Hamish’s musical journey began when he took up the guitar at the tender age of eight. By the time he turned eleven he had switched to drums and bought his first set of drums with money saved up from a local paper round in his Sydney neighbourhood.Hamish's first gig was with high school punk band "The Warthogs" and consisted of three classics; The Clash's "Should I stay or Should I Go", The Ramones' "Blitzkreig Bop" and The Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen".
At Sydney University Hamish enrolled in Engineering but spent more time in the rehearsal room with stadium rock band "Bigphallica" and original grunge band "Enemy Me" than attending lectures. After graduating from uni and then backpacking around the world his focus returned to music. A string of unsuccessful original bands led Hamish to the world of paid gigs in 1999 when he joined "Sixties Mania", a showband review of the classic rock of the 1960s complete with dancing girls and multiple costume changes.
For the next two years Hamish performed six nights a week, mostly in US casinos and occasionally in Asia. Hamish’s drumming improved out of sight during this period and although it was a well paid gig he aimed higher. An audition for The Blue Man Group had been lined up but during a brief break in Sydney at the end of 2001 Hamish lied up an audition with an unheard of band called “The Vines”. Two months later and The Vines were off to the US and UK for the beginning of a wild ride through 2002 which included performances at Coachella, Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, and Big Day Out as well as Conan O’Brien, Letterman, Top Of The Pops, Jules Holland, the VMAs and multiple magazine covers including the NME and Rolling Stone. The Vines debut album “Highly Evolved” charted at No 3 in the UK, No 11 in the US and No 5 in Australia.
When the time came in May 2003 to record the second album The Vines had toured the US and UK four times each as well as Europe, Canada and Australia twice each taking in such legendary venues as CBGBs, Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom and Roseland in New York, Shepherd's Bush Empire and Brixton Academy in London and just about every smoky dive in between.
Without taking a break The Vines jumped straight into recording “Winning Days” followed by a gruelling promotion and touring schedule. Unfortunately the band’s lead singer Craig Nicholls was suffering from Asperger’s, a condition exacerbated by touring and after an infamous gig at the Annandale in Sydney all further touring from “Winning Days” was cancelled.
Touring for the next three albums; Vision Valley (2006), Melodia (2008) & Future Primitive (2011) was sporadic, and during down time Hamish took on gigs with a diverse range of acts including Art vs Science, The Holidays, Infusion, The City Lights, The Potbelleez and The Cracks and also used his experience to start working as a tour manager.
Towards the end of 2011, as The Vines dissolved, Hamish accepted an offer to join Wolfmother. The bombastic drum parts and complex arrangements of the Wolfmother repertoire were well suited to Hamish’s stadium rock ambitions.
These days Hamish gets over to Europe and the States regularly for tours with Wolfmother, takes on studio sessions, most notably Bernard Fanning, has a new project called Bunny Racket – rock n roll for kids. He even reunited with The Vines for a couple of shows in 2018.
Hamish is endorsed by:
Zildjian Cymbals
Ludwig Drums
Vater Sticks