Will Champion
From WikiColdplay
Will Champion (born William Champion, 31 July 1978) is the drummer of the band Coldplay.
Champion was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England where his father, Timothy Champion, is professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton. Having two teacher parents led him to be musically inclined. As a youth, his musical influences included Tom Waits and traditional Irish folk music. He grew up playing guitar, but also had experience on the piano, bass, and tin whistle. Before joining Coldplay, he performed in a band called Fat Hamster.
He attended the Cantell secondary school in Basset Southampton and The Royal Hospital School, Suffolk before studying anthropology at University College London, where he met his future bandmates and formed Coldplay, despite having no experience on the drums. The multi-instrumentalist picked up the drums quickly and earned fulltime duties on the band. According to lead singer Chris Martin, "Will is like a human jukebox, he's more a guitarist than a drummer. Me and Will used to sit on the stairs at our halls of residence and he'd know more songs than anyone. You name it, he'd play it."
In Autumn 2004, Champion and Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman guested on a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen's first solo album, Past Perfect Future Tense.
Champion was the first Coldplay member to marry: He married Marianne Dark, a teacher, in 2003. Their first child, a girl called Ava, was born on April 14th, 2006.
Champion is a fan of Southampton F.C. and he is a season ticket holder at the South Coast team.
Contents |
Gear
Yamaha Silver Sparkle Drums:
- 24" Kick Drum - 16" Floor Tom - 12" Rack Tom - Maple Absolute 14" Snare - 2 x Brady 14" Snare
Quotes
"We'd just finished recording 'Shiver,' and we all went outside to just chill out. The sky was absolutely incredible. It was so completely clear, and there were like a billion, billion stars. The next morning Chris [Martin] had written a Neil Young-style, country-type song. When Jonny [Buckland] added his guitar riff, it became a bit more upbeat. 'Yellow' is a happy song because it represents a happy time for us. A lot of time in the studio was spent arguing and fighting, and sometimes it was very tense. But that day was a really good day."
"We do work incredibly hard – we have spent a lot of time touring, especially in America – but we're constantly surprised by how well things are going for us."
"A lot of the time there is a lot of melancholy in the lyrics."
"A lot of times when we play in countries where English isn't the first language we get accused of being melancholy and miserable."
"As soon as we played together, it was much better than anything else we'd ever heard."
"I think I'm the best non-playing drummer in the world. No one not-plays like me."
"I think people have difficulty judging and being self-critical and being honest about how good they think their music is."
"So, if we're happy playing the songs we have written, for as long as we can, then that is sort of the proof that they're good songs as well."
"Some of the really early songs we don't enjoy playing anymore because they haven't stood the test of time to us."
"We started with 20 songs, enough for two albums basically, but we knew that there were no second chances-you don't get a second chance to do a debut album-so it was a very specific selection process."
"We're very thankful for what we've got, so God forbid we start taking it for granted."
"At the end of the day, we're just trying to prevent each other from going mad."
"Coldplay are just four friends trying to make great music."
"I can't do all that riddly diddly stuff. I'm not good enough. It's all about not playing."
"I think hopefully we've got enough brain cells left to decide if our music is really worth something."
"I'm the best non-drummer in the World. Nobody can not-play like me!"
"Optimism is the key."
"The first time we all played as a band, I think it was in January 1998, in Jonny's bedroom."
"Two weeks later, we played our first concert and had 100 people there. It was pretty cool."
"We're also passionate about music and very critical about the music that we listen to."
"When you write something it has to hit the level that you accept as being good."
Other projects
In Autumn 2004, Champion and Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman guested on A-Ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen's first solo album, Past Perfect Future Tense.
Personal life
Champion was the first Coldplay member to marry: He married Marianne Dark, a teacher, in 2003. Their first child, a girl named Ava, was born on 28 April 2006. On 7 May 2008, Marianne gave birth to fraternal twins Juno and Rex.
Will celebrated his 30th birthday doing what he loves. During the 'Viva La Vida' tour stop in Toronto, Canada on July 31st, 2008 a cake was brought out and 16,000 plus people sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. Only one of the sparklers stayed lit on the cake, but it went out as soon as it was given to Will.
Oddly enough, Will also celebrated his 31st birthday in Toronto, Canada a day early at the July 30th, 2009 'Viva La Vida' tour stop at Rogers Centre. Phil Harvey and 'Bash' (Will's drum tech) brought out a cake and balloons, while the massive 48,000 plus crowd sang 'Happy Birthday'.
References
- Roach, Martin (2003). Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9810-8.
