11th April 2008 – Interview With Nathan “Tugg” Curran (RS Archive Post)

As a special preview to his masterclass at The Rhythm Studio on May 10th 2008, Nathan Curran popped in for a chat about his busy life as a drummer, DJ and producer.

You've played with some big name acts, Basement Jaxx, Kano, Lady Sovereign, Reef and lots more, which gigs have you enjoyed the most?

They've all been great in their own individual way.  I suppose the best, and I think it's the best gig in the world, is Basment Jaxx because of the vibe, and all the team that I work with on that are absolutely phenomenal and just really nice people.  But they've all been good - if I really want to get rocky, get sweaty and get my head down then the Reef thing was great and it's more organic, you're not using a click all the time.  Lady Sovereign was a really good fusion, mixing up grime, playing it live with the pop thing and the same with Kano really.

What are the most important things to consider as a drummer with a dance act like Basement Jaxx?

I come from a DJ background as well as being a musician, I think when you are performing and working with dance acts you have to have a knowledge of dance music and that comes through DJing and mixing records together.  It's all about beats and mixing beats together.  Sometimes, because I'm playing on top of backing tracks with a click, there are beats going on underneath but if you play the wrong kind of beat over the top it clashes.  So you need to have an understanding of dance music and you need to be able to play minimally and tight with the click track.

Is your work with Basement Jaxx purely a live thing or do you get the chance to record in the studio with them too?

Yeah I have recorded, I did two tracks off the Kish Kash album which was their 3rd album.  The title track Cish Cash, with Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the big hit which was Good Luck, which were the two rocky tracks on the album.  As far as any future stuff, there're bits and pieces that I do for them but it depends on what direction they want to take it.  Kish Kash was a rocky album so it needed some live drums on it.

Do you prefer a live gig or a studio session?

I love both.  I do prefer to play live in front of an audience and perform.  As studio work goes I do like it a lot as well.  With me I get in character for the session - if I'm doing a Funk or RnB session I'll sit low on the seat and I'll just get in character for that vibe, or if I'm doing a little Indie gig kind of session and they're young kids then I'll sit up really high.  I like to spend as little time in the studio as possible, I'm usually done after a couple of takes because I think once you get up to about ten takes you're losing the vibe of it.  And that's why I get a lot of session work, because I'm in and out, and producers save money.

Which drummers or bands inspired you?

JJ Cale is a big influence of mine, also Prince on the funk thing I just think is phenomenal.  And all the old classic bands like The Meters.  I love Zepellin for the rock thing, and a lot of the old Motown stuff and the Atlantic Records thing.  I love everything really, I wouldn't say I have a favourite artist cause there are so many great artists out there.

You're also a busy DJ and producer, how did you get into this side of your music?

That's all through being a DJ and buying a computer and Logic.  If you're drummer and can mix beats then you can make beats.  With the computer programmes you have to read up on them and learn about them but I just phoned a friend up and said, "How does that work?" and then just progressed it from there.

You are involved in a new band called Them Is Me, how did this come about?

Them Is Me is really the ex-members of Reef.  I was in Reef for the last couple of years just before they broke up.  Its Gary Stringer (vocals) and Jack Bessant (bass) and I brought in my guitarist friend who worked with me on Lady Sovereign.  Jack and Gary have been writing the album, we've had lots of rehearsals and done an album at Rockfield Studios.  All the gigs we've been doing have been sold out with about 50 people outside trying to get in, and that's without any national press, so on that side of things it's good, but it does have a lot to do with the fact that it's riding off the back of the Reef thing.

What's coming up for Tugg next?

I've got lots of studio sessions coming up.  I'm working with Craig David over the next couple of weeks and there are a few gigs with Kano soon.  I've also got some showcases with Double 0 Zero who are an English band but they live in America, a kind of Beck poppy sort of thing. I did their album a few months back.  Jaxx probably won't happen until the beginning of next year and there's the Boardriders surf tour booked in with Them Is Me all over the UK.

15th May 2008 – Nathan “Tugg” Curran Masterclass

Watch Nathan "Tugg" Curran playing Basement Jaxx’s Good Luck at The Rhythm Studio in May 2008.

27th October 2007 – Interview with session drummer Craig Blundell (RS Archive Post)

Craig Blundell, the busiest drummer around, talks to The Rhythm Studio about drum clinics, DVD projects, live drum n bass with his band External Unit, and his childhood heroes.

You're involved in so many different projects: drum clinics, sessions, your own drum 'n bass project and dvds… which part of your job do you enjoy the most?

I get the kick out of drum clinics, imparting knowledge and making better drummers out there.  It's nice doing sessions, it's great to put a CD on and listen back to yourself, but I get my main kick out of doing drum clinics because I love inspiring people.

How did External Unit, your live drum 'n bass project, come about?

I was doing some online drum tutorials called Lick Library and I met the guys from the band, one of whom was a film editor and the other a sound engineer.  They'd auditioned over 20 drummers and they couldn't find anybody at all.   I was in there recording with them, I played with them and I took a minidisk home and had a listen - it really was a question of being in the right place at the right time, and it's my dream project, it's what I love playing now.

Have you had to adapt your equipment in any way to get that drum 'n bass sound?

Definitely - a smaller bass drum tuned high, more snares, lots of "white-noise" cymbals.  I've started stacking cymbals to get that really clear edge.  I use smaller hi hats as well, only 8" or 10". 

What was the inspiration behind the Two World Collide DVD you have been working on?

I got bored of watching basic drumming DVDs because so many of them have gone too ses up and down marching parade grounds and I'm rehearsing with Swedish metal bands.  It shows all the rehearsals, we see Adrian's first rehearsal with External Unit and then the last rehearsal before a gig six months later.  We also go on the road to two big drum festivals where we film both live clinics - Adrian doing two of my tracks and me doing two of Adrian's tracks.  It looks at how wetraight-forward and pre-produced.  I think it's really important to see the starting point, and then to show how that player got to that place.  What we're trying to do is a documentary.  I met up with Adrian Erlandsson about two years ago and I was blown away with his playing and I told him that I had always wanted to play metal.  I was really into Slayer as a kid but never went down that road.  He replied that he wanted to learn jazz, funk and drum 'n bass - he's not a choppy player, he never had lessons about rudiments.  So we thought why don't we swap over for six months, taking over each other's roles and try and come out at the end of it playing each other's jobs. In the documentary we go back to each other's roots: he goes to the Royal Marines and learns all the chops and go approached each genre of music over the six month period, and shows that even the pros have off days, play badly, struggle, and have to get across hurdles.  You see Adrian onstage in front of 20,000 people but you also learn what it's taken him to get there.

Have you worked on any particularly memorable gigs?

Bruce Dickinson was amazing, he was my hero cause I was a real Iron Maidon fan as a kid.  Also, Working with Mike Rutherford (Genesis) who is another hero of mine was just mad.  I do a lot of clinic these days as well and playing alongside people like John Blackwell, Billy Cobham and Dave Garibaldi is a mini-dream for me.

Did you always know you wanted to go down the session and clinic route?

Yes.  When I came out of the Royal Marines I struggled work-wise for a long time and then basically I thought, I love to talk about drums so why not do it onstage, chatting to people openly and honestly about how I approach my playing.  I've worked really hard, practising so much to get to a stage where I feel like I can impart knowledge and people can listen get something out of it.

Which drummers inspired you when you were growing up?

I was a massive Buddy Rich fan, also I was into prog stuff, Neil Peart of Rush and that sort of thing.  Billy Cobham, Gene Krupa and a lot of the big band stuff really. I was kind of brought up on that and sixties swing. The Beatles too, less is more, lay it down, bread-and-butter gigs really inspired me.

Are there any drummers or bands that you are really into at the moment?

Marco Minnemann, he's a great guy and a close friend and his playing is brilliant and the other one is another friend, Stanton Moore, who plays back to basics New Orleans swing.  Marco is pushing boundaries and really out there in terms of technical expertise.  Stanton can play a drum solo for an hour and have you tapping your feet right the way through which is incredible.

We've already talked about the DVD, is there anything else exciting coming up?

The next thing is getting the External Unit album out and then we'll go out and play it live.  It only started off as a fun project but now it's got quite serious and there are a lot of people who want to hear it and see it live too.  I am really proud of what we're doing live cause I don't think anyone is putting together that sort of dark, hooky riff drum 'n bass together on the stage at the moment.