Title: I would have to say to the good Reverend…
.. the mere fact that Fyfe was an instinctive drummer was much more in keeping with Therapy?’s sound as a band than that of Graham’s drumming.
To me, T? have always been an instinctive band. If you listen to the guitar riffs, they’re so simple, and I’m sure Andy wouldn’t profess to be the best technical guitarist in the world. And because of that, Graham’s more measured and technically correct approach didn’t seem to fit.
When Graham came on board, he brought all the technical bits with him, a background in jazz (as he told me when I interviwed him), and he introduced patterns and off-beat rhythms which Fyfe didn’t.
Thealbum he displayed a style closest to Fyfe’s is without doubt Semi Detached - after that, T?’s style altered and personally, I think the fact Fyfe left (whether that was orchestrated or natural progression) meant that T? were able to go in a new direction which Fyfe’s drumming wouldn’t allow.
T? are more rock ‘n’ roll now, whereas with Fyfe, there was clear evidence that his love of dance music, which translated into his drumming technique, influenced the band as a whole, including the guitars and bass. The sample lead songs were testament to this.
Fyfe’s drumming, because he probably was less rigid in as much as his fills weren’t technically perfect, was far more inventive than Graham’s. He had less rules to follow, and therefore he created his own drumming style.
With Graham, the fact he was more structured, to me, makes him bland in comparison.
I don’t think, in all the years I’ve been listening to T?, that Graham Hopkins, or for that matter Neil Cooper, has ever come up with a Teethgrinder, a Hypermania, an Innocent X, a Meat Abstract or a Dancin’ With Manson.
Fyfe was the man who inspired me to play drums because he thought outside of the box. That is what makes him an integeral part of T? and why they’ve possibly never filled his shoes, so to speak.
