David Tolan plays drums in Healers, featuring former The Smiths guitairst Johnny Marr.



Tolan joined the Healers in 2005, replacing previous skinhitter Zac Starkey, who left to play with Oasis.



Born In Dublin and raised in Manchester, Dave developed a keen interest in music from a young age, sighting Floyd, Hendrix and Dub as his early influences. Initially studying drums & percussion, moving onto bass, guitar and keys . . . he became fascinated with the emotional charge and depth of live music. This coupled with his intrigue of the futuristic possibilities; logically, he carved a niche in music production.



Formerly a member, writer and producer with The Joy, his first venture “Shine” met with exceptional reviews, critical acclaim and widespread press coverage. This 27-minute epic received ‘Single of the week’ in the NME and Melody Maker, David Toop wrote the first glowing review in the Times and the band received ‘gig of the week’ on several occasions for their rare but stunning live events, culminating in their most memorable headline to date; The Reading Festival, dance stage - summer 94.



Remixing is something that followed naturally, initiated by Denise Johnson (Rays of the Rising Sun) and hotly followed by Tears for Fears (Shout) and Tori Amos (God—voted KUSP Radio’s No. 1 Track in California -1996). Further collaborations included work with Primal Scream, Mosaic, Danny Rampling, Ministry of Sound and many European artists for the Dig-it International label. During this period Dave co-wrote the top 20 single “Rays of the rising sun”; initially released by Denise Johnson and covered by Mosaic, “Rays of the Rising Sun” charted several times, and became a platinum-selling remix on the Ministry of sound—Annual II album.



1997 saw the set-up of The Joy’s De-materialise label—a small independent label orientated to underground artists and incorporating different dance genres. The label was well received and enjoyed many good reviews. Although this was a reasonably short-lived venture it was an important stage in acquiring a real knowledge “In the field” and in developing a keen understanding of the true mechanics of the music business.



In 1999 Dave set up his new independent production company Smallstone Productions, named after the classic ‘smallstone’ effect used by so many maverick dub producers in the late 70s. Smallstone is orientated to the development of new talented artists and writers.