1) Which are your main musical influences?

I have a very diverse musical taste so I take my influences from all manner of places. I like to watch technical drummers such as Thomas Lang or Marco Minnemann, bands wise I would have to say rock has always been my main influence ranging from Aerosmith, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi through Iron Maiden into metal groups like Metallica etc. The list could be huge but it’s mainly the stuff that inspired me to practice drums in the first place as I was growing up.

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2) Which are the most challenging TEN tracks to play live?

Playing live to a metronome (click track) can in some cases make any song challenging, especially when you’ve not had a proper soundcheck. At Hard Rock Hell a few years ago we kicked into Arabian Nights after the intro and my drum monitor was so loud that it nearly knocked me out of my seat and completely drowned out the click…I had to keep missing high hat beats to check I was still matching up with it. 

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3) What's your first childhood memory of doing something rock related?

My Dad was a big rock music fan so as early as I can remember we had rock on the radio or playing his albums on cassette in the car whenever we drove anywhere. The first time I remember watching a band live was at a local event where bands all got to play on a big stage once a year doing their own stuff rather than covers…that was when I decided drums were my calling :-)

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4) Which are your favourite three songs of all time?

This literally changes weekly as there are too many amazing songs and great bands to be able to pick just 3.

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5) Who would play you if a movie about the band was made?

What a strange question…as long as it doesn’t matter if they look like me at all, share any characteristics or be able to play drums then it would have to be Tom Hardy as the ladies love him and he’s cool…like I said…shares no similarities at all.

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6) What was your first day job?

I worked a Christmas job at a catalogue retail store, picking the orders from the warehouse as the customers put them through, they only had one CD and it played on repeat for the whole 6 weeks I was there…torture.

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7) Which hobbies/interests you have that could surprise people?

I like all the usual stuff like movies and socializing with friends etc. I’m a total geek about skyscrapers which could surprise some people.

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8) Which are your favourite sports/teams?

I don’t really watch a lot of sports to be honest, I like formula one racing and my favourite driver was Michael Schumacher.

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9) Where is your favourite place in the world?

Wherever the most important people to me are.

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10) Who is your favourite musician?

Tommy Lee is one of my favourites as he was never content to be ignored at the back like a lot of drummers and he put as much into the stage performance as the music itself. Prince was a fantastic all round musician and probably one of the most widely talented.

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11) What is your favourite breakfast cereal?

I don’t eat cereal in the mornings but I really like any kind of nut clusters with honey and other things in to eat like a snack with no milk.

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12) What is your favourite music guilty pleasure?

Pop music for definite, knock it all you want but there is some amazing song writing talent that is working behind the scenes, I’m quite partial to a bit of country as well.

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13) What is the proudest moment in your musical career so far?

In true style there is a few and I can’t pick one :-), the ones I would choose from are my first ever performance as I was so nervous I thought I’d never go through with it, my first international gig with Ten or the first time I saw one of the CDs I’d played on in a high street store. 

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14) Which would you say have been your role models in life?

Anyone who stands up for what they believe in, isn’t afraid to admit when they’re wrong and works hard at whatever they set their mind to. I’ve found inspiration throughout my life from many different people within my family and friends and also musicians and actors. My hero is Arnold Schwarzenegger and anyone who obsesses over opinions on his acting abilities I challenge you to read his autobiography and not be inspired by all the things he has done in his life.