News Drummer Of Tomorrow UK Final Review

Posted 3rd Feb 12

The New Year welcomes fresh starts, new beginnings and challenges, the latter most prevalent in the lives of the five finalists selected to compete in the UK Drummer of Tomorrow final.

Adam Stapleford, Eric Kwame, Jake Woodward, Thomas Jarlier and Will Stokes, take a bow.

January 26th was the date, a West London venue the place and a chance to travel to Germany and compete in the International final at the world’s largest music fair, the stake. Announcing the selection of the final five just before the seasonal break gave each the opportunity to mentally prepare and practice for the event that would see many of our drummers perform on a stage without the security of fellow musicians, simply a stage, a kit and an attentive audience was the daunting prospect that they would not only have to face but embrace to impress.

The date came around quickly and with our finalists present and correct and an atmosphere more of excitement than of tension, our five super-sound contenders were ready to get the show on the road.

To kick proceedings off, Mapex Education Ambassador Steve White conducted a short masterclass, which explored the drumming and musical influences that have helped shape and inform his musical voice. Steve also spoke about what a career as a professional drummer involves in this day and age, with new opportunities and challenges alike presented by the internet and a shifting music industry and how important it has become to embrace live performance in true musical settings, on stage, in bands, making the music you love.

Inspired and enthused, it was now time for our finalists to hit the stage and put their whit’s to the test, an eager audience awaited and the stage was set. Beginning with a solo piece of up to three minutes, each contestant was aware they were to be judged on Technicality, Musicality, Groove and Stage Presence and so had to do their best to capture these qualities in the allotted time. After the solo, they would then perform a track of their choosing again being judged on the same criteria, in total a good 8 minutes of solo stage time in which to keep their cool, hold their groove and make an impression that would last, easy right??

A random selection was made to decide the order of appearance and first up was Eric Kwame, a Ghanaian born drummer who begun playing Djembe at the tender age of 8, graduating to the drum kit at 13 and soon deciding that the kit was where he belonged. Eric moved to the UK and won a scholarship at ICMP where he currently spends him time honing his craft.

With the daunting task of opening the show, Eric stepped up with confidence and broke into a solo which displayed impressive levels of musical maturity and elegance. Eric had chosen a track composed by close friend Yomi 'Humberlist' Sehindemi named 'Overflow 2012' which embraced a fusion vibe and allowed Eric to mix things up rhythmically and showcase his powerful sense of timing and musical understanding.

To rapturous applause Eric had opened the show with a bang and it soon became clear that the standard of this competition had been set and our four remaining finalists had a high bar and their work cut out.

Up next came Liverpool’s Jake Woodward whos aspirations to become a touring session musician seemed ever so achievable once we’d witnessed his set. With a dynamic articulation around the kit, Jake set about building a solo that shone with energy and power

Jake had also selected a track composed by a close friend and tonight, an audience member, Mr Chris Howard. Skitter is a dark, brooding, electro backing that set the tone for Jake’s driving, infectious groove that played with linear patterns and illustrated how comfortable Jake was to both sit on and play across the beat, understanding at every moment what was just right for the song. It was soon crystal clear that tonight was not going to be an easy ride for our four judges.

We were very excited to check out our third contestant Thomas Jarlier who had submitted a very stylish and uber groovy cover of Daft Punks Harder, Better, Stronger – a personal favourite here at Mapex HQ. Thomas is clearly not one to disappoint, his solo stayed tied to the groove and proved infectious forcing a rhythmical nod from every head in the house. Stepping things up further, Thomas smashed into his interpretation of the Average White Bands ‘Pick Up The Pieces’ which goaded the audience to get out of their seats and shake a tail feather or three, resist as they may it was a performance that proved hugely popular and with a cool air Thomas had shown how to lay it down big and heavy.

The penultimate contender came in the form of Mr Will Stokes from the West Midlands. Will sighted Benny Greb and John Bonham as influences in his biography and it was soon apparent that he had taken these styles, smashed them together ‘hadron’ style and as a result delivers a raucous, high-octane performance that refused to let anyone’s attention slip for the duration.

Will’s track was a self composed piece which kept up the pace and let Will get on with pushing the energy levels further whilst maintaining a solid groove and making the drums sound crystal clear.

With Will’s exit came our final contender who had the unenviable task of sitting through four jaw dropping performances in anticipation of his own, but Adam was the picture of composure as he grasped the challenge by the horns. Adam Stapleford currently residing and studying in Newcastle embraces world music and fuses it with jazz, rock and metal elements to create a brilliantly unique voice of his own on the drum set.

Showing impressive four-way independence Adam broke into a deeply grooving solo that displayed his understanding of rhythmical complexity but most importantly how it’s applied in an infectious musical way. ‘Mind the Gap’, a track by Pete Lockett was Adam’s selected accompaniment, which flowed with textured rhythms of voice and drum over which Adam interpreted a brilliant and articulate percussive response that made the track his own.

With Adam’s climactic conclusion, the playing was now at an end and it was time to collect and count the marks to find our UK winner. It seemed utterly inappropriate to have to select just one of these five players as each had such a wonderful personality both behind and away from the kit, the variety of such individual style was mind blowing, Eric, Jake, Thomas, Will and Adam would all have done an incredible job of representing the UK at Frankfurt in March.

But alas, it’s the name of the game and the numbers would have to do the talking. After a short break the results were back and it was time to make the announcement. As a thank you from Mapex UK each finalist received a Falcon pedal and brick of Vic Firth sticks, but only one would be moving through to the international final and that contestant in 2012 was the charming Will Stokes. To rapturous applause Will, visibly delighted (and surprised) humbly accepted his prizes, which also included a Black Panther snare of his choosing and of course the title of 2012 UK winner and International contender. Thanking his friends and family, Will also gave a huge thanks to his four new friends who had performed that evening through which each now had a new source of inspiration and support.

A quick photo opportunity with Steve White and our evening had come to a close.

We have been delighted to have met and worked with five such talented drummers and wonderful characters. It’s testament to the UK scene that such distinctly original musicians are produced and encouraged to pursue their chosen, creative career paths. We hope this competition goes some way in helping to expose this talent to wider audiences and offering support to make the challenging career in music a little more attainable.

Thank you Eric Kwame, Jake Woodward, Thomas Jarlier, Will Stokes and Adam Stapleford, we hope to work with each of you in the future.