Ian F. Mosley (born 16 June 1953,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England) is an English

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

. He is best known for his long-time membership of the neo-progressive rock band

Marillion Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the most ...

, which he joined for their second album, ''

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their sty ...

'', released in 1984. He had previously been an in-demand session drummer. Mosley's abilities have been widely praised, including by former

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

guitarist Steve Hackett,

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer To ...

drummer Tomas Haake and critic John Franck of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

. ''

Modern Drummer ''Modern Drummer'' is a monthly publication targeting the interests of drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public. ''Mo ...

'' has characterised him as a "drumming great".

Biography

Early life

Mosley studied

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under teacher Gilbert Webster and, aged 18, played in the orchestra for the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

''. His first professional band was Darryl Way's Wolf. Mosley played drums for former

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

Steve Hackett, both on two of his

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

s and on tour. He played for

Gordon Giltrap Gordon Giltrap, MBE (born 6 April 1948) is an English guitarist and composer. His music crosses several genres. He has been described as "one of the most revered guitarists of his generation", and has drawn praise from fellow musicians including ...

. He also played on the 1975 album ''Birds'' by Dutch band Trace.

Marillion

Mosley joined Marillion in 1984 after a long search for a replacement for drummer and founding member

Mick Pointer Michael Pointer (born 22 July 1956) is an English drummer. He is known for his work in the neo-progressive rock bands Marillion and Arena. Away from music, he has also worked as a kitchen designer. Career Pointer was the original drummer and a ...

, who had left the band acrimoniously in 1983. He was the fifth drummer to play for Marillion and was frontman

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

's choice for the role, who had been unhappy with the band's previous drummers. Music critic John Franck stated Mosley's "spot-on drumming was the perfect foil for Marillion's meticulous musicianship". He is still a member of Marillion.

Other projects

In 2001, Mosley joined saxophonist

Ben Castle Ben Castle (born 1973) is a British jazz musician, the younger son of television presenter and entertainer Roy Castle (1932–1994) and his wife Fiona (born 1940). He placed first in the Jazz category of the 2003 International Songwriting Comp ...

, son of entertainer

Roy Castle Roy Castle (31 August 1932 – 2 September 1994) was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. In addition to being an accomplished jazz trumpet player, he could play many other instruments. Following a vers ...

, and they recorded a jazz-themed album together, ''Postmankind''. The album also featured guest performances by

John Etheridge John Michael Glyn Etheridge (born 12 January 1948) is an English jazz fusion guitarist, composer, bandleader and educator known for his eclecticism and broad range of associations in jazz, classical, and contemporary music. He is best known f ...

, Steve Hackett and Marillion members

Steve Rothery Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing ...

and

Pete Trewavas Peter Trewavas (born 15 January 1959) is an English musician, known as the bassist of Marillion. He joined in 1982, replacing Diz Minnitt, while acting occasionally as a backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist. Trewavas was born in Middlesbroug ...

. Mosley played on fellow

bandmate

' and

Eric Blackwood Eric Blackwood (born December 7, 1921) is a Canadian aviator. A noted navigator, during World War II, serving in both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force, Blackwood is the founder of Eastern Provincial Airways. In the early days o ...

Edison's Children Edison’s Children are an "Epic" science fiction-oriented progressive rock trio, featuring Rick Armstrong (son of astronaut Neil Armstrong), Pete Trewavas (Marillion and Transatlantic) and Eric Blackwood. Edison's Children is known for wri ...

album ''In The Last Waking Moments...'', playing drums on the epic 16 minute "The Awakening".

Musical style

Mosley's drumming skills have been praised by Steve Hackett, who has described him as "a phenomenal drummer" and "phenomenally fast". He has also said that Mosley's economy on the drums is "every bit the equal" to

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

, Hackett's former Genesis bandmate. Mosley has been cited as an influence by Tomas Haake, drummer of Swedish

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

. Mosley has stated that he enjoys "playing arrangements kind of in a classical format, which is in movements" but, despite his membership of several

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

bands over the course of his career, he does not believe in music labels and distances himself from the "progressive label" that "involves lyrics that quote dancing gnomes,

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

and fairytales, etc." Mosley's drumming is the subject of a book, ''A guide to the unique drumming style of Ian Mosley – Marillion's Heartbeat'', written by drummer and Marillion fan, Mark Pardy. In 2019, Mosley published his collected memoirs under the title ''Do I Owe You Money? – The Collected Memoirs of Ian Mosley''.

References

External links

*
Ian Mosley Career Retrospective Interview from 2016
wit
The Pods & Sods Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosley, Ian 1953 births Living people People from Paddington British male drummers English rock drummers Marillion members Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama