Interview with Ross Mackenzie @rossmackenzie02 What attracted you to play drums? Drums are an instrument that are very much at the forefront, very attention-grabbing. When I was younger, it was me, my Mum, my Dad and my sister in the car, and it was always old classics playing - like Queen, Pink Floyd, David Bowie - in which drums were very loud, and they drew people in. Drums were a constant; not going off, not stringing out, just staying where it is. Where did you begin in school with music? I really loved music in first year in music class. I wasn’t the most academic - I wasn’t stupid, but I was in this middle ground. I found music as a sort of escape from the poems of English classes and the diagrams of chemistry classes. I could be me in music and let my mind wander and nerd out for an hour or so. It’s like these people that find books as their happy place - they don’t want to be in a large crowded place; they’d rather be in a wee room with a book. I’m like that, but I want to be in a big room with a lot of instruments! It’s my way of getting away from everything. What style of drumming do you most enjoy? I don’t think that there’s one particular style I enjoy the most, but I do think that there are styles that I prefer more than others. My top 3 would be rock, punk, and swing. Punk is very open - you can put anything in there and immediately get something out of it. It’s very raw and emotional. Swing reminds me of my grandad on my dad’s side, because he was in that kind of band when he was younger. He was the one who introduced me to music; he had a room with a piano, and a drum pad, and an old record player. I was surrounded by music all the time and I just loved it. Are there any drummers that particularly inspire you? Drummers as a whole are the figureheads that I like to look up to because they’ve done what they love, and they’ve carried that through. Specific drummers that inspire me range from people like Travis Barker, Mike Portnoy, to Buddy Rich and Luke Holland who are so technically focused. Who are your favourite artists? Queen, Blink 182, Slipknot... Read the full interview on the Facebook page post! (at Cumbernauld) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Nsw9CBAGt/?igshid=fqa6rgtycjj6
