Welcome to episode 82 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and Le Petite Chocolat.

I was in Auckland for a brief visit so I made the most of potential-podcast time and finally caught up with Wayne Bell. Wayne is a drummer, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. I’ve met Wayne a few times across the years and corresponded with him a fair bit – and we’ve talked of having a chat for the podcast since right back to when I was still just planning to get started on this…so it was great to finally find the time, between us, and sit down for a chat about Wayne’s life and career.

Unsurprisingly we talk drums – including the brand new discovery that we had a shared early mentor. And a few shared favourite drummers too. But mostly we talk about some of the gigs Wayne has done – and for a great rundown it’d be wise to check this piece from Audioculture.

From lamenting the snare-drum sound on Bic Runga’s Drive to long-running associations with Greg Johnson, Jan Hellriegel, Dianne Swann and Brett Adams (The Bads) and to iconic performances (Bike) and working with legends (When The Cat’s Away, Finn/Runga/Dobbyn) Wayne has come close to seeing it all. He’s played almost any genre and under many different circumstances, he’s become a master of “the hang”, or the ability to do huge amounts of airport-time, drink copious cups of tea and wait; patiently wait…

So we talk about all of this, some of his key performances, some of the musical influences and stories that shaped him some of the music he loves.

It’s an open, honest and real conversation – what I always hope for with the podcast. Great that he had nothing to plug as such, just a catch-up and a talk-through a distinguished and long-running career from a talented player.

It was so great to finally get this all on tape – and I hope you enjoy listening to it too.
You’ve found this via the link on Facebook or Twitter and/or from the Off The Tracks website – it’s hosted at Soundcloud and to receive the episodes before you even get to these show notes you can subscribe on iTunes. You can also rate and review the podcast there.

Please enjoy episode 82 of Sweetman Podcast, my conversation with Wayne Bell.
http://www.waynebellmusic.co.nz/