‘There was a buzz we weren’t expecting at all and it went absolutely crazy. Bob Dylan came to see us and stood at the back wearing a hoodie’
In the 80s I was a street performer in a band called Pookiesnackenburger with Steve McNicholas. I was the drummer, and rather than carry kits around I started getting into playing objects and experimenting with visual ideas. I had an act called the Urban Warriors where we would drum wearing suits of armour. I started doing lots of stunt performances, such as being suspended off the pier in Brighton or hanging off a ship at sea.
I was also doing session drumming – I was in Beats International with Norman Cook – but there was a part of me that really enjoyed performance, creating scenes and movement. We had a pitch busking at Covent Garden in London, and saw the phenomenal Drummers of Burundi there doing a publicity spot. At the end they lifted these drums up and hitched them over their shoulders, so as they walked away they looked like old fashioned dustmen with metal bins on their shoulders. That’s where the idea for the bin number came from. We started to think about the iconic things we have that make a noise. We’re not dancers, but using props allowed us to dance and make visual rhythms.
