Kyle Fummey

Perth's Kyle Fummey is the 18 year old drummer taking Perth - and the wider world - by storm. Fresh from performing at Edinburgh's 2019 Hogmanay celebrations with indie-rock trio Vistas, he is ready to make this year his strongest yet. But where did it all start for Kyle?

His earliest stage was that of his Church. Throughout the years, his passion and enthusiasm for drumming has only grown stronger, and led to him taking every opportunity that's come his way - including school bands, busking, making videos and today, playing in his own bands. (Yes, that's bands plural - Kyle drums for Stop the Rain, Vistas and Future Firsthand!)

Practice is something that Kyle knows, is key. "Typically, I practice on my own kit at my house for at least a couple of hours every day. I’m lucky enough to have neighbours, that since the day I began playing drums, have not complained about the noise levels. Balancing the discipline of regular practice with an element of spontaneity is essential when he's creating new music:

To play on the Waverley Stage with the likes of 'Snap!' and Gerry Cinnamon was insane!"Most of the time when we’re working on new Stop The Rain music, our best ideas come when we’re all just jamming in a practice room, but it’s always fun sitting with Pro Tools open and messing about with all the sounds you have at your fingertips."  

We chatted with Kyle in more depth about his inspirations, goals for this year and everything in-between.

Tell us the weirdest / funniest thing that has ever happened to you while working with the band?

I’ve definitely had a few weird and wonderful experiences whilst playing gigs, but there’s certainly one aspect of playing a live show that sees the most mishaps. As the drummer, I often find myself in charge of backing tracks/samples which can feel like a lot of pressure because if something goes wrong it has the potential to ruin a whole song! Unfortunately, in the past, things have gone wrong for me. When playing at the O2 ABC with Stop The Rain I accidentally hit the skip button on my sample pad without knowing, which resulted in the kit changing from kick and clap samples to a kit with tabla, timbale and bar chime samples.

I also once forgot to pan the click track correctly meaning the audience heard a voice count out the front going “1 2, 1 2 3 4”. Rather embarrassing. However these experiences were good in some ways because they taught me to take more care on the technical side of things!  

What signals the start of your days off?

If it’s not almost waking up in the afternoon, the signal of a day off would just be playing more drums in all honesty! The evening largely consists of a long Netflix binge.

What might people be surprised to know about you?

Creatively, I am my own worst enemy. I used to regularly upload drum cover videos to my YouTube channel, and at one point had almost uploaded 400 videos. However, as I improved and learned how to edit video/audio better, I went through a phase of deleting work I didn’t think was good enough to go out. I currently only have 3 videos up but luckily I’ve kept every single one so I can look back and have a watch (or sometimes a cringe) every once in a while…

What is at the top of your bucket list?

I’d love to headline a stadium like Wembley or Hampden.

Who or what inspires you?

I take inspiration from lots of different drummers and bands, but two of my biggest inspirations are Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys and Travis Barker of blink-182. For a long time the Arctic Monkeys have been one of my favourite bands and Matt’s drums parts play a big part my love for their music. His playing is constantly evolving with their constantly changing sound and it amazes me on every record.

I’m always striving to become a better drummer, that’s a goal that’ll never change.

Travis Barker is perhaps a millennial drummers cliché inspiration, but the number of projects he takes on whether or not that’s producing, writing or drumming is incredible. Just a glimpse of his social media shows that he is forever practicing and always trying to improve himself. Unless he’s having to take a break because drumming has physically broken him, Barker’s daily practice routine probably means he’ll never be rusty.

Tell us about the day you’d love to live again?

It would have to be playing at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay with Vistas just a few weeks ago. It’s always been a dream to play in front of big crowds, so to play on the Waverley Stage with the likes of 'Snap!' and Gerry Cinnamon was insane - and on New Year’s Eve! Would love to do it all over again.

What’s the best part about performing music?

The best part would have to be the buzz you get when you’re playing live. You get a real sense of achievement afterwards too when you feel you put everything you could into the performance.  

Complete this sentence; the best things in life are….

Friends, family, and playing drums.

Do you have any music related goals for the New Year?

Definitely. I’m always striving to become a better drummer, that’s a goal that’ll never change. Another one of my goals for this year is to play gigs more than I ever have!

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LINKS:

Stop the Rain website

Vistas website

Future Firsthand FB

Kyle Fummey Drummer FB