I'm not a deaf musician. I'm a musician who happens to be deaf.
Holidays are about experiences and people, and tuning into what you feel like doing at that moment. Enjoy not having to look at a watch.
Music is about communication... it isn't just something that maybe physically sounds good or orally sounds interesting; it's something far, far deeper than that.
Hearing is a form of touch. I could hear less through the ears but more through the body.
Society cannot continue to disable themselves through their need to categorize people or make assumptions as to another individual's abilities.
Music really is our daily medicine.
The human body and mind are tremendous forces that are continually amazing scientists and society. Therefore, we have no choice but to keep an open mind as to what the human being can achieve.
Percussion is the most adaptable family of instruments. The biggest challenge is to project percussion in a lyrical way.
I try to plant myself where I am and embrace what is there in front of me.
A lot of things which come with a high profile will always be criticised one way or another.
Hearing is a form of touch. You feel it through your body, and sometimes it almost hits your face.
I suppose I don't hear things, but I listen, if you know what I mean. And there is a big difference between hearing and listening. So it's like a conversation, you know. When you speak to someone, it's one on one, and that's exactly how I play.
The thing about playing percussion is that you can create all these emotions that can be sometimes beautiful, sometimes really ugly, or sometimes sweet, sometimes as big as King Kong and so on. And so there can be a real riot out there, or it can be so refined.
If we see someone in a wheelchair, we assume they cannot walk. It may be that they can walk three, four, five steps. That, to them, means they can walk.
Before my teen years, I was losing my hearing pretty quickly, and I was getting very, very angry. I was beginning to become an angry person because of that.
I am really quite fascinated by echo-locating bats and dolphins and have always wondered how sound affects the unconscious brain.
There are many collaborations I'd like to explore. One is to co-write a rap concerto with Eminem.
I didn't decide to become a musician until the age of 15, which is quite late.
Apart from Scottish traditional music, I wasn't really influenced by any kind of music. I just basically followed my own instincts.
I like the sparkle of the vibraphone.
Concerts have to be seen as a real event for which the aim is to try and feed everybody.
I hope the seeds I have sown will be taken up by those who will follow me because the journey I have begun cannot be undertaken in isolation.
I associate going to an airport with work because I travel so much with my job. So when I have a few days free from work, I tend to stay at home.
And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.
A large part of my work has been collaborating with composers; I think we've commissioned about 140 pieces now, a lot of them percussion concertos.
