Biography

Mark Gormley, a drummer from Glasgow, first picked up a pair of sticks at the age of 13. He is studying under the tutelage of professional session drummer Gordon Wilson, a member of Glasgow band Love and Money who has also played session drums for artists such as Susan Boyle and Scottish band The Blue Nile. He is currently undertaking his First Instrument Studies for HND at Riverside Music College under the tutelage of drummer and musician Stuart Kidd, who has played for BMX Bandits and The Soup Dragons. He is also studying piano independently and receiving lessons from Sam Clark, who is a classically trained pianist who studied at the University of Glasgow.

His major drumming influences are Alan ‘Reni’ Wren of The Stone Roses and Ringo Starr of ‘The Beatles’.

He likes to play and explore a variety of different genres of music (indie rock, alternative rock, pop, and hard rock) and enjoys playing with other musicians both collaboratively and in a band setting.

He likes to keep his finger on the pulse regarding the Glasgow music scene and regularly attends local gigs around the city. As a session drummer for Jack Torrance, previously Pinc Wafer and a current member of Dad’s Best Friend, and as part of his studies at Riverside Music College, he has performed at a number of different venues, such as Broadcast, The Classic Grand, Firewater, Ivory Blacks, McChuills, King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, The Hug and Pint and Ivory Blacks.

He mostly enjoys and focuses on playing acoustic drum kits but also has an electronic Roland TD20, which he could use if required.

This year's project at Riverside Music College sees him collaborate as a session musician with a multitude of different musicians, including solo artists Jack Torrance, Amy McHale, Jessica Hunter, Kyle Andrew Walker, Sam Carchrie and Michelle Morrow. Other collaborative work in a band setting includes My Status is Quo, The Jix, Dad's Best Friend and Disciples of Bush. This work is a mixture of both live performance and studio recording work.