JOHNSTONE musician Ryan Hassan has gone from secretly playing the drums in high school to accompanying rock star Rod Stewart on a stadium tour.

Ryan will be joining one of the best-selling music artists of all time on his latest tour this summer, with stops across the UK.

The former St Brendan’s High pupil developed a passion for the drums after sneaking into school at night with his friends to play.

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That passion only intensified after they were caught...and the headteacher decided to hire a drum instructor. 

Ryan, 32, said: “I was one of those people who knew from that age that that was all I wanted to do.

“There wasn’t another option for me, it was pretty much just that.”

The young drummer kickstarted his career in music through a two-man act, That Drummer and That DJ, with DJ Grantos by playing at the University of Glasgow QMU.

After that experience, the Scottish act continued to see success as the gig was quickly followed by shows with British boy band McFly and a US college tour.

But it was in Glasgow that Ryan kicked off his next musical venture alongside Rod Stewart after they both performed at the SSE Hydro for Celtic FC’s Celebrate 67 event.

“We met Rod backstage and he said he loved the band and the music and, from that point, he mentioned the tour and said it would be good to have us come along.” Ryan explained.

“I was thinking it might be one show in Glasgow and you get told so many things in the music industry that don’t materialise.”

But, after a year, he was “mind-blown” after being told they were going ahead with the full stadium tour:

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Ryan added: “It’s been an amazing experience so far and the tour hasn’t even started yet.

“Rod is actually really down to earth. I think that, because he’s at a certain level, he doesn’t need to put anything on.

“We bond over the football and he’s even going to put the Scottish Cup Final on a screen so we can all watch it.” 

The stadium tour runs from tonight until Friday, July 12.

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