Gary Husband
"My Views" by Terry Arnett
For me, it all started back in 1985, when I had the
pleasure of seeing Allan Holdsworth
playing a gig in Ealing (the home of his bassist Paul
Carmichael). I was flabbergasted at
the change of dynamics of their drummer. I had to find out
who it was.
It was Gary Husband.
I went about buying all the Holdsworth records to
hear more of this. His playing can be very delicate -
almost silent. Then, he
would erupt like some violent volcano bursting its top.
It made think
more about the way I was playing. I was plodding along
with pop bands at the time.
This is no disrespect to the guys I was working with, but
the "pop" medium doesn't
allow for virtuosity - you could only inject liitle spurts
of genius
in amongst the solid basis that needs to be in a pop song.
I was also into Level 42
at the time. I liked the way Mark King and Phil Gould
complimented each other -
it is also difficult to be a virtuoso as a drummer when
the bass player plays in
the style that MK does!
I respected that. Phil played with such control, only
doing what was necessary for the song. In 1988, Level 42
stated that
two of their members were leaving. One of them was the
drummer. I wondered who
was to replace him. The choice was better than I
imagined...
The Level 42 years...
Gary had been linked to Level 42 in the past. Phil had
threatened to leave
back in 1985. Gary actually sat in for a week before Phil
decided to come back.
But to find Gary as the resident drummer for them was
great for me.
I got to see them at Wembley in 88 (or was it 89?) and was
blown away.
I saw them a couple of times after that - once at Crystal
Palace, once at the Odeon
in Hammersmith and again at the Town & Country. Being a
member of the Level 42 Fan Club,
I was surprised to see them advertise Gary's Yamaha kit
for sale. I had to buy it!
After sending off a bid, and obtaining a loan to pay for
it, I managed to get hold
of the kit. It was the first time also met Gary in person.
It was here that Gary told
me that he was no longer working with Level 42 on a live
basis, however he was to
to do studio work in them.
What transpired later was that Phil Gould - who was also
working
with the guys again - would not work on ANY of Gary's
material! Gary's written work
with them was great, so why Phil wouldn't play them is
beyond comprehension.
The link with Level 42 was now well and truly broken.
Here is a picture (Thanks Gary!) of the drum kit I brought
from "Hubbo" himself.
Thanks to Gary for the
opportunity of a
lifetime to "sound like thunder!".
Just for the record, the kit comprises of the following...
22" x 16" Bass Drum
8" x 8" Tom
10" x 10" Tom
14" x 12" Tom
12" x 10" Tom
8" x 8" Tom
16" x 16" Floor Tom
18" x 16" Floor Tom
14" x 5.5" Snare Drum
And 2 flight cases of hardware (all Yamaha)
I also use a 13" x 3.5" Premier Brass Piccolo Snare,
and a Yamaha 12" x 5" Stage Custom Snare in Raven Balck.
As for bass pedals, I use either...
Tama Flexi Flyer, or
Dixon PP970 Double (right lead)
As for cymbals, well - all Zildjian...
13" K/Z Hi Hats
19" K Custom Dark China
6", 8" & 10" A Custom Splashes
17" A Medium Thin Crash (Brilliant)
20" A Ping Ride
18" A Medium Crash (Brilliant)
20" A Medium Ride (Brilliant)
16" A Medium Thin Crash (Brilliant)
13" K/Z Hi Hats reversed (should that be Z/K?)
20" A China Boy Low
Heads, well Remo really,
Ambassador Coated for Snare Batter
Ambassador Snare for bottom
Ambassador Clear or Coated for Tom Batters
Ambassador Clear for Tom Bottoms
Pinstripe for Bass Drum w/Falam Slam patch
Sticks...
Zildjian Gary Husband model (what else!)
Also ProMark Hot Rods
and Regal Tip Brushes w/rubber grip.
Life after Level 42...
Since Level 42, Gary has indeed been busy. He already kept
his links with Allan
Holdsworth, working on a couple of albums and playing
live.
He has also done clinics for both Zildjian and
Pearl.
He has also been working
with Jack Bruce, firstly with the Cities of the Heart tour
and with Jack Bruce &
Friends.
He also has toured with Andy Summers - he was the
guitarist for The Police through 1978-86 (another band I
greatly admired!).
On top of this, he has also recorded and toured with Billy
Cobham (another drum god!) -
in fact the drum duel between Billy and Gary (down to
singular, alternate beats) has to
be seen & heard to be believed. You can hear it on Billy's
album "The Traveler". Click here to hear it (Real Player needed).
He has recorded and toured with Gary Moore - his drumming
on the album "Dark Days in
Pardise"
is exquisite. Also check out Gongzilla's album "Thrive".
He also has recorded with Iwan Van Hetten on his album
"Time". I am honoured to have a rough mix of three tracks
from that album - and, yes, it sounds great!
One last mention must be for his work
with his long time associate and cohort Steve Topping.
He is a fantastic guitarist. Steve actually joined
Level 42 before the recording of "Staring At The Sun", but
nothing concrete came from it,
which
was a real shame.
I am very pleased that Gary, Steve and Paul Carmichael
agreed to release the album "What It Is", which dates back
to 1980.
For more information about Steve and his activities, check
out his web site here.
He has also released his own material. He has two
wonderful CDs out at the moment -
"Diary of a Plastic Box"
and (under his new band as leader of Gary Husband and the New Trio) "From The Heart".
In 1997 he released a video "Interplay and Improvisation
on the Drums"(Rittor Music), now
obtainable through Hal Leonard distribution. Order it through
www.halleonard.com and www.musicdispatch.com, where he teamed up
with Allan, Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Paul Stacey, Steve
Topping, Mick Hutton and Mark King.
Thanks again to Gary for providing the information. I
would also like to thank him for his
support and inspiration.
I have had the immense pleasure of being invited into his
home, where he
played and showed me demos of up and coming projects, of which a copy has
been sent to me by Gary
He has an amazing video of the Mahavishnu Orchestra that
he played to me - he also made a copy of this any many other drum shows!
Billy Cobham was absolutely awesome! I feel forever
indebted to him, so thank you Gary!
Talent like his needs to be recognised, therefore I
emplore you to support him. His up and coming releases should be well worth the wait!
We are truly not worthy.
Long may he continue.
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This page last updated June 25th
2000.
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Gary