| Mel Gaynor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 May 1960 |
| Origin | Balham, London, England |
| Genres | New Wave, house, rock, pop |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Drums, percussion, vocals |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Website | www.mel-gaynor.com |
Mel George Gaynor (born 29 May 1960, Balham, London, England[1][2]) is a British musician. He is best known as the long time drummer for the rock band, Simple Minds. Gaynor was born to a Jamaican father and an Afro-Brazilian mother.
Gaynor joined Simple Minds in 1982 as a session drummer for the New Gold Dream album (as a recommendation by the record producer, Pete Walsh) then later joined the band permanently for the New Gold Dream tour, as a replacement for Mike Ogletree. Except for a brief stint away from the band after the Real Life tour in the early 1990s, he has been the band's drummer to the present day.
Gaynor began drumming at age 11 and had his first professional engagement at age 14.
In addition to drumming, he is active as a songwriter and a record producer. Currently, he has also been working on a side project as part of a duo (along with Stephane Deriau-reine) called The Fusion Project. The Fusion Project's first album was released in April 2006 and is described as "a mix between progressive rock and jazz-fusion."
Gaynor considers The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra to be his main influences.
In addition to Simple Minds, he has played alongside other acts such as: Sir Elton John, Lou Reed, Tina Turner, Meat Loaf, Samson, The Associates, Peter Gabriel, The Pretenders, Gary Moore, Jackson Browne, Little Steven, Brian May, The Nolans and Robert Palmer.
In 2007 Gaynor has kicked off his solo project with the new version of Robert Parissi's, "Play That Funky Music".
Mel was also a member of Birmingham based Muscles, a funk oriented covers band that had minor chart success with "If it relaxes your mind" and "I'm a girlwatcher"