“I would call Drums of Death a curse… He’s the manifestation of my desire to perform and create raw electronic music. He represents some of the less savoury things. I think he might be built out of avarice and jealousy”.

Last year, Colin Bailey (who was already recording soulful electronica under the name Kid Twist)’s musical life was turned on its head when his alter-ego Drums of Death came out to play. Done up in voodoo face paint and influenced “as much by Black Sabbath, Captain Beefheart and Entombed as Egyptian Lover, electro and early grime”, Drums of Death is effectively a one-man soundsystem; DJing, rapping, singing, and as anyone who’s seen him at Greco-Roman’s events or this summer’s Thugs and Hugs off-Sónar party will testify, keeping the party going.

“I think his creation has something to do with growing up in a very religious town yet playing in rock bands and dreaming of moving to the city. Growing up wanting one thing but it being in short supply everywhere I looked” – in Bailey’s words, D.O.D makes “grime from the metal obsessed, Scottish fishing villager’s perspective” (for an example, check ‘Breathe, his recent contribution to Greco-Roman’s immaculately designed series of twelves). “Sometimes it’s more the same kind of primal excitement D.O.D is trying to take from the rock ‘n’ roll into these pieces of music”.

The black diamond in the Greco-Roman crown, Bailey was adopted by Joe Goddard and co. after they heard ‘Got Yr Thing’, the planned follow-up single to ‘Breathe’. A show with Hot Chip followed in February this year, and “the magick flowed” from there. But of course, it’s not strictly Colin Bailey they’re dealing with. “The paint was put on Drums of Death when I was cursed in Haiti. It’s as alive as he is. Colin, I mean me… I’m Kid Twist, always have been, but I wouldn’t ever really say I am Drums of Death. Everything, the process of the music and performance are so far removed from Colin Bailey. Sometimes I wonder how far this separation will go…”

Check: drumsofdeath.com