David Speight
David Speight: British Rock Drummer Born 9 March 1961 in Lowestoft, England. Drummer for Whimwise, YAK, Pete Banks' Harmony in Diversity, The Rega Project and others.
Early years
Began playing Piano at age 7 until 14, then in local orchestras playing Bassoon for 2(?) years, before being asked to take up the drums for a local band Xenon in Maldon, Essex, playing a mixture of rock / prog-rock originals and covers. Quickly developing a taste for the technical and expressive elements of rock / progressive music, as well as a reputation for creative playing, Speight soon joined classical keyboardist / composer N J Edwards in his classical / progressive project 'Dusk' in 1978. In 1979 / 80 He received tuition from Les Binks (ex Eric Burdon, Roger Glover, Judas Priest). After numerous gigs and recording sessions Speight relocated to London in 1980, and joined pop-rock merchants The Feel, including an appearance upstairs at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club in Soho (a recording of which has never since been located) Around this time he began teaching drums, an occupation he continues today.
After a stint with (amongst others) The Accidents, and Essex-based 60's revivalists Beach Coma, Speight returned to London to join several more rock-oriented bands before collaborating with KWY Records. This led to work with singer Tracie Young (former solo artiste and singer for The Jam and Paul Weller); Nicky Brightman (sister of opera-singer Sarah). Despite many recording sessions, the label, however was short-lived.
From 1990 - 1993 Speight joined Pagan rockers The Runesters, with Netta Palmer (vocals / Guitar), John Bullen (guitar) and bassist Tracey Lamb (Girlschool, Rock Goddess)The band embarked upon numerous UK gigs (including a support slot with Screaming Lord Sutch) before Speight left in 1993.
Recent work
A few years' break from drumming followed as Speight attended university in Wales until 1999 after which he returned to concentrate on teaching drums. In 2006 he joined with Bassist Nick Cottam (Pulse Engine, Improvizone) and ex-Yes guitarist Peter Banks, to take on drum duties for Harmony in Diversity (following the departure of drummer Andrew Booker (Improvizone, Pulse Engine)).
Speight first appeared with Harmony in Diversity at The Riga Bar in Southend (October 2006) They followed this with a headline appearance at The A38 (ship), in Budapest, Hungary in February 2007 where they were supported by Flamborough Head and Hungarian Band Yesterdays.
The concert was recorded, and the Harmony in Diversity set later edited and produced by Nick Cottam as a CD. However, it has not yet seen the light of day (although samples can be heard on Speight's and Bank's Myspace site). One more appearance followed, at The Blackwood Miners Institute in Wales, in March 2007. There appears to have been no recent activity relating to Harmony in Diversity.
Speight re-appeared working with Yesterdays in April 2007, at The St George Days Festival in Romania, and returned there to contribute, with Yesterdays to two releases by Finnish Prog Magazine; Colossus and French label Musea: (1) The Spaghetti Epic III (a collection of prog epics alongside Little Tragedies (Russia) and N.O.T. (Italy), and (2) Inferno, (joined on bass by JOnAS Reingold of The Flower Kings), a 4-CD set featuring 34 prog bands from around Europe.
In late 2007, he was approached by ex The Enid guitarist Nick Mays' Whimwise. Speight has remained with them for their ongoing UK and European tours (including numerous opening shows for Focus, Curved Air and Nick Turners' Space Ritual, and appearances at Progsol (Switzerland) The Eich Kult Festival (Germany) and two visits to the Glastonbury Festival UK (in 2008 and 2009)
Current work
Aside from his work with Whimwise, Speight can also be heard with the symphonic rock band YAK, on The Journey of The Yak, a keyboard based prog project by Martin Morgan which was released at the beginning of 2009. It was closely followed by Morgans' contribution of the track Aragorn to a French compilation CD, The First Ring. Other work includes the recently released A Bend in the River, a vinyl LP from specialist Hi-Fi manufacturers Rega Research, A follow up album is currently being recorded
In mid 2009 Speight began recording sessions for Space/Punk band Iowaska (Alternative Tentacles) for the follow-up to their 'Vine of Souls' LP. At around the same time recording began with ex-Hawkwind vocalist Bridget Wishart and contributions to the 'Spirits Burning' project by Don Falcone