Tom Bates

How long have you been part of Extreme Rhythm?
18 months.

Instrument(s) you play mainly with Extreme Rhythm?
Nagado-Daiko, Shime-Daiko.  Odaiko (one song)

Name your favorite music album of all time?
Drumming:  Steve Reich

If you were stranded on a desert island, what 5 items would you take with you?
Swiss army knife (one with a spork), Snorkling gear, a Horse, a Spanish lady, Cooking pot.

If you could perform with any artist or band, dead or alive, who would it be, and why?
The Dillinger Escape Plan, could never keep up with them, but this is my fantasy, so I can do what I want :)

The coolest ‘celebrity’ or famous person you’ve ever met, and why?
-

What’s the one thing you really need in your backstage area/dressing room before the show?
Water.

How do you handle mistakes during a performance?
Make a funny face and laugh at myself.

How do you handle nerves before a performance?
Control my breathing, try to stay focused.  Faith in the pieces is great for confidence.

When you’re not playing music, what other hobbies or activities do you enjoy?
Surfing, whenever I get the chance.  Skateboarding occasionally.  Enjoying movies and so forth with my better half.  Love to walk in the countryside, especially if you have a good dog with ya!

Do you have a quote, or motto that you try to live by?
Not really, maybe subconsciously.  If so it would probably be something like ‘Come on, don’t be so f*****g lazy!!!”

Name your most memorable moment with Extreme Rhythm (doesn’t have to be onstage)
Rupert the bear  v  Beating a Nagado-Daiko and shaking the entire Opera House in Wexford with the Full Extreme Rhythm Crew!

If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream career?
Surfer / Snowboarder / Biker traveling the world for no particular reason!

This is your ‘soap box’ moment.  Give us your opinion/feelings about something random – Anything!  Good or Bad!
Brikes, ok then.  I feel strongly about Ley Lines.  Yea I said it, so I like the neolithic period, and would love if we were all still in that era of time.  That would be greatm granted times were harder for surviving and all that – or were they??  When I think about living in the city (which I’m doing at the moment) I totally lose all grip with it, this sense of connection for one … just being able to see the stars at nighttime, the full canvas that is not just the bright ones peeking through orange murk.  But anyway I think it’s a crying shame that we’ve completely lost touch with Ley Lines, the neolithic man in particular had it sussed!  No, over the past few centuries some people have decided “What the hell is this big rock doing here … screw that, out with you”, when little did they know they just tore up the foundations of a sophisticated system that, well, might have just been holding the planet together ….

Random?