About me...

Hi there, my name is Mike Heaton and I've been the drummer for Embrace for the last twenty years!! For a short summary of the band's achievements see further down on this page or, for the full story, go to www.embrace.co.uk.

In 2007, I began mentoring young bands and relished the challenge and excitement of helping those who were starting out in music .Following on from this, in 2008, I decided to embark upon the path of teaching one to one, giving private drum lessons. My teaching is primarily aimed at beginners to intermediate players, as I feel these are the areas in which my knowledge and skills can be most beneficial; my theory being, if you can master it at these stages you'll be well on your way to being a great player (with plenty of practise of course!), however, I will take students as far as possible, providing they find my help useful, and hopefully inspiring.

My style of teaching is not geared towards the focus of grade exams; being self-taught, I did not take the formal grade route. I believe the key to successful drumming lies in how you are taught to warm up, practise and play rather than how many pieces of paper you have! I have seen quite a few reasonably highly graded students who can perform any rudiment perfectly at speed, but are unable to hold down a steady groove - timing is king for a band player!

My main area of expertise is Rock/Indie music, however, I'll willingly explore any other areas that students wish to investigate - consider it an adventure for both of us!

I feel that my plethora of experiences gained from the last twenty years of playing (sixteen professionally) gives me an extremely relevant and in depth insight into what makes a good drummer and how best to approach the instrument. My aim is to hopefully help young drummers avoid the pitfalls and problems I've encountered over the years, through things such as careless posture and general laziness, when it comes to practise/playing!! Hindsight is a great thing to have and I feel passionate about passing mine on to help those starting out. My first hand music industry knowledge is also invaluable, for those aspiring to take their playing to the next step - I lecture in this area, so would be very happy to have such discussions with my students.

I am a member of the Musicians Union and am covered for £10m public liability insurance. I am also CRB checked and you'll find all certificates on display.

Squirrel studios is located within half an hour's drive of either Leeds, Bradford or Huddersfield.

Teaching

Aims and Objectives:

To boost confidence in the student and take them to their desired level of playing in the quickest (and least boring) way possible, without missing any detail.

I have recording facilities for both audio and video, which can be used by students at a very reasonable cost if they want to take away footage to view in their own time or possibly as part of a project.

Inside Music

During the course of a lesson I'm more than willing to answer questions students may have about the music business and how it works. If a student is part of a band that would like a more in depth insight into specific aspects of the industry then I can arrange separate sessions with the whole band to go through their queries in detail . The cost of the session would depend on the length and amount of information required. Please enquire below for any more info and rates.

A brief history of Embrace

Signed to Hut records ( subsiduary of Virgin records ) Oct 1996.

Recorded three albums for Hut:
The Good Will Out, No1, 1998
Drawn From Memory - No 8, 2000
If you've Never Been - No9, 2001

Moved to Independiente Records March 2002.
Out Of Nothing - No1, 2004
This New Day - No1, 2006

Also released:
Fireworks(singles collection) 1997-2002
Dry Kids (b-sides)

From these albums 21 singles have been released (18 of which were chart eligible) , 6 went in the top 10, 6 top 20 and 6 top 40. The highest position going to Natures Law, which reached no2 in March 2006.

We also recorded the official 2006 world cup song "World At Your Feet"

During this period Embrace have toured extensively both in the UK and round the world and sold over a million albums.

Drum Tracks

 

If you are a solo singer /songwriter or a band without a drummer, I am happy to add live drums to your tracks. All you need to do is send your track that has preferably been recorded to a click and I'll lay down a drum track, either to your requirements or I can do what I think suits the track, the choice is yours. I can send you either a stereo track of the drums mixed by myself or dry for you. Alternatively I could also send you the separate multi-track WAVs for you to mix as you see fit.

I can also mix your entire track if you wish. For this you would need to be able to send all the separate parts/wavs. Examples of a few of mix’s I’ve done are below.

Cost

  • Stereo drum track only ( up to 4 minutes ) either effected or dry £100
  • Separate WAVS £100
  • For a full mix of the track add £100 per track.

Contact/Rates

 

Contact




Rates

  • £25/hour
  • £18/ three quarter hour
  • £13/half hour


Cancellations

Please note when cancelling a lesson you are required to give no less than 48 hours notice or payment will have to be made in full for the session booked.