The Bill Fay album that I worked on came out at the end of August to rave reviews and much acclaim. I'm really happy with both how it sounds and the new attention that Bill is getting after all these years... much deserved and long overdue.

In October I went on tour with Marc Almond round the UK, something I don't do as much these days. He's got a great band who are also a lot of fun to hang out with and I had a fabulous time. I loved playing his songs too, he's got a great range of material that stretches from Spanish rhumba to electro punk so there's a lot to get stuck into. And there was a bit of programming to do which reminded me of how to do a few things that I'd forgotten about!

There's all the usual studio stuff going on too too... TV themes, library tracks and songwriters... all of which help keep me busy outside of the show.

I enjoyed catching up with Beverley Craven and band at a reunion gig... it was fun playing all those songs together again and, especially as we hadn't rehearsed (!) sounded jolly good... at least where I was sitting!

I've been in the studio a lot working on various projects... Rick Astley, some new artists working on their debut albums, and a bunch of TV shows. All good fun. I've also been out gigging.... Marc Almond, Tony O' Malley, Right Said Fred and the Duplicates.

I've just finished another album of Video Games Music with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Andrew Skeet did some great arrangements of some classic themes and the orchestra sounded fantastic. It's quite an experience tracking with so many people, you really don't want to be the one who makes a mistake, but I had a great time.

I have just come back from Belfast where I did a very enjoyable show with Duke Special and the Ulster Orchestra. It's always a wonderful feeling playing with so many people and it's lovely to be a part of it. I even smartened myself up for the occasion and wore a bow tie. Here's a photo taken by David Cleland.

Elsewhere I've been busy recording, both in the Drumshed and out and about.... more library tracks, some TV themes and adverts and some songwriter tracks for a couple of new artists. You might also have heard me on Daniel Pemberton's score to the BBC show "Dirk Gently", the drums for which were all tracked in the shed.

A few weeks ago I spent the weekend up at Miloco's The Square studios working with Ben Thackeray and Kristian Donaldson on a Drumdrops session. We set up some old kits and mics and recorded a load of old sounding 70s drum grooves on to tape... the results will be available from the Drumdrops site soon and we're all pleased with how good they are sounding. 

It has been a busy couple of months at the Drumshed... lots of different projects so lots of different kits and sounds to set up... Old 60s jazz for the new BBC series of Dirk Gently with Daniel Pemberton (Gretsch tuned high)... 80s American Rock for a library album (Big Ludwig)... Back to the 60s with the Gretsch for an advert for Cadburys... Over the the Yamaha for a singer songwriter track... Back to the Gretsch for the theme tune to a new Australian game show... Over to a different Ludwig for some library music...  And currently using a little bit of everything for a skate punk track that is way beyond my bpm comfort zone! I've also been out and about doing a few sessions for som new acts and can be briefly heard on some of the new series of "Upstairs Downstairs" too.

Currently I'm working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, recording an album of famous computer games music.  Some of it has been recorded at Angel, some in Watford Town Hall with the Abbey Road mobile, and some in The Drum Shed!

We did a one off gig performing it all at the Royal Festival Hall at the beginning of September. It's always fun playing with a large ensemble and this was my biggest yet, by some margin, so I was excited and nervous in pretty much equal measure! It is an incredible feeling being on stage with so many people, I lost count when I got to 100, and they are incredibly good players... Amazing stuff.

I am thrilled that Will Young's new album "Echoes" has just gone into the charts at number one! And the single “Jealousy” is at number 5. I really enjoyed drumming on it all at Miloco Studios back in March with Richard X and Pete Hoffman, and I am really happy with the way it has turned out.