26/06/2025
Friends. I got a call from Ian Herman in January after his house was burned to the ground in the LA fires…along with all his drums and instruments, a lot of them uninsured. For those of you who don’t know, Ian was the drummer I chose to use on probably half on the recordings I produced during the Shifty years. Now, having nothing to play on, he started sending me rhythms he’d bashed out on various found objects, like a toilet seat and a US mailbox. His wife Ashley claimed he’d gone manic. Driven perhaps by the devil of the flame, I guess Ian, not being the greatest communicator via the inter web or telephone, was feeling the need to connect with his larger community. I say this because, judging by the collection of songs he’s just sent me, he’s managed to pull in an astoundingly diverse palette of characters from his vast musical family to feed his obsession with turning a tragic event into a triumph and a celebration.
I’m honoured to have been called on to play a small part as a member this family. Here, I helped Hilton Schilder put down mouthbow and piano on one of these tracks. Thanks here must go to Murray at Cape Town’s Milestone Studio for the freebie. This specific song called “Danger” came out as one of my favourites of this sumptuous, eclectic collection. You can find “Glowing Ash” Volumes 1 & 2 by Ian Inx Herman on your fave streamer, but rather go to https://inxman.bandcamp.com/ to download the two volumes and make a wee donation, so Ian doesn’t have to resort to klapping toilet seats and US mailboxes anymore.
Ian Inx Herman is a drummer and producer based in Los Angeles, CA. Originally from South Africa, he has worked with an array of legendary artists, incl Ernest Ranglin, Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, Noise Khanyile, Miriam Makeba, Vusi Mahlasela, Duran Duran, DJ Logic, Paul Simon, Sikiru Adepoju, S...
