By EMA SABLJAK

Paisley-born drummer Ryan Hassan went from secretly playing the drums in his high school to accompanying the rock star Rod Stewart on a stadium tour.

The hip-hop musician and musical director will be joining one of the best-selling music artists of all time on his stadium tour this summer with stops across the UK.

Although his parents were always playing music such as Bruce Springsteen and Dire Straits, Hassan recalls being “rubbish at every instrument including the drums”.

But after sneaking into his high school at night, he started to develop a passion for the instrument and which only continued once he and his friends caught and the headmaster hired a drum teacher.

Ryan Hassan 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 was it.”

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.

“We were asked to do 45 minutes, but we totally underestimated how much music we would need to do that and ended up playing the show for only 14 minutes,” Ryan recalled.

“But the 14 minutes were wild,” he added.

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.

The duo has since played alongside the B.o.B, Kid Ink, Tinie Tempah and Fat Man Scoop, all of which have influenced Ryan’s style and fostered his preference for American hip-hop.

Although his preferred genre diverges from the established indie scene in Glasgow, he believes that a hip-hop scene is “bubbling” in Glasgow and can be found if “you look hard enough”.

He highlights the Magic City at the Berkeley Suite and the Sanctuary as hubs for the genre in Glasgow, with the latter bringing in “DJs that are at the forefront of new breaking music”.

Ryan added: “I think that helps to keep the scene very up to date, almost in touch with London, by bringing artists like that to Glasgow.”

The Scottish drummer has had the opportunity to see the world through his music and he will “never stop appreciating” how far playing drums got him

Yet despite all the international tours, the drummer is dedicated to his city: “I don’t play a lot in Glasgow, but it is still my home and my family is here, everything is here for me.”

“I don’t want to leave that in order to pursue the career I want, and I don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t be able to achieve what I want to achieve whilst being based in Glasgow.”

But it was in Glasgow that kicked off his next musical venture alongside renowned singer-songwriter Rod Stewart after they were both performing 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.

“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 the young Scottish musician was “mind blown” after being told that they were going ahead with the full stadium tour: “It’s been an amazing experience so far and the tour hasn’t even started yet.”

“The Hydro has maybe a 13,000 capacity and now we are playing a gig on the tour at the York Racecourse where so far, they have sold 65,000 tickets,” he added.

The stadium tour is running from May 22 to July 12 including stops Aberdeen, Newcastle, York and Sheffield. Ryan Hassan will also be touring with Glasgow artist Anna Sweeney in August and has a new single coming out next Friday.