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SK: It still isn’t really [laughing]. No, that’s not strictly true. It has been for a long time. I think

when Cymande started to gig more. When the band settled with the personnel, and we started to
gig more. We were playing places like the Africa Centre. I think Dingwalls was around. Some of the
venues that were around in that period. We were doing pubs - quite a lot of pubs. We were trying to
do quite a bit of touring. We got as far north as Whitley Bay. We did a working men's club up in
Whitley Bay. Can you imagine a bus full of black guys coming out of Whitley Bay [laughing], in the

70s? You could see all the curtains twitching - they’re here! There was no kind of dividing line,
moving from one to another. Again, like so many other things with me, with the music, it just
emerged and moved along in the right direction for me.

BiTS: I’m still trying to find out how you got
Ginger Johnson -
your phenomenal drumming technique. Is it just
Master Drummer
playing? Is that it?

SK: I suppose the best way I can describe it is

rather than trying to play drums in the
conventional manner, this is a four-four time,
for instance. Bass drum is there. Snare’s there.
Do you see what I’m saying?

BiTS: Yes.

SK: My thinking, when I hear a song, I try and
listen to the melody. I try and listen to the
words, and I try and interpret what they’re
saying to me rather than what a drummer is
supposed to do. This is what I got from playing
with Cymande because we were playing a
mixture of West African. Do you remember a guy called Ginger Johnson?

BiTS: I do.

SK: Some of the guys used to play with Ginger Johnson. I played with Ginger Johnson for a short
time. There was the funk stuff that was going on at that time, so basically, if you listen to the
Cymande music it’s a mixture of all those things and my drumming came out of that and I still, even
today, when I hear a song I think about other things other than the drumming that goes with it. I

think how can I interpret the words? How can I interpret the melody? I think about the dynamics
within the song. What is it saying to me? And then hopefully play the right rhythm with the right
inflexions on it as we go along.

BiTS: I know, Sam, that in the past in interviews, you’ve chatted for ages and talked about a whole
list of names that you played with. I don’t want you to do that now. You’ve played with dozens and
dozens of names all over the world, all over the country. Was there an outstanding gig that you

played where you’re sitting there behind the drum kit and you’re thinking, this is absolutely
wonderful?

SK: Oh wow! Now that’s a huge question. I’m not trying to cop out of producing an answer, but for
me, even now, I’ve been doing this thing 45-50 years, whatever, and it doesn’t matter if I’m playing
in front of 2000 people or if I’m playing down the Dog and Duck, I still enjoy it. I get as much of a
buzz playing those gigs. When I played with Roger Chapman or when I played with Gary [Moore] or

when somebody rings me up and says, look, I’ve got a gig down at the Dog and Duck next week. Can