“My foundation in music began with the drums. Through my dad, a lover of jazz music, I gravitated to jazz, but my early rock influences were guys like Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Aynsley Dunbar, Neil Peart and, of course Bill Bruford. In 1975 I started my first rock band, which became Blind Illusion and went on a progressive path – John McLaughlin, King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull…
“My first Yes album was Fragile, and in that first moment I had to know, ‘Who is that guy on the drums?’ I’m still blown away by Bill’s work on that record. At first I almost couldn’t comprehend what was happening, but it didn’t matter – it was musical bliss. I soon started collecting everything Yes and everything Bruford.
“One of my favourite…