THE BATTERY SERIES : Roy Miller / Solitary

 1.What is your name and what band do you play for?

 My name is Roy Miller and I play drums in the thrash metal band Solitary; we're currently in the studio recording our new album
 
 2.Who made you want to play drums and why?

 I actually started out playing guitar when I was around 13 and never imagined I'd end up behind the kit!

 My younger brother had a kit and when my friends at school were putting a band together they needed a drummer, knew there was a kit in our house so asked me If I wanted to play drums and 25yrs later I'm still drumming

 3.When did you get your first kit? Tell us about it…

 I guess the 1st kit was my brothers which was a 4 piece Olympic kit from the 70s I think. I can't knock it cause it got me started.

 Once it was obvious I was going to stick with drumming and more importantly getting pretty good my grandparents helped me buy a 5 piece pearl export that served me well for around 10yrs

 4.Where your parents supportive of you and your loud / expensive new habit?

 My parents were and still are nothing short of amazing! They were always encouraging and helpful with new gear when they realized It wasn't just a phase and I was going to keep at it.

 I'd set up in the back garden in the summer when I was learning, that must have been hard to listen to!
 

 They even let my 1st band rehearse in the house every sunday, it was around this time the neighbor's became less supportive and kept calling the police due to the noise so we had to sound proof the shed at the end of the garden

 5.What drum performance on an album is perfection to you?

 The obvious one is "reign in blood"  the intensity and speed of Dave Lombardo on that album is amazing and really still is the benchmark for me

 But also Chis kontos performance on burn my eyes is also up there! He plays with a groove that makes you want to move and mixes it with speed and power

 6.Tell us about your current kit and set up in DETAIL.

 I currently have 2 kits. One for live and one for the studio.

> My live kit it is a pearl masters studio:
> 22" kick
> 8",10",12",14" toms mounted on a pearl rack
> Zildjain Z custom cymbals:
> 13" dyno beat hi hats
> 17",18",19",20" crashes
> 18" China
> 21" mega bell ride
     

> My studio/rehearsal is a pearl masters custom:
> 22" kick
> 10",12",14",16 toms
> Zildjain Z custom cymbals:
> 14" dyno beat hi hats
> 17",18",19",20" crashes
> 18" China
> 21" mega bell ride
 My main snare is a  14x6.5 Dunnett 2n triple brass snare
 I also use a pearl eliminator double pedal with the blue cams fitted 

 All my hardware is also pearl
 
  

7.If you could have a dream kit tell us about it in DETAIL Dream kit...can't say I really have one! I'm happy with what I have as it meets my needs. If anything of late I've been tempted to buy another Dunnett snare...or maybe even a tama bell brass snare...hope my mrs don't read this Haha.
 

 8.Name your top 5 drummers excluding Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy

> Dave Lombardo
> Adrian Erlandsson
> Jason Bittner
> Per moller Jensen
> Vinnie Paul 

 9. Do you prefer Live or Studio? 
     
    

I love playing live because that's when the real me comes out, I can get all that aggression out and turn off from the real world for a bit and work up a good sweat with the rest of the band.
 
 In the studio it's just me and the click so it can be a pretty lonely place apart from when you get the "Nah do it again" in your headphones

 10.Do drummers really get all the chicks and if so how do we convince the guitarist?

> How can anyone resist the sweaty drummer...guitarists don't even break sweat do they, let's be honest

 http://imperativepr.co.uk/management-solitary.html
 http://www.solitary.org.uk/
 https://www.facebook.com/Official.Solitary
 https://www.youtube.com/user/solitarypreston/featured