Drums & Percussion

Al was brought up on a musical diet of Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, The Bee Gees and Abba - all of which have played a part in one way or another towards directing his musical development.  At an early age he found that most popular music just didn't cut it, and so he investigated his fathers old rock records.

His first experiencees of listening to the driving rhythms and distorted guitars of Hendrix, Blackmore, Lukather and their peers sowed the seeds for him to become a driven and motivated musician.  Although drums is his first instrument, 'Pantumper' (as he is affectionately known by bandmate Paul Moorghen) is a fluent bass, keyboard and guitar player, and is not afraid to try any new ways of making music.

His first band, as with most musicians, was formed with school friends.  They were known as KIA and their set of female-fronted heavy metal was gigged heavily across the Hertfordshire area achieving a good level of local support. 

The Influences behind the music come from many sources, but mainly from Progressive Metal, Power Metal and Heavy Rock.  The fast paced aggressive playing and multi-faceted phrasing form characteristics of his warmup routine.  Al doesn't draw influence from one source, but many - and his influence is not always based upon the performance style, even things as simple as the timbre or production of a record can flick his switch.  But to name a few - Machine Head, Metallica, Dream Theater, Hammerfall and Symphony X all form a stream of influence whichh he takes on board as part of his own performances.
Various musical projects came and went during the time that Al attended Oaklands College In St.Albans, but none as successful as KIA until the studio project 'Awake' was formed, featuring Ryan Cavinder and Jake Guy on guitars, Richard Bailey on vocals, and Joe Moore on Bass, most of whom remain good friends to the present day.

The record was never released, and the group split shortly afterwards due to musical differences.

There followed a period where Al abstained from original music, except to write his own songs in the music software Fruityloops, and he fulfilled his ambition to perform with his father in their function band - Indigo Nights, who still run to this day providing excellent live entertainment for large corporate functions and weddings.

Al auditioned for Touchstone In 2007 and after two gruelling sessions where his aptitude for quirky time signatures and 'out of the box' creativity was tested, he decided that he wanted to become a part of, what he is convinced, is a force to be reckoned with - TOUCHSTONE!

"Touchstone, In a nutshell, are everything that I want a band to be.  As a drummer, the music provides me with a huge spectrum of possibilities.  This record [Discordant Dreams..] certainly represents a milestone in my career.  My aim from here is to take this further, develop our creativity, and take it to another level for the future..."

Equipment:-
 Drums:
  Pearl Export 10", 13", 16", 22"
  Dennis Chambers 14" signature snare

Cymbals:-
 Sabian 14" AAX Studio Hats
 Sabian 8" Pro Sonix Splash
 Zildjian 16" Z Custom Crash
 Sabian 16" AAXplosion Crash
 Wuhan 16" Chinese
 Meinl 22" Billy Cobham Signature Tri-Tonal Ride

DW 500 double pedals

Pearl and Gibraltar and Tama hardware

Pro Mark drumsticks

Djembe - Hand carved and shipped from Ghana, Africa.

20 essential listening:-
 1. Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity
 2. Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith, New Jersey
 3. Metallica - Metallica (the black album), Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets
 4. Queen - Greatest Hits 1+2
 5. Fear Factory - Digimortal
 6. Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon, Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
 7. Symphony X - V (The New Myhtology Suite)
 8. Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2 - Scenes From A Memory
 9. Hammerfall - Crimson Thunder
 10. Thin Lizzy - Best Of
 11. Guns n' Roses - Appetite For Destruction, Use Your Illusion 1+2
 12. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
 13. Fleetwood Mac - Rumors, Tango In The Night
 14. Slayer - Reign In Blood
 15. Rammstein - Mutter
 16. Pendulum - Hold Your Colour
 17. Type O Negative
 18.  Nickelback
 19.  "……..this list is not exhaustive, but my most important advice, is that you should listen to the music that makes your spine tingle, the music that affects your mood.  It's what you want to listen to that matters the most.  So go listen to it!  I can only hope that somewhere in your playlist is one of my songs - and if it isn't, i'll try and write one that will be!"