Richard Hemmings

Richard began drumming at the age of 12 but his introduction to music began earlier when he was packed off to piano lessons! His drum tutor for 7 years was Paul Francis, an experienced professional player whose credits include Bill Wyman, Maggie Bell and Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebel.

Whilst studying for his music 'A' Level Richard received percussion lessons from Roy Sinclair (who at the time was playing the odd gig with Wet Wet Wet and Stuart Copeland). Roy taught Richard a lot about stick control and technique, and also introduced him to timpani and tuned percussion (e.g., the marimba, vibes). Richard passed the 'A' Level music exam in 1994 and moved up to Yorkshire for three years to read music at Bretton Hall College, University of Leeds where he achieved a 1st.

In 2000 he moved to Leicester to carry out a PhD in music at De Montfort University, finally graduating in 2005. From October 2004 until May 2005 Richard lectured in popular music at Northampton University College. Along with his own project, EDBM, he has performed improvisations with groups based in London, Paris, New York, Rome and even Leicester!