Billy McMahon

Billy McMahon

Swim School

Billy McMahon is an experienced pro drummer with over 10 years of experience both in the studio and in live settings. He is the drummer of the band Swim School, an Indie/Rock band from Scotland. This has allowed Billy to play at established festivals such as Reading and Leeds Festival, Latitude Festival, TRNSMT, MadCool and Rock for People to name a few.  From the very start of his career, he has always trusted his Zildjian cymbals both live and in the studio. 

Billy has toured and supported bands such as Lewis Capaldi, The Snuts, Declan McKenna, Inhaler and Fontaines D.C. and played live sessions on BBC introducing and BBC TV.

Having just finished the debut Swim School album, he will be touring both the Uk and Europe heavily in 2025/2026. 

Billy McMahon'S SETUP:

  1. 15” K Custom Sweet Hi Hats
  2. 18” K custom Sweet Crash
  3. 19” K custom Sweet Crash
  4. 19” K Custom Special Dry Crash
  5. 21” K Custom Sweet Ride
  6. 20” Crash of Doom

* May be prototype

Billy
McMahon's
IN 3

Billy McMahon's
IN 3

  • WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

    I consume a lot of music daily and started to pick up drum sticks and play after listening to The Rolling Stones with my mum travelling to school in the car when I was younger. Listening to Charlie Watts was a real entry to drums for me. From there, I got out to watch as many shows as I possibly could, always paying attention to the drummer. It was Arctic Monkeys headlining Glastonbury in 2007 that I was glued to Matt Helders. His simple one up one down, Zildjian K customs on a straight boom. That did it for me. I was hooked. I then started jamming with mates at school and tried to play as many shows as I could, and to this day I still get that same buzz when I sit behind the kit on stage. So I suppose I’m inspired by what I see, always watching the drummer and looking at different styles and simplistic ways of setting up the kit to get the most out of the cymbal dynamics. I take this approach into the studio when recording with the band. Me and our producer are constantly rotating cymbal choices, addressing tones and pushing the mix as far a we can to capture that moment. I thank Charlie and Matt for my introduction to drumming and the passion it provided me. Oh, and also my mum for her solid music education from an early age.

  • WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF DRUMMERS

    Simple as this - ask questions. Genuinely, my drumming knowledge mostly comes from asking the people I’m motivated and inspired by questions, like why they use that tone of cymbal, why that certain size, how does it translate form studio to live - that kind of thing. Knowledge is gained from listening and collaborating with others and it’s a brilliant way to network within the drumming community. Other than that, don’t be afraid to try new things. Whether that be a different genre of music, a new drum set up, a new BPM, it’s all about learning and to this day I still don’t sit on the one style! Keep evolving!

  • FAVORITE ZILDJIAN CYMBAL/COMBO

    For me - a blend between Zildjian K Sweet’s and Special Dry. Both immense for recoding and live for the style of music I play.

Billy McMahon’S GO-TO’S

1 10

BEHIND THE KIT

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