THE SLAYLIST
The former Bullet For My Valentine drummer and Kill The Lights founder talks hilariously heavy death metal, classic rock and surprising Oi! punk covers
“I’LL KICK OFF with my earliest memory of enjoying music. QUEEN always remind me of driving in the car with my parentsFat Bottomed Girls in particular brings me back to those times, sitting in the backseat. Later on, Jason [James, ex-BFMV/current Kill The Lights bassist] and I would blast Queen and get drunk on the Bullet tour bus.
“NIRVANA really marked my transition from liking music to loving music. In school, everyone listened to bands like Take That or East 17. When my brother brought home a copied cassette of In Utero, I remember thinking, ‘What the fuck is this?’ Milk It really stood out to me. It was so intense. It changed my whole life. Without Nirvana, I wouldn’t have learned to play guitar, and without playing guitar, I wouldn’t have realised I wanted to become a drummer.
“I’ve had quite a few ‘What the fuck is this?’ musical moments in my life. My best friend Dave played a key part in a few of them; growing up, every Saturday we’d go to the local record shop. We loved picking random albums and asking to play them through the shop speakers. Once we chose BLOOD DUSTER’s Fisting The Dead and laughed at how heavy it was. By the time Vulgar Taste was blasting throughout the shop, I thought, ‘No way, this is not for me.’ Now I love it! Dave also played me PANTERA’s Cemetery Gates for the first time. When the riff hit, I was in aweit put groove metal on my radar.
“MTV helped me discover some great acts. I used to record Headbangers Ball on VHS and watch it at my friend’s house. DEFTONES were on it once, and 7 Words left us speechless. It was such a different style; the midsection got so chunky and heavy. I also heard THE OFFSPRING’s Self Esteem for the first time on MTV, and I was hooked. Smash was the first record I bought with my own money, and The Offspring triggered my transition into liking punk and underground music.
“Compilation discs also played a huge part in my musical journey. During my Offspring pha
