Kirsty Macnicol
The Southland Times
July 20, 1999

THE intricate and snappy form of pipe band snare drumming is being
highlighted in Pipin ' Hot 3, which opens at the Civic Theatre in Invercargill tomorrow night.
City of Invercargill Caledonian Pipe Band leading drummers Matt Ward and Steve Wederell wowed the crowds with their Blues Brothers-style solo spot last year. This year they have learned a swag of new music to impress the audience.
Wederell, 23, and Ward, 20, have been playing in pipe bands for 12 and nine years, respectively. They stuck with it through the teenage years when wearing a kilt and playing a drum that was not part of a drum kit was definitely not cool.
"We used to get a bit of hassle but it wasn't malicious hassle," Wederell said.
He was only 11 when he started he went to his first lesson thinking he was learning rock drumming. But he enjoyed the challenge and progressed quickly.
"For something to keep an 11-year-old interested it had to be fairly different."
In Pipin ' Hot they get their chance in the rock drumming limelight. The show blends old favourites with new, more exciting numbers. Ward and Wederell said it gave them a chance to showcase their skills in a completely different way.
"You get to show a bit more attitude and feel with the music you're playing. You can add your own personal touches to it," Wederell said.
Ward, a music student at Southland Polytechnic, also plays kit drum and guitar.
" Pipin ' Hot is a good combination of both bagpipes and modern music. I enjoy doing this as much as I do playing all the other music," he said.
The one thing they both wanted Pipin ' Hot to achieve was an influx of youngsters to the pipe band movement. The show was aimed at young audiences. Even if their aim was to play kit drums, where the techniques were different, the basics were the same, Ward said.
"It would be good if we had more younger learners," he said.
"You always need youth with experience. That's what we are and we need more of it."