Stewart Copeland insists drummers work "harder" than any other member of a band.
The 66-year-old percussionist was in the iconic British rock band The Police – who formed in London in 1977 – alongside lead singer Sting and guitarist Andy Summers, and the star has admitted he gets "frustrated" with how little credit sticksmen get, because they are the people to watch when you attend a concert as they he believes they bring the most "energy".
Speaking to The Times newspaper, he said: "Why, then, do we need drummers? Because the drummer is the thing to watch when you got to a concert. Drummers add emotion and energy. We do get frustrated, though.
"There you are, about to go on stage, and the singer is wearing a cape with sequins. The guitarist has a hat and a cool leather jacket. But the drummer? Anything more than a T-shirt and I’ll be soaking wet. I’ve always assumed everyone is working just as hard as me, but last year I got to play guitar in a band and I got through a day of rehearsals without changing my T-shirt once.
"It is obvious to the rest of the band that the guy at the back is working harder than the rest of them put together, but in 50 years no musician has ever divulged this fact to me. Heaven forbid that you should give the poor drummer any encouragement!"
The ‘Every Breath You Take’ hitmakers last performed together on a worldwide tour in 2007, which ended in 2008.
Sting said in 2010, he didn’t want to rejoin the group because he found the music they were making was uninspiring.
At the time, he admitted: "It wasn’t easy. There was nothing new in it – no new songs, no new energy, no desire to take that as a platform and move somewhere else."
Meanwhile, Copeland has told his own personal music journey in an upcoming three-part series on BBC Four, ‘On Drums… Stewart Copeland!’, that airs on Friday (11.01.19), and the drummer revealed his fond memory of meeting late ‘Purple Rain’ hitmaker Prince’s iconic former drummer and ex-fiancee, Shelia E., who is one of his "favourite" legends.
He said: "Through making the film, I met a lot of my favourite drummers. One of them is Shelia E., who worked with Prince for many years. She talks about ghost beats, which are little light taps between the big betas.
"They go around and garnish the main event – you don’t hit the drum so much as drag the stick across the snare and then hit it. Often it is not an actual hit, but an intention: you create the feel of the hit. That brings us to a whole different world of drummer voodoo."
Stewart Copeland: Drummers deserve more credit
