FREEFALLER exploded onto the scene at the start of this year when they crashed into the Top 10 with their storming debut single Do This Do That.

Since then the four-piece has been touring the country, performing at the likes of the Radio 1 Roadshow, headlining sell-out gigs at the Camden Bar Fly, appearing at the Smash Hit poll winners show, Party in the Park roadshows, and the ultimate coup – opening for Supergrass.

It all looks good at the moment but for 25-year-old Rich and the band it is not an overnight success but recognition carved out of years of writing songs and paying their dues at a host of small gigs.

For Rich it is a long road that began when he was a student at Dane Court Grammar, Broadstairs, learning the trumpet and taking GCSE and A levels in music, studying at the Thanet Music Centre at Charles Dickens School.

His father, entertainer Ken Joy, plays the trumpet and encouraged his son to take up music.

Rich, who played cornet in Birchington Silver Band, switched to the drums before going to London College of Music.

He said: "I just lost my nerve as a soloist on the trumpet. I had been playing drums since I was 13 so I switched instrument. I had practised every night for years and learned to read music - it’s the only way to really make yourself valuable in the industry."

He draws from inspirational drummers like Ringo Starr - for his sheer musicality - big band jazzers Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, to heavy rock’s master John Bonham and the skills of fusion king Dennis Chambers.

He said: "The importance is to play for the song and not try to impress with flash chops. Most players can put together impressive fills but you have to ask if they add anything to the overall song. Some of the best drummers in the world are those who complement the overall tracks they play on, and that’s where I am at."

Local theatre work at the Theatre Royal, Margate, and the town’s Winter Gardens and Queen’s Hall, plus stints in panto and summer season at Blackpool and Clacton, and then tours with comedians Jimmy Cricket, Bernie Clifton and The Grumbleweeds followed.

Barely 20, he moved to America to work on cruise ships for six months. He played with 1950s and 1960s pop legends including The Chiffons, The Tymes and The Crystals. "Belting out Da Do Ron Ron behind the original artists was a real blast," he added.

A trumpet player on the ship was best mates with singer Ollie, and Rich hooked up with him on returning to the UK. They began writing songs for publishers but eventually started a band that was to become Freefaller.

Now living on a fishing lake in Essex that backs onto the band’s communal home/project recording studio, Rich is preparing to record for Top of the Pops and for an endless round of TV and radio promotions. The band has just finished writing and recording its first album at top studios including London’s famed Townhouse.

Rich added: "It is all going so well and the tracks are good strong pop rock songs. Trouble is, we have yet to decide on a name for the album."

With a name like Freefaller, how about No Safety Net?

* Freefaller’s new single She’s My Everything/Basket Case is being released on Monday, November 7.