Never skipping a beat
Paul Bondsfield will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for marathon drumming on Saturday 8 April. But what would inspire someone to keep drumming for six days? Too much cancer.
Last year, Paul’s wife, Tris, was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was quite a shock. I started doing a bit of research and realised she could be gone by Christmas.” Thankfully, things have improved markedly for Tris, but, having lost his father to prostate cancer in 2001, Paul decided he needed to do something to raise money for cancer charities. Thus, the attempt on the drumming world record was born.
The current world record is 134 hours and five minutes, and Paul is aiming for 144 hours – a nice, round six days. “I'm under no illusion it's a done deal,” says Paul. “So many things could go wrong.” There are many rules around how the record attempt has to be run, including a five-minute break every hour (which can be accumulated, e.g. 30 minutes after six hours); keeping proper time; playing along to recorded or live music; and no more than a 30-second break between songs. The whole attempt has to be live-streamed so the Guinness World Record people, and we, the audience, can check up on him.
For the attempt, Paul will be playing live at Sylvia Park shopping centre. “I’ll be in ‘The Pod’ which is like a big perspex egg with a stage and seating inside. It's completely open to the public so anyone can come along and support us.”
Six days worth is a huge amount of music and I asked Paul what sort of playlist he has organised. “It's got 2200-andsomething songs on it,” he laughs. “I’ve been compiling it for the last five months. I chopped out quite a few complex, rockier songs and replaced them with something less taxing, but, in the middle of the night, I still need one or two up-tempo songs to stop my brain dying. I also have to mix up the styles so there’s reggae, pop, rock, funk, jazz – you name it and it’s in there.”
To help keep Paul motivated, live musicians will be dropping in to play at various stages of the event. “Rod Stewart has a gig on Sunday 9 April so I’m asking his management if he can come along, or maybe his band. We’re also in touch with Six-Sixty and Fat Freddy’s Drop, trying to get them involved.” Paul laughs as he tells me, “The trouble with live musicians is they don't understand the concept of starting the next song 30 seconds after finishing the last one. There’s no time for a little chat and a smoke, and tune your guitar. I have to keep going.”
Paul has been in touch with the current record holder who lives in Portugal. “His main point was, it's a mental journey, not a physical one. Your head will start playing tricks on you, and you have to have people around you who will keep you motivated at all times of the day and night.”
Watch Paul on his Facebook live-stream or visit him at Sylvia Park, and please donate.
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