PAISTE CYMBALS - YAMAHA DRUMS
G'day,
How cool is Myspace? I get to be "Friends" with all my favorite drummers in the world!
I am so greatful that I get to play music for a living. I have performed music professionally for over 20 years, played nearly 3000 gigs and recorded on 19 albums.  I have taught in schools and have planned and conducted group workshops as well as teaching private drum lessons for 18 years. I have been involved in the music industry all my life, having contributed as a professional musician to the Australian music scene and over seas since 1986 by performing, touring and recording regularly.
My professional music career started performing corporate functions and weddings with my high school music teacher. At this time I was one of the first drummers in the Victorian Curricula Examinations to study contemporary drum kit in Australia. My private drum teacher at the time, Frank Corniola, wrote this curriculum which is now the recognized curriculum for secondary schools throughout Australia.
I attended the Victorian College of the Arts and while in my final year I began performing with Australian veteran musician, Broderick Smith. The highlight of my time with Broderick was opening the shows for the Joe Cooker ‘Night Calls’ tour of Australia. We played to full houses, unusual for a support act, and an estimated 45,000 people. Michael Coppel promoted the tour and Festival Records paid all our checks. Having Joe Cooker say “Cheers†to me back stage one night and wink in approval of my drumming was a huge confidence boost to a 24 year young man.
Now married and living in Queensland, AUSTRALIA, I'm living the dream...... well, kind of. I'm performing, recording and touring with great musicians and enjoy passing my experience and knowledge on to other drummers by doing drum workshops for Yamaha and Paiste. If I'm not playing music I'm riding my Harley Electra Glide Ultra Classic out on the highway somewhere.
When I say living the dream I mean I get to play music whenever I want and don't have to be tied down to a day job. I've made great money playing music and most importantly I've invested my money well. I'm now in a position where I don't "HAVE TO" do certain gigs. It's taken a long time to get to this point but it's a great feeling of freedom to be here.
As for the future, who knows? I believe destiny has a lot to do with hitting the topper-most of the popper-most. Making the "Big Time" was my dream as a young drummer but not so important as I get older. All I know is I make a living doing what I love doing, working in my chosen field. I'd say that puts me in the top 1% of successful people in the world.
Look....I'm here to unashamedly promote myself. Some of my students and peers think I am a star drummer but I've got a long way to go before being "World Famous". I've meet a lot of those "World Famous" drummers like Dave Wekel, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dennis Chambers, Terry Bozzio and others and one thing always strikes me, obviously these cats can really play and have the chops, but they play what is appropriate for any given situation, are emotionally expressive performers and they are lovely guys too. They are basically normal functional human beings (most of em!) except for one important thing, they where DESTINED to be "World Famous" drummers before the day they where born.
If things continue as they are for me and I keep making a living doing what I'm doing, that will be just fine. Either way, I'm a very happy camper and love doing what I do. I know one thing is absolutely certain. The best is yet to come!
God Bless You
Discography