VICTIMS OF DRUMMERS, ANONYMOUS

Couple years back, Who Cares? said goodbye to our lynchpin Jake, an unreal drummer. We tried to limp on without him, but the phantom limb feeling was too hard to shake. We haven't discussed it but the writing's on the wall. Lee's embarked on a new life (in south fuckin London no less). Willy is onto new projects. I'm faking my way to the top of the turdheap in UK metal. 

If there is an official 'band is dead' announcement, I'll write here about my time in the band (but I wouldn't be surprised if Willy wrangled a new version). My tenure wasn't too long in the scheme of WxC?, and I was only 1 of a revolving door of bassists. But I have nothing but fond memories of my time with those nutters and am grateful to have been part of their infamy (I remember 2 different people warning me when I had just joined - 'WxC? really go for it you know, the drinking and all that...' / 'Their shows are quite mental/violent/dangerous...' . That our bandchat was called POISON IDEA FANCLUB says it all).

I recently came across some footage of us and it brought back a lot of memories, and the quick reminder that there was really no way to replace Jake. I knew it as soon as he told us he was moving on. That was it.

I have been lucky to play with some unbelievably talented drummers (Chris has somehow endured me for 17 fucking years, on and off, hence why our shorthand form of communication is just yelling at each other in quick exasperation). But when I joined WxC?, I was just excited to finally play in a hardcore band again. I wasn't prepared for Jake's octopus-like talent.

Music is about learning. I don't just want to be in a hundred bands to get off, or for ego (though they are of course huge factors). To be the best musician you can be (not instrumentalist of your chosen instrument, but MUSICIAN), you have to play WITH people and learn from them. 

Playing bass for the first time in a band, I learned a lot from Jake (and Lee and Willy) and was humbled by his musicianship. His rhythmic power, skill and stamina were/are incredible to behold. Drummers have a notorious rep, and justifiably so. In fact, there is definitely a graph out there somewhere, highlighting the relationship between the better the drummer the more of a nitemare they are to deal with in every other aspect of life.

But nitemare is the last thing Jake was in WxC? He is one of the best musicians I've ever played with and it was a privilege to make noise with him. (Privilege is something I try to remind myself of on tougher days, because it truly is a privilege to have people willingly lock themselves in mouldy rehearsal rooms with you for hours on end, or in cramped vans, to offer their time/money/sanity on ill-advised ventures that will likely end badly. This is all too easily forgotten). 

In a rock n roll world where guitar jerkoffs are 10 a penny, more respect should be paid to drummers. Overlooked work-mules, they are the anchors of everything. Without them, you'd have nothing. Can you imagine if, overnite, they developed the ego of other instrumentalists? The whole fucking musical ecosystem would collapse.