We've all seen Al Murray's hilarious alter-ego, The Pub Landlord. Maybe some of you saw him on the recent I'm In A Rock And Roll Band show fighting Bonzo's corner? But did you know he is also the drummer for rock band T-34? We caught up with him before their set at Download to find out more.
Hi Al. For those not familiar with your drumming background set the scene for us.
"I started playing when I was about nine. I got my first kit when I was 12 or 13 and had periods of playing a lot and then periods of not playing at all. At one point I didn't play for 10 years because I lived in a flat and I was focusing on stand-up."
Did you ever want to make a career of it?
"I love playing drums and that's why I didn't do it for a living. I'm not good enough, and I didn't want to spoil it and end up not enjoying it."
Tell us a little about T-34. Is it your outlet for rock'n'roll release?
"I've played in bands on and off, but this band's a bit different because we play covers. There's none of that tension to create new material. We're not trying to get a deal or any of that so it's such good fun. It's just straight ahead rock'n'roll and pretending to be John Bonham!"
Who else is in the band?
"The nucleus of the band is guitar, bass and the singer. The singer is my manager and they're all old school mates. They had a punk band 25 years ago, they put it back together with a slight reshuffle and then I came in."
You play covers. Which songs are part of your set-list?
"'20th Century boy', 'Whole Lotta Love', 'You Really Got Me', 'Fire'. Fire is the scary one!"
That's a great list of tunes! The band also has an interesting look going on…
"The idea is that we're a Red Army special rock'n'roll force sent in to bring rock to where it's most needed, and no-one needs more rock than Download!"
Will there be any surprises in the set today?
"I think people might be surprised that we're doing it at all. The band's not a joke, but it is funny that we've ended up doing this!"
What gear will you be using on stage?
"Well, I've got this PimpCo thing going on. I'm playing a PimpCo snare drum tonight, it has my band's logo on it. It has a Carrera shell too. It just sounds fantastic."
Tell us more about PimpCo. It's all about customising drums, right?
"It's really exciting. Drum builder Chris Newell and I met along the way. He pimped my kit for me for the band - he turned my chrome gold - and it went from there.
"I've always bought a new kit here and there but you actually don't need to these days as they're all made so well now. PimpCo is a make-over, Credit Crunch busting thing. We are making snare drums now too. They all have fantastic artwork on them.
"I went to the Jobeky event recently. The custom drum community in Britain is a really exciting and vibrant thing to be plugged into."
For more info on PimpCo visit www.pimpco.co.uk
To win the drum head Al is holding in the picture click here.
To find out more about Al and T-34 watch the video below.
