Drummer extraordinaire super-charges kit for belting solo debut
Who He?
Sticksman for London experimentalists Three Trapped Tigers, Betts has spent years exploring the boundaries of electronic and live music, between man and machine. He’s also a man in demand. When Mr Squarepusher needs a drummer, he calls Betts. Says much about his skills does that.
Why Adam Betts?
Because he’s got a rather brilliant new album on the way. ‘Colossal Squid’ is a fitting title as it’s an absolute beast of a record. It sounds like something very large is about to take off, or land, not sure which. Turns out Betts had an early version in the bag when an opportunity arose to record a live session. The resulting recordings rode roughshod over his studio takes and as a consequence they went on to form the record you’ll be hearing at your earliest opportunity. Using effects, synths, and samples, Betts made a series of “instruments” that could be triggered from the drum kit and “played” live. While everything you hear isn’t a drum, it’s being played by one, either on the kit or sampling pad. Check out the video for ‘Aneek’, recorded live, to witness him in action.
Tell Us More
You may or may not know that the Heritage Orchestra do a frankly astonishing, and completely live version of Goldie’s ‘Timeless (Sine Tempore)’. It’s goosebumps good. There’s a video, from the Meltdown Festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall in June 2014 that’s well worth seeing. See the drummer cracking out the breakneck drum ’n’ bass licks, live, huge grin on his face with Goldie going bonkers in front of him? Yup. That’ll be Adam Betts.
‘Colossal Squid’ is released by Blood and Biscuits
