Seventeen-year-old Eoin Fleming was personally named several times by this year’s music adjudicator Roy Robinson, who said he ‘hadn’t heard drumming like that for several years’.
Eoin performed three songs with the Elizabeth College Soul Band, but it was his impressive solo in the song Caravan, from the film Whiplash – a film that focuses on an ambitious music student and aspiring jazz drummer – that people have continued to talk about.
The band won overall best in the instrumental section.
‘There’s a big drum solo at the end, and when I went up to collect the trophy, the adjudicator congratulated me and said he was really proud of me,’ he said.
‘I still don’t feel like it’s real. I’ve put all this effort in and I know that I’m a good drummer but still, when it comes from an adjudicator and they’ve mentioned me to other people without me being present, it’s an incredible honour to have.’
Eoin has been playing drums for 10 years and has applied to study music at university.
He also recently achieved a distinction in his Grade 8 drum exam.
‘I like the fact that I can do it by myself, I can hop on the kit anytime I want, or I can play with the Soul Band or with my own band and create music with other people,’ he said.
‘It’s a really cool thing to do, I’ve been listening to music my whole life like everyone else, and being able to create that music with my friends is an incredible feeling.’
He is also part of the CCF drum corps, taking part in Remembrance Day and Liberation Day parades.
‘For any marches that we do, we lead the parade and make sure that everyone is stepping in time,’ he said.
‘We’ll be playing at the Elizabethan next week with a piece we’ve been preparing since the beginning of last academic year, so we’re really excited to showcase that.’
Elizabeth College music teacher Gaynor Laird, who is also conductor of the soul band, said that Caravan was the fastest and most challenging song she had ever conducted.
The band has been learning and practising it since June last year.
‘I initially said to Eoin last year that I didn’t think we’d be able to do this song because it’s really hard, but he had the confidence that he would be able to do it,’ she said.
‘I think one of the reasons we won the outstanding prize was because of the amazing solo at the end of that number, and even though all three numbers were good, that one was the basketball shoot to nail it, and it was down to the solo. He’s such an outstanding drummer and so reliable in the band. A lot of the younger drummers are aspiring to be like Eoin.’
Director of music Andrew Morley said that the college entered a different combination of music groups each Eisteddfod.
‘We’ve always had our string groups perform and they’ve had good success in the Eisteddfod overall, but this was a first for the Soul Band and the cup that they came away with. The College Strings won last year, so we’ve retained that cup,’ he said.
‘What’s nice is that they point out not only that our groups are very strong, but also as individual musicians as well.’