Iain Watt was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on July 7th 1986, and since the age of 4 has been involved in music, receiving piano and music theory lessons from his father. He began playing clarinet from age 10, and quickly moved through the grades, and got to Grade 7 Standard (the 2nd highest examined grade in UK music).
Since the age of 14, Iain, by complete chance, started to play drums, first as a hobby, and from age 16, as a serious instrument to play.
Initially inspired by heavy metal groove players such as David Silveria (Korn) and Abe Cunningham (Deftones), and Travis Barker (Blink 182) he quickly seeked more challenging songs and styles, and turned to Dream Theater, whose drummer Mike Portnoy was a huge influence on his playing at the time. Listening to Dream Theater aided him discover other drummers, such as Mike Mangini (Steve Vai, Extreme), and Marco Minnemann (Paul Gilbert) seeking an interest in drummers who pushes drumming to the limits.
Something that Iain has tried to maintain is making drumming interesting but keeping a solid, groove to the performance. He says
“Sometimes I find that drummers like Minnemann and Lang , despite having amazing technical ability, sometimes feel the need to show that, rather than sticking to their primary job, keeping the beat. I think that a mix of both is best for you, and best for the band.”
Iain attended University of Ulster, Magee, Derry from 2005 to 2008, obtaining a 2:1 degree in Music. This was the best experience for him so far, obtaining new skills and playing with some very talented musicians, including jazz saxophonist Andy Sheppard. He was one of the drummers for the University of Ulster Jazz Band, and participated in many of the Universities activities, including playing percussion for the UU Choir’s performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms”, and playing for the UU New Music Ensemble, playing drum-kit and percussion for their rendition of the modern classical piece “Climbing Frame”. He also performed for dance performances there.
This philosophy has stuck by him through the various bands that he has played for, from cover bands to original bands. Through playing instrumental progressive metal, hard post-rock, post-hardcore, post-punk, jazz , black metal and rock, along with his classical training and performance, he is a vastly experienced player with a guaranteed dedication to musicianship in all performances, big and small.
As well as drumming, Iain has taken an active interest in music technology, and in turn has increased his interest in composition using computers. His compositions are a mix between electronic, ambient and classical music, inspired by Brian Eno, Phillip Glass and Nine Inch Nails. He uses the software Reason to make his compositions, and has been constantly learning new things about Reason. His current projects in composition include “View from an Astronomers Backyard”, an electronic instrumental concept album about an astronauts journey (and eventual demise) to the planet Saturn, and “Synthphony Orchestra”, a 50+ synthesiser project.
He is currently teaching young students in the local Raleigh area in his private home studio, and is drummer for the Raleigh based covers band Cherry (www.cherryrocks.com)
Asides from music, Iain takes an active interest in philosophy, world history, politics, and the effect of religion on society. He can be reached at…
email – iain.richard.watt@gmail.com
Official site – http://www.iainwatt.tk
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/IainWatt
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/iainplaysdrums
Google Talk – iainplaysdrums@gmail.com
AIM – iainplaysdrums
MSN – iainplaysdrums@gmail.com
Skype – iain_the_destroyer
Thanks for checking out my blog!
Iain Watt
