Ringo rocks: Everything Everything's Mike Spearman

British art rockers Everything Everything are on their third highly-regarded album of killer tunes, Get To Heaven. Drummer Mike Spearman's intelligent, musical drumming is the backbone of their sound, and here he tells Rhythm why he loves Ringo's drumming and highlights his particular favourite Ringo track.

"For me, 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' is a prime example of what makes Ringo such a good musician.

"It starts with a half-bar pattern of just bass drum and a hi-hat bark that moves the verse along perfectly without getting in the way. Gradually Ringo shifts up through the gears to build energy and there's a real sense of tension and release as he moves between sections.

"He was the first drummer that proved to me that sometimes a square beat is more funky than a syncopated beat and that space is imperative to a groove. Also showcased in 'While My Guitar...' is Ringo's famous laid-back, fluid feel. Sometimes his snare is hanging so far off the back of the beat that it's almost out of time but it's always unmistakably Ringo. There's no doubt in my mind that The Beatles wouldn't be the band they were without Ringo's personality and imagination shining through the music."

Read more on the genius of Ringo Starr in the Summer issue of Rhythm, which is available here!