, Kingdom Come, Destiny, Cornerstone, Ken Hensley, Jeff Scott Soto, Hardline, Eric Martin Band.
