Over the years I’ve developed my own style and stage performance, there’s not much I can do behind a drum kit but where I can you’ll see me spinning sticks or pulling faces. However, it was the beginning of Doonie Way! I then progressed onto some more surfy/skater rock influences which shortly became some of my favourite bands/records, Hungry Ghost by Violent Soho, King of the Beach by Wavves & Smile by Dune Rats. God that’s a great album! It wasn’t until 2016 when I went to a “VET” music course and stripped back a little bit into a Royal Blood cover band, no real work or knowledge was retained.

I grew up listening to HEAPS of heavy stuff but my all-time favourite album would probably be Sound Awake by Karnivool. Growing up my uncle was a drummer, he used to give me stacks of CDs from SOAD to The Mars Volta! I would then try and mimic their crazy styles as my neighbour would scream his lungs out at 12yr old me. His attitude of trying to stand out rather than sitting back in the mix inspires me to push myself to create some sexy basslines for Doonie Way. The bloke must have a sore back from literally carrying every song in their discography. My most considerable influence, however, is Kings of Leon bassist Jared Followill. The discography of Australian alternative rock band Birds of Tokyo consists of six studio albums, one compilation album, one live album, three EPs and thirty singles. Tracks such as The Distance by San Cisco and Fuckin ‘n’ Rollin by Phantastic Ferniture are great examples of driving basslines I really dig. Once I got into bass, it became infectious to me. I recently acquired an arctic white Fender Mustang bass, and hoo boy, it’s equal parts beautiful and badass. I started out playing on stage stiffer than a robot but eventually developed the ability to ‘groove’ like a true bassman. Through school, I learnt guitar, so when I got asked to come to play bass for Doonie Way, I thought, hell yeah, the skills are fairly transferable, right? I purchased a crappy $100 bass off eBay and instantly fell in love with the ol’ four-string. I never really played bass at all before joining the band.

Karnivool discography