Laurence John "Loz" Colbert (born 27 June 1970) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Ride and formerly of The Animalhouse, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Supergrass and Gaz Coombes. His drumming style has been characterized as furious, drawing comparisons to Keith Moon.
Early life
Colbert was born in Kingston upon Thames, England
and grew up in the
Cotswolds.
As he was in a relatively isolated area, Colbert had spent a lot of time in his bedroom listening to music as well as practicing the drums as there were few distractions or neighbors to be concerned about.
Growing up, some of his influences included The Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen
as well as drummers like
Keith Moon,
Mitch Mitchell and
Ginger Baker.
Ride
At seventeen, Colbert attended
Banbury Art School where he met
Mark Gardener and Andy Bell.
They used to meet at a
Our Price record shop where Steve Queralt worked. The four of them formed the band, Ride, in 1988 after attending a concert by
The Smiths.
While still at Banbury the band produced a tape demo including the tracks "Chelsea Girl" and "Drive Blind". In February 1989 "Ride" were asked to stand in for a cancelled student union gig at Oxford Polytechnic that brought them to the attention of
Alan McGee. After supporting The Soup Dragons in 1989, McGee signed them to
Creation Records.
Colbert was with Ride from the beginning in 1988 to its first dissolution in 1996. During this time he was involved in four studio albums: Nowhere, Going Blank Again, Carnival of Light and Tarantula, as well as other .
In 1996, Ride broke up due to various causes such as tensions between Bell and Gardener as well as the band having an unclear musical direction.
On 16 October 2001, all four members of Ride agreed to be filmed by Channel 4 for a one-off reunion. The footage was used for the show Pioneers, a documentary on Sonic Youth, and featured a thirty-minute improvised jam.
On 19 November 2014 it was announced that Ride had reunited again for a series of tour dates in Europe and North America, in May and June 2015.
The Animalhouse
In late 1997, Colbert and Gardener joined with Sam Williams and Hari T to form the Animalhouse. The band began making live appearances and received attention from the music press for its blend of 1960s
Psychedelic rock,
Britrock, and
electronica. Owing to a variety of legal and label related reasons, the band did not release any material until April 2000's
Small EP. The album
Ready To Receive followed in September, to commercial success in Japan, but limited success elsewhere.
Shortly after the release of the album, the Animalhouse disbanded, with Gardener stating that "it just didn't work."
The Jesus and Mary Chain
In 2007,
Jim Reid recruited Colbert along with Phil King and
Mark Crozer to be part of the reunion tour after The Jesus and Mary Chain was reformed.
Colbert was with the band from 2007 to 2008. During that period, the band produced the song "All Things Must Pass" as part of the
.
It was their first new material in more than a decade.
Supergrass and Gaz Coombes
Colbert played for
Supergrass during their 2005 tour as a brief fill in for
Danny Goffey.
In addition, he has worked with Supergrass lead singer Gaz Coombes on several projects.
Personal life
Colbert attended Oxford Brookes University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Music in 2010 and 2012 respectively.
Currently he is pursuing a PHD.
Colbert is a Taekwondo practitioner and holds a Black Belt.
In 2020, Colbert participated in a 12-hour drum session to raise over £20,000 for the NHS.
Discography
Ride
Studio albums
-
Nowhere (1990)
-
Going Blank Again (1992)
-
Carnival of Light (1994)
-
Tarantula (1996)
-
Weather Diaries (2017)
-
This Is Not a Safe Place (2019)
-
Interplay (2024)
Compilations, EPs, and live albums
-
Smile (1990)
-
Kaleidoscope (1991)
-
Grasshopper (1992)
-
Cosmic Carnival (1994)
-
Live Light (1995)
-
Ride (Box Set) (2001)
-
OX4 The Best of Ride (2001)
-
Firing Blanks Unreleased Ride Recordings 1988–95 (2001)
-
Live Reading Festival 1992 (2001)
-
(2003)
-
Tomorrow's Shore (2018)
Singles
-
Vapour Trail (1991)
-
Black Nite Crash (1996)
Gaz Coombes
Studio albums
-
Matador (2015)
-
World's Strongest Man (2018)
Music of Heroes
Studio albums
