Ed Sheeran's Stadium Drummer, The Voice UK, London's Music Scene, Clinics, and What It Takes to Play for the World
Dexter Hercules has built one of the most impressive careers in contemporary drumming, anchoring some of the biggest tours and television productions in the world from his base in London. As the drummer for Ed Sheeran, one of the most commercially successful artists in music history, Dexter has played to sold-out stadiums across every continent, bringing an impeccable groove and an undeniable energy to an artist known for reducing massive venues to something intimate and personal. The combination of Dexter's playing and Ed's solo performances created one of the most distinctive live setups in pop, a two-person show where the drummer carries half the emotional weight of the room.
Beyond Ed Sheeran, Dexter is a central figure in London's thriving live music scene, a session and touring drummer, a clinician who has taken his experience to drumming students around the world, and a presence on The Voice UK that brought his playing to an entirely new audience. In this conversation with Elmo, he traces the journey from his early days in London to landing one of the most coveted drum chairs in music, and shares an honest account of what life actually looks like for a working drummer at the top of the international touring circuit.
"When you're playing for 80,000 people, every single night, you have to love the drum chair as much as the crowd does."
The full story of how Dexter landed the gig with Ed Sheeran and what it has meant for his career: the audition, the first tours, what it's like to be the rhythmic foundation for one of the world's biggest solo artists, and the specific demands of playing night after night at stadium scale.
Dexter's experience on The Voice UK, the difference between television drumming and live touring, and how exposure on a major television production changed the way he was perceived within the industry and opened new conversations about his career and capabilities.
What makes London's live music ecosystem unique: the venues, the session culture, the diversity of genres and artists that flow through the city, and how growing up in that environment shaped Dexter's versatility and his ability to move between very different musical worlds.
Dexter on his work as a clinician and educator: what he passes on to students, what he wishes someone had told him earlier, and why giving back to the next generation of drummers has become as important to him as playing on the biggest stages in the world.
A candid look at what it actually means to live on the road at the top level: the physical demands, the mental discipline, the relationships you build on tour, and the challenges of maintaining your identity and creativity when your life exists largely in airports and arenas.
How Dexter went from the London session circuit to international stadium tours: the decisions, the relationships, the pivotal gigs that changed everything, and the practical advice he gives to drummers who are serious about building a career that lasts at the highest level.
The full story of how Dexter got the Ed Sheeran gig: what the process looked like, what he had to demonstrate in the audition, and what the first few shows together revealed about what this collaboration would become.
His honest account of what stadium drumming demands at the scale of an Ed Sheeran tour: the stamina, the consistency, the way you have to stay connected to the music even when you've played the same set five hundred times, and how the energy of a massive crowd changes the performance even for a highly experienced player.
On London's music scene: specific venues, specific players, specific moments in his development as a musician that were only possible because of the particular culture of London's live music world and the community of musicians that has always existed there.
Dexter on what he teaches at clinics: the specific things about drumming, about groove, and about building a professional career that he believes are underemphasized in music education, and why the mental side of performance deserves as much attention as the technical side.
The realities of the touring life: the physical and mental toll, how he manages his health and relationships on the road, and how his perspective on what the touring lifestyle means has evolved over years of doing it at the highest level.
His advice for drummers trying to break into the international touring circuit from outside the traditional American music industry centers: why London is actually an advantage, what relationships matter most, and why versatility is the quality that will open doors that technical excellence alone cannot.