Q: How do you see your role in Powderfinger?
A: “Just 20% of the band. I don’t see my role as just the drummer. We are a democracy, we write together, discuss everything, and help each other out. As a drummer, I have to come up with the best parts to make the song work. 

Q: Do you practice every day?
A: “I stopped for awhile. But I’m taking lessons at the moment so I’m doing it every day. I found three quarters the way through a show, I’d be really sore. 

Q: Do you read biographies about drummers to pick up tips?
A: “I’d rather talk to other drummers. I don’t think reading about drummers is particularly interesting. I don’t listen to drummer music, I listen to music. It wasn’t a concert or a record that made me pick up drums, it’s just that one of the coolest guys in school played drums, so I did. My favourite drummer is Stevie Wonder because what he plays just fits the piece of music so wonderfully. 

Q: Do you listen to players from outside guitar rock to pick up tips?
A: “I listen to modern big beats and jungle, the drumming on that is amazing. I don’t listen to reggae or jazz, but occasionally a big band like Buddy Rich’s. He was fantastic. He could do a roll with one hand. He’d play a bar of a really different rhythm and he’d never do it again. It’d be amazing to play that bar as a loop.  “I’ve got a CD of various celebrities cracking up, and Rich is going up his band because he didn’t think they played very well. The musicians actually taped him yelling because they wanted to complain to the Musicians Union. There was an Australian in his band, and he was saying, ‘You’re a **** child, why don’t you **** off. You’re not old enough to play with me, I’m a working musician, why don’t you **** off back to Sydney! Rich was crazy, but he was an amazing performer. 

Q: What do you feel about drummers who’re into showmanship?
A: “If that’s what you want to do, go for it. If it adds to the entertainment value of the show, yes. But I can’t do it well so I don’t. But I love what Keith Moon (of the Who) used to do, I’m right into that. As a matter of fact, when we were in LA recently I saw one of Moon’s kits, it was gold with a double bass and it looked so cool. 

Q: What’s the hardest Powderfinger song to play onstage?
A: “‘Don’t Want To Be Left Behind’ which is fast and offbeat. Powderfinger songs have different rhythms, although not as much as they used to. The hardest thing for us is to capture the mood of each song, because they all have different moods. But technically, Powderfinger songs are not difficult to play. 

Q: How long did you experiment with your setup before you were pleased?
A: “I’m always experimenting. I’ve got a basic setup but I change it around for fun. I have a Slingerland kit and Zyldjian cymbals. I have no problem with sponsorship, it’s just that I like old kits and they’re not going to give you an old kit. 

Q: Why old kits, so you can whack the hell out of them?
A: “Because they sound better and they’re cheap. Three months ago I found a 1970 Slingerland with a 24 kick covered in denim for $500. I stripped the denim and stained the wood, and it looks fantastic. So I’m content with what I have. 

Q: What was your first kit like? 
A: “I was 14, and it was a crappy Pearl made of chipboard, I think, and cost about $200. It was a present from my mum and dad. 

Q: Is it necessary for a drummer to play other instruments too? 
A: “It definitely helps but it’s not necessary. It just helps if you have a good ear. If you can play other instruments you can help write the songs. Rather than explain how a part goes, you can play it to the others.

Q: Bassist John Collins says the main difference between the first Powderfinger album Double Allergic and Internationalist is the sense of space, and that it came from the drums. What did he mean by that? 
A: “I had stopped listening to drum music and listening to music as a whole, a lot of Police. I realised over-playing can be detrimental to the music. 

Q: Is there a piece of memorabilia you would kill to get? 
A: “No, I don’t care about that stuff. I don’t care about equipment. It’s what’s in your brain and what you produce that’s important to the music, not what it’s played on. I’m thinking about music all the time. I’ve got a small computer set-up at home and I work on music all the time - when I’m not surfing or watching the cricket. I’m not sure what else I could do. I did science at university but I didn’t enjoy it much.

Q: Which overseas markets have responded well to Powderfinger? 
A: “We’ve done North America and Europe a couple of times, and there’s a vibe. We might go back this September or October. Once our van broke down in Canada, out in the sticks. This guy in a van who was going by gave us a lift to the gig, he was going out of his way to do it. We got to talking, and I said, ‘What were you doing out here?’ and he said, ‘Picking apples, aye’. I said, why, is that your job? He said, ‘No, it’s for the deer who come on to my property, aye’. I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this guy is so nice, he goes out of his way to give us a lift and he feeds deer on his land’. So I say, Why do you feed apples to your deer?’ He says, ‘So when the hunting season comes along, they’ll still be there and I can shoot them. 

Q: Is world domination important to Powderfinger? 
A: “Yes. 

Q: Is it the chicks, the power or the fame? 
A: “Everything! No, seriously, we never got into a band to become famous or conquer the world, it was always the music. It’d be nice to make a bit more money out of this to be comfortable, and I don’t think we could do that from just live gigs. 

Q: Which Powderfinger video has been crap? 
A: “Which ones haven’t? (laughs) I liked ‘Good Day Ray’ and ‘Living Time’, the others have been OK but I didn’t always understand their vibe. 

Q: Do you turn down a lot of sponsorship or event offers?
A: “We sit down and work out if we’re happy with it. Or if someone offered us a million dollars. We don’t do Hey Hey It’s Saturday. We were offered the opening of the State Of Origin (game) but it wasn’t our audience, so we didn’t worry. I wouldn’t appear nude in Playboy. I’d do an interview with them but not in the nude.

Q: I forgot to tell you, Australian Musician needs nude pictures of you. 
A: “Oh I’d do it for Australian Musician!