Drummer/Singer

Influences: The Who, Led Zeppelin, Tyler Bryant, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, Jimi Hendrix

Interview

K: You said earlier The Howlin Wolf was a starting point for yourself in regards with the Blues.  How so?

T: I came across it by complete accident.  A friend of mine was having a birthday night out on a Thursday in Glasgow, and we wanted to get “suited and booted” and go watch a jazz band before we went out clubbing.  We discovered the legendary “Swing” on Hope St and the jam session Charlotte Marshall ran there.

I ended up going up on stage and it was the first time I'd ever got the chance to play drums in a live band and, I was hooked.  After that I started searching for more jam nights.

By the end of 2016 I had moved to Glasgow and any time I had spare on a Sunday I was at The Wolf.

It was through Swing and The Howlin Wolf that I met Jonny (McGiffen) and Ray (Ike Malinki) and then that was how The Blue Milk thing all started for me.  So, I owe a lot to the Howlin Wolf and Charlotte (Marshall).

Blue Milk tend to gig in The Wolf at least once a month.  I've done plenty of the all-day Blues Festivals and I've helped the jams have run a few myself.

K: So, when did you start playing?

T: I was a guitar player and a singer originally.  I come from a very musical background on my Dad's side, but I wasn't really pushed into any instruments.

My dad is a drummer and always told me about his experiences behind the kit.  At this point, right enough he doesn't have a drum kit. Bless him, he sold a stunning kit so that my sister and I had a great Christmas one year when we were kids.

So, I he didn't have a kit when I was growing up, but my God could that man hit steering wheel…

He had a very eclectic taste in music.  It would range from blues to jazz to modern rockier, heavier stuff. 

I just loved the way he talked about playing drums and it was an instrument that had always fascinated me.  So, I started playing in school. I didn't have a drum kit, and we got a 25-minute lesson, I think once or twice a week.  I got told that I was so bad at drums that they were going to have to take me off them because I had to pass a second instrument and they didn’t think that was going to happen.

At that point I must thank a new drum teacher called Mr Katkner.  I've never met a man that was so encouraging.

Fast forward a wee bit, my dad got an electric kit from my Auntie as a present  and every time I went over for the weekend, I would plug in my phone in and just start playing along to all the songs that I'd been listening to and before I knew it, drums ended up taking over.  It became the only thing that I thought about.

I was 14 years old, and I never actually got my own drum kit till I was 22. 

K: The last time I saw you play was with Blue Milk.  You could tell that you were really into it.  At what point did you discover that the Blues was the genre you wanted to play?

T: At family parties my Grandad used to always whip out the guitar and he had a brilliant singing voice.

He used to sing Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino, which is still one of my favourite piano tunes.  I used to ask where these songs came from and then I'd learn just a wee tiny bit about the Blues.

I was fascinated by the fact that something so beautiful could be created out of such hard times, you know?  The way that their voices were rhythmical but at the same time primitive did something within me.

I guess another influence, strangely enough, was due to my dad and I playing Guitar Hero together.  There was this track pack called the new “Blues Track Pack”, and on it, was Joe Bonamassa and Tyler Bryant, who's now in the Shakedown.  They're one of my all-time favourite bands.  Scot Mckeon is another guy I follow a lot from London.

So, I looked them up and watched interviews where they talked about their influences and where they got the techniques from.

And so, I would check out more players, and so it went on. 

A documentary on The Who was what made me want to be a drummer after watching Keith Moon.  Not that kind of lifestyle particularly, it just looked like he was having the best time all the time. 

And then of and then of course there is Led Zeppelin.

So, I found Blues within a lot of different bands.  And the jams in Glasgow were typically Blues based and very accessible.  It all just became a big passion. It wasn't until I joined Blue Milk that Johnny and Rae especially gave me quite a history lesson on Mississippi Fred McDowell and Taj Mahal and guys like that.  But again, I would go away and do my own research.  To sum it all up for you, as I said, I'm just a fan of really beautiful music, regardless of how it comes about and I think Blues, as a genre, is one of the most poignant.

K: You mentioned Blue Milk? What are the plans for this year?

T: We've got we've got some year ahead of us. I'm incredibly proud of the boys mate.  We've just been nominated again for Best Blues Emerging Act of 2025 for the UK Blues Awards, which is really, really nice because we got nominated last year as well and to even just be in that list of people and bands is huge. But to get nominated a second time, I can't believe that.  I can't believe people out there that I've never met before are still talking about this. You know, we've just been asked to play Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival again.  So, I think that will be our 5th or 6th time.  And every one of those gigs we're playing are sold out and we're having a really great time there.  It's the fact that they're asking us back, they're incredible.  They're some of the best staff that I've ever worked with, whether it's the organisers of the stage itself or the people behind the scenes.  They're incredible.

K:  And recording?

T: We have just literally on Sunday there, finished recording a new single with Blue Milk so that will be coming out some time soon.

K:  Do you have plans to tour in the future?

T:  We are gearing up for our first ever tour in the Czech Republic in the middle of May.  It's 12 days with 13 shows and one day off.  A shout out to a friend of ours, Steve McNaughton, who's going to be helping!

The idea came from a Gentleman over there who is a huge fan.  He messaged us with an offer to set things up.

He offered us accommodation and at least like a meal a day.  He sent us all of the venues that we'll be playing, what the venues pay, what he takes away and what we walk away with.  So, we were like, this guy really means business. 

So yeah, just thanks to this one man and his enthusiasm for the band, he's really put the wheels in motion.