1. What made you so interested in drumming?
I can't really remember! I started playing the violin when I was 4 and I was really into pop music from that age. When I was a few years older my mum showed me a list of instruments I could learn at school and the drums seemed like a good idea. I remember thinking that it would be cool because there weren't any others girls in my school who played them. I was really aware of Evelyn Glennie (percussionist) and I loved The Bangles so maybe it just seemed like a fun thing to do that was a bit unusual.
2. Who would you say musically your main influences are and why?
My influences are really wide. I've always mainly loved pop, rock and Motown but I grew up playing percussion for orchestras, brass bands, steel bands and pretty much anything that came along. Because music is my job I have to play with all kinds of different styles of music and not be opposed to any of them (I draw the line at metal though!) and so I'm influenced heavily by whoever I'm working with at the time. When I was growing up I loved Michael Jackson, Madonna, Kylie and Stevie Wonder.
3. You drum for Robots in Disguise, do you drum for any other bands as well or just RiD?
I'm very fortunate to play drums as my job so I work with lots of people at the same time and I'm always auditioning or on the look out for anyone else who might need a drummer! I'm currently playing for RiD, a new artist in London called Any O'Neill, a 4 part vocal harmony and ukelele rock covers band called The Tourettes and a stunningly brilliant folk artist from Wiltshire called Matthew Kilford. In the last few months I've done TV work for Cher Lloyd, Cee Lo Green, and Frankie Cocozza, Janet Devlin and Marcus Collins on X Factor and I'm waiting to hear back from a big pop audition I went for yesterday so fingers crossed... I've got more info about bands I've worked with at www.gemmadrums.com.
4. If you weren't a professional drummer what would you of like to have been instead?
I used to want to be a journalist...I get to do that as well now because I do interviews with famous drummers for a UK drum website, www.mikedolbear.com. Then I wanted to be a drum teacher and now I do that too! I often think it would be really fun to be a make up artist for TV and films. The people who do that are amazing and they must meet all sorts of people every day!
5. What other instruments can you play or would be interested in playing?
I play orchestral percussion (xylophone, timpani and all the bits and bobs that go along with that), I sing and I've just started learning bass guitar. I'd love to be able to sit at a piano and play tunes for people to sing to but I just can't get it. I find it hard practising something new because I feel guilty that I should be spending the time on my drums!
6. what's your favourite country to play in Europe?
Anywhere that is warm and sunny and has good food! With RiD I've played in Istanbul 3 times now and I love it there; it has beautiful buildings, the people are really welcoming and we like spending time in the hammam (Turkish bath) and being completely relaxed. We played in Montalcino in Italy last year and that was gorgeous as well. So is the South of France... I can't choose one place! I'm extremely lucky to go to places that I would probably not visit if it wasn't for the work that I do so every trip is special in it's own way.
7. What's your favourite genre of music?
I love motown - the history behind the genre is fascinating and the musicians involved in it had something really special, plus the music is catchy and you can sing/dance/clap to it. If I'm feeling a bit under the weather I listen to '(Love is like a) heat wave' by Martha Reeves and The Vandellas and everything is ok again!
I hope you enjoy reading this interview with drummer Gemma Hills, so like she said, go to www.gemmadrums.com for more information about her work (:
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