He went viral after filming himself drumming to the BBC News theme tune during lockdown and raised a record-breaking £3m for charity, but the weather presenter Owain Wyn Evans says none of this would have been possible if he had listened those who advised him to tone down his personality earlier in his career.
Evans’ “drumathon” became Children in Need’s most successful 24-hour challenge on Saturday. The BBC weather presenter was joined by a chorus of 50 drummers as he played for an entire day and night, with five-minute breaks every hour.
The challenge featured appearances from some of the world’s best drummers, including Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain, Simple Minds’ Cherisse Osei and Blondie’s Clem Burke – who even gave Evans a drum kit to use. Dave Grohl sent a message wishing him good luck and calling him his hero. It was a long way away from Evans’ youth playing drums to Foo Fighters songs in rugby clubs across the Swansea valley.
“When I was in school I was called names because I was an effeminate child,” Evans said. “So I used the drums in a way to deflect the heat. No one wants to be picked on, and when you’re a child or a teenager you probably don’t have the tools to be able to deal with it in a mature way.”
Despite the bullying, Evans said he always resisted putting “a lid on it at all”. Though earlier in his career people told him to tone it down, he realised the most important thing was to be himself, and that was the key decision that had led him here.
“There’s a great Dolly Parton quote where she says find out who you are and do that on purpose. One of the things I really wanted to do was change the perception of who can be a drummer. You don’t have to be a muscly man who loves rock music. I wanted to start with Celine Dion and end with Britney Spears, and that’s fine.”
Evans’ viral video in April last year put a smile on many faces at a time when the news was overwhelmingly dark and negative. “It was a really scary time,” he said. “I thought that maybe it would be at least a little bit of light in what was quite a dark period as far as the news was concerned. And I couldn’t believe the response, it was absolutely overwhelming.”
Since then, drumming has played much more of an active role in his life, and it’s safe to say today he’s as well known for playing the drums as he is for predicting the weather. He wants to use the attention as a positive force, especially as someone who suffers from anxiety and has found drumming a helpful therapeutic tool.
“It takes my mind to somewhere else. I hope this will inspire young people who think the instrument isn’t for them because it can be great for your mental health.”
Being in public life is complicated, and alongside the positive reinforcement there usually come negative, and sometimes abusive, messages. “Over the years I’ve received a lot of homophobic abuse on social media. Unfortunately, when you have any kind of profile – and I have a tiny profile compared to a lot of famous people – you get it. Not everybody will like you. Not everybody will accept you.”
He deals with it mostly by embracing his own personality and virtues. “I can’t change that and I don’t want to change it. When I was younger I thought my life would be easier if I wasn’t gay. But I want everybody who feels they don’t want to be themselves to know that they’ve got it wrong – you are you and that’s to be celebrated. We’re all different.”
Though he has yet to be approached for a record contract, if one were to pop up in his inbox it would be very welcome. “I thought once the drumathon ended I’d want to throw my drums into the skip and burn them. But in reality it’s made me love it more. I love music, I love presenting, so maybe there’ll be a way that those things can be combined … If I was approached to play the drums on some amazing pop songs with some amazing pop stars, oh, I’d absolutely do that.”
On Wednesday Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s 24-hour dance marathon also raised more than £1m for Children in Need.
