Beat Crazy Guy | Andy Wilkins

Beat Crazy Guy...

I have been playing the drums on and off for over 30 years.

It all started back in Portsmouth in 1974 when, at the impressionable aged of 13, I met the late Keith Moon on the set of the rock opera 'Tommy'.

In 1976, four college friends and I got together in true garage-band style and formed the almost legendary Orange Spectator.

At university in Canterbury during 1978-81, an experimental outfit, known tastefully as The Electric Turds, failed to deliver anything of any real substance.

Moving up to Malvern, Worcestershire between 1982-89, I spent a number of years playing soul and R&B with 96 Tears, The Projectors and Med Snooks and the Good Scratch.

There then followed a barren spell during 1990-93, while working overseas, where I didn't so much as pick up a stick. Upon my return to the UK in 1993, I met up with old friends in Worcester in The Night Trippers.

The sound of the drum beat was replaced with those of tiny feet in 1995, and for reasons best known to a higher power, it wasn't until I moved to France in 2004 that I rediscovered my kit, gathering dust in the corner of one of the derelict outbuildings that was home to the possessions of my past.

During my four years in France I was a member of a motley crew of ex-pats known as The Vin Catz and Like A Blues Machine, a French hard hitting 12 piece blues band.

Upon my return to Blighty in 2008, I joined an elite band of rebels in the indie post-punk covers band, illegal2dance.

Holed up in darkest Buckinghamshire, we thrashed out the sounds of the Jam and the Clash, culminating in a video release of I Fought The Law at the end of 2009. Sadly our cover was blown shortly after and the Stormtroopers moved swiftly to break up the alliance. We fought the law, but the law won.

The swift demise of illegal2dance led to a chance meeting with Chris and Andrew in St. Albans in April 2010.

I had listened to a couple of demos that Chris and Andrew had put together and was blown away by how catchy and instantly addictive they were. It had always been an ambition to play in an originals band, and following a nervous audition in a St. Alban's school hall, I'm now adding my take to the high energy indie sound that is Waiting For Katherine.

Heavily into the Brit sound of the last five decades, I am proud to play Premier drums. I bought my first kit in 1976, which I sold in 1989 when working abroad. I bought my current 5-piece XPK Fusion kit in 1993 as soon as I returned to the UK. Towards the end of 2009, I managed to source a 5-piece XPK Rock kit from the same era, in the same colour! And so the monster kit was born.

I like to think Keith would be proud of me...

In addition to Waiting For Katherine, I have also got involved in two further projects, namely The Synthetix - a new wave/punk band thrashing out the sounds of '77-'82, and a 90s Britpop band called Popscene!