Craig Blundell Clinic - Mapex and Paiste
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Craig Blundell at Graham Russell Drums: Mapex Black Panther R&D, Equinox/Cherry Bomb, Paiste choices and quotes from the event.
Craig Blundell – Mapex, Paiste and Playing for Yourself.
Craig Blundell visited our Fareham showroom last night. He played an assortment of tracks, and he chatted about Mapex, his experiences with Kino, Frost*, Steven Wilson, and Steve Hackett. Most importantly he talked about Mapex and Paiste. The team at Mapex also gave us a chance to give away a Mapex Black Panther Nucleus Snare as part of our traditional clinic raffle. Below is a recap of the night including quotes, product information and stories about his career.
Foundations: early start and influences
Craig started drumming at just three years old. His dad was a fan of bands like Supertramp, Toto, King Crimson, and ELO, and when Craig began trying to play along with that music, he found the odd time signatures surprisingly difficult. Over time, though, those rhythms started to feel more natural, almost like playing four on the floor, once he realised it was more about the flow than about always landing squarely on the one.
He also reflected on his “angry stage” during his teens and early adult years, when he started to become a fan of heavier music like Iron Maiden. Fittingly, he pointed to Nico McBrain’s Legacy of the Royals drum kit, which we currently have on display on our glass platform.
Mindset: anxiety, purpose, and the trap of chops
Craig chatted about anxiety, stage fright and his relation to every drummer's experience of "Imposter syndrome". Craig noted never feeling worthy following players like Marco Minnemann who had previously played for Steven Wilson. In the prog scene you are around greats like Mike Portnoy and it is very easy to feel like you have to play to impress them.
When you try and play for them "you are forgetting what you are part of. You are not playing for yourself". Later on Craig noted that "instagram chops don't pay the bills" and how he found comfort in playing the music, not the chops.
Craig talked about his early years working with Steven Wilson. Steven would review all the tracks and videos to evaluate everything, pointing out what he didn’t like about Craig’s playing and how he could improve. Just a few weeks in, Craig nearly lost the gig. He admitted he has "still got gremlins," but decided to focus on the music—and that shift worked. For a long time, Craig admired Simon Phillips and tried to play like him, before realising it was impossible: "listen, learn, I can't be Simon Phillips." Steven reassured him instead: "I just want you to be you." To which Craig realised: "I have to be Craig."
Mapex R&D: kits, snares, hoops, and special builds
"My first Baby". Craig wanted a workhorse snare and that birthed the Machine snare drum in 2020 (maple, walnut), then the Mini Machine 12" x 6", and then the two-of-a-kind Micro Machine. (All of which he had to show us).
He has an Equinox kit at home and a Cherry Bomb in the studio. He loves the bark, depth, brightness, and sustain. The Equinox's single flange hoops provide that "wide open" sound. He is very happy with his new kit which is an Equinox in his special blue (one of a kind). He felt "genuinely not worthy of the kit" when he opened it up. "The new kit day never goes away".
He also had a concert tom kit 6"–18" made (he had one of the concert toms to show).
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Mapex Black Panther “Mini Machine” 12"x6" Snare.
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Mapex Black Panther “Micro Machine” Snare.
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Mapex Black Panther Cherry Bomb Concert Toms (6"–18").
Heads and cymbals: choices that serve the track
On the song What Life Brings Craig used a dampened Evans 14" Hydraulic Black Coated Snare Drum Head which made the snare "sound like the box it came in" but "in context it was killer".
On the in-store kit he talked about how important his reso heads are (Craig even claimed that the resonant head tuning was more important than the batter head). He had Evans Reso 7 on his Equinox kit in the store to get his signature intense bark.
He uses a "pretty hardcore" 22" signature power ride along with Modern Essentials crashes.
Remembering the start
Craig began his journey on a Pearl Export kit, the drum set he learned on and played for his very first pub gigs. He explained that every drummer has to start somewhere, and while we all aspire to grow, he’ll never forget where he began. We stock Pearl Export kits so you can start your own journey the same way Craig did alongside options from Mapex, Paiste, and Evans.
Visit our showroom to try all these products, get hands-on professional advice, and build a setup that puts the music first.
If you missed out on the Graham Russell Drums clinic check out Craig’s blog and pursue opportunities to learn directly from the man himself through a masterclass or a one-to-one lesson on his website.
Or you can wait for the full event recording to be released from Mapex UK...
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