CONTEMPORARY | Melissa Rigby

Photo by Clare Shilland for Issue No. 2 of The Gentlewoman Magazine.

Melissa Rigby is the 21-year-old drummer of south east London post-punk band S.C.U.M. The daughter of a headmaster, Melissa began playing the drums at 13, learning from her brothers, and later went on to study drumming in college. Melissa cites the main drumbeat in 'Tango Whiskeyman' by Can as her major rhythmic inspiration, and she persisted until she finally mastered it herself. The formally all-male band S.C.U.M. was so impressed by the way she played they asked her to join them. When Melissa isn't drumming and traveling, she enjoys walking around London, staying at home and drawing dinosaurs.—The Gentlewoman