By now, we’re all used to the idea of musicians playing well into their 70s and even 80s. But some are finding it easier than others.
With Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain having recently announced his retirement from live work, a number of rock’s ageing drummers have been speaking to the Guardian about the unique difficulties many of them face - particularly if their band’s music puts a premium on power and energy.
Take Rat Scabies of the Damned, who at the age of 69 is suffering from an affliction called ‘viking disease’ or Dupuytren’s contracture: “(It’s) where your whole hand claws up, and some lumps, and arthritis. And I was always a heavy hitter, so I don’t think that helped,” he says.
“The aches and pains get incredibly frustrating, because there are some things you want to do that you can’t any more," he continues. "But as long as I’m still playing New Rose properly, and I can still make the songs sound like they should …”
Meanwhile, Ian Paice of Deep Purple is 76 and is still playing two-hour sets each night, starting with the band’s spiciest number, Highway Star.
“Many of the things I found easy when I was much younger are now difficult,” he says. “But I know a lot more now than when I was younger. So you substitute things: that is going to be difficult, but I can do that instead. Anybody who thinks they can do exactly the same thing they did 50 years ago is mad. There aren’t many guys of my generation left playing what I call ‘powerful drums’.”
All working musicians their age have to keep themselves fit. Scabies deals with the pain in his wrists by using tumeric oil, whilst Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols does cardio and upper arm work and works with a nutritionist – something unthinkable at the height of the punk era - though he adds: “I’m not a health fanatic. I haven’t turned into a lentil-eating hippy.”
Other than that, it’s a matter of adapting your style. “You can create more by doing less,” notes Paice. Whilst Scabies reveals that even he has reduced his bpm rate on some of the band’s more frenetic numbers. “Back in the day we were just hell for leather - whoever gets to the end of the song first is the winner. But now we try to do the tunes a bit more justice.”
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