Ray Hearne – Nil By Mouth (PLAY-THROUGH)

There are certain moments in this job that stop you in your tracks, and witnessing Ray Hearne perform a full playthrough of Haken’s “Nil by Mouth” was one of them. I was at the studio that day to film an interview with Ray (available here) but nothing quite prepared me for the sheer musical athleticism I was about to see. What makes this session even more remarkable is that the take you see in the final video is only his second… That’s right…his second! For a piece as complex and demanding as “Nil by Mouth,” that alone speaks volumes.

Ray’s limb independence is on another level entirely, sitting comfortably in the realm of only a handful of drummers I’ve ever seen with comparable control. Players like Thomas Lang and Mike Mangini sit in the same bracket as Ray. Watching him up close, I found myself genuinely awestruck. His hands and feet seemed to move independently of one another, dancing through polyrhythms and metric modulations with surgical precision, yet always with musicality at the centre.

I have to be honest and say that this recording was a personal request from me. “Nil by Mouth” has long been my favourite Haken track, so when Ray agreed to record a playthrough for us, I was absolutely buzzing! Seeing it come to life mere feet away was surreal. Every accent, every ghost note, every explosive passage felt like witnessing the blueprint of the song being drawn in real time.

The session took place in Ray’s own studio (affectionately nicknamed “Pinewood Studios” thanks to the enormous quantity of pinewood lining the room). He’s even used it to build shelves housing his old Haken touring kits, giving the space a museum-like charm.

Ray’s performance that day wasn’t just impressive. It was inspiring. This playthrough is a testament to why he’s one of the most exciting drummers in modern progressive music.

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