
Band Intros - Part 1 - Dan
Meet the drummer...

What instrument do you play and what made you want to play it?
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One of the earliest photos I actually have of myself is me at about four years old behind a mini drum kit I got for my birthday. I guess it kind of stuck from there. I didn't get my first real kit until I was a teenager, but even before that I always had my headphones in and was tapping along to songs so - unfortunately for the neighbours - drumming just seemed to fit.
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Who are your biggest musical influences?
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I've taken influence from all over the place over the years so I could talk for hours about this, but I suppose it's no shock that I've always loved rock bands with incredible drummers: Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, QOTSA, and New Model Army, as well as artists like Pendulum, Glass Animals and Run The Jewels who take a less analogue approach to drum parts. I could go on forever, but recently it's been bands like Nothing But Thieves, Kid Kapichi and cleopatrick that I can't stop listening to.
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If you could support any band at any venue, who and where?
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If I could get my time machine out for this one, I'd love to have been the support act for Led Zeppelin when they did their 1970 Royal Albert Hall gig, just to see Bonham do the Moby Dick drum solo. The footage of it is pretty good, but to be there live would have been amazing! Present day though it would have to be Nothing But Thieves, the bigger the venue the better! The sound they put out live is incredible.
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When you're not with the band, what do you spend your time doing?
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I'm usually doing something that revolves around exploring and/or photography. The pandemic has stopped me from travelling as much as I used to, but if I'm not out riding, hiking or climbing, I'm likely to be sat in a coffee shop or a bar with a friend planning the next adventure, or editing photos from the last. Either that, or I'm sat at home recovering from the latest stupid injury that makes the rest of the band wish I'd just sit still for once. Maybe that's why the drummer always dies first...
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Describe the perfect next five years for the band:
I'm just excited to see where we can go with it. Some of the recent gigs we've played have been drawing in bigger and bigger crowds which has been great. There's no better feeling than having the crowd dancing and singing along with you, so in five years time it would be great to still be doing what we love, just playing bigger venues with bigger crowds.
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What's your favourite track by the band so far?
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Coming in as a newcomer, I really liked "Taking for Granted", but my favourite so far has to be our latest single, Monster. Maybe I'm biased since it's one of the first I've had a hand in writing parts for, but the energy that song has when we play it live get's me buzzing every time.
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Why should people listen to Seas of Neptune?
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If you're still secretly recovering from your emo/grunge phase, there's something here for you. If you've not had yours yet, here's your opportunity.
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As the newest member of the band, tell us how you came about joining? What's it like joining an established band and following on from another drummer?
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I moved to Liverpool after uni, during the middle of the Covid-19 lockdown, so as soon as the recording studios were back open I was looking online for musicians to play with. I got a message from Andy on social media, went to a rehearsal and things just took off from there. The best thing about joining the band is that it's felt like all play and no work, every rehearsal and gig has been a laugh, even when things haven't gone to plan.
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As for taking over from another drummer, I've been lucky that there are some great drum parts for me to work with and build upon. I've never liked trying to play another artist's parts perfectly - I was always shocking at following sheet music - but the tracks are interesting enough that I can have fun onstage putting my own spin on them, while also keeping faithful to the original feel of the song.
