These Infinite Spaces

Justin was leaving the band, but not for good. He wanted to take a year off to travel around the world with a friend. He was leaving in a matter of weeks.

I was astonished and upset that he was leaving. After all the trouble we'd gone through with Bird, and then the 9 months in the wilderness while we looked for another singer and got ready - was all of that for nothing? I wrote Justin a (rather selfish) letter, pleading with him to stay. He firmly and graciously said no, this was something he had to do. Then, just a few weeks later, he was gone.

So we had to find another drummer to fill in for 12 months. Good drummers were hard to find - most of the kids I knew who drummed were in it to belt the skins as hard and fast as possible. They generally had no sense of dynamics and little sense of timing. The few good drummers were quickly snaffled up. Despite these challenges, we quickly found a very good drummer - in hindsight, he was probably better than we realised at the time.

I'm not sure how Graham got in touch with us. It seems most likely it was through me, as he was friends with some mates of mine from school, and also played touch footy with my sister. Yet I don't remember being involved with his recruitment. I remember very well a story my sister told me after. She asked Graham at training if he was in a band at the moment. He replied, "I'm not, but I'm trying out for this really good band and I'm hoping to get in. They are called The Catch." "That's my brother's band!" she exclaimed.

As far as I can recall, Graham was the only drummer we auditioned. He was different to all other drummers I knew his age. They were all playing these huge, modern Japanase kits like Tama and Pearl. By contrast, Graham played a vintage American kit, manufactured by Rogers. It was a tiny kit, just 6 pieces - then again, it was the same sort of kit that every rock band used for the first 30 years or so. We used to call it his "Ringo Starr" kits.

But he could play that kit, boy, he could play. He had a beautiful sense of timing and, just as importantly, he understood dynamics. Instead of belting the kit as hard as he could, he gave it just enough for that part of the song. In hindsight, I don't think we gave Graham enough credit for our success. If we'd had a "basher"on drums, I don't think we would have achieved anything much.

Just like that, we had our drummer. Amongst his other virtues, he was a quick learner. He had to be - for our next gig was 3 weeks after he joined the band.