Occupying an enviable position on the drum stool for one of the UK’s most highly regarded vocalists, Carlos Hercules enjoys the kind of career that most aspiring drummers only dream of.
He has spent a decade as Beverley Knight’s drummer of choice, and has also attracted the attention of Liberty X, The Eurythmics and George Michael, all of whom he has worked for in the not too distant past. In short, he’s a man in demand, and it’s not hard to see why. A supersized groove, a backbeat that’ll stop trains and an immediately endearing personality are all part of the Herculean package. A long way from acting the ‘made it’ muso that others might feel he is, Carlos attributes his success to hard work, developing a natural talent and simply being a decent guy to be around. It’s a simple but effective approach that’s paid dividends throughout his career. Part of that hard work ethic has extended to the adoption of electronics as part of his working rig. Carlos has long espoused the principle of getting hands-on with technology and programming, citing it as an important aspect of any modern drummer’s approach. And he’s an (extremely) enthusiastic exponent of the Roland TD-20K V-Drums, having used it extensively on the George Michael 2006 tour. And even in the less overtly electronic environs of the Beverley Knight band – with whom Carlos was working at the time of this interview – the TD-20 module has a part to play…

So how does the TD-20 fit into your current on-stage set-up with Beverley?
Well I love the TD-20K, and I can’t imagine working without it these days. It’s such a fantastic instrument. So even on a gig like Beverley’s, where there’s less call for electronic sounds, I still use it because it works so wellalongside my acoustic drums. For this tour I’ll use a single pad with the TD-20 module for things like cross-sticks. To get a consistent sound when you’re moving from playing the head to the cross-stick is not easy in a live situation where the rest of the band is loud. So I love the control I have, moving from acoustic snare to the TD-20 for the cross-stick. It means I can dial in a completely consistent sound and the volume we want each night, it cuts through the band and sits perfectly.

But with George Michael it was a far more complex electronic set-up you relied on, wasn’t it?
The George gig was very heavily electronic as far as I was concerned and I took out a whole TD-20K rig with me. His stuff covers so much ground, from really soft ballads to hard dance tunes, and the TD-20 means I can do all that stuff. You’d never be able to make the drums sound right on an acoustic kit alone on a gig like that. I used a combination of internal sounds from the TD-20 and samples on an Akai MPC4000 from George’s albums on tour, and it sounded great.

No matter what you do, it seems that Beverley holds a special place in your heart – what’s your history with her and the band?
I’ve been playing with Beverley for ten years, and it’s a fantastic gig. It was always very sought after, and I think it’s getting more so. Beverley’s profile isn’t what it should be, but the whole industry, from musicians to labels to promoters, have always known that this is a real quality gig.
Musicians don’t get many opportunities to play in ‘proper’ bands like hers, and it’s hard to come by a better artist than she is. And the great thing is that this band has been so consistent in the last ten years. There have been only two incarnations, with a couple of personnel changes in that time. That makes a real difference to us and the audience. I think they can tell that this is a real band – we might be session players but we really work like a band, and we all have a real input to the way the songs are played live. It’s definitely a different feel to a lot of other pop stuff that’s out there. It’s the kind of gig for which we all drop whatever else we might have to do. We all feel we’re valued and that we contribute to the show; we’re not restrained from throwing ideas in, and that means a lot.

Beverley comes from a strong gospel background – is that something you share with her?
No, not at all. My church history consisted of going to Sunday School when we were very young – until they realised that me and my mates were nicking the collection money to go to the sweetshop down the road I’m afraid!

How did the George Michael tour that you did in 2006 compare with working with Beverley?
That whole gig was amazing. Very different from the way Beverley works, but obviously an incredible experience. I got the gig because I’d worked with (all-girl classical outfit) Bond and a lot of the guys in that team, band and crew, worked with George. So I kind of did my audition out on the road – when I did get called for an ‘audition’, I realised that they hadn’t called anyone else, so unless I’d really screwed it up I think I was always in the frame! We’d supported people like Bryan Adams with Beverley, and done huge arenas. But it’s a different thing to go out as the headline act. It’s very exciting. Although now I’m loving playing places where you have a bit more of that ‘whites of their eyes’ thing going on with the audience.

You’re preparing for a 30-date UK tour with Beverley now, and then how far are you looking ahead to 2008?
Well I’ve been in the really lucky position of good work coming and finding me in the last two or three years, and I know that I’m likely to be busy for the coming months. Beverley’s doing quite a lot of stuff, and then there’s talk of another George tour next year. If that happens I’ll be breaking out the full-on Roland rig again and taking it round the world…