ONES TO WATCH - Drums of Death

With his unkempt shock of hair, ghostly-white face and vicious black slash of a mouth, Drums of Death is one scary musician to behold. He looks like a cross between Jason Voorhees and something from Live and Let Die. Throw in a splash of Haitian witch doctor and the ensemble couldn’t be more unnerving. It’s difficult to believe that beneath the undertaker’s outfit and Halloween greasepaint lurks a softly-spoken Scotsman by the name of Colin Bailey.

But Drums of Death’s striking visuals isn’t just a cheap thrill: “my name, my face, my music. It’s all part of the same idea. Without one there wouldn’t be any,” explains Bailey.

Bailey grew up in Oban, an idyllic spot in northern Scotland. rambling through the misty Highlands of this part of the world you’d expect to run across the mythical township of Brigadoon rather than come face to face with this monochrome Jack-o’-lantern. Thank metal for transforming shy Colin Bailey into the engaging presence we know him as today: “I urge everyone who has never done so to start a band. you will learn so much about people and maybe one or two things about music,” he says. “I was in bands when I was a timid boy, learning to express myself. I was socially awkward and being in a band was a way to engage with people. The bands I was in were pretty much all terrible. What I try to do now is harness the energy of the music I loved when I was 15 with the intelligence of the music I love now.”

Bailey himself describes the Drums of Death sound as “big and brash and crippled with self-doubt” but there’s also a ‘surging megalomania’ present which prevents it all collapsing into a messy heap of self-loathing. A quick trip to his myspace defines it as tropical/grime/techno. None of these explanations fully does justice to what Bailey is all about. The metal influence is clear but there’s also banging synths, ragged electro hooks and aggressive rabble-rousing vocals; part political rally, part hip-hop MC. Bailey’s visits to Germany have added a Teutonic splash into this hell-brew of a mix: “Germany has greatly inspired my music. The cities have been backdrops and therefore directly influenced some of the music that shaped me. I’m talking about Neu, Kraftwerk, Tresor, DAF, Modeselektor, Rhythm & Sound.”

Bailey takes to the stage with an array of technology; pulsating machines right out of a mad scientist’s laboratory, which create the Drums of Death aural vortex. sometimes though, man can be too dependent on machine; often forgetting the showbiz element of what they do and tending to look like they’re checking Facebook. Not Bailey, who again draws on his band experiences: “It’s important to get people involved. I try to make sure the show is big and fun and engages everyone in the room. I grew up with hardcore shows. I grew up with everyone sweating as much as the band. I want to deliver something special to the crowd, especially in clubs where it’s easy to fall into routines.”

"He's like some English Fantomas stealing across the rooftops of Berlin at night. A charming thief in white slacks. He's a charlatan, a silver-tongued, devious mastermind..."

A Drums of Death mixtape fell into the hands of !K7’s Alex Waldron and Joe Goddard from Hot Chip (who together mastermind the Greco Roman label), and an appearance at a typically apocalyptic rave in Manchester followed. One thing led to another and now Bailey is putting out music on the label, starting with debut EP, step into the ring. He praises the label – which he describes as being constructed of “man flesh” – and enjoys a good working relationship with the gaffers, although confesses to be slightly in awe of Waldron: “He’s some kinda of cursed fakir! He’s like some English Fantomas stealing across the rooftops of Berlin at night. A charming thief in white slacks. He’s a charlatan, a silver-tongued, devious mastermind whose language is all smoke and mirrors. I do work well with him, though I never get used to those moments when he comes up with some crazy scheme and flashes that wild-eyed, black-toothed grin. Even I shiver at that!”

As for the future, an LP is in the pipeline with Chilly Gonzales and Peaches due to pop up in guest slots, which is currently priority number one – “It's a big vision and the end is now in sight” – and Bailey is currently putting together a band for a real Drums of Death live experience. With so much still to come in the future how does our Halloween phantom sum up the current decade, which is soon to draw to a close? “The last ten years saw technology loosen the grip the music industry had over artists and music in its physical form. Whilst I think this is a good thing, in the long run we have seen a slump in record sales. If some majors go down, then let them. This itself has shaped music just like the advent of the 12". The way music is transferred, and the use of things like myspace has altered how music is managed and released. This will be how this time is remembered, I think.”