Meet the Team | Joel

Graceland - Paul Simon

Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake

Yamaha  

Benson

Cowbells

Brown Beer

Age 10

3DS Toad Circuit - Jazz Fusion Band

Grade 8 Trinity and Rockschool

Higher National Certificate in Music (Performance and Technology)

Level 4 Certificate in Music Education and Training

Yamaha RC9000 Pre-YESS Mount 80s Cherry 

I have been part of the GRD family since I was 15, when I came in for work experience and never really left: every weekend, then every school, college and university holiday for seven years, and now full-time since graduating. In that time I have worked my way up from the shop floor, where I spent years building and tuning hundreds and hundreds of drum kits, learning the differences in tone, projection and resonance that come from shell depth, head choice, bearing edge condition and tuning approach across every price point and every style of music. That includes how different shell materials produce fundamentally different tonal characters, how hardware construction affects feel, stability and reliability, and the distinct sonic signatures that separate one brand's engineering philosophy from another. That hands-on experience covers everything from helping families choose and set up a first kit to advising international touring drummers on shell packs, snare selections and hardware setups, and it has been sharpened further by years of in-store clinics and masterclasses with some of the world's finest players. I have taken everything learned on that shop floor and channelled it into our buyer's guides and blogs, where the aim is always the same: advice grounded in real experience, not a spec sheet.

I started drumming at ten, on an African drumming course whose teacher also taught kit. That led into samba, which is where my lasting love of Latin styles began, a love I will happily admit I still find extremely difficult. I took my early grades with Rockschool, moved to a new teacher at secondary school, and worked my way up to Grade 8, passing it in Year 10. That teacher pointed me towards jazz, and from there to the progressive and more adventurous corners of drumming I am still drawn to today. I picked up guitar around the same time and still play.

Since then I have gigged widely: Ronnie Scott's, The 1865 and The Joiners in Southampton, Mr Wolf's in Bristol, and a long list of venues and festivals around Bath, where I studied after a music teaching and performance qualification at Fareham College. I have spent years doing both function and original work, and still do alongside my work here.

My own collection tells its own story. My first kit was a £100 no-name eBay special; Grade 8 earned me a Mapex Armory in a walnut finish, in LA Fusion sizes with clear Evans G2 batters; and while at Fareham College I bought my 1980s Cherry Red Yamaha Recording Custom straight from Graham's personal collection, which now lives in my home studio. For gigs I favour a 1960s Premier in red sparkle, chosen as much for its vintage character as for the fact that my breakables, the snare, cymbals and lightweight Tama Classic hardware, pack down small enough to sling over my back and take on the bus. Blues and rock are my bread and butter; jazz fusion, prog and Latin are the passions I live for when I get the chance to play them live.

Shells: 14in tom, 16in pre-International floor tom, 20in bass drum

Remo Ambassador Coated drum heads, top and bottom

Tama Classic hardware and pedal (lightweight; breakables pack into one small case)

Yamaha Recording Custom Brass 14x5.5 Snare Drum with Remo Powerstroke 77 14" Coated Batter

Pearl Masters Maple 14x6.5 Snare Drum, Shimmer of Oz, Remo Ambassador Coated batter

Sabian Legacy 18" Crash Cymbal

Zildjian 14" Hi-Hats (1970s)

Sabian Vanguard 21" Ride Cymbal

Sabian Groove Ride 21"

Sabian AAX 10" Splash Cymbal

Dream Bliss Paperthin 22" Crash Cymbal

ProMark Rebound 5A Long Hickory Drum Sticks

DW Airlift Round Throne

17 assorted cowbells (the rustier and more battered, the better)