While you’re lauded as one of the most important drummers of your generation, the guitar has always played a key role in your career. How do drums and guitar marry up for you?

"Well, I write on guitar, of course, and it’s a very ‘freeing’ instrument to me. I guess because I’ve done it for so long I don’t struggle with it. When I play drums I am very focussed and it’s an aggressive thing for me. I’m in a very speciic zone when I play drums.

"Hand on heart, I love drums more than anything. I live and breathe them and I’m lucky because I get to do both, to satisfy both sides of my musical character. When I’m writing on guitar, I always know what the drums are going to be doing. I can hear parts in my head very quickly as I’m coming up with riffs. So when I get going I can end up with a finished song pretty quick I guess.

"It’s a nice benefit of playing both instruments."

You handled both guitars and drums on the new Murderdolls record…

"I did, and it was a blast. We had Mick Mars [Mötley crüe] play guitar on Drug Me To Hell and Blood Stained Valentine, otherwise all the guitars are me or Wednesday and I played drums. It’s such a personal project that it came together real quick in the studio.

"Homicide Drive was the first song we sat down and wrote - literally the first time me and Wednesday got together after six years. And the drum track on the record is the very first take of that song, start to finish. It was real spontaneous."

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