Martin Davies- Head Tutor & Founder of The Halifax Drum School

Martin’s main inspiration and the reason he took up drums has been his uncle, Harold Fisher, the legendary session drummer. It was Harold who turned Martin onto the technique of open handed playing, and his unique grip which has evolved over the decades.

Martin turned pro at the age of 16 touring worldwide with various acts/artistes/bands, around the UK, Ireland Europe, North Africa, Australia, New Zealand and south East Asia. He has played major venues, a royal command performance, and featured on live TV appearances with numerous acts. During his career Martin has recorded for various major record companies including EMI, Universal, Decca, Heavenly, RCA, Heavenly, and Independienti.

Many of the bands & artists Martin has played with have enjoyed air play on National & international radio and MTV, his drumming has also been featured on various soundtracks for TV.

Martin gigs with jazz heavyweights Stevie Williams, The Urban Jazz Guerrillas, Gary Boyle (Isotope) Rod Mason, John Ellis, John Thorne, Steve Oaks, Gavin Barras, Simon Peats, Larry Van Kreidt, Omar Puente, Snake Davis & Helen Watson. (Martin is available for gigs and sessions and can be contacted via the school or see myspace.com/martindaviesdrummer, - also Keep an eye on our ‘latest’ section on the home page for all the latest gig info.)

Within the Rock /progressive field Martin has had master classes and one to ones with some of the world’s top players including Thomas Lang, Virgil Donati, Chad Wackeman & Marco Minnimum. He puts a lot of this to use in a number of rock/prog projects including Glen Diani’s (One Minute Silence) new project, for which Martin is recording the album, and also guitar great Graham Young’s ongoing work.

It is this wealth of industry and performing experience that Martin aims to pass onto to all of the Halifax Drum School’s students, with endless energy, enthusiasm and commitment to help each person achieve their goals.

JAMES NEWSOME

James started playing the drums at the age of 10 & started drum lessons shortly after. He was playing in a punk band at the age of 13 with regular gigs in the West Yorkshire area.

At the age of 16 James began session work for Martin and filling in when he couldn’t make gigs due to other commitments. He played for The Bachelors, a 60’s chart topping band, which was has 1st pro gig.

James then began regularly playing sessions in the North and the Midlands with a wide selection of bands in many different genres.

When he was 19 James went to study at the ACM in Guildford, completing a degree in contemporary music and drums, whilst recording and gigging around the South East and London.

James has been in two main bands whilst studying at ACM: The Solar Eclipse and The Rookeries,

Music for both bands can be accessed following these myspace pages;

www.myspace.com/therookeries

www.myspace.com/thesolareclipse

Whilst at ACM James was selected to take part in an advert for Sony, along with 120 other musicians.  This was aired on national TV and you can watch the video at the following youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpKpDtfdhOc

The Halifax Drum School is delighted to welcome James as their latest tutor.

Adrian Hoyle - Tutor

Adrian Hoyle, also known as Ady, had his 1st drum lesson with Martin back in 1995, and has never looked back. As a youngster he played all around the country with Hebden Bridge Junior Brass Band. Whilst continuing to work hard at his studies, Ady took his 1st pro gig with the 60’s pop band ‘The Bachelors’ where he toured internationally, gaining valuable experience.

In 1997 Ady moved to Guilford to study at The Academy Of Contemporary Music, where he achieved his Performance Diploma.

He then spent a year working the London circuit with originals band ‘Blue Swimmer’

Over recent years Ady has toured with his own band ‘Shotgun Johnny’ and a covers band, ‘Daisy Cutter’ gracing the Walk About Tours along with numerous premiere corporate events.

Currently Ady plays with up & coming Leeds based band ‘The Black Bloc’ who have an incredible summer ahead with gigs a plenty including a slot at Glastonbury in June. Ady is a fantastic communicator and really enjoys teaching drums; The Halifax Drum School is pleased to welcome such a well liked and respected local musician to their team.