Everyone knows these stories about a wild and crazy guy called Bonzo, but at home he was just like any other father; always hollering at me for not doing my homework.
He might have been in Led Zeppelin, but to me he was just dad.
I've always wanted to do an album with half the people I've worked with. People like Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers, Jeff Beck and Slash.
I've been working on some original songs with the band that does the Led Zeppelin experience. We're going to start writing as an original band and see what comes out of it. It'll be kind of Zeppelin-esque because of the way the guys play - but there's nothing wrong with that.
But I would say my favorite Zeppelin song to play is 'Kashmir.' I have a great time playing that one.
As far as being a drummer, to me it's a positive that he's my father. To be mentioned alongside him... I mean, you Google his name and mine comes up, too - wow! Not too shabby.
I heard heart wrenching stories about fans who had tickets for the 1980 show in Montreal, the first concert that didn't happen, when my dad died. They'd be in tears. It was hard to deal with sometimes.
One of the reasons I do the Led-Zeppelin Experience is because I really didn't get the chance, while he was alive, to understand how great my father was. I never got the chance to tell him.
I don't think I've ever met a drummer who didn't tell me that my dad was an influence. He's a tough act to follow.
I love the fact that young people are into rock 'n' roll music.
Dad's influence naturally came into me, rather than trying to emulate every detail. His way of teaching me was to be sparse, and to be explosive when it needed to be.
Dad's the master, I'm the student.
I'm playing my father's music and I'm a fan of Led Zeppelin. The response has been beyond what I ever imagined it would be. Unreal. Everyone seems to understand the story I'm telling.
As I've gotten older, as I've gotten familiar with all different types of music, stuff that I didn't like when I was younger I actually kind of like now.
Well, when you grow up in a family situation like in England, you're whole - we call it pub culture, and it is, really. You grow up, you literally come home from work, everyone goes to the pub at 6:30, you drink till 10:30, go home and go to bed. That was our entire life - all my aunts and uncles, and my grandfather drank 'til he was 85.
You know, I went through the whole blond hair bit. And dad took me to see The Police when I was 13. And I was like, this is a cool band, dad. See this is a cool band. And I felt bad for years because then a year later... I never had a chance to tell him how great I think was. After he passed away, I would go and listen to his music.
It's beyond my wildest dreams to come out, represent my family, my father and the music of Led Zeppelin.
I think that my performances with Led Zeppelin got better with each performance and I think that our performances as Led Zeppelin Experience have also gotten better with each show.
It's imperative that I continue putting together the best shows and take it to the next level. I'm talking to people about holograms, and my dream is to do the hologram drum solo with dad next to me.
I am notoriously hard on myself in terms of working on new material and while I am critical of my performance on the Led Zeppelin material, I am way more critical of my own stuff. I'm pretty hard on myself.
