Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Clem Burke, Ancienne Belgique (AB), Brussels, Belgium, November 1998
Drummers "I've analyzed hundreds of players over the years. They're all a part of what I do": Clem Burke's 10 essential drum albums
Aaron Comess of the Spin Doctors
Artists “I used the snare drums I played on those early records, including the snare I played on Two Princes”: Why the Spin Doctors are still rocking with the same old gear they used in the ’90s
Roger Taylor and Hank Marvin
Bands “Every one of them said yes without hesitation": Hank Marvin and Roger Taylor have just remade a '60s classic for charity
Chad Smith
Drum Lessons & Tutorials Chad Smith just destroyed the Wu-Tang Clan in his latest drum tuition video
Hal Blaine
Drummers The man Neil Peart called his "six favourite drummers": Wrecking Crew legend Hal Blaine
The Jam
Drummers "A great drummer whose innovative patterns helped shape our songs": Rick Buckler, drummer of The Jam, dies aged 69 after a short illness
Billy Cobham performs at Blue Note on February 23, 2024 in Milan, Italy
Drummers “Miles runs into the studio with his horn and shouts ‘hit the record button,’ and we were recording. We wrapped that album up by midday”: Billy Cobham on Miles Davis’s agile approach to recording
  1. Artists
  2. Drummers

Drum heroes week: Stewart Copeland

News
By Rhythm published 18 September 2014

Snappy snare sounds, sharp stick work and reggae-pop beats

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Stewart Copeland

Stewart Copeland

Stewart Copeland revolutionised drumming with a dynamic style that blossomed with The Police, the supergroup he helped create in the late ’70s with megastar Sting and guitar hero Andy Summers. The era that preceded him could be described as ‘BC’ – ‘Before Copeland’ – when rock drumming was loud and unsubtle.

On classic albums Outlandos D’Amour (1978) and Reggatta de Blanc (1979), the symmetry of Sting’s passionate vocals and Summer’s celestial guitar was perfectly complemented by Stewart’s supremely intelligent percussion.

Page 1 of 6
Page 1 of 6
Stewart on… the band's 2007 reunion

Stewart on… the band's 2007 reunion

“The phone call came out of the blue and we started rehearsing. The next thing you know we’re playing to thousands of people. Sting made the first move to get us back together.

"On the one hand we’re all older and wiser. On the other hand we’re more cantankerous and set in our ways. Our foibles are now concretised so it requires a great deal of zen to deal with each other. But there is a deep, everlasting bond, which no disagreement can ever shake. And we do have many disagreements over the music. Fast/slow, loud/quiet, up/down – every which way. We all three of us care passionately about it and so we do have a lot of conflict about that. But it somehow seems that conflict, which is the same old thing we used to have, does seem to be the furnace that produces the heat.”

Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
Stewart on… playing the hits to new audiences

Stewart on… playing the hits to new audiences

“There was a lot of discussion about taking a different approach to the Police songs. I think we’ve got exactly the right balance between what’s written and the mystery ingredient that you don’t expect. We’re still struggling with ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’. I don’t know why that is, but it’s getting closer to the original version every time we mess with it.”

Page 3 of 6
Page 3 of 6
Stewart on… his Tama kit growing in size of late

Stewart on… his Tama kit growing in size of late

“I’ve got these percussion risers on stage as well as the kit. I use a timpani gong drum, chimes, bells and crotales. I’ve got the most enormous gong in the world. Bigger than John Bonham’s, bigger than Neil Peart’s.”

Page 4 of 6
Page 4 of 6
Stewart on… remembering the band's early days

Stewart on… remembering the band's early days

“At first I started writing material for the group, until we discovered that Sting was an incredible songwriter, so I backed off. Great songs were coming out one after the other, so who could argue? Of course, I can remember when we first recorded ‘Roxanne’ and ‘Walking On The Moon’, but to be honest I can’t now really remember what it was like in the studio or quite how we put them together.

“The whole memory thing kind of got finished and punctuated when I did my movie about The Police, Everyone Stares. That kind of put a full stop
on the end of the whole ‘first time around’ Police experience. I thought to myself, ‘That was it, done and dusted.’ But that was exactly the point when Sting phoned. The film wasn’t even a walk down memory lane. It was just tidying up a garage full of memories. Even though it was about my old band it was so long ago that it could have been someone else’s band. There is some really fascinating footage that stands up on its own and that’s what excited me as a filmmaker, but not as the participant in an adventure. When Sting called, The Police was, by then, something I’d completely forgotten about. It could just as easily have been Jimmy Page calling and asking me to play with Led Zeppelin.”

Page 5 of 6
Page 5 of 6
Want more heroes?

Want more heroes?

Rhythm Presents 100 Drum Heroes includes exclusive interviews and photos from Rhythm’s29 years as the UK’s biggest drum mag! Drum heroes discuss their music, playing techniques, gear and career highlights. At 200 pages-plus, it's an essential read for fans of drumming and drummers across all genres of music.

100 Drum Heroes is available right now in all good newsagents, online from myfavouritemagazines.com and digitally for iPad from Apple Newsstand!

Page 6 of 6
Page 6 of 6
Categories
Drums
Rhythm
Read more
Clem Burke, Ancienne Belgique (AB), Brussels, Belgium, November 1998
"I've analyzed hundreds of players over the years. They're all a part of what I do": Clem Burke's 10 essential drum albums
Aaron Comess of the Spin Doctors
“I used the snare drums I played on those early records, including the snare I played on Two Princes”: Why the Spin Doctors are still rocking with the same old gear they used in the ’90s
Roger Taylor and Hank Marvin
“Every one of them said yes without hesitation": Hank Marvin and Roger Taylor have just remade a '60s classic for charity
Chad Smith
Chad Smith just destroyed the Wu-Tang Clan in his latest drum tuition video
Hal Blaine
The man Neil Peart called his "six favourite drummers": Wrecking Crew legend Hal Blaine
The Jam
"A great drummer whose innovative patterns helped shape our songs": Rick Buckler, drummer of The Jam, dies aged 69 after a short illness
Latest in Drummers
Nick Banks performing with actual Pulp in 2023
"Can you believe this?": Watch Pulp drummer Nick Banks join tribute band Pulp’d at Fake Festival
Barry Keoghan
“I met him at his house and he played the drums for me”: As he prepares to play him in the Beatles biopics, Barry Keoghan has been studying Ringo Starr’s technique up close
Billy Cobham performs at Blue Note on February 23, 2024 in Milan, Italy
“Miles runs into the studio with his horn and shouts ‘hit the record button,’ and we were recording. We wrapped that album up by midday”: Billy Cobham on Miles Davis’s agile approach to recording
Zak Starkey
Zak Starkey is back in The Who. “I take responsibility for some of the confusion… Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised”, says Pete Townshend
Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater
“I oversaw every element - not just the music and the lyrics and the melodies and the production, but also the merch and the fan clubs and everything”: Mike Portnoy talks about his years away from Dream Theater
Zak Starkey
“I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night”: Zak Starkey explains why he got fired from The Who
Latest in News
Lindsey Buckingham Charli XCX
“Getting kinda saucy already”: Watch Lindsey Buckingham react as he checks out Charli XCX’s Von Dutch video for the first time... alongside his daughter
David Lee Roth in 1985
“The acrobatics. The sexuality. In his prime, he was the super frontman of all time”: The rock icon hailed by Gene Simmons as the GOAT
Money
From bedroom to billions… The Sunday Times Rich List 2025 just revealed the wealth and rankings of the UK’s biggest music stars
Lorde
“I love making bangers. Someone’s got to make them. I’m really proud when they come out of me”: Lorde reveals that she used the drums from Radiohead’s Reckoner while she was writing new single What Was That, and they probably weren’t too hard to find
teenage engineering
"I snuck in an easter egg that most people don't know about - I don't think anyone's found it yet": Teenage Engineering engineer reveals hidden Pocket Operator feature
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: Score a massive $550 off a premium Fender Strat, £380 off the Epiphone Dave Grohl DG-335, and £189 off the Boss SDE-3000D delay pedal

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...