Ever noticed the musicians behind the performers? Jody Linscott continues to have an amazing career as a renowned percussionist; whether in the studio or in live performance Jody delivers a great feel with a self expression in her performance that leaves you mesmerised. Her performances can be heard and seen on Pete Townshend’s solo projects and has worked with iconic artists such as Tom Jones, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Elton John, Nils Lofgren and recently Dido. Her live performances can be witnessed on DVD - The Who’s ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadraphenia’, Pete Townsend’s ‘Lifehouse’ and she performed with the house band for the televised ‘Concert for Diana’ in 2007.

How did it all begin and what made you decide to be a percussionist?

First of all I didn’t have a thought in my head of becoming a percussionist. In 1971 I came to England on a holiday [Jody is originally from the US] and never went back. I was squatting and studying to be a bookbinder. When I needed some money people would come and bring me things to fix ''cause I was good with my hands so I ended up with this wooden conga with a torn skin and the wood was coming apart. I fixed it but the guy never came back.

I was wandering around Covent Garden one day and noticed a poster at the African Centre, the centre is still there today, and it said ‘Mustapha Tete Ade – Master Drummer from Ghana, all welcome and bring something with you if you’ve got something’. So I thought I got this conga so I might as well go along that evening. Well this tall exotic man came out, there were about 20 people in the room, and he started demonstrating these African rhythms on strange drums. Well the next thing I know, he took me out of this kind of trance that he had put me in and said "how did you know which rhythm to play?" and I didn''t even realize that I was doing anything; I was just tapping along on the drum unconsciously. It turned out that the rhythm that I played was the rhythm that complimented what he was playing so it was all really surprising - I felt kinda goofy actually.

After, he offered to give me lessons so I said "sure!" and went to his house the next day. He was brought over by the British Consulate and put up in a church rectory in Holland Park during his visit so I went for a lesson every Sunday.

What he would do is he would hug me, not in a sexual way, and beat a rhythm into my back and then he would sit me down in front of a drum and say "play that" and I could play it. He would just beat these rhythms into my body and I was quick to learn and it felt very natural to me. Not wanting to be a musician at the time, I didn''t feel intimidated so I didn''t have any fear; to me, it was all a big adventure. So I went back the next Sunday and the Sunday after that I turned up and he was all dressed in this white robe and a talking drum and started playing this at the front door and looking right into my eyes: I didn''t know what was happening and felt really uneasy.

So his brother, who was visiting at the time, took me aside and said " ... he just proposed to you!" which really gutted me. When this happened it was really depressing ''cause by this time of course I was hooked and the thing was he was such a wonderful man but I didn''t want to marry him so it all became impossible.

The next thing to do was to get myself some drums. I didn''t have any money really so I made my own set of congas out of fibreglass. I made the mould, did my own casting and got a blacksmith to make up the hardware. I painted them and they looked cool and they sounded great.

I got a job at Dingwalls in Camden town as a waitress and kept my congas in the cloakroom. In the ‘70''s all kinds of amazing bands played there and during my time off I would go up and jam with the bands and Dingwalls even gave me Monday nights to get my own band together.

And then, the band Kokomo came along and they were really great and I played with them for the night. I got fired from Dingwalls and hired by Kokomo and suddenly I was in a professional band who shortly after got and signed a mega deal with Epic records through Steve O''Rourke, Pink Floyd''s manager, who then became our manager and off we went and that''s how it all got started.

Who were your influences?

I didn''t have any influences really; I used to listen to all kinds of music. I decided purposely when I started to be interested in playing not to get involved in that and really concentrated on what style I would develop myself. If I''m going to be influenced by somebody then I''m going to be influenced which is what I didn''t want. I listened to music for the sake of listening to music and just wanted to see what I would naturally come up with myself. I know that sounds a bit odd but it was my decision at the time. I kept on approaching it that way and after awhile I got my sound together. Then it was a question of playing what I thought fit in a musical situation without being under the influence!

My Father was an influence in that he used to be good at tapping on the table at dinner time. He was probably the first person who had made me aware of rhythms. I would remember going to the cafe with him and he would tap at the table and I noticed that other people in the cafe would unconsciously be tapping along with him too.

I suppose if there was any inspiring influence it would have to be watching all those Warner Brothers Cartoons where all the scores described what was happening in the cartoon - that Warner Brothers Orchestra with those sounds effects was pure invention and it was ingenious. All those sounds were so wacky and it really was FUNNY.

In terms of music, it ranges from anything to anything. Right now I''ve been listening to music I brought back from India. I love the way they use the strings and the arrangements really get me.

I''m writing music too and I love that stuff. If I need percussion inspiration I’ll listen to The Fania AllStars or Poncho Sanchez or Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder or Donny Hathaway or Carlos the conga player who played on those great early AWB albums to list a few.

When did you get your first big break?

After Kokomo, having already played on the ''Sneakin Sally Through The Alley'' LP, I heard that Robert Palmer was looking for somebody to come on tour with him. His other albums had a lot of percussion on them. I thought that would be a nice gig so I told him a lie. I called him up and said "Hi Robert, remember me? I play lots of percussion now and can play everything on your albums all at the same time!" He said "are you sure?" and I said "Yup!" and he hired me. Well, the first thing I had to do was build a percussion rack of some kind. You couldn''t get them in those days! - so I invented one. I took stuff I found and screwed things together and did a lot of whatever to fit all the toys and bells to it and it all hung together precariously but it worked fine.

I had to live up to my confidence trick so it HAD to work. It did work out great and I worked for him for a couple of years touring around America and it was the beginning of the most fun time ''cause the music industry was relatively small then and I stated using any wacky things I could find to add to my rack. I didn''t notice that too many others were doing this and I liked that. Soon I had many sounds of all kinds from bird whistles to saws to rows of metal coat hangers, hotel keys, gongs, congas, timbales, slinkys, anything that had good sound potential. I seemed to be moving into the realms of rhythms and description ... all that cartoon watching was emerging. On gigs I had to organize the order the instruments that were going to be played and then place them on the rig so I could get to them in time then working out like what limb is free and how fast can I spin to get to a particular instrument on the rig ... I love that!!

Being a percussionist with an organic approach meaning that you’re there to make the song sound and feel good, how much freedom do you have when recording or arranging your parts?

In most cases the parts are not predetermined but it''s also nice to have a guide and starting point like ''play tambourine here or congas there''. Whilst playing tambourine for example you also might have room to fit other sounds in at the same time but more importantly I kept my ears open; like listening to the bass line, a melody line, horn line, lyrics or the general mood of the song. The thing is that a song can forbid you to do certain things but it can also beg you to do other things. If a song doesn''t need percussion then it’s a question of holding back and taking the ''less is more'' route by adding a shimmer here or an accent there. If there is nowhere to add an extra rhythm then you can always try to enhance something another band member is playing.

At that time and even now there aren’t many female percussionists, how difficult is it to be in a male dominated profession?

I consciously never really thought about that. For me, if I had some musical contribution to make and they wanted me there then I was there. Sometimes I guess it was awkward but I don''t remember much about that. It’s easy for me because I like the company of men, having grown up with a brother and all his friends! So like everything else, it may have had its disadvantages but I''m sure it also had its advantages.

You’re also a mother of two girls; it must have been hard to align motherhood with your profession?

Yes, you have to compromise your profession. I''m at a lower station in my playing because I chose to have a family that''s for sure, there''s no question about it. To be really accomplished you have to dedicate yourself and how can you fully dedicate yourself when you equally have to assert your energy and more to motherhood? Luckily I had 15 years of playing before I had the girls. It didn''t stop me, it got a little trickier arranging my schedule in their younger years and being a single mother didn’t help. Both my pregnancies were spent on tours, David Gilmour with the first and Elton John with the second, and tons of women would come up and say things like "I didn''t know you could do things like that while pregnant!" Well, to me, I was healthy and could play as normal so why not? - the only hitch was having mad cravings during the shows.

How do you approach your performance?

The trouble with the word ''performance'' is that it implies that you are putting on a performance for somebody else. You do that to a degree I suppose, but it makes me a little uneasy if that is all there is to it. To me, if you love to play, there is your performance. It all happens without really thinking! The best thing for me is to watch someone who loves what they are doing.

Linked with that there are a lot of visuals like you use kids toys like fluorescent tubes for sound effects, etc which is all innovative and not usually explored by a traditional percussionist – what pushes you in that direction to find new sounds?

First of all, if the instrument is visual too then that is a happy coincidence! Like spinning a fluorescent tube for example. If It emits a note that fits with the song then it’s gotta be in - even if it looks ridiculous!

At this stage of the game I''m used to humiliating myself in public....

Sometimes you have a sound in your head that you gotta have so you find it. There isn''t a rule book. You can use anything for percussion. I try to stay from (electronic) pads to duplicate sounds because it’s more fun to use an object. You can get amazing things in the music stores today though. Part of the fun for me was having to invent so much in the early years. Now you can buy anything and in a way that has taken some of the fun out of things...but never the less, its fun to shop too. When I was with The Who my nickname was Steptoe.

With respect, Giovanni Hidalgo or Karl Perazzo are renowned as accomplished percussionists but when Jody Linscott is mentioned, immediately you think musical percussionist because I feel that you think music before percussion, would I be right with that impression?

You know, I''ve come across many great percussionists and I thought I’ll never be as good a conga player as them but I just don''t have it in me to forgo everything else to play one or two instruments. I admire it tremendously but I never could do that ''cause my head had too many other sounds in it. A jack of all trades....so if that is an answer to your question than yes.

Is there any percussion instrument you don’t play?

I don''t'' play Indian tabla even though its one of my favourite sounds. That’s one thing that I DO play on the Roland TD20 in my studio. In fact, they are on a new song.

Has there been a good learning experience you could relate to from your professional career?

Loads! When I first started, Alan Sharp who made Natal congas and plays like a fiend mocked me...."pitter patter, pitter patter", is that all you can do?" in his lovely way. I went home and spent three weeks practicing my tones and slaps till I got them really strong and THANK YOU ALAN SHARP for pointing that out!

Also, I played with Tom Jones off and on for 10 years. I loved that gig so much. The thing about Tom was when we first met we were doing a benefit and I was in the house band and we had a week to rehearse with the different artists and Tom was the last and latest slot on Friday night and let me tell you, we were completely knackered by that time and just wanted to go home -- and then Tom came in and we started to play ''KISS'' and he sang like there were a thousand people in that rehearsal room. He was so full on, giving it everything he had with that big voice of his. I mean we continued playing for I don''t know how long. We got fired up and that fired him up more and that fired us up more - that''s an education in itself where an artist will give that much wherever he is...he never complained either - that really stuck with me.

Any memorable performances?

Loads! In the ‘70''s I did some recording with Chuck Rainey on his tunes. Chuck Rainey! Then many of the Tom Jones gigs, particularly at the Town and Country (T&C) in Kentish town. Quadrophenia with The Who at Madison Square Gardens, Hamish Stuart at the 606 Club in London - there were shows where that silence descends and everyone is under a spell. Nils Lofgren and I did a solo show at the Palladium. Playing drums for the first time in public while Alex the drummer did a djembe solo out front with Dido was a blast, Elton John, all the David Gilmore shows, I could go on and on and on and on. Oh, by the way, before when I was saying I didn''t like using pads that much I forgot to mention that it is my homemade conga sounds and handclaps that are on the first and I believe every subsequent Linn Drum Machine that Roger Linn put out....so that was a memorable performance in the studio! Barry White at Radio City Music Hall, Paul McCartney in the movie ‘Give My Regards To Broad St.’, Princess Diana Concert at Wembley Stadium, all of it really. I have left so much out here...

What advice can you put forward for female drummers/percussionists who are introducing themselves to the business of music?

Um... Practice! I do love the interaction of ideas that you get when you''re in a musical environment. It''s completely great to hear what another musicians take is on a certain thing, as they may hear something completely different from what you’re hearing and steer you in a direction you wouldn''t ever have thought of! I think a lot of it depends on remaining open minded!!

I remembered the day when I first picked up the instrument and found 50 different ways to play it and none of them were orthodox; that was all great fun and part of my discovering experience. What’s worked for me is experimenting with different tones and sounds to use in a percussion context to add to the music – it’s part of my inquisitive make-up I guess. A good idea can really come from anywhere and for me; the exciting part is bringing it together and making it sound great so it blends in comfortably with the music. If you’re playing a song, all you need is respect for the song and the love of playing it.

There really are no rules, so just go into it with love in your heart and have good faith in your abilities.

Interview: Jerome Marcus

Photography: Jody Linscott

Additional Photography: Jerome Marcus