When did you start playing and who with?

I first played when I was 13⁄14, my dad taught me as he was taking up drumming again as he had given it up when I was young. The band was Dailly and District Piping Society and was made up mostly of pipers that were being taught by Sue McIntyre the famous(!?) instructor.

What inspired you to start playing?

As I said my dad had been teaching me and I thought I would give it a go, but was getting bored of “Mummy-Daddy”s. Anyway one night I went to my first ever band practice with my dad (the now long time leading drummer of Girvan and District Pipe Band), and when the band struck up and I saw my dad playing, it was like someone flicking a switch and I WANTED to do that. After that I probably practiced 3 hrs, or more, a day, so thanks dad...it‘s all your fault !!

What other bands do you like to see and hear?

I love Shotts, the FM and was a big fan of the RUC.

Who/What has influenced you in your playing?

Firstly for the reasons above, my dad. Mostly Jim Kilpatrick though, who just continues to raise the bar, its fantastic. Gary Corkin of the RUC is also a big influence, some of his scores were amazing, although I don‘t try and copy him by playing with my eyes shut though!

Do you have any favourite tunes or musical pieces?

I am a big fan of MSR‘s, I love them. Shotts Captain Carswell MSR is just brilliant, I can‘t remember exactly which year 2002 or 2003 I think they played it, and it was absolutely perfect.

The drumming in the RUC medley from 1994 Worlds is also brilliant.

Are there any particular pipe band or solo performances that stand out in you mind?

In 1999 I think it was, I was playing with DUT and we were just about to leave final tuning to go on and play our medley in the Worlds Final. It was a strange day, it was cloudy, but when the sun broke thru it was roasting so we thought we'd be ok weatherwise. So we are literally 2 mins from going on and the heavens open - torrential rain !! The pipe major at the time Ally Fletcher marches the band up to the line and the steward told him the judges werent ready (hiding in their wee tents..) “WE ARE READY” was his prompt and stroppy reply !! So this rain is bouncing off the ground, and if you listen to the cd the 1st thing you hear at the start of that track is the rain absolutely howling down. We put in a fantastic run, I think everyone just thought “To hell with it, we have nothing to lose” The rain carried on as heavy for about ¾ our performance, and I had to tip my drum to the side during the slow air cause the rim of my drum was so full that I was hitting water before the drumskin. Jimmy hutton was the judge and commented; “That was a helluva performance in those conditions”.....And we got the loudest applause on that cd...brilliant.

What do you do for a living?

I work for South Ayrshire Council as a Community Support Officer. What we do is patrol certain area's of Ayr, where there are problems with fly tipping, graffiti, anti-social behaviour etc, and we then report these to the relevant council departments who get them sorted. We also organise youth clubs and sports events for the local kids and try support anything positive thats going on within the local community.

What other hobbies do you have?

I am gamer, and play quite a lot on my pc and x–box. I am also a Batman fan, and have a huge collection of memorabilia, the centrepiece of my collection is my movie quality replica Batsuit from Batman Returns, which cost me too much money, but is minted !! (Ok yes I am sad......and no I haven‘t wore it) Im also a snooker fan, my highest break on a full size table is 45, which I have had 6 times.... However on my 4½ ft x 2 ½ ft table my highest break was 104.

What other types of music do you like to listen to?

My favourite bands are Garbage and Aerosmith. Other than that I love the Foo Fighters, Skunk Anansie and Evanescence as well as the better stuff from the charts.

Do you play any other instruments?

Other than being an AMAZING Air Guitarist.....No !!

Any amusing moments that stick in your mind from your years in pipe bands?

Oh yeah !!! We were playing with DUT at a comp in Bearsden and Brian(who also plays with D&G ) went for a pee at this verge, and fell down it and landed up to his knees in mud, this was 10 mins before we were due to go on. His face was a picture !! Another one more recent, In Belfast Big Stevie our Bass drummer with DUT was out for the count in our hotel room, and we invited these 2 Australian birds in to see(and hear !!) him sleeping. So one of them goes over to him, removes the duvet and starts pulling down his boxers to his knees, at which Stevie woke from his drunken slumber. He looked from his naked member to the girl, she then kissed him on the cheek, winked at him, and said “ You were amazing, Big Man”. His face was a picture...... Laugh, oh my god I thought I was going to die !!!!

What, if anything, annoys you in the pipeband world?

Pretentious Muppets who think they are God because they play in a top 6 band, Get Over Yourself !!!!

What‘s been the best band trip (not necessarily with D&G Police)?

Had a few good ones with DUT to Ireland.

What are the highlights of your playing career?

I have to say playing with DUT. Gary Killen started a brand new corps of guys that had played in G2⁄G3, and we worked our butts off and became the only band to continuously come through the qualifying for the final of the worlds for the first 5 years since they brought it in, and finishing top 10 in the Worlds Final a few of those times. Playing in the final of the Worlds is just amazing, if you cant play your best in that arena then you shouldn‘t be there.

And are there any low points?

Not Qualifying for the final of the worlds due to a poor pipe corps. Surely in this day and age they should be able to replace pipers with a micro chip...........only joking Callum, sir......

What are your goals within the pipe band world?

To win a championship with the band and as a drum corps, and D&G will achieve that pretty soon.

Finally, if you could be re-incarnated as anyone, at any point in history, who would it be?

World War II fascinates me and I would like to experience what it would have been like to serve as a soldier in France around and during the time of D–Day. There are so many lessons about humanity from that time that we should never be allowed to forget. A very profound way to finish, but its true......