James Sedge - Drums
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Drum Kits For Recording
Recording Drum Kits Ludwig 1968 Keystone Badge Super Classic 22” kick, 13” tom, 16” floor tom Pearl Masters 20” Kick, 14” Floor Tom, 10” Tom, 12” Tom Ludwig Vistalite 22” kick, 16” floor tom, 12” tom Premier Cabria 26” kick, 13” tom, 16” floor tom Gretsch jazz kit 18” kick, 12” tom, 14” floor tom Ludwig Breakbeats kit 16” kick, 10” tom, 13” floor tom Rototoms - 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, 14” Roland V Drums Snares Ludwig 1968 Keystone Badge SuperClassic 14” Snare Ludwig 1968 Acrolite Snare Sonor 1970s Centennial D506 Snare DW Collectors 14” X 4” Maple Snare Tama S.L.P. Duo Birch Snare Drum - 14” x 10” DW 10” x 5” Snare Drum (Popcorn Snare) Mapex MPX 13” x 6” Maple Snare Cymbals Ufip 14” hi hats K Zildjian hi hats K Zildjian 18” crash K Zildjian 16” crash K Zildjian 19” crash İstanbul Agop 22" Mel Lewis Signature Ride Istanbul Agop 16'' Traditional Trash Hit Cymbal Zildjian 22" K Pre-Aged Dry Light Ride
I'm available for sessions, I can record drums in my own studio or yours. My prices can be negotiated per song or album.
Just email me: jamessedge@hotmail.com
Recording
Describe your image
KillerStar
KillerStar is the eponymous debut album led by Rob Fleming (Vocals/Guitar/Synths) &James Sedge (Drums) with a band comprising David Bowie band alumni and long time collaborators.
Listen to the debut by KillerStar and you hear a rock album with its own distinct character. Rob Fleming’s voice is entirely his own: a delivery filled with drama and conviction. His songs, some written with the help of his collaborator and drummer James Sedge and on which Fleming plays synths and guitar, fuse the scale of classic rock with with sophisticated harmonies and elements of art rock.. Amid all this, however, you may well hear some familiar touches.
There is a reason for this. KillerStar features Mike Garson on piano, Earl Slick on guitar, Gail Ann Dorsey and Tim Lefebvre on bass, Emm Gryner on backing vocals, Donny MacCaslin on saxophone, Mark Plati on supplemental guitar… alumni of David Bowie’s band, each and every one of them.
All drums recorded/ engineered by James Sedge at MusicStation.
Rob Fleming - Vocals/Guitar/Synths
James Sedge - Drums
featuring :
Gail Ann Dorsey - Bass / Mike Garson - Piano
/ Emm Gryner - Vocals
Written by Rob Fleming
Mixed by Dave Eringa
Mastered by Joe La Porta at Sterling Sound
Falling Through - Single Release
Rob Fleming - Vocals/Guitar/Synths
James Sedge - Drums
featuring :Earl Slick - Guitar
Mike Garson - Piano
Donny McCaslin - Sax
Emm Gryner - Backing Vocals
Tim Lefebvre - Bass
Written by Rob Fleming & James Sedge
Mix & Additional Production by Mark Plati
Vinyl Master by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios
Milkbone
Milkbone are:
Phil Scragg - bass, keyboards, guitars Matt Berry - keyboards, guitar
James Sedge- drums
Special guests:
Graham Mann - trombone, percussion Cecilia Fage - vocal samples
All music written and produced by Milkbone Mastering by Mike Thorne at Rimshot Studios
All drums recorded/ engineered by me at MusicStation.
This is an interview I did on the Obsessed and so Obscure Podcast about the making of the Milkbone album
Short feature written by Sid Smith: Evoking the jazz-rock stylings of Brand X, Weather Report, Soft Machine etc...the new group features bassist Phil Scragg and drummer James Sedge alongside Berry on keyboards. Having previously worked together in Matt Berry and The Maypoles, the seeds of the idea of a group coming together on the band’s tour bus where they shared their mutual admiration for 1970s-era progressive and electronic music. “We decided to make an instrumental album that channeled/referenced our shared love of Canterbury era prog mixed with European electronica, Electric period Miles Davis as well as a love of the instruments, both acoustic and electronic, associated with those genres,” explains James Sedge. “We were aspiring to get some of the atmosphere and ‘wonkiness’ of the recordings of that era rather than the sterile precision you occasionally encounter in contemporary production. We all enjoy the sound of real instruments playing with sequenced synths - the perfection of the sequencer with the imperfections of live drums and bass. We left in all the quirky feel things, so it wouldn’t sound overproduced and polished,” says Sedge. Because of Covid restrictions, the album was recorded remotely with the players file-sharing remotely from their respective studios but Sedge says rather than letting this factor inhibit their creativity, they were able to exploit it to their advantage. “The music came together surprisingly quickly, with ideas flowing between the three of us right from the start. There was a lot of freedom to improvise and change direction. Tracks would be sent back and forth with ideas added or subtracted. Occasionally the contribution of one of us would be a complete surprise and take the music in a completely new direction.” “This is a studio project for now, but there are discussions about how we might bring it to a live audience in the not too distant future,” says Sedge.
The Deepstate
The DeepState are signed to High Wire Records. The album 'Broken Pieces' will be released worldwide in 2023. Michelle Jones - vocals and lyrics Ralph Cardall - guitars, bass, keyboards James Sedge - drums and percussion The Deepstate combines the psychedelic soul of 1970s Tina Turner, The Temptations, Betty Davis and Jimi Hendrix, with progressive influences featuring Moog synths, Mellotron and expansive atmospheric soundtracks. Michelle Jones, Ralph Cardall and James Sedge are no strangers, having toured together in a West End show back in the 1990s, in fact they got on so well that they formed a band called Wonderlust that played the London circuit gaining a great reputation between 1996-1999. Some of the ‘Broken Pieces’ songs were written back then and the band feel that they now have the life and playing experience to really do them justice. The three of them spent the last 20 years keeping in touch, but working separately. The Pandemic brought them back together (virtually) for a new collaboration. Ralph and James had started the Deepstate during the first lockdown in 2020 working on 3 predominantly instrumental albums. Michelle got in touch in late 2021 and started working on more songs that would reflect her life. ‘Broken Pieces’ is a deeply personal album for Michelle touching on love, loss, race, and celebration. The playing and production from Ralph and James is the product of years of experience, it isn’t a simple rock album. Each track is produced to compliment the individual lyric, and give support to the emotion within it. There is a maturity that comes with experience, ‘Broken Pieces’ is a reflection of that. Michelle Jones “This album is reflective in a positive way. There is a mélange of emotions and feelings throughout. The songs are factual and have given me a natural way to express myself. Being a breast cancer survivor, a witness to mental health issues within my own family, a friend, a lover, and a victim of racism, this album is truly autobiographical expressing many shifts in my own journey. The album has developed organically over the last 25 years, as life experience has shaped both the lyrics and the sound.
Ralph Cardall and James Sedge have been playing music together since a year long UK and European tour in 1995. They both have a deep love of progressive and instrumental soundtrack music and decided to collaborate on theDEEPstate music project. Their music is inspired by bands such as (early) Genesis, Yes, Rush and King Crimson. You can hear the progressive fingerprint of Mellotrons, Moog synths, acoustic guitars, odd time signatures, and wild soloing. The music is instrumental and has a cinematic / soundtrack feel with pieces that are allowed to stretch out and tell a musical story.
DeepState collaboration with Tomas Doncker Tomás Doncker’s newest single and video, ‘Don’t Let Go’, has lived multiple lives. Perhaps the most haunting and soul-searing song in his extensive catalog, it delves into homelessness and the uncertainty of everyday existence that comes with it — but also offers a hopeful message to never give up. Originally a solo acoustic track on his 2015 album The Mess We Made, the song was reimagined in 2021 by UK musicians/producers James Sedge and Ralph Cardall (AKA, Deep State), who took just the vocals and rebuilt the song from the ground up. “We went back and forth and created this sort of ghostly reggae mood,” Sedge comments. Doncker used their take as an inspirational building block for the “UK version” of the song (one of the two editions of it that appear on his new album, Born To Be), creating a vibe that starts off Eno and builds to a dub inspired crescendo.
Matt Berry
I have regularly toured with Matt Berry since 2009. I recorded drums on the Acid Jazz albums ‘Kill The Wolf’, ‘Matt Berry & the Maypoles Live’ , ‘The Small Hours’, ‘Television Themes’ and ‘Gather Up’.
In 2015 we supported prog legend Steven Wilson at the Royal Albert Hall, and also appeared live on Channel 4 to play the theme music to ‘Toast of London’.
Tomas Doncker
Based in NYC, Tomas has worked with many top artists including Patti Smith, Funkadelic, Amp Fiddler, Madonna, Yoko Ono, Bootsy Collins and Bill Laswell. I played drums on the 2020 album ‘Wherever You Go’ released on the True Groove Records label, plus a few assorted single releases. All drums recorded/ engineered by me at MusicStation.
Goldie Reed
TV Themes
David Migden & the Twisted Roots
Albums ‘Second Hand Tattoo’ (2007), ‘Killing It’ (2012), ‘Animal & Man’ (2014) Gigs at The Jazz Cafe, Dean Street Pizza Express, Ronnie Scott’s, the Borderline, the American Embassy. The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Canada 2013. Awards from Blues Matters magazine, Best Band and Best Newcomers’. In April 2014 we represented the UK at The European Blues Challenge in Riga, Latvia.
Soda Prism
This band plays the music of Jason How (CEO of Rotosound Strings).
Canterbury Sound’ of Mellotron drenched pastoral harmonies, with acoustic guitars, melodic bass and tribal drums. Surreal lyrical themes mixed with hard hitting English indignation and social commentary (including special guest Steve Kara from the legendary Electric Prunes). The debut album ‘Cantium’ was released May 2021.
All drums recorded/ engineered by me at MusicStation.
Guilty Pleasures
Big Easy Quartet - New Orleans style
The Groove Drops
The Sixties Sound - cover band for hire
Archives
Between The Eyes
Teaching
I have taught drums in London and Kent since 1991 and have trained many of the drum teachers currently working in Kent. I am regarded as one of the leading drum teachers in the area and am happy to teach beginners up to professional standard drummers who want to expand their vocabulary or work on technique.
In 2015 I wrote the syllabus and led the teaching team for the Trinity Education Zone at the London Drum Show.
I am very proud to have worked as the lead consultant for the Trinity Rock & Pop graded exam syllabus that was published in 2018. Trinity Rock & Pop drums has now gone on to be one of the most successful exam syllabuses in the world.
I am a qualified teacher who has worked for the University of Kent. I specialised in drums, music history and rehearsal skills. I co-wrote the ‘BA Hons in Popular Music Performance’. The degree was an enormous success, with a very high percentage of First Class Honours students. Many of the graduates have gone on to work in the music industry and music education.
I am a director of the largest contemporary music school in the Southeast of England, ‘MusicStation’ in Tonbridge, Kent. The school specialises in rock and pop instrumental and vocal education for (mainly) young people in small groups. MusicStation currently has 500 weekly students, 17 teachers, four full time staff, and has taught over 150,000 lessons since 2013. www.musicstation.pro
I am currently working on an innovative new drum teaching syllabus for beginner drummers.
I have made a website containing tickets, programmes, photos and videos from gigs I have attended from 1981 until present day.
I have put a few favourites below:
Genesis 1984
Queen 1985 Live Aid
Rush 2013
Grace Jones 2014 Hop Farm
Prince 2011 Hop Farm
