About Sam

Hi!! I'm Sam, a professional touring musician with a wealth of experience to share. I have been a professional musician since 2002 and I have been lucky enough to play the drums professionally, all over the world, sharing the stage with some well known artists and bands, and I am happy to be able share my musical experiences with all my students.

I have been trained by some of the UK's top drummers and musicians such as Paul Elliot (Frank Gambale, education specialist) Tom Meadows (Kylie Minogue), Pete Cater (Virtuoso Jazz Drummer), Richard Beasley (Gary Numan), Svetlana Vassileva (Moby) at the Powershouse Music Schools (Now BIMM) and the London College Of Music and Media where I achieved my music degree.

This means I am able to teach a huge variety of styles and techniques from Afro Cuban and Latin Patterns over to extreme death metal and double bass. I am well versed in the current technology available to drummers and have a lot of experience with using a selection of drum triggers and drum modules.

There was a brief period where I was the general manger of The Camden Barfly (now The London Assembly) where I got to work with artists such as Nick Oliveri, Razorlight, Arch Enemy, Bullet For My Valentine, Enter Shikari, and events such as the BBC Electric Proms, Camden Crawl, MTV Gonzo Tour, Radio One, Radio X (Xfm) and Levis One's To Watch.

However, playing music was always my dream and since 2002, I have been helping 1000's of students achieve their goals through lessons in schools and privately as well as playing with a variety of bands and artists all over the world.

So who have you played with?

Artists and bands that I have played for and been part of a support act for include:-

Peter Hook and The Lights,

Wishbone Ash,

Fish,

Baby Godzilla,

Adam Ant,

Corrosion of Conformity,

Doris Brendel,

Fjokra,

Lazy Habits,

Baby Sol (The Voice UK),

Valerie Maxfield (Freestylers, Groove Armada)

Slade,

.......... and many, many more......

Festivals, events and venues I have played are (but not limited to):-

Shambala Festival,

Isle of Wight Festival,

Umbria Rock Festival (Italy)

Boomtown Festival,

Beach Break Live Festival,

Landed Festival,

Cambridge Rock Festival,

Liberte Festival (France)

Butlins,

Parkdean Resorts,

Haven,

O'Neills

Plus 1000's of venues all over the UK, Germany, France, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Ireland and Italy.

My musical journey and developing transferable skills

Music has been one of the best things I have ever done in my life. School for me was very, very difficult due to having ADHD that wasn't diagnosed until I was 37!! This meant that I had a firm belief that I wasn't very clever, couldn't learn, was stupid etc etc which had a detrimental effect to my general quality of life as a young person. I grew up having a stammer, struggling to get my words out I had a serious lack of confidence and self esteem. The thought of getting up in front of an audience and doing anything filled me with dread!!

Luckily for me, I was really into music and the life of touring musician appealed to me, despite knowing I would have to one day play in front of an audience, I was drawn to the challenge and the personal journey I would have to go through to get there.

So began my drum lessons, which would've been impossible without the support of my mother and grandmother. After just six lessons with my tutor at a drum shop in Bristol, I found myself being able to play along to a variety of music and songs and I continued as a self taught drummer, locking myself away whilst I worked on perfecting all I had learned and assimilating the new.

As the years went by, my confidence grew and I found myself standing up straight, walking tall and relaxing more when I spoke to people. As soon as I turned 18, I moved to London to pursue my career as a drummer.

After hitting the live music circuit with a few bands I decided to have lessons with Tom Meadows (Kylie Minogue) and we worked hard on getting my technique up to a high standard. It was here that I learned about muscle memory and the importance of going slow and having patience. By applying these transferable skills to my speech issue, I managed to completely overcome my stammer. Suddenly my work and personal life improved exponentially, helping me to brim with even more confidence, giving me the push I needed to go and audition for my music degree..............

............... I was offered a place!!

Despite having to have a full time job during the length of my studies, I was able to walk away with a 2:1 from the London College Of Music and Media. The learning skills I had learned on the course, as well as the commitments of having a full time job, taught me how to manage my time more efficiently, making the most of my available free time so I could maintain my musical skills, whilst making sure I was meeting deadlines in my job, with my students, with bands as well as with coursework.

I think I only slept about 4 hours a night for 4 years!!

This taught me that I could do anything I put my mind to. I learned study skills and found a new love for learning, sharing these skills with my students as I went.

During the previous 15 years, I continued bringing my playing up to a high level, playing many shows as well as almost single-handedly running a busy live music venue.

Playing music reintroduced the joy of learning and as I had learned 'how' to learn, I could expand these skills to other areas of my life.

I'm a keen swimmer, and drumming has certainly taught me the patience required to master the techniques in order to be the most efficient in the water. I decided to apply these skills to learning a second language so I started learning Spanish in 2016 and I have so far achieved a C1 level, despite being mainly self taught. ¡¡Me siento increíble que haya podido aprender mucho y que pueda aplicar esas habilidades a otras areas de mi vida!!

Learning to apply the transferable skills I have developed through my life as a professional musician to other academic, business and leisure activities, has enabled me to achieve more than I ever thought possible, and I take great pleasure from sharing these skills with my students.