Carlos Hercules - The Black Page Online Drum Magazine

You have done some huge and lengthy tours in
recent years. How do you cope with being away
from your family?
Being away from your family is always hard,
but they realize this is your life and you’re
doing what you love. It’s a fantastic life in
many ways and everyone should be in a job
they love. Working self employed allowed
me to take my kids to school and be at
school plays etc. Like all things in life, there
are positives and negatives.
I used to see your kit setup in the attic at the
Arts Centre in Luton when I used to rehearse
as a teenager. Myself and several other local
drummers would always check out what you
were using. Fast forward a number of years,
does what you play stay consistent or do you
change your kit/sounds to suit the artist you
are working with?
Ah! That’s nice to hear. DW have been wonderful
to me. I have enough gear to be able
to adapt my kit to whatever situation I find
myself in. I do like to tailor my kit to each artist.
Certain sizes make sense for rock versus,
pop, reggae or RnB, and Zildjian also
have supplied me with what I need to be my
best in all situations.
So how do you cope with integrating electronic
sounds into your acoustic rig?
I really like the challenges that electronic
music has created for drummers. George’s
(Michael) show required a full electronic kit,
Beverley’s (Knight) just a couple of pads
and triggers and Leona’s (Lewis) pretty
much the same. I use Roland gear on all,
and I’m always looking for new ways of using
the electronics to make it as accurate
and easy for myself as possible. You need
to be confident in that department to con-