MY last home was a small attic apartment and for my next one I wanted a classic Edinburgh flat with high ceilings.

I was after something with a little garden and four bedrooms and I realised I couldn't afford that in the west end. This street was further out and I realised I could get what I was looking for.

I've not changed the decor massively. I grew up in really old houses so I like old stuff. This Murrayfield apartment, which I share with three flatmates, has a really nice old wooden kitchen.

Here in the lounge, I went for earthy, rustic colours - creams and browns - then added personalised art work. I've got a wall full of photos of family and friends; there's a big roaring open fire and a little table in the window where the sun shines: you can eat there and do a bit of work. It's a nice, relaxing room.

I play drums and sing backing vocals with King Eider, and the band practises in here. Reuben, the lead singer, writes the music and comes to the rest of us with parts.

I use an electric drum kit in the flat, so it's not as loud as a normal drum kit and when I practise I can put headphones on. All the same, I cannot tell you how good the neighbours have been. I had a sweet old lady who'd lived on the street for 40 years, living above me and bless her, perhaps her hearing wasn't the best, but she was always happy to hear us practise. We're not a death metal band, so it could have been worse.

I 'm from the Lake District and moved to Edinburgh when I was 16, to go to Loretto School in Musselburgh. Having been at the same school from the age of four, I just wanted a change for my last two years. So I came up here to school with a view to trying to get into one of the universities up here to do engineering. My dad had an engineering company for many years in the Lake District and it had a Paisley base so was always been fond of coming north.

I know Reuben from the Lake District. Our dads used to work together - so from as long as I can remember his family would turn up at family dos at ours. I'm a little bit older and had already moved up here. A lot of people from our area move to Manchester, Newcastle or Leeds, but Reuben always heard me talk about Edinburgh and thought he would give it a shot. We started playing together as soon as he got up here. I was desperate to try and get some of his talent in my life.

We're an unsigned band but we've just played the Isle of Wight Festival as a result of busking in London and then playing on Gaby Roslin's Radio 1 show.

Drums

I started playing drums when I was 12. I'd tried guitar for a year but couldn't play for toffee. My dad had a friend in our village who played the drums so suggested I try them instead because I was desperate to be a little rock star. I found that I could bond with the drums. When I came to Edinburgh I played a big base drum with the Loretto School pipe band for two years. We played at Lords, Murrayfield and did tours, it was incredible, and then I went back to my drumkit.

This snare drum was a recent purchase from a shop in Edinburgh called Drum Central, a godsend of a place for any drummer. You can't beat it for going along and having a natter about drum kits. I do spend too much time and cash in there.

Painting

This is by my dear friend from the Lake District, Stefan Orlowski, who has become quite famous. He usually does portraits and this is one of his few landscapes. I was always fond of it because it attaches me to home but also to my new home, Scotland, by the fact that it is of Eilean Donan in the western Highlands. I've been in Scotland a long time now so I feel a bit half and half, although I don't know if many Scots would let me say that.

Eco brick

This is the very first version of an eco brick I've been developing. I'm still at Heriot-Watt University and I've just submitted a PhD in environmental engineering. We've developed this brick from waste products. It has the highest recycle content of anything in the UK and I'm currently in a big business competition trying to promote it. It's something I'm very proud of, so I nicked the first one. It ties in a lot of different areas of my life - my home, my studies and my ethos.

Sculpture

My mum June bought me this on the very first day in the first flat that I'd bought. She arrived quite proudly with it. It is something that I will always take around with me wherever I live. It just relates back to family and all the support I've had. My mum would never admit to missing me, she's a Yorkshire lass so doesn't show a lot of emotion, but maybe she did a little bit when I left home.

Owl

I've got a weird obsession with owls. I've got about 200. People keep giving me them now so I'm starting to get doublers. It was triggered by a few things including stories from my childhood like The Owl And The Pussycat and Willo The Wisp. We lived in the middle of nowhere and at night we'd go outside and my dad would hoot away to this owl. I assumed it was talking back. So they are evocative of nature and being in the country and of childhood memories and stories.

Signed drum skin

I've got a load of signed drum-skins and this one is by Ringo Starr. He said two years ago that he wasn't going sign anything else, he was sick of people approaching him. Just before that he was on Radio Cumbria, weirdly at about 7am and my dad was listening. He'd signed this drum-skin and they put it up for auction for Children In Need. It was going pretty cheap and the presenter said he was going to sign it as well. Dad immediately picked up the phone and said he would double the amount if the presenter did not sign it. They agreed.

Photograph

I lived in Prague for a year when I was studying and got this Jan Saudek signed photograph. He's a famous photographer who worked with Dali and has done some quite weird stuff. This is a scene from a beach near the Charles Bridge in the city. I really enjoyed my time in Prague but their lectures started at 7.15am so it was quite a culture shock.

The Beast With Two Backs EP by Edinburgh-based folk blues band King Eider, is now available online at www.kingeider.co.uk