“I thought if I played the drums I could at least hide behind the cymba...” — David Essex Quote

I thought if I played the drums I could at least hide behind the cymbals if I was no good.

I've got three sons, so I can understand that father-son relationship to a certain extent. There's always that lack of communication through the teenage years; that period when, at about 16, you realise that your dad is just a man and not some kind of super-hero.

I suppose my worst holiday was when I visited Gambia in North Africa. Somehow the word got round and before I knew it I was besieged by fans and autograph hunters. I spent most of the holiday dodging them.

I recommend walking in Whitstable as it is a compact town. People also take fishing trips from the harbour, but boats and I don't get on that well!

I want to play guitar, piano, drums, write songs for other people. I can do punk - I can do indie - but as long as it has my voice, it'll always be my sound.

All I set out to do was to earn a living playing drums, you know? And as luck would have it, I've surpassed that.

My talent for playing the drums was a gift from God.

Radio or no radio, I just like the way records sound when the drums and vocals are loud.

My formula is not thinking about what I'm doing; it's about still having fun and making music. I don't go into the studio with a thought pattern or certain goals in mind - sometimes I'll start with drums, other times I'll start with the piano - but it's all done spontaneously, so nothing is premeditated, and nothing takes a long time.