Aberdene drummer Ryan Richards plays with Funeral for a Friend. He replaced initial drummer Johnny Phillips. After the release of their debut EP "Between Order And Model", Phillips left the band to be replaced by Ryan Richards.



Voted Best British Newcomers in the Metal Hammer awards 2004 and Kerrang! 2003 magazine awards, Funeral for a Friend have had a fantastic year and have rocketed to both critical and public acclaim. They have played 3 UK headline tours, a US tour and have a forthcoming European tour supporting Iron Maiden. They released a single “Juneau“ in August which entered the top 20 and their latest single ( She drove me to Daytime Television ) released last week, also hit the top 20.



In 2004 were Funeral for a Friend were voted the Best Breakthrough band by Metal Hammer readers and also nominated for Best British band by Kerrang! Magazine. Their new album Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation went top 20 and they have toured constantly on both sides of the Atlantic.



Ryan Richards guested on 'Last Chance Before The Storm', a song by the band Days In December.



How it started...

At the age of twelve Ryan Richards played keyboard in a friend's makeshift band room somewhere in South Wales. Until one day their drummer did not show up and Ryan eyed up the challenge:

"I remember that day clearly. When the drummer didn't show I decided to try my hand at the kit instead of canceling practice and I just took to the drums really well. I fell in love with the instrument at that moment and it's changed my life ever since."

Richards never took any real lessons. His way of learning was just to emulate the drummers that he really liked back then. Ryan:

"I just started playing their songs and learning their drum parts and it pretty much taught me all I needed to know, really."

The learn-by-listening approach is evident in his classic hard rock drumming. Richards hammers booming Bonham/Moon/Portnoy/Bordin grooves with the best of them. He also claims Dave Grohl as a major influence.



And Richards brings more to that energetic show than just masterful drumming. He somehow finds the strength to belt out background vocals while hitting the skins:

"Singing and playing isn't that difficult for me. Just like some people have trouble separating their hands and their feet, it's the same with your voice. For me, it works best just to incorporate it and make the singing an extension of my playing. It doesn't really feel like two separate things to me anymore."