Gary Wallis

Gary Wallis (born 10 June 1964) is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director.

He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, Paul Carrack, Dusty Springfield, Bonnie Tyler, Mike Rutherford, Mike + The Mechanics, Spice Girls, All Saints, Tom Jones, Jean-Michel Jarre, Helene Fischer and Schiller.

As a young drummer/percussionist, Gary Wallis worked with a number of prominent British bands.

From 1982 to 1984, he was the drummer for the Truth, working alongside Chris Skornia (Hammond organ/keyboards); Dennis Greaves (guitar); Mick Lister (guitar) and Brian Bethell (bass).

After leaving the Truth, Wallis went on to perform as a percussionist with Style Council (1984–1985).

He was invited by David Bowie to perform as a percussionist at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, 13 July 1985, with Robert Palmer and Power Station, as well as Duran Duran.

Wallis's playing with Pink Floyd can also be seen and heard in the box set, The Later Years 1987–2019.

In the mid to late eighties, Wallis was drummer for the Krew, the backing band for Nik Kershaw (Riddle and Radio Musicola tours) and Chris Farlowe (1988).

It was at a Kershaw concert where his energetic playing and elaborate percussion set-up drew the attention of key Pink Floyd musicians to Gary Wallis.

Wallis is perhaps best known as the percussionist for Pink Floyd in the post-Waters era for both their live and recorded performances.

Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason described the first time that he and David Gilmour saw Wallis play:

"Wallis was spotted playing percussion with Nick Kershaw at a charity show where Gilmour was also appearing. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it. Instead of sitting down to play Gary was working in a kind of cage stuffed full of percussion, some pieces of which were mounted so high that a three-foot leap was needed to strike the required object. With his obvious musical skills this additional showmanship seemed an ideal bonus for a stage that looked initially as though it might be occupied by the living dead."

Wallis was invited to join Pink Floyd, playing on their A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour (which was released as Delicate Sound of Thunder in 1988).

He continued to perform with Pink Floyd until they took a break after their final tour concert at the Knebworth Festival in August 1990.

Wallis has stated that performing live at Knebworth with Pink Floyd (1990) was one of the most memorable moments of his career.

From 1990 to 1992, Gary Wallis performed alongside various members of Pink Floyd in different bands, including Blue Pearl (1990), Dream Academy with Gilmour and Guy Pratt (1991) and Jimmy Nail with Gilmour (1992).

In December 1991, Wallis performed at the Amnesty International 30th Anniversary Concert, as part of a band directed by Gilmour.

At the performance, the band backed Tom Jones and Spinal Tap, the "fictional" heavy metal band.

Spinal Tap is known for its succession of drummers who "they claim died under odd circumstances", and Wallis was shown "exploding" at the end of the performance.

The following year, he performed alongside Gilmour and other Pink Floyd band members at the Chelsea Arts Ball.

After disbanding in the eighties, two of the original four members of the British rock group 10cc re-formed in 1992 to record new tracks.

In 1993–94 Wallis played percussion during sessions for Pink Floyd's then-upcoming album, The Division Bell (1994).

He went on to perform with them on The Division Bell world tour, during the European leg of which Pink Floyd recorded the Pulse live album and video, with Wallis playing percussion.

In the same year, Wallis and Gilmour attended a concert in Croydon by the tribute band the Australian Pink Floyd, afterwards inviting the band to attend The Division Bell end of tour party.

The drum sets used by Wallis and Mason on The Division Bell tour and Pulse DVD were from the Drum Workshop (DW).

Mason states, "Gary Wallis and I ended up with thirty-odd drums, twenty pads, forty-odd cymbals and innumerable other bits of junk bolted to the drum risers, an installation that should have qualified us for the Turner Prize."

They subsequently undertook a tour of Japan in 1993, with Gary Wallis as their drummer.

Their tour recording Alive in Japan featured Eric Stewart (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Graham Gouldman (vocals, bass, guitar), Rick Fenn (vocals, guitar, bass), Stuart Tosh (vocals, percussion), Stephen Piggott (keyboards) and Gary Wallis (drums).

In 1995, 10cc released their album Mirror Mirror with Gary Wallis playing drums and percussion.

From 1995 to 1999, Wallis was the drummer for Mike + The Mechanics, working with Paul Young (vocals), Mike Rutherford (guitar, bass), Paul Carrack (vocals, keyboard), Tim Renwick (guitar) and Jamie Moses (guitar).

Gary Wallis performed in front of a crowd of 50,000 with French musician Jean-Michel Jarre at a 12-hour The Twelve Dreams of the Sun concert at the Giza pyramids on New Year's Eve 1999/2000.

The spectacular concert was part of Egypt's millennium festivities, which included a giant party at the pyramids.

Wallis played drums and percussion alongside Jean-Michel Jarre (musical direction, keyboards, laser harp, vocals), Francis Rimbert (keyboards), Joachim Garraud (keyboards), Christopher Papendieck (bass), as well as a thousand singers, dancers and musicians.

Wallis has collaborated on various tours and concert events over two decades with legendary Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones, as his drummer and musical director, including residencies in Las Vegas.

Blake (2008, p. 328) describes Wallis's playing as a "highly visual performing style – attacking an array of gongs, drums and cymbals mounted around him in a cage – was the perfect contrast to Mason's considerably more restrained approach."

From 2009 to 2011, Wallis toured extensively with Tom Jones, performing in the UK, Europe, USA, South America, Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia, South Africa, the Middle East, and the Russian Federation.

Other band members on the 2011 tour were: Davide Bronze (bass guitar); Jamie Moses (guitar); Toby Chapman (keyboard); Lutz Rainer Krajenski (keyboard); Laura Critchley (backing vocals); Sophie Hiller (backing vocals); Francis Samuel Walden (saxophone) and Trevor Mires (trombone).

On earlier tours Wallis worked with musicians Christoph Papendieck (keyboards), Peter Honoré (guitarist), Alex Meadows (bass), Janet Ramus (backing vocals) and Abbie Osmon (backing vocals).

Wallis has appeared as the drummer for Tom Jones in significant televised performances, including the opening of the 2012 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award ceremony and the Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace.

He has also played many shows with Sir Tom in 2013, 2014, 2015 and went on a world tour with Sir Tom in 2016.