When I first started the podcast, back in 2023, I had a shortlist of drummers I wanted to interview. Richard Spaven Thomas Pridgen, Nate Wood, a few others, and today’s guest.
I was a late-convert to Gavin, but I understood immediately what my students saw.
And ironically, if he’d followed the lowest-risk path by continuing to do studio work, he may never have made the career-change that’s the primary reason most of us have heard of him: joining Porcupine Tree.
I didn’t even have to ask Gavin about that, because he volunteered it during one of our exchanges: studio work, for Gavin, was a steady paycheck. It was good, predictable conditions. It was mostly setting his own schedule. Band life, at the scale Porcupine Tree was at in those days, meant van life. Schlepping from one club to another. Late nights. Less money. No guarantee anything would work out.
And yet…it was never even a question the first time Gavin heard them and jammed with them. And of course the rest is history. Between Porcupine Tree and his more recent music with Pinapple Thief, Gavin not only cemented his own reputation, but participated directly in the creation and performance of records worth of music people are going to remember for generations to come.
Ever the practice nerd, I also wanted to hear how Gavin approaches creative work on the drums, in those weeks between tours and learning/writing music for bands. That question sparked an interesting (to me) exchange about utilizing our subconscious to retrieve ideas, then (as he does, and you should 100% listen to him) recording/writing them down, as an alternative to “top down” planned practice routines.
This, in turn, sparked a meta-convo about the journey within oneself to find creative direction, and a wry observation that if Gavin’s “cave” period (when he used to do mammoth overnight practice sessions) had occurred after the invention of smart-phones, he possibly wouldn’t have become the player he is today.
I hope you enjoy this exchange with the great Gavin as much as I did.