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• Tue, 12/01/2009 - 17:45

Matt wrote:

Paul Evans is the envy of many a drummer as he was chosen to pick up where Stew Smith (Delirious?) left off. Bringing his energy and enthusiasm and wealth of drumming experience to the table, and the news that Delirious? are set to end their chapter in the book of music, Paul is a vital member of the band as they finish off probably one of the greatest chapters in their lives - but as the band have said, “The best is yet to come!”.

I had met Paul briefly at Heart to Drum ‘07 and saw him on stage bashing away. I was able to get hold of Paul and threw a few questions his way to gauge where he was at with his drumming in the band and his views on Christian drummers in the music business.
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From the Delirious site:
With Stew Smith stepping back from the drums with Delirious?, there was only ever going to be one choice for a replacement: Mr Paul Evans.

Having stepped in for Stew on the band’s Easter tour of the US back in 2006, Evans has already got history with the Littlehampton five-piece. But that history goes back even further, as the man himself explains:

‘My earliest memory of Delirious? was back in the days before they were even Delirious?. They used to do their Cutting Edge events in my school hall.

I grew up in Littlehampton, and on my 11th birthday I got a drum kit from my parents. I learnt how to play in church and then as a teenager joined a few bands. I left school and I decided I wanted to be a musician, so did a number of mcjobs while doing gigs at the weekend. It wasn’t until 2004 that I went full time with music.’

It might only have been a few years that he’s been full time, but Evans has notched up a pretty decent cv: Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon, Matt Redman, Graham Kendrick, One Hundred Hours, Brenton Brown and Cathy Burton have all received Evans Beats. Some say that Dusty Springfield even got in on the action too, but it sounds like a wind-up to me.

‘It’s a real privilege taking over from Stew,’ Evans says. ‘He was a very big influence on me as I was learning; at one point I played exactly like him: the same fills and even buying the same Pearl piccolo snare! I’m going to have to get in shape to play with the same energy that Stew plays with, but I’ll probably stop short of the triathlons though!’

As for Stew, ‘I have known Paul for probably 20 years. I joined the church when Paul was about 8 years old. I remember him starting to play the drums, I remember the years when he was away at college spending hours practicing and learning how to not only be a drummer, but a ‘musician’.

Paul is in my opinion one of, if not the, best drummer in our scene. He has passion, sensitivity, finesse and power. Most of all I love Paul for his heart, and that is the thing that will be evident when you meet him. He always has time for you, always has time to laugh and joke and these are the qualities you need to survive on the road.

I’m so proud of the things that Paul has already achieved but I’m more excited about the fresh new dynamic he will bring to Delirious?

Bless you Paul on the next leg of life’s beautiful journey.’

What is known for sure is the fact that becoming the drummer in Delirious? is a big deal – not just for the guy with the sticks but for Martin, Stu G, Tim and Jon.

‘There’s nobody else we’d have covering our backs and beats,’ says Stu G. ‘Evans has the skills, the passion and the heart to take us on. We’re looking forward to our future together.’
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My questions with Paul:

How long have you been drumming and how did it all start?

I started Drumming at 11, my dad bought me a kit for my birthday, he told me I’d been asking for one for a while but I couldn’t remember asking but was happy anyway! the next day my uncle gave me a lesson just the basic “billie jean beat” and then the “we will rock you beat” I really struggled playing the 2nd kick and keeping the hi-hat going! I learnt playing mainly along to CD’s had a couple of lessons here and there, It wasn’t till I went to ACM at 21 that I really started understanding what I was doing! Then I had a few lessons with Terl Bryant who really helped! it wasn’t long till I started playing at my dad’s church and it just grew from there.

Tell us about your current kit setup

My current Set up is a Tama Starclassic Performer (birch) its cheaper than the maple but I prefer the sound of Birch! size wise its 22″ by 18″ kick, 12″ by 9″rack Tom and a 16″ by 16″ floor tom ( I also have a 14′ by 14′ floor tom if I can be bothered or have space in the car!). My main snares are a 402 Ludwig supraphonic 14″ by 6″ 1/2 ( I think it was made in 1980 the year of my birth!) and a 14″ by 5″1/2 ludwig acrolite, my cymbals at the moment untill I break them are Zildjian 14″new beat hi hats, 18″ A medium thin drash, 21″ K crash Ride and a 21″ A sweet ride, I like big sizes anything smaller than 18″ feels like I’m hitting a splash……

What drumming experiences do you have, church or mainstream etc.?

Experience-wise most of my playing has been within the church scene, mainly at events like Soul survivor, New wine and churches around the world, I played for a girl called Cathy Burton and a lot of bands who have played a lot of clubs around London, I also went through a stage where I did a lot of studio work which I enjoy enormously just getting ideas a playing late into the night! you get to play more in the studio than live!

How did it come about that you became the next drummer for Delirious?

Before I moved to Watford I had been going to the same church as Delirious for over 15 years, so I’ve known them for a while and they knew my playing well from seeing me play with other people, I’d been doing sessions for their front of house engineer for years a guy called Paul Burton who (along with others) had put my name forward for a lot of gigs, it just seemed like a natural progression in a way and Stew had been a huge influence on my playing( I only recently got rid of my pearl maple piccolo which was the same as Stew’s!) 2 years previous to Stew leaving I filled in for him on a US tour which he couldn’t do, so when he decided to leave it was easy to get me in ‘cos I already knew the songs!

Do you feel that you have some big shoes to fill now that Stew Smith has left Delirious?

Delirious are one of those bands that the people know the names of every member of the band not just the die hard fans, and I think that’s ‘cos they all bring something very different and integral to who Delirious is, so I was very aware I couldn’t just come in a play whatever I wanted, I mean the parts that Stew had come up with were every much as part of the song as the chord sequence or melody line, so I tried as much as I could to keep the parts the same, I realised watching them live before I joined that I would never look as exuberant as Stew or as muscular! It’s been a real honour to take the role on and go through the back catalogue and learn his parts.

How do you feel your style of drumming contrasts/compliments the sound of Delirious now as opposed to when Stew was their drummer?

It’s hard to say really! in many ways are playing is quite similar so I think that compliments Delirious quite well, Stew had a real shuffle to the way he played which at times I don’t think I completely emulate but hopefully only the most die hard Delirious fan would notice.

As a Christian and a drummer, what are your thoughts on worshipping God with or on your kit?

That’s a question I get asked a lot, I think sometimes drummers/musicians can really beat themselves up over their motives for playing, because at times we can quite enjoy the attention we get from being on stage or we find a lot of our identity in our skill, its quite hard to ever feel like your motives are pure but I think God understands our struggles, insecurities and the way we try and cover them up, I think thats were are own relationship with Jesus comes in, I realise this could sound quite liberal and there are times when I have seen people play and you know that there are up there more for there own reasons than any other and its horrible but honestly the amount of times I’ve done that myself are shameful, but God’s grace is there.

Some guys struggle with being able to worship and being aware of what’s happening around them, some times I think your worship can be in focusing on arrangements and where the worship leader wants to go, but I do understand that wanting to be lost in the moment is a real tension that people struggle with. Practically, I think being aware of what’s going on around you is hugely important I very rarely look away from the worship leader and when I do I usually miss an ending! Having an understanding and awareness of what the bass player is doing is also important it’s great when you get to play with someone regularly you can kind of guess where they’re going, and also playing simply with dynamics and knowing when you don’t need to play are where it’s at!

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