Cora Coleman-Dunham’s story is truly the stuff of dreams. The winner of a US-wide Guitar Center drum competition in 2003 she was ‘discovered’ playing in a club by Prince, who then bought her a one-off drum kit, invited her to join the New Power Generation and play on his new album 3121. OK, so there’s a little more to it than that but, in a nutshell, that’s the deal. Her hook-up with the multi-talented Minneapolian recently led Cora to a string of dates at the brandspanking new O2 arena in London. And it was during her run there that Power On tracked Cora down – sleep deprived due to an early hours aftershow jam (and 4am photoshoot) the night before – to a Southwark apartment. Her home for the duration of her London stay, the flat is kitted out with a boxfresh Roland TD-12K kit for jamming with husband Josh, who happens to be the NPG bassist. So it seemed appropriate to get her feelings on V-Drums up front…

What has been your experience of the V-Drum range and electronics in general?
“I won a Roland V-Drum set-up in the Guitar Center competition, and that was the first time I’d actually owned one. But even before that, whenever I went into a music store that had one I’d be on there, checking out the sounds, losing myself. I always loved them. “Now I’m completely into the Roland gear, whether it’s a full kit like the TD-20K Josh and I have in our studio back home, or the SPD-Ss I have on stage. I’m really into getting into the editing options you have with something like the TD-20. I actually like to read manuals! I want to know what things can do and how to use them best. My weakness is understanding some of the MIDI stuff, but in terms of editing sounds to get what I want, I’m there.”

How does Roland gear fit into your live set-up with Prince?
“I use a pair of SPD-S pads on stage. I don’t trigger sequences as such, but there are lots of sounds or phrases on Prince records you have to have live or it just doesn’t sound like Prince. So I trigger a lot of those from the SPD-S, and having two of them means I can go back and forth, and have a ton of sounds loaded into each one. It’s a very flexible set-up.”

You’ve followed the likes of Michael Bland, Sheila E and John Blackwell as Prince’s chosen groovemeister – and the way it came about sounds like a fairytale…
“I guess it was. I was playing with (singer/keyboardist) Frank McComb in a club in LA three years ago and Prince came to see us; I got a chance to meet him in the break. It was crazy, we’d just finished a set and here I was talking to Prince. The way he talked about music was incredible and so much of what he said resonated and I thought, even at the time, that I would take what he said with me.”

And after that meeting Prince bought you a drum kit?
“Yeah, I found out that he wanted to buy me a kit and that I could have whatever I wanted. I was with DW anyway, so I called them up and we worked out a spec for the kit, which turned out fabulous. And then I got a call asking me to go up and play with Prince – he ended up putting a band together for some aftershow parties and that was when I started playing with him for real. I forget what the parties he hosted were – I don’t tend to pay so much attention to that kind of thing – but it was the Grammys, or Academy Awards and things like that. An amazing experience.”

At what point did you become the official New Power Generation drummer?
“Things happened very organically; there was never a single phone call that said, Cora, you’re now a member of the NPG. We record every so often, and from one of those session resulted the 3121 record. We just worked on different gigs including a 6 month run at the Rio in Las Vegas, the Montreaux Jazz and The Hamptons. then it was decided that we’d come to London for these shows.”

Describe what it’s like making a record with Prince…
“Recording was great - and probably more organic than people might think. We’d go in and play, and Prince would just shout out changes as we went along. So it felt very free, very spontaneous, very low key in a way. And then you’d go and get something to eat, come back and he would have laid down the most incredible layered vocals with harmonies, and suddenly it would sound like a Prince record. He’s a remarkable talent, and he can sit with anyone – producers, engineers, guitarists, piano players, and talk to them in their own language. It’s the result of a lifetime of working in and absorbing music.”

And he still seems motivated simply by playing and making music for music’s sake.
“Prince just loves to play. And that’s something that each of us in the band feels. None of us is doing this as a job. This is not just a session gig. Being in NPG is something different and although I have no idea how long this will last, or where it will take me, while I’m here I’m ready to do anything. And if that means doing two-hour aftershow power trio gigs until 2am, then that’s fine with me.”

Do you have more work with Prince lined up for when you finish the run of O2 dates?
“He’s always taking about doing new things, but we’ll wait and see! We just have to take things as they come with this gig. But Josh and I are always busy with various projects. And one of the biggest is Vivo (www.vivoclub.com), which we call a ‘music microcosm’ – it’s an organisation we run that offers musical training, artist development, special events, all kinds of things. We’ve both always enjoyed teaching, giving something back and seeing students grow, so Vivo is an important part of our next chapter…”