rehearsal space in London

a church? a school hall?

If you don't need electricity, why not do it in the street? You'd make extra cash as buskers to boot!

It's a great idea, Eyeball, but unfortunately we're at the mercy of a)the British weather and b) people who [not without justification] come out of their houses to complain, within minutes.

I know what you mean about the weather.

In summer, I often hear groups of people making a racket of drums in Hampstead Heath, or even Finsbury Park, and I've always assumed they're just hippies, but now I wonder.

They have a drum workshop in the arts hut in Finsbury Park. I walkied past it the other day and it looked/sounded great.

We used to rehearse in a lock-up garage in battersea run by a siberian heavy-metal guitarist called Iggy. It's £20 for three hours, which is the cheapest I've come across, and does have backline/PA, although you don't need that.

Is that too much? If not, I can dig out his number - might take me a while, though.

Apart from that, you're right to think of Church Hall-type spaces. Prob need to look at local papers/notice-boards, though. Another idea is gig venues during the day. I'm sure someone was telling me they did this.

walkied? Am i a dog now?

Also, what kind of percussion band are you? That sounds great.

Good tips, Jamie, thanks. The Battersea thing might well be interesting. Could you fish out the number? The gig venue during the day thing sounds like an excellent suggestion, too.

Yeah, Eyeball, percussion bands can attract a lame hippy element [feel that energy, man], but it doesn't have to be that way.

Our lot - Maracatu Estrela Do Norte - focus solely on maracatu, a kick-ass afro-brazilian rhythm from Northeast Brazil.

Ha you could try the studio I work in here but may be too pricey at £9 per hour excluding backline. Failing that, try asking round church halls / dance studios etc as mentioned above, if you just need a space you can make noise in. Do Corsica still do rehearsals?

I just emailed our old bassist to get the number.

maracatu, a kick-ass afro-brazilian rhythm from Northeast Brazil

That sounds really good!

Thanks Matt, £9 an hour doesn't sound ruinous on the face of it. I'll put it to the rest.

Jamie, when we get it right, it's very very good, and enormously satisfying to play. It's very much led by the bass drums, which have syncopated 'melody lines', accompanied by snares, bells and shakers.