Sean Carpio plays drums ‘with friends and family’. He was a student and teacher in the Newpark Music Centre and studied Carnatic classical percussion in Bangalore, India. Carpio is a member of the Louis Stewart Quintet, Red Rocket, Togetherness, White Rocket, Métier, Rainbow Rocket and the Myles Drennan Trio. tinyurl.com/carpio

What is your earliest musical memory?
‘Back to Life’ by Soul II Soul.

What did you want be when you grew up?
Someone like Sammo Hung.

What quality do you most admire in other musicians?
Humility sounds great.

Which living musician do you most admire?
Paul Motian is still playing beautiful music at seventy-seven.

What was your happiest musical moment?
Playing parties with Ravid Dedmond.

What new musical skill would you like to learn?  
Orchestration and/or tenor saxophone.

What was the last concert you attended?  
Hoarsebox in Whelans.

What is the last book you read?
Silence by John Cage.

Where do you listen to music?
When I’m walking around.

What radio programmes do you listen to?
Radiom.org has nice interviews with nice people.

What was the last recording you bought?
Voices of Our Time – Five decades of Studs Terkel interviews

What other jobs have you held?
Drum department sales assistant.

What do you cherish most about Irish musical life?
Colm ‘Red’ O’Sullivan.

What would you change about it?
Nothing. He’s great.

What would you like played at your funeral?
Andrew Hill playing Duke Ellington and Irving Mills’ ‘Sophisticated Lady’.

If you could take a year off, what would you do?
Join the Ultimate Fighting Championship and train with Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture.

Give us a tune.
Short: ‘Flashinlight’, Evan Smith.
Long: Coptic Light, Morton Feldman