Steven Michael "Steve" Kemp (born 29 December 1978) is an English drummer. He was the drummer of

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

Hard-Fi Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band, formed in 2003 in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey. The band's most recent lineup before going on hiatus consisted of Richard Archer ( lead vocals and guitar), Kai Stephens (bass guitar and backing vocals) an ...

Career

Originally from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, Kemp went to Carnforth High School, before he moved to

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 ...

in his late teens to take a musical course. Kemp is a big fan of

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

and was originally a drummer for a Dj who happened to be a friend of Richard Archer. When Archer was scouting for members to be in his band, he asked Kemp to be part of it, through Kemp's link with the Dj. In December 2007 he slammed bands such as

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

for charging their fans £100 for tickets to their live concerts. He said "I know these old bands have a huge legacy but paying over £100 for a ticket is a joke. If it's a band you really love, of course you want to go and see them-but why should you then pay so much money for it? These rock 'n' roll dinosaurs are coming out for a last pay cheque. I don't know what they’re going to do on stage that's so special". He then joked, "I think we should split up in November, just to get back together in December. See if it makes us more famous. Maybe we could have November off and get back together in December and call it the reunion tour. The few remaining tickets will sell out in no time. It will be a winner. It will be perfect." In an interview wit
ilikemusic
Kemp was asked to reflect on whether he has time to "smell the roses and enjoy the journey and reflect." "It's weird because you don't (enjoy the moment) whilst you're doing it. You don't realise how much you're enjoying yourself sometimes. I really try and stop myself in my tracks now and say 'look what you've achieved, look what you've just done, look what you're doing'. I really try and do that, because if you don't, you're always focusing on what's next rather than what's just happened. When we played our tour in May 2006 and we did the five Brixton Academy gigs I remember at the time I was so amazingly tired and shattered I enjoyed it, but it was really hard work. Now I can look back and think what a f__ laugh. It does take a while for it to sink in before you can look back and really enjoy yourselves. But it's all amazing. We've had two number one records. We've sold over a million records. We've achieved so much that you have to remind yourself how fantastic that all is, and if it all finished tomorrow, then I've done what I always wanted to do. But hopefully it's not going to finish tomorrow and we can continue on to bigger and better things."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Steve Hard-Fi members Living people People from Carnforth English rock drummers 1978 births 21st-century drummers