metal master bobby jarzombek, backstage with madonna’s steve sidelnyk and expert tech tips.
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Th e O f f i c i a l P ub li c ati on of Drum Works hop • 7.1
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peter erskine & alex Acuña
on
cloud 9
tales from weather report
Plus road stories with def leppard and journey, dw & Pacific’s latest gear & more!
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Atom Willard / Angels and Airwaves / 9300 Snare Stand
©2006 Drum Workshop, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
EDGE 7.1
09
46
24
ARTIST FEATURES
02Peter
Erskine
This So-Cal-based session master and educator continues to forge
new territory in the jazz world and beyond
46Bobby
Jarzombek
Backing metal gods like Rob Halford and Sebastian Bach, this
chops-inspired speed demon pulls out all of the tricks
56Alex
Acuña
Raised on a healthy diet of traditional be-bop and Latin rhythms,
Alex is one of drumming’s true multi-taskers
68Cora
Coleman-Dunham
It’s every drummer’s dream to get a gig that catapults them into the
spotlight, and there’s no doubt this savvy newcomer has found it
71
IN EVERY ISSUE
09 Time Machine: Ginger Baker
15 Tech Tips with Yard
16 Pro-File: New Blood
20 On the Rise: Omar Gongoria
24Road Stories: Journey & Def Leppard
34 LIVE! with Yellowcard
40 Backstage Pass: Madonna
44 DW Drum Clinic with Tommy Igoe
62 PDP Spotlight: Jonah David
72 New Artists
PRODUCT NEWS
36 DW Drum News
50 Pacific Drum News
SPECIAL TO THIS ISSUE
30 The Drummers of Vegas
54 The Making of Drum Duets Vol. 1
EDGE Magazine is a publication of Drum Workshop, Inc. ©2006 Drum Workshop, Inc. All Rights Reserved. #PRCAEDGE-V7 For promotional use only. NOT FOR SALE.
Jazz Times
This Southern California-based session master
and educator continues to forge new territory
in the jazz world and beyond
EDGE: So you started playing drums at a very
early age. What sparked you to play, and when
did you first notice you had a passion for playing
drums?
Peter Erskine: My parents had a photo of me
playing, or air drumming I guess, on a tabletop when I was just an infant. My father had
fashioned a drum set of sorts out of a conga
drum that came from Havana, Cuba. I still
have it. It also had a Chinese tom
tom and one little cymbal with some rivets
in it. And I would play along with some
of the albums he had at home. By the time
I was 5 years old, I was already taking lessons. At that point I knew that I wanted to
be a drummer and was pretty certain that I
would be a drummer.
EDGE: Why did your father steer you in that
direction?
PE: I think he always hoped that one of his
kids would want to be a musician. He was
a psychiatrist by the time I was
born, but he paid for his
medical school
educa-
tion by working as a musician. He was a
bass player, and he had a band called Fred
Erskine And His Music For Moderns. So we
had jazz around the house all of the time.
Some of the earliest recordings I can remember are a couple of Art Blakey albums and a
Tito Puente record. It’s kind of funny being
here with Alex (Acuña) today, because that
was the kind of music that I knew ever since
I was an infant. When I first heard Alex play,
it was the evening that I met Jaco Pastorius, and he played us a cassette of “Heavy
Weather.” I was 23, and I said to Jaco, “This
is the version of Weather Report I’ve been
waiting to hear.” I was just so thrilled because I’d never heard anyone play like Alex.
He really has his own way of playing. It’s
funny now, because when I look back, I was
waiting for someone like Alex.
6
9
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8
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Set-up Specs:
Jazz Series Red Gum Drums with Natural Lacquer over
Custom Redwood Burl Exotic and Chrome Hardware
16x18” Bass Drum
5x14” Snare Drum
8x12”, 14x14” Tom-Toms
9000 Single Pedal
6500 Hi-Hat Stand
6300 Snare Drum Stand
6710 Straight Cymbal Stand (x4)
6100 Case/Drum Throne
10
5
Peter Erskine
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 3
“I went to my first music camp when I was
seven years old. I met Stan Kenton, who I
would eventually wind up working for.”
EDGE: So there was that kind of fusion between
the Latin world and jazz?
PE: Back then, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan
Kenton were already making these recordings of Cuban rhythms and mixing it with
American jazz. I was also very interested
in African drumming. My father had some
field recordings, and I had some albums
from drummers from Ghana and Nigeria.
So, between my father, my drum teacher
and my sisters, who were always dating jazz
musicians at the time, I had plenty to absorb
early on.
EDGE: So you mentioned you began formal instruction at around age five?
PE: Yes, from a drum teacher named Johnny
Cevera. He was a drummer who played
in Atlantic City and was from a town very
close to there. He worked with singers like
Patty Page, and played a little bit with the
Billy May Big Band. I took a detour playing
trumpet for a little bit, and for a hot minute I thought I might want to be a classical
percussionist. But then I realized that it was
kind of a drag, just standing around counting. So many measures in music, it was
more fun just to be playing in a rhythm section. I went to my first music camp when I
was seven years old. I met Stan Kenton, who
I would eventually wind up working for. I
also met Joe Zawinul when I was seven. So
at a very young age, I was hanging around
jazz musicians.
EDGE: When did you make the transition from
being a drum student to the Stan Kenton gig?
PE: At a young age, I could play fairly well,
and had some sense of musical savvy. I don’t
think I was any kind of prodigy, but I have
some recordings that were made when I was
8, 9 and 10 years old, and when I listen to
those, it sounds like me. I was already developing a sense of musical style. The acorn definitely becomes the oak. The musical die was
cast, and I don’t know how much of that had
to do with my teacher exposing me to Art
Blakey, Joe Morello and Max Roach. I’m sure
that was a lot of it. Anyway, I learned the language. So to answer the question, I went to
my final Kenton camp when I was 12 years
old. It was out here in California, and I was
getting a little confused because I was going to classical camps and jazz camps at the
same time, and that was the transition year
for me. I remember that the audition went so
badly. I used to always make the top bands
in school. I was too young to even be at these
camps really, but that’s because I would always be assigned to the top band. And then
all of a sudden at 12 years old I looked up
and one of the drum instructors just put his
head in his hands and was like “Oh my God,
what happened to this kid?” They assigned
me to the lowest band at the camp. So it
was a real shock to the system. And it was
just what I needed. Guys like Stan and Ed
Soph, who is now teaching at North Texas
these days, would spend a whole day on a
rhythm section workshop. They’d put me
on a drum set, take me apart, and then put
me back together again. And that’s where I
got my first inkling of “OK, you just can’t
imitate what you hear other drummers do,
you really have to know how to play time.”
So, I was lucky enough to begin the process
of seriously learning more about music at
age 12. I went to a place called Interlochen
Arts Academy. They have a summer camp
there, but I went to the winter high school.
They had a symphony orchestra, and they
had a great jazz band there. I think that’s
where I really got serious. From there, I left
high school a year early, went to Indiana
University and spent a year studying the
difference between match grip and traditional. I had never formally studied match
grip. I was really curious about it. Musically,
I was playing in the jazz band at school and
had a fusion group. This was 1971-72, and
music was very exciting back then. Every
new record that came out seemed like it
was a postcard from the future. It was like,
“This is what’s possible.” Anyway, I’m playing with the jazz band, and word gets out
to Stan Kenton. He already knew my fam-
ily because my family always brought me to
these camps. At that age, I was always too
young to come on my own. So he called,
and my father answered the phone, and
said “Fred, this is Stan, is Peter ready for the
band?” My dad said, “Yeah.” And Stan said,
“OK, well then, we’d like him to come on up
and audition.” So my audition was at Lincoln Center, and I had just turned 18. They
were rehearsing for the Newport Jazz Festival that night, and part of the program was
an appearance by June Christy, a vocalist
that had been with the band back in the ‘40s.
She was going to sing with the band and
only the rhythm section knew I was auditioning, so the rest of the band didn’t know
that there was going to be a change. So they
all assumed that I was June Christy’s hippie drummer. Got the gig, and a week later,
I’m out riding in this bus. Funny thing was
that I’d been with the band for a few days,
and after a gig somewhere in Iowa, I’m riding the elevator up with Stan. We’re going to
our respective floors, and he said, “Peter, we
haven’t discussed money yet.” And I said,
“OK, how much do you want?” I think that
was good for an extra $25 a week. He was
charmed by that response. Imagine, you’re
18 years old, and you get to go on the road
and play. It wasn’t about the money; it was
about getting to play.
EDGE: Was going on the road at such a young
age a shock to the system?
PE: It just seemed natural. I knew I was doing my learning in public, and I sensed that
a lot of drummers were thinking, “Who’s
this guy, and why did he get the gig?” At
the time, that was a pretty plump gig. If you
wanted to play big band, that was a good
gig. And I experienced a lot of the same
thing in Weather Report. “Who’s this guy?
He played big band. What qualifies him to
play with Weather Report?” Even in Steely
Dan in ’93, I kinda got that. I’m finally at
that stage of my life where if that question
comes up, it doesn’t bother me.
EDGE: So then it was Maynard Ferguson, and
then on to Weather Report?
PE: After three years with Kenton, I went
back to college and my professor George
Gabber. He just took one look at my hands
and said, “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
I had gained a ton of bad habits out on the
road. I was playing so heavy. So I spent the
year trying to unlearn some of the bad habits. During that time, Maynard called three
times, and I turned him down every time.
Finally they called and they said, “Look
will you just do the summer tour?” And I
said, “OK,” but I really wasn’t looking to
go out again. Then I spent two years with
Maynard, and during that time I met Jaco
Pastorius. He came out
to see the band. I didn’t
know it at the time, but
they were looking ahead
to when Alex might be
splitting the group. So
Jaco filed me away. Initially they had called me
to come and work on this
new album, and I only
had a couple of days off
with Maynard. It was just
too much pressure for
me. They wanted me to
go out there for only one day. My recording
experience wasn’t that good, and I didn’t
want to risk missing a Maynard gig. Plus,
the weather was bad, and I didn’t really
want to fly, and I didn’t have the confidence
at the time, so I turned it down. Luckily,
they called a second time, and I had enough
sense to not turn it down. Then, they asked
if I could do a tour of Japan. So, I said yes,
and I told Maynard I would be leaving, but
the band still wasn’t quite sure. Zawinul
didn’t know that much about me. All he
knew is that Jaco had recommended me. So
he had management call me up. I was 23,
and the guy says, “Peter this is so-and-so
from Weather Report management. Joe Zawinul wanted us to ask you one final question.” I said, “Sure, what is it?” “Joe wants
to know if you can play the beat to ‘Nubian
Sundance.’” That’s a tune from the Mysterious Traveler album. It’s a cool beat. We used
to play it in Maynard’s band at sound checks
just because I liked it. So, with the brashness
of a young 23-year-old, I just blurted out,
“Yeah, you tell Joe I can play the sh*t out
of it.” And the guy said, “OK, thank you.”
Of course that was the kind of answer that
Zawinul loved because they wanted a guy
to come in with attitude. At the time, they
made a new kit for this Weather Report tour,
with cases and the whole nine yards. So I
flew out to Hollywood for the rehearsal. I’m
at S.I.R. and we’re supposed to start at like
1:00, so I’m there at like 10 in the morning,
and I’m setting up this new drum set. The
road manager comes over and says, “The
guys called, they’re going to be a couple of
hours late.” “Okay.” A couple hours later, he
comes up again: “Um, they’re going to be a
couple more hours.” I don’t know what they
were doing. I never found out. But about six
hours later, these guys come strolling in.
Wayne Shorter, Joe and Jaco. Joe looks at me
very wearily, and shakes my hand. Wayne
shakes my hand friendlier. Jaco waves Hi
and runs out the door again. He went to
go get a six-pack of Heineken. So, now I’m
wondering what’s going on. Normally, I
would have waited until I was asked, “OK,
Peter, do you want to play this song?” As far
as I knew, it wasn’t an audition, it was just
a rehearsal, but thinking back, I’m sure this
> On the
Record:
Alex Acuña:
EDGE: Talk about Peter’s playing
with Weather Report. How did you
feel about him being in the band
after you?
Alex Acuña: I left the band because family has always been a
high priority, and I wanted to
be with my children and my wife. The
band was taking off, so I said “Oh I can’t
go on the road for three or four months
without seeing my family. I can’t do
that. I have to be here.” They understood, and we split on great terms. I still
continued to play with Wayne and Joe
on some of their solo records, and I even
toured with Joe a bit here and there. So
right after that, the band came to play
here live at Santa Monica Civic. I came
to see them. I got a ticket, and I went
by myself. Wow, it was weird because
I was so used to being part of the music, and now I was just in the audience.
After the show, Joe gave me the new record with Peter playing. Man! I drove
so fast to my house to play it. I wanted
to see how the record sounded, you
know? So I read who was playing on
the album. Guys like Steve Gadd, Tony
Williams and Peter. When I heard this
track called “Pinocchio,” I said, “Wow!
I admire Peter.” I hadn’t heard a recording of Peter before that. I heard him live,
but it’s a different thing when you hear
a record; you hear the entire nuance.
Later on, I became friends with Peter,
and I still listen to all of the music that
he recorded with Weather Report. I also
listen to Steps Ahead and other recordings he’s done with Vince Mendoza and
the big bands in Europe. Amazing stuff!
Lately, we’ve been doing a lot of movies
together. I respect Peter for many reasons. As a human being, he’s amazing!
As a musician and drummer, also tremendous! I think he’s one of the leading
drummers in the style of music that he’s
playing. He can play anything. I saw
him playing Latin jazz, and he plays
pop, too. I loved him with Steely Dan.
He has incredible taste, time, technique,
and his cymbal work is impeccable.
He’s one of a kind, and we’ve always
been great friends. Weather Report was
our link, but we have so much in common beyond that.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 5
Selected
Discography
1960 Facets
Doc Severinsen
1974 Fire, Fury and Fun
Stan Kenton
1977 Conquistador
Maynard Ferguson
1977 New Vintage
Maynard Ferguson
1978 Mr. Gone
Weather Report
1979 8:30
Weather Report
1979 Cables’ Vision
George Cables
1979 Mingus
Joni Mitchell
1980 Night Passage
Weather Report
1980 To Chi Ka
Kazumi Watanabe
1981 Word of Mouth
Jaco Pastorius
1982 Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine
1982 Record Weather Report
1983 Invitation
Jaco Pastorius
1985 This is This!
Weather Report
1985 Magic Touch
Stanley Jordan
1986 Camouflage
Bob Mintzer Big Band
1987 Getting There
John Abercrombie
1989 Waiting for Spring
David Benoit
1990 Sketchbook
John Patitucci
1991 Sweet Soul
Peter Erskine
1992 Manteca
Manhattan Jazz Quintet
1992 November
John Abercrombie
1992 Street of Dreams
Stan Kenton
1993 Dream Come True
Arturo Sandoval
1993 Night with Strings Sadao Watanabe
1993 Sketches
Vince Mendoza
1993 Under the Influence
Eddie Daniels
1994 Summertime
Scofield/Metheny
1995 Alive in America
Steely Dan
1995 Five Seasons
Eddie Daniels
1995 History of the Drum
Peter Erskine
1995 Sweetest Days
Vanessa Williams
1996 Memory Lane
Chuck Loeb
1996 This is Jazz, Vol. 16
Maynard Ferguson
1996 This is Jazz, Vol. 19
Wayne Shorter
1998 Lava Jazz
Peter Erskine & Lounge Art
Ensemble
1999 Live at Newport Jazz Fest
Stan Kenton
1999 Slowing Down the World
Chris Botti
2000 Both Sides Now
Joni Mitchell
2000 Incontournables
Chick Corea
2000 Portrait
Wayne Shorter
2001 Look of Love
Diana Krall
2001 Majestic
Original Soundtrack
2002 Best of Weather Report
Weather Report
2002 December
Chris Botti
2002 Rit’s House
Lee Ritenour
2003 North
Elvis Costello
2004 Accentuate the Positive
Al Jarreau
2004 Dana Owens Album
Queen Latifah
2004 Dreamland
Joni Mitchell
2004 Girl in the Other Room
Diana Krall
2004 Il Sogno
Elvis Costello
2005 To Love Again: The Duets
Chris Botti
was sort of an audition. At this point, they
all just kind of ignore me. I’m really bored
because I’ve just been sitting around all day.
Zawinul goes up to his board and starts
checking out the sound, and I just jumped
up on the drum set and started playing. He
turned around and shot me a real surprised
look. He started playing, then Wayne started
playing. A few minutes later, Jaco comes in
with a six-pack of beer. He sees what’s going on, and there’s a big smile on his face. It’s
almost like it was choreographed. He sets the
beer down, jumps up on stage and turns to
his left. In perfect choreography, they throw
him his bass. He catches it, puts the strap on,
and we just did this impromptu jam/medley of all the tunes. I’d done my homework
so I knew the changes. It was exciting, and I
could tell it was going well. Anyway, we finish and the guys are all laughing and highfiving each other. The next day CBS sends
over a photographer. We were posing, and I
say, “Hey, Joe.” He says, “What?” I say, “Can
I tell my friends that I’m in the band?” He
goes, “You can tell your friends that you’re
going to Japan.”
EDGE: So how was Japan?
PE: Here’s a good one: Before the very first
concert there, they were dumping baby
powder on the floor of the stage. So I say,
“What are you doing that for?” And the guy
was about to tell me, and Jaco
came out of nowhere and said,
“Shhh, check it out, you’ll see.”
So we started playing this tune
that Alex had recorded called
“Elegant People.” We did this
big intro, and the adrenaline
is pumping, and I’m a little bit
freaked, nervous, excited and
happy. Then it gets to this funky
thing, and I look over, and Jaco’s
doing this James Brown skate on
the stage. That’s what the talcum powder was for. He’s like
moonwalking, but hipper. He’s
doing the James Brown, on one
leg shimmying, and he’s looking
at me like “check it out.” I just
started laughing my ass off. After
that, there was no fear for the rest
of the night. It was like, “Okay,
I’m with friends here. We’re having fun.” And with Jaco, it was
always about that, just having
fun. And during that first year, it
was very easy to play. It was hard
work, but it was easy.
EDGE: Throughout your career,
you’ve played with a lot of big
names: Chick Corea to Freddie Hubbard, Steely Dan, Pat Metheny; the
list goes on. How do you switch
gears from one gig to another and adapt?
PE: I just try to approach every project with
an open mind. Ultimately, you’re there as a
drummer to enable the artist’s dream or vision to become a reality. So, oftentimes that
means burying your ego for the musical good,
which should always be the goal anyway. A
lot of drummers will impose their thing on
the project, no matter what it is. I’m very satisfied to clear the path musically and rhythmically. I realize that my signature doesn’t
depend on a particular rhythm or thing; it’s
there in the sound. It’s just in the way I touch
a drum or play a cymbal. For better or worse,
it’s going to come out sounding like me.
EDGE: That’s obviously why people hire you.
PE: Usually, yeah. One time I was doing a
record, and the producer said, “It’s getting
good, it’s getting good, it’s starting to sound
like Omar (Hakim).” I just said, “You know
what? Can you do me a favor? Don’t say that
the rest of the day.” He said, “Oh, okay.” It
was just confusing because Omar is a great
drummer. I don’t know his vocabulary, and
if I try to second-guess that, it’s just not going to work. And that’s not meant as a defensive. I’ve always admired the things I’ve
read about Jeff Porcaro. He would just say,
“Hey, I’m not the right guy for this.” Jeff was
a prince among drummers.
EDGE: Tell us about your foray into composing
live theatre. It seems like you’ve been doing more
of that.
PE: Still doing it. This band I play with now,
The Lounge Art Ensemble, is an area where
I can write in an absolute sense. I don’t need
the literary inspiration. But writing for theatre is kind of fun because it’s just like playing music. There are defined parameters, and
there’s a stated goal. In the case of theatre,
there’s a dramatic goal, and the underscoring
is just another element, just like the lighting
or set design. It has to help the artistic whole,
so to speak. But that’s a great influence for
drumming, because if you approach all music that way, then you’re oftentimes much
happier in the end. It works that way for me.
A lot of times I’m happier when less is more.
The great pop drummers like Jim Keltner figured that out a long time ago. The drummers
that tended to overplay, like me, take longer
to figure it out. That’s really the beauty of
playing now. As a drummer, my greatest joy
comes from being able to nudge the music
in a direction, sometimes in an unexpected
way. So as a composer, I’m still very much
a student. I like tuneful melodies and I like
writing things for a jazz band that will spark
improvisation. I’m not a control freak.
EDGE: You’re also a well-known educator and
clinician. How do you balance your life as an
educator and instructor with the professional
musician?
PE: It’s kind of the same. When I was growing up, these great jazz musicians were very
generous with their time and knowledge. So
it felt natural to do the same thing. And you
always learn when you teach. It reinforces
certain things.
EDGE: Let’s talk gear. Tell us about your recent
experience with DW.
PE: Well, my first experience was with the
6000 Series cymbal stands, the flush-based
stands. I was playing in Europe at an event,
Drums du Jour. The cymbal stands were all
DW flush-based, and I was thrilled. Why?
Because my cymbals sounded better. I heard
the difference immediately. The cymbals
seemed to vibrate more freely, and there
was more connection between the cymbal
and stage and the rest of the drum set. After all, the beauty of a drum set is how everything just mixes together. And I remember lamenting with some other drummers
about why today’s drums don’t sound like
the old drums. Well, something happened
in the ’80s and ’90s when the trend was to
achieve more isolation from each drum. So
drum design and hardware improved to
the point where you were able to get a really great sound from each element of the
kit. But the sense of the whole was not quite
there. Then here comes DW with the oldstyle banana arm mount. What if we put one
of those on the 18”? Of course you guys had
already thought of that. So, the transition to
DW was running into Don Lombardi at the
trade show and wanting to show my wife
these flush-based cymbal stands. “Honey,
here are the stands that made my cymbals
sound so good.” Don explained how the
6000 Series has lightweight aluminum legs,
and how the tilter has a cymbal space adjustment that locks in place. Wow, and no
rattling, and they’re light-weight. Holy cow,
it’s really great! This led me to a trip to the
factory because I wanted to know more
about DW. I started playing on the drums,
started tuning them up, and I was flipped by
the sound, how much the drums sang and
how open they were. Now when I’m teaching, I have students playing on my new DW
drum set, and I can hear the difference. I
hear how much more sound the toms are
offering. And I played Yamaha for 25 years.
I knew Yamaha drums very well, so this
is a new relationship for me with DW. I’m
learning more about how the drums tune.
The threading is different. It’s a more finely
tuned instrument. The really cool thing is
that this is the most fun I’ve ever had playing a kit. I feel like a kid again. Here I am,
almost 52 years old, and I find myself going
“A lot of times I’m happier when less
is more. The great pop drummers
like Jim Keltner figured that out a
long time ago.”
out to my studio and jamming by myself on
the drum set, just playing the drums for the
sheer pleasure of it. It’s been years since I’ve
done that.
EDGE: And that’s just because there’s something inspiring you?
PE: Yeah. A great instrument will do that.
It’s a more generous sounding instrument. It
just gives more. I can’t put my finger on it.
EDGE: How about pedals?
PE: I like the old 5000 single-chain pedals.
I’m also crazy about the 9000 pedal.
EDGE: And those are two very different feeling
pedals.
PE: They are. The 9000 you can do anything
with; it’s the state-of-the-art pedal. This has
just been a tremendously great surprise for
me. Aside from the pedals and hardware,
the drums are just so great. I mean, aesthetically, they are absolutely beautiful. I’ve nev-
er seen any instrument like it: the attention
and commitment to detail. To have that kind
of quality is a beautiful thing. And what’s really cool about it is that the drum you make
for Peter Erskine or Alex Acuña or Sheila E.
or Gary Novak is the exact same drum that
you’re going to make for the next guy that
orders it. That’s rare. That’s the success of
the company. People speak of DW in a revered way, which I didn’t really get until I’d
seen how it was done. Every time I’ve read
about DW, I see the words “passion” and
“commitment.” There’s intelligence there.
When I’ve been up to do research and development, a lot of different guys come in, guys
that work in various parts in the factory, and
that’s what intrigued me. This is vital for
people from all parts of the company. They
wanted to see what was going on. And Don
and John are directly involved, and I can
bounce things off of guys like Gary Novak,
who took the time to come up with his kit
so we could A/B with mine. Then Sheila E.
shows up and is giving her two cents. It’s
really fun.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 7
Vinnie Appice - Heaven and Hell
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Exot
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Tris Imboden - Chicago
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>TIME
MACHINE
G i n g e r Baker: A Career Retros pe c tiv e
by B illy War d
photos by Jill Furmanovsky/rockarchive.com
When DW asked
me if I would be
willing to interview Ginger Baker
for EDGE Magazine, my response
was
automatic:
“Heck yeah! I love
Ginger Baker.” I
Billy Ward
first heard Ginger in ’66 when
Cream’s album, Fresh Cream, hit the shores of
America. He has always been immediately recognizable because his drumming has such a personal touch. Nobody plays eighth notes like Ginger.
There’s a certain swing to his rhythms. His tone
and feel are equally unique, since for one thing,
Ginger seems never to hurry through a section of
music. He is always the rock. Through Cream’s
success, his notoriety skyrocketed, and he became
somewhat of a pop-culture victim. As critics were
trying to make a fuss out of whether rock music
was as “valid” as jazz, Ginger and the band were
caught in the crossfire. There is no doubt in my
mind that part of the price of Ginger’s popularity
and subsequent fame resulted in his being asked
a multitude of incredibly silly questions about
rock music versus jazz. It is no wonder that he
seems to loathe interviews. I suspect his relationship with his trusty drum company brought this
rare interview to fruition. As for my experience
with the interview, you will soon see what kind of
“shot across my bow” I received within the first
10 seconds of our chat...
Billy Ward: Your drum tech, Yard, recently
mentioned one of your longtime heroes, an English drummer named Phil Seaman. Tell us more
about him and how he influenced you.
Ginger Baker: You don’t know who Phil Seaman is?!
BW: No.
GB: Oh, what a f’in woolly!
BW:[nervous laughter]
GB: Phil Seaman is up there— he’s one of
the best drummers in the world, bar none!
He was a jazz player, not rock ‘n’ roll but
jazz! He played with Kenny Graham’s Afro
Cubists, Joe Harriet and Jack Parnell’s Big
Band. Phil never got to America.
BW: Why didn’t he get to America?
GB: Why? He was a junkie! The first time I
met Phil Seaman, I was playing in the Flamingo, and saxophonist Tubby Hayes heard
my playing and ran out to get Phil, who was
in Ronnie Scott’s club. I didn’t know he was
there, so I got off stage at my gig to be confronted by God!
BW and GB: [laughter]
GB: We then went back to Phil’s place at
half past three in the morning and listened
to music until half past nine in the morning.
He had a huge collection of African drum
records. He played them for me all through
the night. He was saying things to me like,
“Okay, now where’s the beat?” It was like a
huge door opening up!
BW: Did you study with a teacher?
GB: No. I’ve never had a lesson in my life. I
did share a flat with Phil for a while, though,
and that was quite an experience! We used
to practice together, and if I forgot something, he would whack me on the arm with
his stick.
BW: Ouch! So most of your playing is by ear
more than from method books and such?
GB: Yeah. Max (Roach) was also a huge influence and is a great friend of mine now. I
was listening to Max and Phil when I first
started playing, and I got a gig with a trad
band.
BW:What’s a trad band?
GB: Traditional jazz—what you call Dixieland. This trad band was playing New
Orleans music, and there was this clarinet
player named Johnny Dodds.
BW: Any relation to (drummer great) Baby
Dodds?
GB: Yeah, Johnny Dodds was Baby Dodds’
brother. They gave me all the Baby Dodds
Hear Me Talkin’ To Ya records and they said:
“This is what we want you to play like!”
(Hear Me Talkin... is one of an incredible series of records from the early days of recording by Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five—
or with the Hot Seven). Those records really
blew me away. They were probably the biggest influence of all, apart from Phil. I really
learned a lot from Baby Dodds because he
was mostly listening to the other guys. My
main goal is to make the other guys sound
good. Of course, Art Blakey, who I had the
pleasure of doing a drum thing with, and
Elvin Jones... Philly Joe Jones... these guys
were all influences. They also all became
good friends of mine, as well.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 9
BW: There are a lot of really nice people in that since 1966. The youngest cymbal on my kit
is, I think, 1973. That’s how good Zildjian
list.
GB: All drummers are nice people. That’s cymbals are.
BW: That splash cymbal in my favorite Blind
why they always get ripped off, you know?
Faith song, “Had To
BW: Max Roach was a
Cry Today,” is so amazhuge influence on all of
us with his melodic drum“I really learned ing. It’s so loud in the
ming.
a l o t f r o m B a by mix and feels so violent
down over the
GB: Yeah, when I was 14,
Dodds because he falling
mix. Has anyone in your
I heard The Quintet of the
was mostly listen- bands ever given you a
Year with Charlie Parker,
Bud Powell, Dizzy Giling to the other hard time because you
playing something
lespie, my pals Charlie
guys. My main goal are
more original than they
Mingus and Max Roach.
is to make the other are used to?
It was the (now famous)
guys sound good.”
GB: Not nowadays.
Massey Hall Concerts. I
BW: Hah! Nobody is
hadn’t even started playgoing to mess with you
ing the drums yet.
now, man. But in the
BW: John Bonham?
early days?
GB: I didn’t like John Bonham at all. He really pissed me off one day GB: Not in the early days of Cream. I mean,
when he said, “There’s only two drummers there were problems with Jack (Bruce—bassin British rock; there’s only me and Ginger ist with Cream) but there have always been
Baker.” I thought he was a cheeky old (ex- problems with Jack all the way through to
(our last show in) New York, which is why
pletive).
BW: Your feel always leaves such a personal fin- Cream will never, ever play together again!
gerprint. I feel like I can always tell when it is BW: I’m so sorry.
you. For one thing, your cymbals sound the same GB: Bass players—there aren’t really many
on all of these different records you’ve made... so bass players that I can get along with at all.
BW: Yeah. I don’t get it. They’re playing four
many different styles.
GB: That’s because they’re the same cym- strings and one note at a time. What’s so hard
bals! I’ve had those ride cymbal and hi-hats about that? Do you have to make adjustments
when you play rock versus jazz?
GB: I’ve never played rock. When have I
played rock?
BW: Well, most people think of Cream as rock,
for one thing.
GB: Well they are totally wrong. Cream was
never a rock band!
BW: But in jazz, the cymbals carry more of the
sonic imprint, and the drums are the chatter beneath and within the cymbals and...
GB: Well, that’s the fault of those horrible
engineers in that case. Any band you see,
you’ll see the drummer banging away on his
cymbals and hi-hat, and you can never hear
them. Because of the engineers, the only
thing you can hear is the kick and the snare!
Very seldom do you hear the tom-toms and
almost never can hear the cymbals! This happens in so-called pop music more than jazz.
That’s one reason I like jazz records more.
BW: When I first saw you, you had a Ludwig kit:
Silver Sparkle.
GB: I played Ludwig from 1966 up until
1997 or so, 31 years. I moved over to Drum
Workshop not only because they were nicer
people to work with, but also because Ludwig fell apart. I knew all the Ludwig family,
but they sold the company to Boosey and
Hawkes, and it all went downhill. I had a
gig in New York at Iridium (jazz club), and
Ludwig wouldn’t send a kit. DW sent a kit
within five minutes, and then they made a
>Ti me Machi ne: Gi nger Bak e r
f’in amazing! I mean, I thought he was a bril- you have to be able to play it really slowly
kit to my specifications.
liant engineer! Absolute rubbish! Absolute so that all the beats are even. You know, it’s
BW: What are those specifications?
utter nonsense! There’s so much crap written very easy to play things fast. It’s a lot more
GB: Do you mean the sizes?
or said about “Sunshine!” Some people have difficult to play them slowly. Another thing
BW: Yeah.
GB: The bass drums are 11” deep. With Lud- been telling lies for so long about it, they I got from Phil was to use your left [weaker]
actually now believe it! hand more. Not just when you are playing
wig, I had to get them to
Jack (Bruce) brought the drums. Do everything the other way
cut them down!
“Whatever you are “Sunshine” in and it around. I used to be quite a good dance
BW: Wow. Your bass drums
are 11” deep?
trying to play, you was “dada-duda-du-du- player, and I used to practice playing my left
GB: Yeah. My right bass
should be able to du-duda-du” and it was hand against my right hand [syncopation].
speed. [Ginger sang Also, when I was writing music, I would
drum is a 20”x11”, and
play at any tempo. that
this more than twice as write with my left hand. I can still write
my left is 22”x11”.
You know, it’s very fast as the original!]
pretty well with my left hand, but I’m not
BW: How do you tune
really too active anymore with the writing.
them?
easy to play things BW: Oh my!
GB: I said, “Why don’t My point is the more you use the left hand, it
GB: I tune all my drums
fast. It’s a lot more we slow it down, and I’ll equalizes the right hand, and that is ideal for
pretty loose.
d i f f i c u l t t o p l ay put the backwards beat a drummer. You will notice that when I play,
BW: Your drums always
them slowly.”
on it?” So it went: “Bhu I lead with either hand. Technique should
sound in tune with the
Da Da Da (Hu) Da Da be there, not to play the technique, but to be
song.
(Hu) Da Da Bua Da.” I able to play what you hear. If you can lead
GB: Well, I do attempt to
tune the drums for each song! I used to get never got credit for it and I never will, you with any hand, then it doesn’t matter where
in big trouble for that in the old days, you see? This is why I didn’t want to talk about you finish. At the end of your fill, you can
see. The band is tuning up, and I’m joining “Sunshine,” because how it came about had come off with any hand!
in and they yell, “Hey! We’re trying to tune a huge influence upon the song, and I got
up!” And I say: “What the (expletive) do you no credit whatsoever for it. Drummers get In addition to the obviously great Cream recordings, Ginger’s playing on the Masters Of Rethink I’m trying to do?!” [laughter] They taken advantage of all the time!
couldn’t understand that a drummer might BW:What are your most influential records? ality album has won my ears and heart for the
want to be in tune with the band. That’s the GB: Well, I’ve told you about one, The Quin- last two weeks as I write this. He is a master of
thing with Drum Workshop, you know? tet of The Year record. Duke EllingTheir shells are in tune on my kit. They tune ton at Newport ‘56, titled, DiminuSe l e c te d D isc og r aph y:
the shells before they do anything else, so endo and Crescendo in Blue, is another.
1965 Sound of ‘65
Graham Bond
There really aren’t many. John Colthere is a good pitch scale to the drum kit.
1965 There’s a Bond Between Us
Graham Bond
1966 Fresh Cream
Cream
BW: Yeah: Timbre Matching. Some folks think trane’s A Love Supreme, with Elvin
1966 Full Cream
Cream
the old days of drum making are the best years, (Jones), is another. Of the stuff I’ve
1967 Disraeli Gears
Cream
done, I think the Blind Faith record
but apparently you don’t feel that way.
1968 Wheels of Fire
Cream
is great. Also, the Ron Miles record,
GB: No, I love my DWs.
1969 Best of Cream
Cream
BW: Were some of your bands more fun for you Coward of the County, may be my best
1969 Blind Faith
Blind Faith
1969 Goodbye
Cream
jazz record.
than others?
1969
I
Feel
Free
Cream
GB: Blind Faith was one of the most enjoy- BW: Any advice for a younger drum1969 Rock Sensation
Cream
able. Playing with Stevie (Winwood) is a joy. mer?
1970 All Things Must Pass
George Harrison
You know, Stevie plays the drums pretty GB: Yeah. Get a day job! [laughter]
1970 Free Kings
Ginger Baker
1970 Ginger Baker’s Air Force Ginger Baker’s Air Force
well, too. Playing with Ron Miles in Denver I mean one of the best things I got
1970 Swlabr
Cream
was also super enjoyable. It’s probably the from Phil is that, whatever you are
1971 Winwood
Steve Winwood
best jazz record I’ve ever made! He plays the trying to play,
1972 Heavy Cream
Cream
trumpet and writes the most incredible mu- you should be
1974 Baker Gurvitz Army
Baker Gurvitz Army
sic! It was a quartet and would go to an oc- able to play at
1975 Cream
Cream
1975 Portrait of Cream
Cream
tet, going to four pieces to eight pieces. You any tempo. This
1975 Kick Off Your Muddy Boots
Graeme Edge Band
what
should get the record! There’s some incred- means
1976 Hearts on Fire
Baker Gurvitz Army
you are playing
ible time stuff on there!
1980 Levitation
Hawkwind
BW: Now for the stupid question: on “Sunshine
1984 Backtrackin’
Eric Clapton
1984 Graham Bond Organization
Graham Bond
of Your Love”...
1987 Ginger Baker’s African Force Ginger Baker’s
GB: No.
African Force
BW: You don’t want to go there?
1988 Crossroads
Eric Clapton
GB: I don’t want to talk about it.
1991 Storyville
Robbie Robertson
BW: Well, I read in a Mix magazine that Tom
1993 Stages of Clapton
Eric Clapton
1994 Cities of the Heart
Jack Bruce
Dowd (engineer great) said it was his idea to
1995 Finer Things
Steve Winwood
turn the beat around to the
1996 Keep on Running
Steve Winwood
downbeats and then you guys
1997 Sitting on Top of the World
Jack Bruce
got the take.
2001 African Force
Ginger Baker
2003 BBC Sessions
Cream
GB: Tom Dowd said it was
2003 Flying In & Out of Stardom Baker Gurvitz Army
his idea?! Now we’ve got
2005 Farewell Concert
Cream
even Tom Dowd trying to
2005 Live
Baker Gurvitz Army
say it was his idea? Totally
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 1 1
>T ime M ach i n e : G i n g e r Baker
Technique should be
there, not to play the
technique, but to be able
to play what you hear.
John Good Talks abo u t Ginger’s
Ki t with ED GE:
EDGE: Tell us about Ginger’s kit.
dynamics and space. Who else can
play such an aggressive fill with
so few notes, and with no extra
muscle? The taste and the musicality are always there with this cat.
I realize this is a difficult record to
find, but it would be a perfect first
record for a young drummer wanting to get into jazz. That is, assuming they are already listening and
playing along to Louis Armstrong John Good
with Baby Dodds! The rest of his recommended
listening is all first class: Blue Chip.
By far, my favorite single performance is
his treatment of “Had To Cry Today” with Blind
Faith. I look forward to buying that new DVD
simply in the hopes of seeing him play that song
and whack that little splash cymbal!
As a drummer, he has accomplished so much
with such a steady arsenal of fundamental drumming skill, while still becoming a true seeker of all
things creative and diverse.
Gi n g e r ’ s dr u m t ech yard
g avr il ov i c o n t uni ng Gi ng er ’ s k i t:
John Good: Ginger really
spent a good amount of time
describing to me what his
drums from the past really
sounded like, and it really
made me feel like it was up
our alley. He wanted big, fat
round drums, but smaller
drums really. When I think
about Ginger Baker and
his playing, I just think of
bombastic drumming and
bigger sounds, but in reality, the drum set was 8x10”,
9x12”, 11x13” and 12x14”. Then, his
main kick drum was 12x20”, and
then the left side was 12x22”.
EDGE: I believe he mentioned his 11”-deep
bass drums.
JG: Well, he says it was 11” deep, but in
reality, it was a 12”. He also plays a smaller 13” snare, and you just wouldn’t think
that’s the kind of sound that he would
have wanted...
It’s very simple, really. I tune from the
floor tom up to the rack toms, as Ginger’s instructions are to let the drums
sing with no damping on the toms at
all. The pitch of the tuning comes from
the snare, so that the drums are in tune
with each other. The bass drums have
a DW muffler and an intact head, with
no hole cut out. The snare is tuned to a
fairly low pitch. It’s all determined by
the sound and stick response.
Yard Gavrilovic
EDGE: Is that what he
used to play? I didn’t
think they made 13”
snares back then.
JG: No he didn’t,
but he was using
this to do a lot of his
jazz gigs. He had
this thing where he
would play polo during the day and then
play with his jazz
band at night for all the people that were
playing polo. So he kind of incorporated
what he knows and what he used to play
into this jazz thing that he was doing.
And this was the kit that he used on that
big DVD with Cream when they played
at Royal Albert Hall.
EDGE: How about the pitch of the drums?
JG: In this respect, he just wanted them
Timbre-Matched in sort of medium tones
because he was going to use this for some
higher jazz tunings, and he was also going to use it for some heavy stuff. To my
delight, these shallow bass drums really
punched hard. Remember, the longer the
bass drum, the boom-ier it is, and when
you shorten up the bass drum, you really get this nice fat, but punchy, sound. It
really exemplified that kind of construction.
EDGE: Were the shorter bass drums Ginger’s
idea?
JG: He said, “I’ve always had shallow
bass drums in the past.”
Because he wasn’t used to dealing
with a custom drum maker, he said, “Well
I don’t have to cut them?” I said, “No, no,
we make the drums to the size that you’re
requesting, or the sound that you’re hearing in your head, just tell me about it.”
I was very happy when we made these
sizes, because Jim Keltner and I had just
made a 12x20” that just roared! So, I
knew that it would work really well. So,
the 12x22” really surprised me, as well.
It was a very nice drum. This was a few
years back, when the shells were 6- and 7ply with 3-ply hoops. Smaller drums are
thinner, and thicker drums are larger. So
pretty much, that’s Ginger’s kit.
Let’s Talk Hardware
9300>
9000 Series Snare Stands
Tell us what you like about your 9300 Snare
Stand:
Cindy Blackman: I love this stand
because it is sturdy and supportive, but not
bulky.
How does it stand up to the road?
Cindy Blackman: I hit really hard sometimes
with Lenny Kravitz and my snare stand has
never moved or folded under the pressure. And,
even though it’s really strong, it’s still compact
enough that it doesn’t get in my way. I love it!
“Lean, sturdy, strong
and compact!”
—Cindy Blackman
< Features
DW 9000 Series Snare Stands feature a removable basket for
quick snare changes and TechLock™ memory lock system for accurate positioning.
Available in standard and piccolo configurations, DW 9000 Series snare stands are
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©2006 Drum Workshop, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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>TECH
TIPS
S e le ct i ng the ri ght s nare for th e job
By Yard G av r ilov ic
Every
d r u m m e r k n ow s that pi cki ng the ri ght snare
f or t h e job c a n b e a confusing, an d oft ent imes, t ime-c o nsuming task. T o the c o nt rary, a sea so n ed dr u m
tech kn ows e x act ly what works i n every s ituation. In th is instal l m e nt of Te ch Tips, v e te ra n c r e w me mber to t he sta r s , Yard, expl ai ns what i t take s to mak e th at al l - impo rtant ch oic e , th e n m ak e it sing.
EDGE: Is a drop-style throw-off or side-to-side
better?
is flat, and that the bearing edges are true.
Also, we don’t want any flat spots prior to
re-heading and tuning. That would be a terrible waste of time. As for bearing edges, I
prefer a 35-degree cut for a drier sound. The
snare bed should suit the snares that you are
using, or you will choke the drum.
If you prefer, use a metal drum for more
ring.
YG: It depends upon the drum, but I do like
the drop-style for most applications.
EDGE: What do you think of flanged hoops vs.
die-cast?
EDGE: How about miking?
YG: Flanged hoops for me!
YG: I am the village idiot when it comes to
technology, so I leave it to the sound crew
to decide. After all those years of reading
manuals on the bus, they need an outlet to
relieve the pressure on their brains. Generally, I try not to meddle too much in other
people’s specialties.
Yard Gavrilovic is the owner of The Vintage
Drum Yard (www.vintagedrumyard.co.uk) in
the United Kingdom, and, along with his five
sons has been a regular crew member for Eric
Clapton, The Who, Cream, Annie Lennox, Eurythmics, Paul Simon, George Michael and Natalie Imbruglia. He also has maintained a long
association with drummers such as Zak Starkey,
Steve Gadd, Ginger Baker, Jim Keltner, Henry
Spinetti, Steve Barney, Steve Ferrone, Paulinho
da Costa, Ricky Lawson, Jodie Linscott, Danny
Cummings, Carlos Hercules, Jerry Brown,
Thomas Dyani and many more. His family is
currently covering tours
with The Who, George
Michael and Orson.
ed Ambassadors.
For live work, I steal all the great work
Mick Hinton did for John Bonham. That’s
a CS Smooth White Reverse Dot with 40strand wires—you’ll never ever beat that
sound.
Yard Gavrilovic
EDGE: Metal or wood?
Yard Gavrilovic: I love metal snares, especially 6.5x14”.
EDGE: How do you decide what’s right for a
particular venue or recording situation?
YG: It’s not my call unless I am asked. In most
cases, the producer/engineer and drummer
will usually decide on this in advance. Ultimately, my job is to realize the sound that’s
in their heads. I’ll even play the kit for the
engineer until the sound is achieved, so the
drummer is still fresh for the track.
EDGE: What’s the best way to decide on the
right head combination?
YG: For most drummers, this tends to be all
trial and error. From a very early age, drummers discover a combination of sounds that
they mimic from their favorite records and
drummers. For that reason, every drummer
wants to hear something different. I like to
show up at a session with a 40-foot trailer
full of snares and hand-pick the right sound
for the room. Now, to answer the question
at hand, for most 5x14” snares, a combination of Remo Coated Powerstroke3 or Ambassador batter on top and a Diplomat snare
bottom will suffice for studios. That’s Steve
Gadd’s favorite choice.
On Vintage kits we use Aquarian American Vintage top and bottom or Remo Coat-
EDGE: How often do you use vintage snares?
YG: We use vintage snares for all of our studio work. We’ve found that they’re easy to
tune and are pretty consistent in recreating
the sound required for any session.
We have a huge selection of snares, but
our standard studio selection is a mix of both
metal and wood standards from some of the
better-known American drum companies of
the day. Tuned high or low, they all sound
great.
EDGE: How much does size matter?
YG: In the studio, a 5.5x14” should suffice
with a piccolo for the odd whack!
EDGE: What’s your take on bearing edges and
snare beds?
YG: Now this is the most important area of
any drum, because if these are badly machined, you may as well record the box that
your take-out came in! We strip and overhaul all of our snares and check them for
“true” on our cast iron saw bed in our very
own woodshop. This ensures that the snare
g e t th e l ate st:
• Tech Tips
• Online Clinics
•Clinic Schedule
•Clinic Highlights
The DW Ed ucat ion De pa rt m e nt
@ www. dwdr u m s. co m
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 1 5
>PRO-FILE:
NEW
BLOOD
Meta l ’ s youn g g un s :
Chris “ S ev e n ” A n t on op olous •
Dan
L a m ag n a • A le x e i Rodri guez
by Ya el
To day ’ s n e w c ro p o f m etal dru mmers is as serious
ar e abo
u t th e i r c r a ft a s one mi ght exp ect.   A fter all, th e y ’ v e b e e n
r ed o n d eca de s of establishe d metal ban d s that have helpe d shape the most re c ent gene r at i o n o f
h e av y- f r i e ndly me tal masters. On spe cial assign m ent, m etal dru mm er extraor dinaire Yael me e t s w i t h
th r ee of t he s e s o-called new blo ods to gi v e u s th e ir tak e o n th e state o f th e me tal u nio n and w hat
r e v s t h e i r m e ta l e ngines.
Meet Alexei Rodriguez from 3
Inches of Blood.
You may have
heard of Alexei before, or you might
even have witnessed his furious
display of intenYael
sity and relentless
power on the drum kit during his years with
Catharsis, Trial or Walls of Jericho. Currently,
he’s recording and touring with 3 Inches of Blood
and has recently joined the
DW/PDP family of artists.
When I spoke to him, he was
showing off his brand new
LX Cherry to Black Fade
PDP kit with the PDP rack
system. We had the opportunity to catch a few shows
and catch up with Alexei.
Here’s what we learned:
“My conscious refusal to let the industry dictate what
was good music
inevitably led me
down the path of
punk.”
—Alexei Rodriguez
Yael: How would you describe
the state of metal today?
Alexei Rodriguez: When I
stop for a moment to ponder the state of metal and the
state of the music industry
in general, I become acutely
aware of a sense of déjà vu.
I notice the ebb and flow and
the emergence of innovators,
the explosion of imitators,
the underground determining what will be mainstream,
then a collapsing on itself as
the market saturates. There’s
also the question of what is
underground versus what is
commercial these days.
Yael: How does that pertain to
your current band?
Da
n L a m ag n a
P ho t o by Way ne/Headl amp
AR: The only difference now
is that I’ve finally started
to see myself in that grand
scheme. Hopefully, I get to
add my two cents to the mix. I
remember back in 1985, when
my best friend first turned me
on to metal, and like so many
others, my life would never
be the same. At the time, it
was too new to me to
differentiate
between
this or that sub-genre,
but I knew immediately
that I had found my new
religion. Finally, here
was music that insisted
on being heard, while at
the same time, it didn’t
seem to care about being accepted. Now this
was something I could
relate to!
Yael: How did you arrive on the scene?
AR: As I became more deeply involved in
the music, I also became aware of the various sub-genres and developed a healthy
adolescent contempt for all things “glam”
or commercial. My conscious refusal to let
the industry dictate what was good music
inevitably led me down the path of punk. At
the time, we all believed punk was corrupted, with its totally irreverent abrasiveness,
not fully realizing how easily any shtick can
be chewed up by the industry and then be
spat out as a watered-down shadow of its
original intent. It was somewhere during
my metal-to-punk evolution that I began
playing drums. The two genres probably
got equal playtime in my ghetto blaster, but
my main inspiration will always be rooted
in Black Sabbath, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Iron Maiden.
Yael: How does your musical evolution translate
to your playing?
AR: I think my musical ear took over and
let me know that, however much I liked
metal, the only thing my skill level would
currently allow me to get away with was
three-chord punk rock. My evolution from
there is a long, gradual blur as I moved both
into darker spaces in my head and sought
>Pro-fi le: new b l o o d
to constantly challenge myself. I tried to embrace the intensity of whatever music I was
playing from punk to hardcore, and when
my chops and precision finally allowed, I returned to metal.
Yael: So how do you fight the system these
days?
that a body could hold. Those are the moments that make everything worth it. As
I’m recalling this, I can’t help but practically
leap out of my seat with child-like anticipation for tomorrow’s show, where I get to do
it again.
AR: Any artist knows that you can only
plagiarize for so long before it reaches total
stagnation. I feel I’ve found a band willing to
Yael: Do you participate in the song writing pro- join me in facing off against such insincerity,
all the while enjoying a Next, we sat down with Chris “Seven” Antocess, and do you play any
few good laughs. Any- nopoulos, who also joined the PDP family this
other instruments?
“I grew up as a thing else that one gets year. Chris combines showmanship with solid
AR: Needless to say,
drum geek and from 3IOB is up to their groove. He’s most recently been touring with
perspective, and Ministry side project RevCo, and his own band,
when I switched from
have been play- unique
I’d never presume to tell Opiate for the Masses, is also making a lot of
alto sax to drums in the
ing drums most of someone else what my noise these days. Chris took a little time out to
school band, I must have
driven the poor band dimy life. My style music means to them. talk about his gear and his influences.
in some alternate
rector out of his mind.
is inspired by the Maybe
reality, my band is some- Yael: Tell us about your new PDP set-up.
Throughout my journey,
drummers I fol- how the savior of metal,
I’ve discovered the imlowed when I was but regardless of such Chris “Seven” Antonopoulos: I couldn’t be
portance of good song
pompous notions, it’s happier to have you here and to have this
writing, and it’s become
growing up.”
me. It’s helped me amazing company behind me for this tour
clear to me that I could
—Chris “Seven” saved
see a bigger picture. It’s and my upcoming recordings with my
have just as easily ended
Antonopolous restored my faith in the band.
up a music critic in some
art form.
other reality. So I try to
Yael: Tell us about the drums you’re using on
have input in the songwriting process as much as possible. Aside Yael: You seem to be very much on top of your your current tour and the kit you’ll be recordfrom the song itself, I’ve also learned that game, respected by your peers and fans alike. ing with?
one true thing that separates all good music How does that feel?
CA: I’m using PDP all-maple drums with
in the world from great music is the sincerAR: I’ve gone from a kid who just needed a custom Exotic Tiger Ash finish. They’re
ity with which it is executed.
to vent and bang on stuff, to punk rock ide- amazing! I can’t even tell you how many
Yael: When did you first realize that drumming alist would-be revolutionary,
to artist and then back again.
was your passion?
Only now, I actually feel I
AR: It was only in the last couple of years might have the tools to be
that I became conscious that my life literally exactly where I need to be in
revolves around my instrument. It has noth- the grand scheme of things.
ing to do with earning a living, so much as Today, the day after my 32nd
it does with just living every moment. You birthday, the idea of perhaps
know, not getting caught up in superficial living in a tiny studio apartsocial dramas, not playing for the labels, ment forever isn’t the most apfor the paychecks or for the “market,” but pealing idea in the world, but
for the soul. I play for all of the people who as long as I have my music,
express their most inner selves vicariously my instrument, my art, things
could be a lot worse. I’ve had
through my music.
the opportunity to do a few
Yael: How did you come to find bandmates that other projects along the way,
and I love to keep my pallet
shared your passion for the music?
varied. For the time being, 3
AR: Anything less has never lasted more Inches of Blood is my vehicle
than a hot minute in my world. That’s exact- to artistic Zen. Melodramatic
ly what happened to my beloved bandmates as that may sound, the other
in 3 Inches of Blood. I needed a group whose day while playing a surprise
music was as fun to play as it was challeng- performance on my new PDP
ing, whose attitude was fiercely indepen- kit at a friend’s tattoo shop,
dent, but didn’t take itself so seriously. I was I had a completely religious
seeking that perfect combination for myself, experience. I experienced a
but also for the good of metal and the state moment of transcendence,
of music in general. I wanted to avoid “new- knowing I was doing exactly
metal” and the pitfalls of a band that takes what I was meant to be doing,
on only the elements of what they think cer- playing exactly what I was
tain people want to hear, hoping for the tour supposed to be playing, with
Al
e xe i Ro drig u e z
P ho t o by Yae l
all of the energy and sincerity
buses and rock star fantasy life.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 1 7
>Pro - f il e : n e w b lo od
compliments I get with these drums. I’ll be
using this kit when I’m in the studio because
I feel each tom totally sings.
Yael: What pedals and hardware do you use?
CA: I’m about 12 days into a two-month tour
at this point, and my new gear is so solid. If I
didn’t have my new set-up, I’d be worrying
that something would collapse on a nightly
basis and that my rig wasn’t going to make
it through the whole tour. I hit pretty hard,
so I need my gear to stand up on the road.
Now, it’s the last thing on my mind. I use the
9000s on the kicks. Amazing! I’m playing the
5000 hi-hat pedal because I like the feel, and
my new PDP rack is all around me.
Yael: What sizes are you into?
CA: I’m using two 24” kicks, a 14” rack tom
and 16” and 18” floor toms. It’s kind of funny because when I was putting this kit together, I was talking to Marc Lewis who also
plays PDP, and he told me how much I was
going to love it. I couldn’t ask for more from
a drum company. You beat the hell out of it
and the very next night, it’s still giving back.
I can’t say the same for my sticks and heads
on a tour, but this kit is simply amazing.
Ch
r is “S e v e n ” A n t onop olous
P ho t o by H a das
Yael: How did you land the tour with RevCo?
music I learned to play first, as a drummer.
A lot of the music I listened to in the early
‘90s became a blueprint for the drummer
I’ve become today. I soaked up a lot from
those drummers.
CA: I grew up as a drum geek and have been
playing drums most of my life. My style is
inspired by the drummers I followed when
I was growing up. Some
of my main influences
include Shannon Lar“I practice
kin, Tommy Lee and Roy
day, that’s
Mayorga.
Yael: How do you feel about
the metal scene today?
everyhow I
got here. I stay on
top of my game because you never
know who is listening.”
—Dan Lamagna
CA: I have been playing with Opiate for a
while now, and we’ve
been on a few great tours
with bands that don’t
normally get radio airplay. These tours
are sponsored by companies like Vans and
Jägermeister, so it seems like there are more
doors opening up for the underground metal scene today. You just have to work harder.
Get your band in a van and go. I just see myself playing and continuing to play drums
for a very long time. I’ve been lucky enough
to cross bridges and meet all kinds of people,
and I get to play the kit of my dreams.
Yael: How do you feel about
where your career is headed?
DL: I feel like things
have been moving along
for me. Every year it
seems like I am making
advances. Hopefully all
of these little steps will
add up to something
big. I’ve got DW, Vater
and Sabian behind me, a
band with the four best
players I’ve had the chance to work with,
and we’re out there together spreading our
music to the masses. I’d say that I’m where
I’d like to be, and I’m headed in the right
direction. I also have a drum teaching business that I’m growing when I’m home. I’m
starting to get to a point where I’m happy
with my playing, and Suicide City has really
opened up some new doors for me. It’s really an amazing feeling.
Finally, we met up with
the drummer for New
York-based metal outfit
Suicide City. Dan Lamagna is the PDP veteran of the three and has
been with Drum Workshop for almost two years
now. He also chimed in
about the metal biz and
how he initially joined
DW’s rock roster.
Yael: How did you reach your goal?
Yael: What’s your take on
the state of metal?
Yael: What brought you to Drum Workshop?
Dan Lamagna: Anyone
who listens to metal
can tell you that it is a
style that thrives without much help from
the outside world.
What that enables us to
do as a band is make a
name for ourselves by
touring and selling our
CD by ourselves, without a lot of help from
radio or other media.
It’s almost expected to
be that way these days.
Metal was the style of
DL: I practice every day; that’s how I got
here. I stay on top of my game because you
never know who is listening. I have this
opportunity because of the people I have
worked with, and I’ve done my best to make
a positive impression on people all along the
way. I’ve been recommended for other gigs,
too, because I try to be as professional as I
can. I’m learning that it’s a small business,
and everyone knows each other.
DL: Originally, I was looking for help getting pedals from DW because I’m loyal to
that gear; it’s been loyal to me all these years.
You introduced me to the DW Artist Team a
while back, and I had the opportunity to explain my situation to them. They offered me
access to the full line of DW and PDP gear,
and I decided to play the drums and hardware, too. It’s really great having a company
like that behind you. I never have to be worried that something will break down, but if
it does, these guys are there for me. I think
they treat me better than any other company
because we’re not an established band yet.
We’re a band that’s on the rise, but they still
take great care of me.
Edutainment.
more than aN EDUCATION, more than mere entertainment,
it’s a whole new way to experience your favorite drummers.
Billy Ward
Voices in my head.
21 21
in
in
Dual Disk Set
Dual Disk Set
the biggest names in drumming brought to life.
at right:
Stephen Perkins:
A Drummer’s Life,
Tony Royster, Jr.:
Pure Energy,
Terry Bozzio and Chad
Wackerman: D2: Duets
Volume two, ALEX ACUñA:
THE RHYTHM COLLECTOR,
Marco Minnemann:
THE MARCO SHOW
Now distributed in North America exclusively by Alfred Publishing. Visit alfred.com/drums to
find a dealer near you. Dealers interested in stocking DW DVDs, please call: (800) 292-6122.
©2007 Drum Workshop, Inc.
>ON
THE
RISE
Oma r G o n g or i a : K i n k y
photos by Hadas
The wo r l d of l at i n a lt ernati ve mus i c conti nue s
to ex p l o d e . A new generati on of spanish - spe ak ing mu sic fans is b e ing e xpo se d t o a
n e w g e n e r at i o n o f innovative l atin ban ds. Om ar and K inky are bl azing new trails an d the fa n s a r e
r esp o nd i n g . F or t h at reas on alone, they are o n th e r ise . >>>
EDGE: When did you get started playing?
Omar Gongoria: I started playing when I
was 11 or 12 because I saw this drummer
at a wedding. It was in El Carmen, a little
town like two hours from my home town of
Monterrey, Mexico. They were a “Norteño”
band, playing the traditional style from the
region. I was inspired watching him play
and decided that I would also become a
drummer.
EDGE: How did you come to join Kinky?
OG: I was studying music in Texas, and I decided to take a break and go to Monterrey to
play with different people. Then Ulises, who
would become the keyboard player in Kinky,
invited me to this music lab project that he
had with Carlos, who is now the guitar player in the band. It was at Ulises’ house, and
most of it was about recording ideas in an
old computer. He had put some music programs in there, and we were playing with
loops and samples just to have fun.
EDGE: Tell us about your unique set-up and
how you developed your rig.
OG: From the beginning, all I knew was that
I was into playing different styles of music.
From electronica to Latin to rock, I knew I
loved it all, but I hadn’t yet decided if I was
going to play drum set or percussion. At
that time, I was learning hand drumming
technique with Roy Galvan, a friend of mine
from Mexico. One day I woke up with this
idea of combining both things. I spent some
time developing the set and was adding
things to it as the music required. Little by
little, it started to turn into what it is now.
Even from the start, I felt really natural playing standing up and combining percussion,
drums and electronics. I found it more exciting than any one of the three, and fun every
time I played. After we recorded our first
album, I had to add some more electronic elements, like the TD10 Roland brain and the
Boss 505 sampler. I trigger everything with
pads because I found it interesting and challenging trying to recreate exactly what we
had recorded in the studio. It’s so funny that
I end up sampling myself.
EDGE: Does the set-up differ live vs. studio?
OG: I don’t really have a studio set. I use
whatever I have around, and I work a lot on
the computer, making loops and programming drum machines. The studio is always
about experimenting. I like to create new
sounds. For example, I have a set of pans,
spoons and cans that I don’t use in my live
set, but I use them in the studio. Then, I like
to tweak them with processors or effects.
>On the Ri s e: Omar Gong o r ia
You can get great things from throwing
away all of the rules. During the recording
process, I also like to separate all of my percussion parts. I don’t really have a formula
for doing this, but I separate it all in sections, like for drum set. Then, I do the same
for the congas, timbales, bongos and every
other hand drum that the song requires. After that, I add the colors, such as cowbells,
shakers, cascaras, bells, pans, cans and any
extra sounds I can think up, but there’s no
defined “studio set.”
I never really consider how I’m going
to play the parts live when I am recording.
That’s how the idea of combining percussion and drum set continues to evolve.
EDGE: Do you consider yourself more of a drum
set player or a percussionist?
OG: I don’t know. I think maybe a percussionist, because once you start to involve
hand percussion, it takes over. I think that
in the future, both things are going to be
combined more often. I think the Internet
has opened a window to the world, and cultures, ideas, even styles of drumming, will
be shared. Now you can go and see what’s
happening on the other side of the world,
and music is developing faster than ever.
New generations are growing up with so
many choices of music, that it’s really changing things.
works great for people like me, because you
can set everything very easily, and it’s solid.
I use Gon Bops cowbells too. They have this
new kind of clamp that attaches very easily
and fits all of my other stands. I’ll never go
back to my old bells.
EDGE: Kinky is a blend of so many musical
genres. How do you create your drum parts?
OG: I mentioned I like to work with machines. I spend a lot of time programming
while we are traveling. I make beats on
EDGE: You’ve been playing Gon Bops percus- planes, in hotels, on the bus and anywhere
sion instruments for a while now. Talk about I can set up my laptop. Laptops are great
because you can take them anywhere, then
your experience with them.
you can layer the other instruments later.
OG: I heard about the congas through a This entire process is without even lifting
friend of mine, but I’d never really played a drumstick. After that, I go into the studio
them before. Now I’ve been playing them and start recording and combining other
more than a year, and I think the sound and sounds. I never think about a specific drum
part for a song until the
the tone that you can
song is coming together.
get from them is differ“I think that in the In some songs I might
ent from all other drums
future, both drum not even play at all. In
out there. I’m using a
California Series quinto,
set and hand per- other songs, I might
play a tambourine
conga and tumba in a
cussion are going just
or congas. I respect the
Regal Blue. My kick and
t o b e c o m b i n e d music, and just want to
snare are matching, and
they look great. I also use
more often. Music make the song work.
Gon Bops bongos. They
is developing fast- The process is very
I am very
are very bright and sharp
er than ever. New spontaneous.
influenced by electronic
sounding. The thing that
ge n e r a t i o n s a r e music, so I always like
I really notice is the attention that the compag rowing up with to leave some electronic
in there. For
ny pays to its products.
so many choices elements
example, I’ll leave some
It’s a very special thing,
of music that it’s parts in there that I had
because every drum is
r e a l ly ch a n g i n g programmed previoustreated as its own instruly and let the band play
ment.
things.”
along with the parts.
I also think the new
Then, I can add my flaDW percussion hardware
vor over the top.
The live show is incredibly high energy. How do
you get ready for a show? Do you have a particular warm-up routine?
OG: I definitely have a warm-up routine.
I warm up for 30 to 45 minutes before the
show, playing single strokes, then double
strokes, then triplets and so on. I also do
some stretching and warm-up movements
for my legs and arms.
EDGE: What are your major influences?
OG: I listen to lots of different music, from
jazz to electronica and beyond. With the
band, we are very lucky to have the opportunity to travel and find new music wherever we go around the world. We also have
the chance to play in live music festivals
where we can give and receive many musical influences from different musicians and
fans. These days I’m listening to lots of African music like Mamady Keita. I really enjoy the improvisation and the phrasing. My
influences range from Trilok Gurtu to Elvin
Jones to Tito Puente, Stewart Copeland, Bill
Bruford and so many of the old Cuban players like Chano Poso, Changuito and Patato
Valez.
EDGE: What’s in store for Kinky and Omar in
the next year?
OG: We’re releasing a new album this year,
so we’re about to head out on tour. The album is going to be released in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Latin American countries,
so we’ll be covering all of those places. After
it’s over, we’ll go back home for Christmas
dinner and some tamales. [laughs]
[ E D G E 6 . 0 ] 21
Free-Floating Rotor
Keith Carlock plays the
9000 Single Bass Drum Pedal.
From Steely Dan to Sting, Keith Carlock is one of today’s most sought after drummers.
His chops are second to none, but it’s his undeniable feel that continuously
gets him the gig. That’s why Keith plays DW 9000 pedals. Smooth and
fast, sure. But also powerful and dynamic. The 9000 tracks every stroke
via a Floating Rotor drive system that allows the cam to do just that; float
between four precision bearings. Adjustability, it’s got that too. The Infinite
Adjustable Cam mimics an Accelerator cam, Turbo cam or anything in
between. Options? Absolutely. Both the 9000 and 9002 come with a chain
or strap option to suit every player. Bottom line, Keith can play whatever
pedal he wants. He chooses the DW 9000 because he knows it will help him
land the next big session or tour. DW Pedals, The Drummer’s Choice®.
“I love this pedal.
check it out
for yourself!“
Infinite Adjustable
Cam
Delta Ball Bearing
Hinge
© 2007 Drum Workshop, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Road Stories:
Journey’s Deen Castronovo &
Def Leppard’s Rick Allen
photos by Rob Shanahan
The touring marriage between these two iconic
rock bands is just that, iconic.
Def Leppard hails from Sheffield, England and brought the Union
Jack flag to American pop culture with their brand of heavy guitar-laced anthems. Journey, on the other hand, is as American as
apple pie. A Bay Area fixture, Journey was a hit-making machine
for three decades. Together, both bands are making their way
through the summer months playing a nostalgic mix of top-ten
hits from a selection of multi-platinum albums, and fans are packing arenas and sheds with lighters ablaze.
This was a duo we didn’t want to miss, so we packed our bags
and headed to Las Vegas, where both bands headlined a soldout Mandalay Bay Event Center. Journey’s high-energy stickman
(and now lead vocalist for three songs), Deen Castronovo, and
Def Leppard’s Rick Allen shared a unique experience on the tour
that cemented a close bond between the two, but was also a perfect entrée to our new feature, Road Stories.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 2 5
mile-high milestone
Man, do I have a road story. Just happened on this tour, in fact. We were just
at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre
in Colorado, and I got a nasty case of altitude sickness. I wasn’t able to play at
all, period. And they were like, “Are you
going to do this?” And I said, “I can’t, I
can’t play.” I couldn’t even get off the
couch. Jim, my tech, ended up playing
four songs into the set. Basically, Rick Allen came up and said, “I’m going to do
something here. I’m going to help you
out here.” He put his hand on my head
and he just started calming me down. He
(As told by Deen Castronovo)
got me to where I could actually stand up.
Then got me to where I could walk up on
the stage. He walked me all the way up
to my drum riser and helped me through
the whole thing. I didn’t think I was going to end up playing. I don’t know if
you’ve had altitude sickness, but man, it’s
a scary thing. You really can’t function. In
the end, I played the set perfectly, which
was great. It really scared the crap out of
me, though. I’ve never been sick like that
in my life and that was pretty frightening.
He’s my brother now. I’d take a bullet for
him.
Deen Castronovo
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 2 7
Building a
brotherhood
(As told by Rick Allen)
Rick Allen
There are so many stories, but not many clean
enough for human consumption [laughs]. I
guess the one that’s most fresh was me bringing
Deen back to life in Denver. It was like he was
half way up Everest, you know, but he was really suffering— worse than I’ve ever seen anybody from altitude sickness. I actually think it
was the fact that we’d all been at home for two
weeks prior, and it was the first show back. At
6000 feet, just going straight up there and expecting to play a show, like you’ve never been
away. It really got to him. So 45 minutes before the show, I went down to see him and just
helped him get back into his breathing again.
He was getting all guilty because he thought he
was letting the band down, and I just had to say,
“Hey, this is something that can’t be helped. Let
go of the wheel you know what I mean?” And
he did. I stayed with him for about half an hour,
came back about 10 minutes later, and he was
standing up. He’s like, “Dude, I’m going on, I’m
going on.” It was a very special moment. It was
really special for both of us, cause I really felt at
that point that Deen and I connected. It was like
we were brothers. It was really, really cool. I’m
just very fortunate that I was in that situation
where I could help him. It’s a two-way street
when someone’s vulnerable like that. It really
made me look at my own situation, and it gave
me a sense of gratitude.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 2 9
>THE
DRUMMERS
Of
VEGAS
L a rry A be r m a n • “ Z umani t y ”
Jamie B o rd e n • “ P h oe ni x”
Tris Im bo d e n • Ch i c ago
Fran c o i s J u t r a s • “ O ”
Herm a n M at t he ws • T o m Jones
Russ M cK i n n on • B a r ry Mani low
Eric Scr ib n e r • “ K a”
Story and photos by Larry Aberman
I’ve been here in Las Vegas for three years
playing with the show “Zumanity – Another Side of Cirque du Soleil” at the New York
New York Hotel and Casino. In those three
short years, I’ve witnessed a lot of change
in this town. New concert venues are opening all the time, and with all of the new casinos come new shows. New houses, condos, parks, malls, roads, even music stores
are popping up all over the place. There’s a
reason why some say it’s fast becoming the
entertainment capital of the world.
Because there are more shows than ever
here in Las Vegas, there are also more musicians here than ever before. In fact, some
of the most recognized drummers around
either live here, or are here for extended periods of time gigging.
Herman Matthews is in Las Vegas 10
to 12 weeks a year with Tom Jones. Russ
McKinnon is here 30 weeks this year with
Barry Manilow. Tris Imboden is here about
six weeks with Chicago, and Nigel Olsson
is with Elton John over at Caesar’s Palace.
François Jutras just finished an eight-year
run with Cirque du Soleil’s incredibly successful show, “O,” and is staying in town as
a session drummer. Eric Scribner with “Legends in Concert,” a Vegas mainstay, is here
year-round and has been for 22 years, while
Jamie Borden is LV “born and raised.” Jamie
performs at the Rio and is an educator with
several instructional DVDs to his credit: a
pretty accomplished bunch of guys and a
great support system. After all, drumming
is a brotherhood, and we all tend to stick together.
Needless to say, I spend a lot of time
hanging with my peeps here in LV. No coincidence, many of them play DW drums.
There really is quite a scene developing.
After reading about Nigel in the last issue of EDGE magazine, I thought it might
be interesting to talk to the drummers of Las
Vegas as one of their own and try to share
some insight into the drumming lifestyle
here and how it’s rapidly evolving. DW
agreed.
I decided the best way to get the input I was looking for was to hit the street. I
wanted to talk to my drumming compadres
around town to see if they could shed some
light on what it’s like to be a working drummer on (and off) the strip.
The first question was fairly straightforward: what’s your impression of Vegas?
Herman remarked, ”Vegas is the place to be.
You can tell just by the growth of the city itself. You can’t even get a flight in or out on
the weekends. Seems like when I tell people
I’m going to Vegas, they’re either coming
here or going back.” Tris added, “Vegas has
gone through a metamorphosis. Chicago’s
been playing here regularly for at least 12
years now. In the ‘80s I think most performers perceived Vegas as the great entertain-
>The drummers of v e g as
ment bone-yard. The reality
is now everybody plays here.
It used to be, ‘Oh, you’re
playing in a casino?’—like it
had a bad connotation. It’s
not like that anymore at all.
Those days are way over.”
Russ explained, “I started
working in Vegas 20 years
ago. In the ‘80s and early
‘90s, the town was pretty
dead. But when the Cirque
Tris Imboden
du Soleil shows and the big
name artist contracts started
rolling in, all of a sudden you
could work with the best musicians around, make a good
living and sleep in your own
bed every night.”
Immediately I recalled
Vegas entertainment history,
the old Rat Pack days, the
golden era of the ‘60s and
‘70s. Russ had an interesting
take, “Elvis played over 800
shows on the stage I play on
at the Vegas Hilton. The vibe
there is incredible.” Eric’s
been here a while, so he’s
seen it all. He comments,
“I’ve worked in a lot of casinos that don’t exist anymore.
The Sands, the Dunes, the
Alford, Omar or Sterling
Landmark, they’re all gone, imploded. The Campbell. They’re all comoriginal dressing rooms at the Sands were ing through Vegas with difreally cool. There, you could feel the vibe of ferent bands, and we get to
the Rat Pack, like it was yesterday.”
hang out.” Tris laughed and
Everyone can easily agree on one thing: commented, “It definitely
the town has been undergoing a renaissance wasn’t like that in the early
of sorts for over a decade and shows no ‘90s. Back then, we would
signs of slowing. So
basically have
Herman Matthews
what does it mean
Siegfried and
for drummers and
“I think most per- Roy come
the drumming comformers perceived by, but that
munity as a whole?
about it!
kids. The theme park at MGM shut down.
Vegas as the great was
How has all of this
But man, if you sit here long Wet and Wild is closed. Treasure Island had
entertainment
changed the drumenough, you’re gonna see a pirate show outside and now it’s sexy girls.
ming
landscape
bone-yard. The re- just about everybody, all of They just want adults playing and drinking.
in Vegas? I asked
ality is now every- your friends, all of your he- They’re the ones spending the money.” Herthat, as well. Jaroes. Either they’re playing a man added, “When I was first coming here,
body plays here.”
mie replied, “The
big arena like the MGM Gar- it was very family-oriented. Now it’s basi—Tris Imboden dens, Aladdin or a venue like cally become more like its name, ‘Sin City.’
scene has definitely
changed. I played
House of Blues.”
You can come here and get as nasty as you
the Las Vegas PAS
In recent years, I can’t help wanna be.”
[Percussion Arts Society] Day of Percus- but notice the transition back to entertain- So what does a drummer do in “Sin
sion this year and on the bill were two of ment geared toward adults. The “What hap- City” during his down time? My day usumy biggest inspirations in my career: Raul pens in Vegas stays in Vegas” tag line is all ally goes something like this: between 10
Pineda and Danny de los Reyes. So, guys of too true these days. But during the ‘90s, the a.m. when I get up, until my artist call at 6
this caliber are coming here, not just to play, city took a different approach. Vegas billed p.m., I’m free to do what I like. I spend a lot
but to educate.” Herman added, “I see so itself as a place to bring the entire family— of time in my studio. With the Internet, I’m
many guys just being in Vegas for a couple not anymore. François explained, “Now the able to do a lot of session work for people
of weeks at a time, be it you, Larry, Char- town is built around adults. There’s not a lot that live hundreds, even thousands, of miles
lie Watts, Charley Drayton, Gene Lake, Zac to do with the kids. They don’t want to see from me. I also do a lot of composing. I like
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 3 1
>The d r u mme r s of v e gas
to hike in nearby Red Rock Canyon; it’s one Also, here I try out new stuff, new gear.”
of the more beautiful places I’ve seen. Af- For Russ lately, things seem to be a bit of
ter the show, I might go to a club to see a a whirlwind. “Barry Manilow is riding an
band, hang out or go eat. I definitely have incredible wave. We recently performed on
to make sure I get enough sleep! So what American Idol in L.A. and had to fly back
to Vegas in Barry’s jet to
do my counterparts do
do the show here that
in their off-time? When
Jamie’s not playing with
“Barry Manilow is night. I’m so glad to be
Pretty soon we start
his band, Phoenix, he’s
riding an incred- here.
recording the follow-up
crazy busy. He noted,
ible wave. We re- disc to his number one
“I just signed to do a
seven-title DVD series.
cently performed music of the ‘50s disc
I have exclusive license
on American Idol with a music of the ‘60s
We’re booked until
to use 22 Rush tunes for
in L.A. and had to disc.
2009.” On his down time,
these upcoming projfly back to Vegas Eric likes to spend a lot
ects. I’ve been working
closely with Neil Peart
in Barry’s jet to do of time with his family.
is something that
on this whole thing and
the show here that “Music
I do, but I’m also a father
have his blessing. So banight. We’re booked and a husband. Family
sically, I’m in hardcore
until 2009.”
always comes first.”
creation mode. I mean,
Finally, I couldn’t
I’ve got seven DVD
—Russ McKinnon let the opportunity go by
titles to script!” For Tris
without talking about
and Herman, their visits to LV are limited to two weeks at a time. gear. After all, we’re all DW aficionados.
But they do enjoy the break from the con- For “Zumanity,” I use a custom all-Built-In
stant travel that’s inherent in a busy touring Bottom drum set. I’d put VLTs in there, but
schedule. Tris said, “What’s cool is you get I’m scared they might shatter the plexi-glass
to actually unpack your suitcase. You get to booth I’m in! I do use VLTs in my studio. The
hang up your shirts and use the drawers in sound is just amazing! With all the playing
the hotel room. I like to get into a routine I’m doing, I’m especially grateful for the Air
here. Get a little breakfast, hit the gym every Lift tractor seat with the backrest. Comfy!
day, and hit the pool. It’s nice.” Herman has I also love the 9000 pedals something awa similar experience, “When I get to Vegas, I ful. I’m not alone. Tris enjoys his 9000s and
settle in. I like to read and catch up with my VLTs. “Well, how do you improve upon perwebsite. It’s like a vacation. Also the Tom fection? Yet they manage to do it again and
again. Their 9000 pedals are incredibly silky
Jones organization looks
smooth. I never thought they could top
at Vegas as our
the 5000s, but somehow they did. And
home base. We do
with the VLT drums, all I know is
any rehearswhen I first heard them, I couldn’t
ing
while
believe the low end, and the suswe’re
here.
tain was just stupid.” François happily plays
an Edge snare with his Pacific kit. “The shell,
the bearing edge, it’s all quality. I use a 7x12”
Edge snare. I love it—it’s an amazing drum.”
Russ uses Collector’s Series drums that are
Timbre Matched a bit higher than usual.
“When the drums are Timbre Matched low,
I tend to overdrive them. I hit them too hard.
But I want the 16” to have the bottom of an
18”, so we used VLT technology on the floor
toms to get that.” Herman says, “If John
Good and Don Lombardi say this new thing
is good, I trust them. I just use it. They know
what they’re doing.” Tris went on about
DW, “Man if something doesn’t exist, it will
in about five seconds. They’re so on it.”
I can recall an interesting observation
about DW drums that came after I played
each one of these guy’s drum sets. Most of us
have a very similar set up—VLT drums with
coated Ambassador heads. I have to say, I
was amazed how each set had its own personality. My conclusion was that DW drums
allow every artist to have their own voice,
their own expression. The drums don’t tell
me how to sound. Tris also commented on
the subject, “That’s so true, but it’s all within
the DW color of sound, though. Isn’t that
amazing? The sound is unique, and I definitely feel part of a special family with DW.
They’re a great company.” Herman closes
with these words of wisdom, “DW drums
and hardware adapt to your personality all
the way around. My set-up sounds like me.
So in the end, DW is always true to what
you do.”
So on your next trip to Las Vegas, keep
an eye out for the LV drummers. The DWPacific-Vegas connection is growing as fast
as Vegas itself; you’ll hear us in the shows,
arenas, clubs, by the pool, everywhere you
go in the real “city that never sleeps.” One
day, you might even join the club.
Russ McKinnon
>The drummers of v e g as
Larry Aberman
François Jutras
Eric Scribner
Jamie Borden
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 3 3
LIVE!
Y ell owc a r d
photos by Hadas
Lo n gine u Parso n s III
W i t h t h e f o l l ow- up to their pl atinu m-selling d ebut,
o cean avenue , LP and the boys in yellowcard have
h i t t h e roa d o nc e again to support their sopho m ore
r el eas e , lights and sounds . the band i s n o t o nly
s e l l i n g r ec o r ds , they’re selling out
l i v e v e n u e s a s t h ey cement their
r ep u tat i on a s on e of the most hi ghe n e rgy b a nd s a roun d. to   see more
e xc l u s i v e p h o t o s of lp an d yellowcar d
i n ac t i o n , ch e ck out the “ Backstage
Pa ss” li n k @ w ww.dwdrums .com.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 3 5
>DW
DRUM
NEWS
New pro d u c t s a n d i n novati ons
DW Exo ti cs
Take
A New T wi st
C u sto m Sh o p Unv e il s
Ne w Line o f Stu nning Exo tics
Exotic Twisted Walnut Collector’s Series® VLT kit
with Candy Black Fade and Chrome Hardware.
From the DW Custom Shell Shop in Oxnard,
California, and from Master Drum Designer John
Good, comes a dramatic new look in Collector’s
Series Exotics. Twisted Exotics are crafted using a
similar grain-matching technique to DW’s VGE
Vertical Grain Exotics, but are laid up on a diagonal
axis to create a striking new look. As is the case with
all Collector’s Series drums, the finishes are available
over a vast array of customizable shell configurations
utilizing hand-selected North American hard
rock maple and birch and DW’s proprietary shell
technology.
“We’re always looking for a new way take what
mother nature has given us and put our own spin
or twist in this case, on it”, explains Good. Available
exotic woods include Koa, Macassar Ebony, Pure
Olive, Rainbow Wood, Red Gum, Black Walnut and
Ziricote; all can be finished in natural lacquer or
combined with our lacquered colors and options. In
addition, each can be further customized in any of
four drum hardware color options including chrome,
satin chrome, black chrome and 24-karat gold.
Exotic Twisted Rainbow Collector’s Series® VLT
kit with Natural Lacquer and Chrome Hardware.
Good continues, “As soon as we started experimenting
with Twisted Exotics, artists were hooked. Almost
immediately we built a massive kit for Vinnie Appice
for the Black Sabbath reunion called Heaven and
Hell. He was blown away by the fact that it was just
so different, and the beauty of Exotics in general is
that each kit is a unique work of art.” To see Twisted
Exotic wood swatches and gallery of custom kits,
visit www.dwdrums.com
Exotic Twisted Pure Olive Collector’s Series®
Maple VLT kit with Burnt Toast Fade
and Chrome Hardware.
>Drum Ne w s
Exotic Twisted Ziricote Collector’s Series®
Maple VLT kit with Gold Hardware.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 3 7
All
That Jazz
DW Jazz Series represents the first
custom jazz-tailored drum set in history
To capture the jazz sound that drummers
cherish, DW turned to a completely new shell
configuration. Master Drum Designer John Good
explains, “Jazz requires very different parameters,
much higher tunings and a lot less resonance than
our Collector’s Series drums for example. To make
it happen, we reintroduced the hoopless maple/
gum shell that was the studio drum sound in the
late 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. Then we added die
cast counter hoops and coated heads. The guys
that loved Collector’s Series for Jazz still do, but
now they have a new weapon.”
Classic Series drums in Champagne Glass
Finish Ply™ with Chrome Hardware
True
C l a s s i c S oun d a nd Lo oks
New DW Cl assics Series offers vintage sound in a road-worthy package
In an effort to represent the classic
sounds of American drum making, DW
recently unveiled its line of Classic Series
drums. DW Director of Research and
Development, Don Lombardi explains,
“It’s a very different sound than the
Collector’s Series. We tried to replicate
the sound of big band, and early rock and
roll, the type of sound that drummers
associate with vintage drums. The shell
is what gets us there. It’s poplar and
mahogany with large maple hoops and
a much more rounded bearing edge that
John calls a “butter” edge. Drummers I
talk to are very are excited about it.”
proportional steel flanged counter hoops.
Complemented with vintage-style flushbased 6000 stands, Classics Series drums
make a serious road worthy package.
Crafted at DW’s Oxnard factory,
DW Classics are customizable in any
Finish Ply and drum hardware color
option.
See www.dwdrums.com for
available sizes and a complete selection
of color swatches.
Vintage-savvy drummers will also
appreciate the attention to detail. For
example, bass drums include T-rods
on the bass drums, a stylish DW shield
logo head and optional 7771 rail mount
and 770 cymbal arm. The entire kit is
outfitted with DW Coated heads by Remo
USA and aged brass Classics badges.
Best of all, Classics kits include all of the
modern bells and whistles drummers
have grown accustomed to, including
DW Turret lugs with lug receivers, TB12
tom brackets with memory locks and
Jazz Series® drums in Regal to Royal Fade over
curly Maple Exotic with Chrome hardware.
The drums can be ordered in any available custom
Lacquer, Graphics, Exotic, Hard Satin, Satin Oil
or Finish Ply offering and can be combined with
any of four drum hardware colors. In addition,
the drums can be customized in a vintage-style
look with optional 7771 “banana” rail mount or
770 bass drum mounted cymbal arm. Standard
Collector’s Series bass drum mounts and other
options are also available.
“We called them Jazz Series, but they’re also great
for rock, studio and just about every other style
of music,” comments Good. Legendary drummer
Alex Acuna said, “These drums make me play
differently. I took them to a gig the other day and
all of the other musicians in the band noticed, it
was obvious. I love the Jazz Series drums because
they’re inspirational and they give me the freedom
to be creative.” For available sizes and custom
options visit www.dwdrums.com
>Drum Ne w s
A ll Ne w 8 0 0 0
Pe
dal s A r e K i ck i n ’
Intro d u ci n g a h y b rid pedal wi t h
DW i n d u st ry- sta n dard features
With their chrome diamond plate base board
and sleek black components, 8000 pedals offer
up features that have made both 9000 and 5000
pedals the most sought-after pedals in the
market. Because the cam is fixed to a 5000-style
hex shaft, drummers will feel the throw and
power of the classic DW pedal designs. The
difference is the infinitely adjustable cam that
mimics an Accelerator, Turbo drive system or
anything in between. The 8000 also comes with
a dual chain factory installed, but also includes a
nylon strap for those players that prefer it.
8000 & 8002 Pedals
Available in single or double pedal models,
8000s include a heavy-duty nylon bag for travel
and storage and a limited 5-year warranty.
Esse
nt i a l E l e m e nt s
C o l l ect or ’ s S e r i e s s nares are now avai l abl e in f iv e d istinct m e tal s
To answer the demands of every drummer, DW has completely revamped its line up of
metal snare drums. Now offered in brass, bronze, aluminum, copper and steel, DW metal
snares feature the smooth operating Delta ball bearing throw-off, choice of flanged or die
cast counter hoops and DW heads by Remo USA.
“These snares feature a completely new heavy-gauge rolled shell construction.
Just pick one up and it’s obvious that these drums are substantial We were even able to
offer them in a unique new knurled finish. It’s like nothing we’ve done before,” explains
Master Drum Designer John Good.
Collector’s Series® Snare
The drums can be complemented in any of four available drum hardware color options and can be ordered with any custom drum set.
To see the all-new line of Collector’s Series metal snare drums and available sizes visit www.dwdrums.com/snares/metal
Go
for the Gold
L i m ite d E d it i o n 3 5t h
Gold 5000
Accelerator™ Single Pedal
A n n i ver s a ry 5 0 0 0 AD3 and
( 9 0 0 0 ) sta n d s i n r eal 24 karat
go l d
To complement the 24-karat gold available
on all Collector’s Series and Jazz Series
drums, DW has recently released 9000
Series hardware in a matching gold finish. The
stands are identical to their chrome counterparts
and include features such as toothless tilters with
Techlock, heavy-gauge tubing, tube joints with integrated
memory locks, adjustable cymbal seats and much more. Available
are a 9700 and cymbal stands, 9500 hi-hat stand, 9300 snare stand, 9100
throne and 9900, 9934, 9991 and 9999 tom stands.
In addition, a limited number of one thousand 5000AD3 gold single
pedals will also be available. Absolutely everything is gold plated
with the exception of the 2-way 101 beater, the chain and the hinge.
The result is a pedal that literally looks dipped in gold. The
package comes with a special hard shell carrying case and
signed and numbered certificate of authenticity.
24 Karat 9000 Stands
One of the most enduring and prolific artists in music history has just
hit the road for another sold-out world tour. Make no mistake, being
knighted by the Queen of Pop is an honor reserved for only a few
elite drummers. Madonna’s Steve Sidelnyk has held the drum now for
quite some time, and when we asked him to document life on the road
with the Material Girl, he jumped at the chance. Private jets, five-star
hotels and throngs of adoring fans... tough gig, Steve!
To see more of your favorite artists backstage, check out
www.dwdrums.com/artists
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 4 1
“MY NAME IS
ROY MAYORGA
AND THIS IS MY
custom dw kit.”
Heavy hitters like Roy Mayorga of Stone Sour know that their drums need to stand up to the abuse night after
night and still look and sound like a million bucks. To achieve optimal projection, volume and low end punch, Roy chose VLT
Vertical Low Timbre Collector’s Series Maple shells. All the bottom end he’s looking for, with plenty of attack to cut through the noise.
At the same time, he wanted something tricked-out looking that would keep the kids talking long after the show. We suggested new
Black Ice Finish Ply™ with Satin Chrome hardware. A flashy statement on stage that’s virtually bullet proof on the road. Throw in
specialty drums like his 20” Floor Tom with matching wood hoops, 6” matching maple Rata-Drums and 22” Gong Drum and you can
see how Roy took full advantage of our custom capabilities. The original, The Drummer’s Choice®. DW is Custom.
To build your very own Custom DW Dream Kit, click on
at www.dwdrums.com
©2007 Drum Workshop, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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>DW
DRUM
CLINIc
Gro ove Es s enti als
By To m my Ig o e
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matter wh at k ind o f mu sic yo u pl ay, w h e th e r it’s sim pl e or c omple x ,
i t has to be in t he gro ove.
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The word “groove”
doesn’t simply mean
it’s
perfectly
in
time—if it did, drum
machines and computers would have
the best grooves in
the universe, and
we know that’s not
the case. Rather,
Tommy Igoe
“groove” means how
you play the time. A little on top, a little bit
behind, intentionally phrasing in front of
the bass or behind the guitar, or perhaps
right down the center to let other instruments play in front or behind. These are just
some of the possibilities when you have full
command of your groove.
Every drummer has different tendencies. A few common ones, for example, are
to simply rush or drag, play faster when
you get louder, slower when softer, speed
up coming out of a fill, slow down when
switching grooves and a thousand more. We
all have some of these tendencies and the
sooner you discover what your tendencies
are, the sooner you can eliminate them from
your groove, because they truly are groove
destroyers. While great grooves are often
organic and very human, sloppy playing
will ruin any hope of getting a deep pocket.
My “Groove Essentials” series is designed
for all players, of all skill levels, to discover
those tendencies and take the action needed
to conquer anything standing between you
and your groove, and expand your groove
vocabulary. We’re going to look at a basic
groove, a few variations for each groove
and, best of all, a chart and play-along track
for you to explore. Let’s get to work...
The groove essentials universe is broken into five families that all grooves can fit
in: rock, funk, jazz, world and, the groove
we’ll discuss here is from the hip-hop/R&B
family. It is the 15th groove of the 47 explored in “Groove Essentials.” Let’s take a
look. (See Fig. 1)
Can you see the “connective tissue” of
this groove? Before I tell you where it is, try
to visualize it yourself. See it? This groove is
an example of a more “open” construction,
where multiple limbs work together to form
the connective tissue that binds it together.
The eighth-notes in this groove are formed
by the ride cymbal and hi-hat working together on the downbeats and upbeats to
form a continuous line of eighths. Coordination is naturally an issue with this groove
and should be approached with caution.
Take it slow and steady, practicing with a
metronome at all times while learning the
coordination.
As with all grooves, what counts is how
you play it. To give this groove a hip-hop
flair, try giving it a little bit of a swing. All
the sixteenths need to sit back in the pocket
a little bit to give a rounder feel that is one
of the hip-hop genre’s calling cards. You can
play this groove straight, too, of course, and
it works great like that, too.
For you budding session players out
there, in terms of authenticity, this groove is
definitely too “wet” to use on a hip-hop recording. One thing that most R&B and hiphop producers insist on is a very dry drum
track. So, the ride cymbal part you see here
would have to go. You can just move the
right hand to something that doesn’t ring so
much or do what I did on a session, throw
some tape on your ride cymbal so it barely
rings. The artist loved it! Then again, I saw
?uestlove last week, and he was playing his
ride the entire time, and it sounded great,
so maybe things are changing yet again. The
moral of the story: be open to any possibilities.
It’s variation time once again. Let’s take
a look at what kind of trouble we can get
ourselves into by creating two variations
of the main groove. These variations are
related to the main groove but skewed just
enough to make a powerful difference. First
up: Variation A. (See Var. A)
Looks pretty easy, right? Well, as usual,
looks can be deceiving. This uses one of my
favorite hi-hat techniques: using the open
hi-hat sound on the downbeat (instead of
the upbeat, which is more common). The
open hi-hat must be a perfect eighth-note
in length, no shorter, no longer. Why? Good
>DW DRUM CLINIc
Exercise s
Fi g . 1
Va r. A
Va r. B
Cha rt
the upbeats on the ride cymbal. Please,
please, please, don’t flam! Unintended
flams are groove killers. They create clutter and confuse the ear of the listener. To
be sure, you must record yourself and listen back with a critical ear to see if your
groove is as accurate as you want it to
be.
KEY
question. It’s because the length of the
open hat sound is the consistent “glue”
that holds this variation together. Any
shorter or longer than a perfect eighthnote and it will start to clash the snare/
bass drum interplay going on underneath. It is so easy to play this groove
badly, so be careful.
(See Var. B)
Here’s a different approach to this
feel that I recommend you play at letter A
on the upcoming chart. As far as the connective tissue, we have the eighth-notes
being played by the foot on the hi-hat and
And finally, the chart (see chart).
Whoa, there’s a lot going on here, wouldn’t
you say? Don’t worry if you can’t read, just listen
to the song a few times first. For advanced players, you’ll notice letter A is repeated the last time
through the form. I’ve constructed the arrangement this way so you have some solo space to explore. Perhaps “fill” space may be a better word
here, since the song doesn’t stop and there are little
accents from the other musicians popping around
you as you make your contribution at letter A. It’ll
be obvious when you get to this point in the chart
that there is a lot more space, so musically fill it up
a bit and take charge. Too bad the chart doesn’t tell
you all that stuff, right? Ah, yes, the joys of chart
reading; get used to it.
The fun of this chart is taking a hip-hop inspired groove and then throwing it into a decidedly un-hip-hop musical situation! I’m a firm believer that all music cross-pollinates and doesn’t
live in a vacuum; we all borrow from, and influence, each other. This is one of my favorite tracks
in “Groove Essentials” and I hope you have a ball
with it. Go to tommyigoe.com and download the
MP3 file “groove 15-FAST.”
I’ll leave you with one thing to think about
as you head down to the practice room: you are
never as accurate as you think you are when playing in real time. You must record yourself playing with these songs and then listen back with a
critical ear to truly judge your performance and
groove contribution. Record yourself with the latest computer gizmo or a cheapo vintage cassette,
doesn’t matter, just record yourself somehow,
some way. When you do, you’ll hear things you
never thought were happening as you were actually playing, and you’ll be in a great position to
fix them and concentrate on the stuff that’s really
important: the music.
Tommy Igoe is the leader of New York’s Friday
Night Big Band at the famous Birdland Jazz Club. He
is the principal drummer, assistant conductor and creator of the drum set book for the “Lion King” on Broadway and is the author of the “Groove Essentials” series
of products published by Hudson Music. More info on
Tommy can be found at Tommyigoe.com.
For more “Groove Essentials,” visit
www.dwdrums.com/eddept
[EDGE 6.0] 45
metal
Hammer
Bobby Jarzombek
He’s the thinking man’s metal drummer, backing metal
gods like Rob Halford and Sebastian Bach. this chopsinspired speed demon pulls out all of the tricks, while
years of experience have taught him to still lay it down
photos by Matthew Fried
like a metal hammer.
EDGE: You’re new to DW. What made you decide to switch?
EDGE: Do you also have a workout routine that
involves physical training or cardio?
Bobby Jarzombek: Well, I’ve always been
intrigued with drums and the innovative
stuff that’s been coming out of DW. I’ve also
noticed that a lot of guys have been heading over to DW, and I’ve been wondering
why. In looking a little further and checking
out some of the products, I thought that everything was cool, and the finest drums for
sure. I was a little bit dissatisfied with my
former company, and that’s what led to me
checking things out. So I went out to Oxnard
and checked out the whole factory and the
making of the drums. I was definitely sold
on it, you know, when I saw everything going down. I saw the entire operation at work,
with everybody involved all the way from
the guys in the paint area with the masks
over their faces to Don Lombardi at the top.
I was just impressed with the whole operation, so I had to make the change.
BJ: I used to run years ago. For like two
years, I would run steadily about three or
four times a week, you know, a few miles at
a time. I did that on and off for many years.
And I think it was right around the Rob Halford (lead singer for Judas Priest) “Crucible”
time in 2002. We were doing rehearsals and
pre-production, then were in the studio for
a long time. That was such an intense time,
and right around that time I quit running, I
never went back to it. Maybe it’s not a good
thing that I never did, but I still try to stay in
the same frame of mind as if I was running
a few times a week, just with my practice
routines.
EDGE: So as a hard rock/metal drummer, you
have to have some pretty serious stamina obviously to make it through a show. Talk a little bit
about how you stay in shape and your practice
routine.
BJ: Well, I think it’s important to always to
be in shape to play metal drums. I mean, obviously when I go into a rehearsal situation,
I make sure I know the songs really well. I
run through the set on my own, just with
a click track, multiple times on each song.
Then, I’ll do the whole set again and again,
just keeping up double bass chops, keeping up speed chops. So when you’re doing
a 45-minute show, it’s like a breeze. The idea
is to be relaxed up there, but intense. So I
just make sure that I’m in shape to play the
shows.
EDGE: Do you have certain rudiments or foot
exercises you focus on when you practice?
BJ: I work on what I call “concepts,” where I
have particular patterns that tend to evolve
and become more complex patterns. You
can take it as far as your ability and your
drumming vocabulary allows. I have these
concepts that I work on, and they’re intense.
It might be a hand exercise or a foot exercise, but if you work on it diligently in the
rehearsal room for three or four hours a
day, then you’re going to get a pretty good
workout. These concepts are not anything
specific, just something that I happen to
stumble upon, or something that I think is
a cool exercise or rudiment. Sometimes it’s
a stamina kind of thing or a polyrhythmic
thing; it always changes.
EDGE: What other styles of music have you
studied, and what other types of music have influenced your playing?
BJ: Oh, you’re going to open up a can of
worms if I go there. I grew up playing in
South Texas, where I’m from, San Antonio,
and if you want to make a living in that area
of the country, then you have to know a lot
of different styles. Obviously I grew up with
a lot of heavy metal drumming and heavy
metal drummers. I’m a fan of drumming,
and being a working musician, I learned to
play a variety of styles. There was a lot of
country music and there was Tejano music,
for example. I’ve done CDs and live shows
for years and years doing country music and
Tejano music. I’m a hell of a country drummer, too, by the way. I don’t know if you
knew that. I’ve done quite a bit of that kind
of stuff. But it’s kind of a weird mixture because it’s country music mixed with heavy
metal music. I was part of the regular “A”
team of studio players down in San Antonio, which isn’t saying a whole lot when you
consider where San Antonio is on the musical map, but it was still cool. I’d also play
a lot of classic rock, whatever San Antonio
allowed me to do in order to make a living.
I really stayed true to my heavy metal roots,
though. That’s where my passion comes
from when it comes to drumming, and that’s
what I grew up listening to. Even then, I go
through days where I listen to nothing but
Cuban stuff, or bebop ‘50s jazz, like older
Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. I owned
a lot of that stuff.
EDGE: So do you feel that any of those styles of
music influence your rock playing?
BJ: Yeah, like on this new Sebastian Bach
CD, there’s a few ballads. I mean, unless you
can really competently play a ballad, you’re
in trouble. It’s something that you can learn,
just listening to records and learning feel,
not the technical side, but the feel. I mean
you really have to feel that music in order to
play like that. You have to be in those situ[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 4 7
I don’t know if there’s a dream gig. I’ve always
been a side man and never really been a band
member, so that would be a dream for me: To be
an equal partner in a successful band.
ations where you’re able to play that music
and express yourself within that music. I
think that playing different styles of music
has really helped my timing and control. If
you’re just a metal drummer, you’re just going to play the same fills that everybody else
has played in that particular genre. And if
you think about the guys who are well educated in metal drumming and rock drumming, they pulled from so many different
genres of drumming.
EDGE: What was the last tour you were on?
BJ: Lately I’m back and forth with Sebastian
Bach. At the moment, we’re not on the road
steadily, but we’ve been doing a ton of flyins. We just came off doing some dates with
Guns ‘n’ Roses, and we were in Japan playing with KISS, Alice in Chains, Godsmack,
Steve Vai and a whole bunch of bands. It
was awesome! We just did some headlining
shows in Europe, too. I’m back for a little
break, and then we’ll go back out do some
more stuff, then who knows?
EDGE: Do you have a tech that you normally
work with on the road?
BJ: There’s been a few different guys over
the years. When I was with Halford, we
went through a few different guys. Sadly,
one of the guys, Clint Leteiur, died about a
year ago. He was teching for us for a couple
of years, and he’d also worked with a lot of
different people like Racer X and Godsmack.
For a little while I was using Jose Baracio
who was the tech for Mike Portnoy, and he’s
on the road with Joe Satriani. Lately with
Sebastian, we’ve been doing so many flyins that the promoter will provide a guy to
kind of help me. It’s hard to use a tech when
you do fly-ins because they don’t know the
set-up and how you want everything set. If
I’m there, and there’s a guy that speaks English in whatever country I’m in, and he can
just hand me stuff, I’m cool. So that seems
to be the way we’re doing it lately, until we
get steady dates where we’re on a tour with
routing, then we’ll hook that up. But yeah,
if there are any of you guys out there that
want to tech for me, give me a call.
EDGE: What do you think your dream gig would
be? I know that’s kind of a loaded, question but
let me rephrase that—are there any artists that
you haven’t worked with that you think might be
fun to work with in the future?
BJ: When I was growing up, I was really into
Zappa. I was hoping that one day I would
play with Zappa, but obviously, that’s never
going to happen. I don’t know if there’s a
dream gig. I’ve always been a side man and
never really been a band member, so that
would be a dream for me: to be an equal
partner in a successful band. Tool is a great
band. Opeth is a great band. I really like
the fact that those guys are heavy, and they
play heavy music, but their songs are great
songs.
EDGE: We talked a little bit earlier about other
styles of music, and you mentioned some artists, but are there any rock or metal drummers
who influenced you when you were learning the
ropes?
BJ: I guess my biggest influence when I
started playing was Neil Peart. He’s still a
great drummer. If you ever have any doubts
about Neil, just because of the way drumming has evolved, you know, there are guys
out there that are doing really crazy polyrhythmic four-way coordination things, but
if you go back to the Rush records and really try to listen to the parts that were played
and learn the parts, you’ll realize how musical his drumming is. I loved Simon Phillips and his whole approach to the drum
kit. I’m still playing the whole left-handed
thing, partly because Simon Phillips plays
open-handed. Terry Bozzio, the stuff he did
with UK, Zappa, Missing Persons, that was
really big for me early on. Then later on,
Deen Castronovo, just his fire and the way
he played, the power in his drumming was
totally amazing. Deen, I guess, was probably the only player I ever heard on a record
and 30 seconds later was like, “Who is this?
This is the most amazing drummer I’ve ever
heard.” You know? I listen to a lot of guys
like Thomas Lang, Marco Minnemann and
Virgil Donati for ideas as well. These guys
do crazy things with a drum set.
EDGE: You just mentioned Simon Phillips and
having the ride cymbal over on the left side. Can
you talk about that a little bit? Also, talk about
the cymbal behind you, because that’s kind of an
unusual thing, too.
BJ: Well, the left-handed thing, I speak about
it briefly on my DVD. It just kind of evolved.
I guess it came about in the early ‘90s. For
a few years, I played a conventional, right
hand on the hi-hat crossover. I was playing a
few patterns, one of these concepts that I was
working on, and I was trying to get my right
hand to move around the toms and my left
hand was stuck underneath my right hand.
It was becoming difficult, so I pulled the left
hand and said, “Well, maybe I can put the left
hand on the hi-hat and the right hand on the
toms.” You know, try it open-handed. Needless to say, I ended up getting the pattern
that way. I thought, “Man, you know I’ve
always wanted to do this switch-over thing,
I’m gonna go for it.” And I just started practicing everything open-handed. So I would
play gigs, and I would play right-handed,
and my set at home would still be set up lefthanded. I would practice left-handed, then
go off and play gigs right-handed. I kept doing that for about six months. Then I had a
tour with Riot. I told myself, “I’m going to
learn all these Riot songs left-handed. And
I’m going to play them that way.” I started
learning everything at the time, playing
things left-handed. So I just went into it full
force and ended up sticking with it. That
was how I initially got over the hump, by
just forcing myself to learn all of the material left-handed. So it wasn’t so much like I
was doing particular exercises or anything.
It was more like I was learning material and
playing that way.
EDGE: How about the cymbals behind you?
BJ: Yeah, that’s a crazy story. A friend of
mine was a guitar player for Dokken. Don
Dokken split from Dokken and formed his
own band. So my friend was talking to me
about auditions they were having for drummers, and he said, “Yeah, we had this one
drummer that auditioned for the gig, and
he had this one cymbal, it was almost like it
was behind him or something.” And I was
like, “What? Cymbal behind him?” And
he was like, “Well not really behind him. It
was like when he played around the kit, did
a roll around the kit, the guy had to reach
really far toward the back of him to hit the
cymbal.” I was like, “Wow, that’s kind of different.” I thought about it, and I went out
to my practice room, and I thought what it
might be like to put a cymbal behind me and
play. So I set up a cymbal on my right side
and played around with it and kinda took
a back swing at it, and it was pretty easy. I
thought, “Well, this is cool,” so I fooled with
that for a few days and then set one up on
the left side and did the same thing. On the
left, I ended up having to have it a bit higher; it just felt more comfortable with the left
one a little higher than on the right side. So,
I ended up with those two cymbals behind
me. I started doing that in the early ‘90s live
when I was with Riot. Then, it got to be sort
of a trademark thing where people started
to notice it.
sibilities with this,” so I just started getting
into twirling with both hands, and then
started throwing tosses and whatever else
I could think up. The cymbals behind me
added a whole new dimension to that. It’s
not something that I practice all the time.
I’ll go sometimes weeks or months without even twirling a stick if I’m recording or
whatever.
EDGE: Do you consciously work on being a
“showy” or visual player?
BJ: I’d say that the main thing is to stay in
school and to take lessons. Learn as much
as you can and widen your drumming vocabulary and your musicality. Say, if you’re
18 years old and you’re anxious to get out
on the road, you can wait a few years. You
don’t have to go out there and go crazy.
Take a few years to learn what you can, go
to a music school and take a few lessons. The
road will always be there, all that stuff will
be there, and you’ll be that much more prepared for it.
BJ: There was a time when Tommy Lee and
everybody started to do the stick twirling
stuff, and I told myself, “I’m not going to
do that. I’m not going to be a part of that
whole stick twirling, throwing sticks thing.”
For a while I thought that, then I changed
my mind. I thought it’s only going to make
it more visually appealing if I do it, so I started to twirl the sticks again. You know, that
technique between the middle finger and
the index finger. I started to work on that
when I was playing, and I thought, “This
is pretty cool. You can do a lot of stuff with
this.” I was already playing open-handed,
so there was never a crossover problem, and I was able to do it with
both hands. Then I thought,
“There are endless pos-
EDGE: There must be a lot of work that goes into
all of those tricks.
BJ: There is, but I really only have about three
or four different moves. If you do them in
the right places, in certain ways, you learn to
make the most of them. You can hit a drum
and come back with a twirl, or hit a cymbal
and do kind of this upstroke cymbal twirl.
That’s where you can hit the cymbal from
underneath and then follow with a twirl.
There’s a lot of different tricks you can use
to make it a little bit more unique.
EDGE: Do you have any final thoughts or any
advice that you’d give younger players?
Set-up Specs:
1
6
7
9
4
3
10
5
2
8
DW Collector’s Series Birch Drums in Regal
Blue to Black Burst Lacquer Specialty with Black
Hardware
20x22” Bass Drum (x2)
6.5x14” Solid Shell Snare Drum
9x10”, 10x12”, 12x14” Tom-Toms
16x16” Floor Tom
5000TD3 Delta3 Turbo Single Bass Drum Pedal (x2)
9500 Hi-Hat Stand
9900 Double Tom Stand
9999 Single Tom/Cymbal Stand
9700 Straight/Boom Cymbal Stand (x8)
9100M Standard Drum Throne
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 4 9
>PAcIFIc
DRUM
NEwS
New pro d u ct s a n d i n novati ons
Gold to Black Sparkle Fade
Silver to Black Sparkle Fade
Trevor Lawrence - Snoop Dogg
Pacif
ic U n le a s he s t h e X7 Seri es
Co m p l ete seven pie c e drum se ts in bl azing spar k l e l ac q u e r f i n i s h e s
Pacific’s newest offering is an All-Poplar lacquer gem with serious pro features and
sound. Snoop Dogg’s stick man, Trevor Lawrence Jr. comments, “I just took my
PDPs out on the Snoop Dogg/P Diddy tour and they sounded great. I wanted the
world to see how incredible PDPs sound.”
Pearlescent White
X7’s are packed with features usually reserved for high-end boutique drum sets.
Features like STMs (Suspension Tom Mounts), True Pitch Tuning System, matching
all-wood bass drum hoops, die cast claw hooks and Remo heads. Made for the
stage, these beauties come in Orange Sparkle, Silver to Black Sparkle Fade, Red to
Black Sparkle and Regal to Royal Sparkle Fade. Also available is shimmering White
Pearlecent. If that weren’t enough, the sets even include an 8.155 hardware pack
with CB800 straight/boom cymbal stand, CS800 straight cymbal stand, SS800 snare
stand, HH800 hi-ht stand and SP450 single pedal.
See the X7s in person, visit your authorized PDP dealer or go online:
www.pacificdrums.com
Orange Sparkle X7
Red to Black Sparkle Burst
Regal to Royal Sparkle Fade
>p dp Drum Ne w s
The comp lete B. O. A.
Pedal
System is He r e
Th e B. O. A Do u b l e co mpl e te s the
B ow- O rien ted Act ion pedal l i n e u p
Marco Minnemann
The latest addition to the B.O.A. pedal system is the
new B.O.A. double pedal. The double has benefited
from years of painstaking development and offers a
direct drive feel with the speed and responsiveness
that FlexTech technology offers. The secret to FlexTech
is a proprietary composite material that enables the
footboard itself to act as the spring. There’s no steel
springs, hinges or other complex moving parts. The
result is a quick and silent pedal that’s fully adjustable
and perfect for all musical applications.
B.O.A. pedals also feature a lightweight, adjustable
HardCore beater and the double comes with a new
XLT (Extreme Low Tolerance) machined universal
linkage. The XLT Universal tracks B.O.A.’s action with
unprecedented precision, offering frictionless action.
The B.O.A. system also includes a single pedal and
900 Series direct-pull hi-hat and is already being
played by heavy hitters such as Marco Minnemann
(Necrophagist) and Scot Ellis (She Wants Revenge).
Check out www.pacificdrums.com to read more about
the magic of FlexTech Technology and to find an
authorized PDP retailer near you.
Pacific Drums Latest Snare
EPDP’vsenewe
ry stDrummer
S hould Pl ay an Ace
SX Se rie s snare d r u m is re ady f o r th e stu dio and stage
Most drummers have a variety of snares
to accommodate a variety of musical
situations. Undoubtedly, one of the most
popular workhorse snares in history has
to be brass. Its cutting metallic, yet warm
overtones have been revered by engineers
and producers alike.
Ace Snare Drum
PDP’s Ace snare fits the bill in every way.
With its rolled, dual-inverse beaded solid
brass shell, classic black nickel finish and
vintage-style tube lugs, the Ace delivers
everything drummers expect from a drum
that’s destined to be invited back for an
encore time after time.
Offered up in 5” and 6.5” depths, the Ace
also includes an easy operating side-to-side
throw-off, heavy-gauge steel flanged counter
hoops and an elegant new Ace badge. Sure
the Ace is one serious drum, but guess whatit’s also affordable. To hear one for yourself,
visit your local authorized Pacific dealer or
on the web: www.pacificdrums.com
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 5 1
>pd p D r u m N e w s
Seven Antonopoulos
- Opiate for the Masses
PDP ’ s N ew 80 5 S er ies, B u ilt t o Ro ck
In vi t i ng all–b i rch Ro ck se t-up s i n fl ash y c ust o m-i nsp ir e d f in is h e s
From the success of the popular 805 Series
line of snare drums comes complete 805
drumsets, and here’s what artists are
saying, “I just got of my first tour playing
with the band Dope and the drums were
awesome.
They looked killer, they
sounded great, the fans were digging
them, I was digging them… everything
I wanted, it was right there”, exclaims
heavy hitter Angel. PDP alum and
session drummer Yael adds, “I’ve been
using PDPs since they first came out and
the new 805s are immaculate.” Opiate
for the Masses drummer extraordinaire
Seven Antonopoulos concurs, “The
first time I saw these new drums, I was
completely blown away by them.”
So why are today’s pro rockers so
excited? The obvious answer, they look
cool. That’s a given, but how about
the sound? 805s feature an All-Birch
shell for enhanced high frequencies
to cut through the noise, and STMs
(Suspension Tom Mounts) for maximum
resonance. Add to that die cast claw
hooks, matching wood bass drum hoops
and ultra-custom colored hardware and
it’s easy to understand why the pros are
talking about 805 Series drums.
Offered in Black on Black, Black with
Red, Blue with Orange and White on
White, each color choice is available in
two distinct size options the 20” or 24”
Kicks both utilizing the same one-up,
two-down rock configuration. All setups include an 8.155 Hardware Pack. To
see these artists talk about their 805s, log
on to www.pacificdrums.com
Black with Red Hardware
White on White
805 Blue and Orange
Black on Black (Blackout)
DW Classic Logo Tee
(PR20SSBL)
Above: DW Trucker Hat with Patch (PR10HAT05), PDP Camo Hat (PR10PDPHAT06), DW Retro Ball Cap (PR10WNHAT06),
DW White Logo Hat (PR10WHAT06), DW Corporate Logo Hat (PR10HAT01), DW Flex-Fit Hat (PR10HAT04)
Above: DW colored Tees (navy/white, olive/orange,
maroon/yellow, yellow/black and white/navy)
DW Bottle Opener
(PR60BOPENER)
DW DVD Travel Mug
(PR60TUMBLER)
DW Wristbands
(PR60BAND)
Above: DW Hoodie (PR20BKHOOD06),
DW Golf Towel (PR60TOWEL)
DW Dickies Shirt (PR20DICKIES06),
DW Collector’s Series® Badge Tee (PR20BADGE)
All DW Drumwear and DW DVD Items can be ordered at www.dwdrums.com. Select items are available through authorized DW dealers.
>THE MAKING OF
DRUm
DUEtS
VoL.
1
By Jo h n Wack e r m a n
As a child, I was surrounded by drummers
and always wanted to do a project that focused solely on the instrument. The idea
was to play these musical drum duets with
drummers that I had always admired and
that had inspired me to be a drummer. I had
also wanted the players to be extraordinarily
diverse, with styles ranging from rock, jazz,
fusion, punk and ska to progressive, R&B
and bebop. Many different genres, one common denominator: they’re all great drummers! And with help from my wife Linda,
we began to plan the logistics of how we
would record these noted drummers. It goes
without saying that working with some of
the world’s best drummers was an amazing
experience, and the resulting project was a
true labor of love. Here’s an artist-by-artist
look inside the making of my new CD, John
Wackerman: Drum Duets Volume 1.
St e v e G a d d
Linda and I flew
into
Rochester,
New York, and
headed to The
Studios at Linden
Oaks. It’s a worldclass facility, and
Steve’s drums were
set up in front of
the studio’s acoustically
designed
brick wall. Steve says it’s one of the best
rooms for drum sounds. The engineer and
drum tech got sounds
up before Steve arrived. Steve came
to the session early,
which gave us a little
time to hang out in the
control room and talk
for a bit; he’s extremely
cool and easy to talk
with. For my duet
with Steve, I chose a
cover of Jimi Hendrix’s
“Manic Depression.” I
wanted it to be a classic
rock song, and I knew
Steve would play some
amazing stuff on it. It’s
also in three-quarter
time, so I thought it
would make an interesting drum duet. Because it had been a while since he’d heard
it, Steve asked to hear the original Hendrix
track to get the vibe of the song. After that,
we looked at the chart, and he headed into
the tracking room for some fine-tuning and
last minute tweaks. It was interesting to note
that Steve plays his hi-hats with the heavier
cymbal on the top.
We recorded the first take, and Steve
played amazing! He nailed everything we
discussed on the chart. The exceptional
thing about Steve is his musicality. When
he solos, you can hear melodies that take
the duet to new heights. Not only does he
have incredible technique, but
also an infectious groove; when he
plays it’s truly soulful. After that
first take, he came into the control
room, and we listened. Steve had a
couple of ideas and did one more
take. He took the second take in a
slightly different direction, and it
was also amazing! After listening
to the playback, Steve made some
excellent arrangement suggestions
for the piece that we ended up using in the final mix. Steve Gadd is
one of the most professional and
gracious people I have ever met
and is deservingly a drum icon.
Peter E rskine
I first met Peter when I was a kid.
My dad would take my brothers
and I to the Stan Kenton Jazz Camps. Later, I
was influenced by Peter’s playing with Stan
Kenton, Maynard Ferguson and Weather
Report.
Having
the opportunity to
work with Peter
on this project was
amazing. Peter’s
piece is an original
composition, and
I wanted it to be
contemporary jazz
with an edge. He
picked up on that
immediately and captured the essence of
what I was trying to achieve.
On Peter’s duet, I used a DW Classics
Series prototype set. This is DW’s new vintage-inspired series that utilizes a specially
designed shell configuration to mimic the
vintage drum sounds we sometimes look for
in certain recording situations. I thought it
was a good “old school” choice for the piece,
and it sounded amazing! The session took
place at Peter’s home studio in Santa Monica, California, and it was a really relaxed
vibe. Peter’s wife Mutsuko was a gracious
host and made us feel right at home. Once
we began, Peter played through the chart
and nailed all of the odd-time measures and
solo sections. His playing is so musical, and
I love his phrasing. Peter is one of the nicest
people I know and is deservingly known as
one of the purest of jazz drummers today.
> T h e Maki ng of Drum Duets Vo l . 1
St e v e Sm i t h
My old friend, and legendary drum tech and
drum designer, Jeff Ochletree set me up with
Steve. Jeff has been teching for Steve as of
late and has also teched for John Bonham,
Billy Cobham and many other great drummers. We recorded the track up in Oregon,
where Steve owns a home. He’s also living
in New York these days and is part of the
NYC jazz scene. Steve is a great guy. He’s
very meticulous about his playing and gives
110 percent. It’s obvious that he loves to play
drums and loves to record. He has a reputation as a serious player, but he also comes up
with some great ideas. He added many creative fills against the odd time measures and
made the duet come alive. It’s interesting to
note that he’s into Eastern Indian rhythms
and incorporates them into the drum set
flawlessly. Not only a great drummer, Steve
was also a great host.
Jo s h F r e es e
I’ve known Josh
and his family
since we were kids,
and it’s been fun to
watch his drumming career really
explode over the
past several years.
He’s worked hard
to get where he is
and now is a firstcall drummer. When I decided to do a drum
duet version of Queen’s “We Will Rock
You,” I instantly thought of Josh. Josh had
just finished up a tour with Sting, and we
pulled an early morning session. He played
on one of my DW sets and felt right at home.
There’s no question that one of the reasons
for his busy work schedule is that he plays
with great intensity
and really lays into
the drums. That,
combined with his
feel and ability to
“play
through,”
means he has great
pocket and gets a
great sound out of
the kit. Josh was so
easy to work with
and added a great flair to the track. Another
great thing about Josh is that he’s willing to
try anything and is open to suggestions. He
really cares about how the composition is
evolving and wants to capture the best performance possible for that particular track.
Alex Acuña
I’ve been a huge fan of Alex’s playing my
entire life. He has the unique talent of being both a master drum set player and percussionist. His career is a testament to his
natural ability. From his days with Weather
Report to the countless movie and televison soundtracks on his résumé, he’s a true
drummer’s drummer and an all-around
great guy. For Alex, I wanted to do a piece
that would feature him in a fusion setting.
It was important to keep him in his element
and play off of his strengths. The result was
a duet that shows off Alex’s prowess. His
feel is second to none, and he has Latin roots
that influence every style of music he plays.
When he sits behind the drums, he really
comes alive. He was open to collaborating
on the tune, and it took the piece in some
interesting new directions. Alex is another
seasoned drummer with some amazing stories to tell. It was a blast to work with him,
and I hope the opportunity presents itself in
the future.
For more on t h e mak ing o f Drum duets
vol. 1 , go to www. dwd ru ms. c o m
This project demonstrated that as unique
and different as each drummer can be, they
all have a commonality; they’re talented,
meticulous, serious and extremely creative
musicians. They all have impeccable technique—and they know when to use it! They
all take direction and never let their egos
get in the way of the recording, and they
all think musically. To reach such heights
as a professional drummer is no easy task,
and these players proved that it takes more
than luck to build a long-standing career in
the business. This project also proved that
drumming is a common language. No matter which style of music we were performing, we always had a common understanding. This CD is a dream come true for me, so
why stop here? Look for Drum Duets Vol. 2
coming soon, and always realize your own
musical dreams. No one will do it for you.
What the
artists have to
say:
“I think that John’s recording,
with all of the different guest
drummers, will prove to be a
very important documentation of
drum set percussion in this new
millennium.”
—Peter Erskine
“He has a lot of spirit in his music,
and his playing reflects that of his
soul.”
—Gary Novak
“We need more of this kind of music
because drum or solo instrumental
projects now are so predictable.”
—Ricky Lawson
“He’s got many of the world’s best
drummers playing on this, and he
gets to show what he’s about as a
unique player and writer.”
—Chad Wackerman
“It took a lot of foresight and
backbone to tackle this project.”
—Ron Tutt
Hear audio cli ps and b uy the CD
at www. dwd ru ms. c o m
“Basically, John wanted me to really
go for it and play to my peak, which
is always fun and exciting to do.”
—Steve Smith
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 5 5
Latin Style
Alex Acuña
Born in peru and raised on a healthy
diet of traditional bebop and latin
rhythms, he’s one of drumming’s
true multi-taskers
EDGE: You come from a very musical family.
How did that influence your drumming?
EDGE: Did you get formal musical training
from your father, too?
Alex Acuña: From the very beginning, my
brothers took lessons from my father. My father was a music teacher, and I observed the
nuances and different ways he taught my
brothers. He never used the same method
because he was able to understand that everybody was different and had a different
understanding. So he treated them differently, and he taught them differently. I thought,
“Wow, that’s a great thing.”
AA: No, I played on my own. My brothers
were the ones who were teaching me. I also
used to play trumpet when I was a kid, but
my brothers taught me, not my father. Not
to mention, I always had an incredible love
for listening to music, and my passion is still
listening to music. I choose percussion because rhythm was, and still is, a mystery. I
don’t say a mystery in that it’s difficult or
mysterious. I say mystery because it’s still
being discovered: more and more and more
rhythms. Plus, the sound of the congas and
the bongos and timbales, the drums, the
cymbals and cowbells all fascinate me. Since
day one, I’ve enjoyed playing both percussion and drums. I don’t know
if I have mastered both, but
I truly love it.
EDGE: Didn’t you have
formal musical training at some point?
1
7
6
9
3
10
AA: Later on,
when I came
to San Juan,
Puerto
Rico, I got
married,
and my
daughter
was born.
At
that
time, I was
already
working and playing in
big bands. I already
knew how to read
trumpet and follow
the chart. Then, when
my oldest daughter
was born, I said, “I’d
better take this seriously,” so I went to
the conservatory. As
it turns out, I only
4
AA: No, my father was a high school music teacher, so he was able to teach them
guitar, saxophone and trumpet. He played
every instrument including percussion,
but he didn’t want to teach me because my
mother told him not to teach me music. She
didn’t want me to be a musician. I was the
youngest of six, and she wanted to me to be
a mechanic or carpenter, something different than my brothers, so I’d always have a
job. Ironically, I’m the one who became the
musician in the family. I really learned from
my brothers and how they approached my
father’s lessons. Some of them were very
perseverant about studying and being prepared for my father. The ones with more talent didn’t need to study as much. They just
thought, “Oh, I can get it, no problem.” And
my father was serious about that. He said,
“You have to respect this. You wanted to be
a musician, I’m going to teach you, and you
better practice.” So I learned those things
from the family, especially how to read music and how to formally play music. At a
very early age, I got a sense of that from my
brothers. They loved music and they played
for the love of the music, not just for money.
I learned that from them.
8
EDGE: And were you all playing percussion?
2
AA: Yeah, all six brothers.
went to 5th grade because at a very early
age, I also needed to support my mother.
My father was there, but he was like a single
father. So when I was 12 years old, I had to
quit school to be the head of the house. Even
though I was the youngest one of the whole
family, my brothers got married at a very
early age, so they left to the city. So I was
taking care of family. I have always taken
care of family. That helped me musically
because I always had to gig a lot to pay the
bills. When I was 10, I had to make money.
Even though I was pursuing the money or
pursuing the job, the music was never left
out.
5
EDGE: Were you all playing music?
photos by Tony Barbera
Set-up Specs:
Collector’s Series® Maple Drums with Natural Lacquer over
Redwood Burl Exotic and Chrome Hardware
18x20” Bass Drum
5x14” Snare Drum
9x12”, 14x16” Tom-Toms
9000 Single Pedal
6500 Hi-Hat Stand
6300 Snare Drum Stand
6710 Straight Cymbal Stand
9100 Standard Drum Throne
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 5 7
“One of the main reasons I play
is because I love people. When you
love people, you love cultures.
When you love cultures, you love
their music. And when you love the
music, you just love the world.”
EDGE: So what led you to go to music school
in Puerto Rico? At that point, you had already
been gigging for a long time.
AA: Right. Well, I wanted to go to the
next level. My daughters inspired me to
be home and to get to another level. And
I was discovering other styles of playing,
seeing other great musicians and admiring
them. I’d ask, “How did you learn this? Oh
man! You study multiple percussion and
study a little harmony, and that’s how to
play ballads and this and that?” So I went
to conservatory with my basic 5th
grade music education. I knew the
only way I would be accepted was
to lie, so I told them I graduated
from high school. They gave me
a reading exam and a recital and
they said, “Oh, so you can read...
you’re in.” To this day, I still like to
read and still read a ton of books in
my free time. They put me in the
ensemble playing percussion, and
I started with little ballads and a
little timpani. Then came the entire
spectrum of classical percussion. It
was a great thing. It’s such a wonderful thing, because now when I
do movie dates, I’m one of the few
Latin percussionists in Los Angeles
that can follow a conductor.
EDGE: So what led you to be a studio musician
before you came to the United States?
AA: Well, even in Peru, I was already doing a lot of sessions in the little town where
I was born and raised until I was 16. I
mentioned that my brothers started getting married and going to Lima, the main
city of Peru, but I stayed in my little town
to raise my sisters and my nephews, and
take care of my mom. I was just gigging
with little bands around town, just trying
to survive, but my brothers started recommending me for gigs in Lima. They’d say,
“You know my little brother can really play
drums, and he reads really well.” So they
used to call me to do some gigs in the city.
Finally I said, “Oh yeah, maybe I should
move to the city.” So I moved to the city
and immediately I started working on television and radio. I was 16 years old and recording and working from 9 a.m. to about
3 p.m., five to six days a week. So anyhow,
I first came to the United States on a contract with Perez Prado. He was the original
Mambo king. When he saw me playing in
Peru, he said, “I have a nine-month tour in
the United States. I want you to play with
me.” I laughed at him. I was only 18. I said,
“Come on man, the Americans are the ones
who invented the drums,” meaning, there
are plenty of drummers over there, you
don’t need me. He said, “No, no, no, the
feel that you have for the music is what I
want for my music.” So I came here with
a nice contract and a residence card. Now
they call it a green card. When I finished
the contract, he left for Mexico, and that’s
when I went to Puerto Rico.
EDGE: What made you come to the United
States to stay?
AA: When I was in Puerto Rico, I was just
preparing myself. Then, when I discovered
Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Aretha
Franklin, The Jackson Five, Ray Baretto
and Tito Puente, you know all that great
music from the ‘60s, it changed me, and I
said, “I’d better go around there.” But let
me tell you something, I think every human being has an inside mirror where you
look at yourself and say, “I don’t think I’m
ready. I don’t think I’m ready to go there,
but I’m going to test it out.” Then, people
started calling me from Puerto Rico to
come to record in Miami and New York;
the word gets around. So I came to New
York and said, “Man, this city’s too big for
me! I don’t think I’m ready for this place.”
So I kept going back to San Juan, Puerto
Rico. Then, when I discovered Weather
Report in 1970, I said, “That’s the band I
wanna play with.” Then I got a contract to
come to Las Vegas and worked there for
three months. My passion for Latin music, jazz and all kinds of good music kept
growing, and I knew I’d be coming back to
the United States to play jazz. Really, that
was my vision, my goal.
EDGE: So mid-’70s you hit Las Vegas, right?
You played with the likes of Diana Ross and Elvis Presley in what many consider Vegas’ heyday. Describe that scene in Vegas at the time.
AA: Believe it or not, every time I made a
move, it’d be with the band. Every season,
I’d make the trek from Peru to the United
States to Puerto Rico, and back to the United
States again. I was ready to come back to
the United States now, but I wasn’t ready
to come to New York or Los Angeles. I said,
“I’m not ready for Los Angeles, either. It’s
way too big.” When I say it’s too big, I don’t
mean the physical distance; it was more the
musicianship in Los Angeles at the time. I
was still intimidated, and the concept of Los
Angeles was just way too heavy. I was working at the Playboy Club in Century City,
[laughs] and I already had my family. Then
I said, “No, I can’t stay in L.A. I’m going to
Las Vegas. Pack everybody up!” So we all
drove to Las Vegas. I think I had about $2,500
in my pocket. In those days, Vegas was only
$300 a month for a two-bedroom apartment.
I thought, “I can survive here.” I started at
the Hilton as the house drummer. There
were like 25 drummers lined up for the gig,
but they kept me employed. They took good
care of me for reasons I don’t know. Maybe it
was because I was able to double on percussion, and it saved them some money. A lot of
the big acts that came to the hotel had their
own rhythm sections, so they’d say, “Can
you play percussion?” I said, “Sure!” Back
then, I was playing with Ike and Tina Turner,
the Temptations, Paul Anka, Gladys Knight
and the Pips and even Elvis. I was playing
percussion because they’d have their own
drummers on tour with them. My first gig in
Las Vegas was Olivia Newton John. She was
opening for Charlie Rich. Charlie Rich was a
country western singer. [laughs] So I stayed
there for about a year, and I’d get my steady
check every week. So, I bought a house, and
my kids were going to school. Everything
was very comfortable. Then this percussionist from New York named Don Alias came
through town and saw me perform with the
Temptations. That’s when he said, “Man,
we have to play together.” He invited me
to play with his band, and we played with
Willy Bobo and just gigged around Los Angeles and San Francisco.
EDGE: So, when did Weather Report come into
the picture, and how did that impact your career
at the time?
AA: Everything changed. Oh yeah! Joe (Zawinul) came to Las Vegas to hire me. He’d
heard about me, but he wanted to see how I
looked. He said, “Hey, Alex!” And he’d look
at me. I would say, “What are you looking
at?” Every time we walked together in the
lobby of the hotel, he’d look at me, the way
I walk. Then he’d say, “Stop! You can play,
man, I can tell you can play!” Later he told
me he could tell I was a serious musician,
just by the way I walked. That’s the kind
of guy Joe is, very insightful. Next thing he
said was, “I’ll give you a list of instruments
that you’ll need for the gig.” The very next
week, we’re rehearsing at Frank Zappa’s studio in L.A. Before me, they had been playing Chester Thompson on drums. On bass
was Alfonso Johnson, Joe on keyboards and
Wayne (Shorter). I really didn’t understand
what they were playing. It was way over my
head. Sometimes I was able to get the beat,
and sometimes I didn’t get it. Harmonically,
I couldn’t follow them at all. That’s because I
was a little self-conscious, and I was making
it more difficult for myself by over-thinking
things. I thought, “Music isn’t supposed to
be intellectual; jazz isn’t supposed to be intellectual.” These guys were just improvising.
[laughs] So another voice said in my head,
“So why are you just standing there, jump
on it!” So I jumped up on the percussion that
was there. We jammed, and it all sounded
so modern, for lack of a better term. Wayne
got up from the table and he came to me. He
said, “Alejandro, nice to meet you.” I said,
“Man, you’re my idol. The music that you
wrote for Miles Davis...” Then Wayne said,
“If I were a percussionist, I would play the
way you play.” I said, “Wow, man, really?
Am I hired?” He said, “Oh, no, no, no, we
are not auditioning you. I just wanted to tell
you that if I were a percussionist, I would interpret music the way that you interpret it.”
EDGE: So they never told you that you were actually hired?
AA: No, they never told me anything. We
spent a week here in L.A. rehearsing, and
then I went back to Las Vegas to pack my
luggage. They were already working on my
visa and my first tour to Europe. We started
in Amsterdam, and we were there for two
whole months.
EDGE: And that was before Jaco Pastorius?
AA: That was before Jaco. This is 1975.
EDGE: That was a legendary rhythm section.
How did that come to be?
AA: I was still playing percussion at the
time. Chester was on drums. Man, beautiful!
I have some live Weather Report recordings
that are amazing. I learned so much with
those guys.
EDGE: You’re known not only as a hand percussionist, but also as a world-class drum set player.
You’re equally respected on each. Not many
people can claim that. How did you develop that
skill?
AA: Man, interesting! From the very beginning, I loved to play anything percussive. To
me, it’s all the same, whether I’m playing
with a stick or my hands. When I hit a conga
or a bongo, my hands—it just feels amazing.
It’s a transforming feeling. Also, translating rhythm to the drum set through your
> On the Record:
Peter Erskine:
EDGE: Tell us about your earliest experiences
listening to Alex play in Weather Report and
the influence that he had on your playing with
the group.
Peter Erskine: I really discovered Alex on
Heavy Weather, and I didn’t have to wait
for the album to be released. I got a cassette
from Jaco the night I met Jaco. They had
just finished the album, so I got a sneak
peak, and I said to Jaco, “This is the version of Weather Report that I’ve been waiting for” and I absolutely fell in love with
Alex’s drumming. It was perfect. Those
were perfect drum performances on that
album.
After
getting to know
Alex and working with him
over the years,
I knew that if
I was ever in a
position where
I was the producer of an album, Alex is the first percussionist I’d call. And I love playing with
him. It’s a luxury to work with a percussionist who’s also a drummer. They really
understand the choices that the drummer
is going to make and the elbow room that
the drummer wants and needs. I never feel
like we have to discuss anything when we
play. I think the admiration is mutual. We really like each other.
EDGE: In the context of Weather Report, did his prior performances influence the way you played certain tracks?
PE: Sure. I didn’t have a lot of that
vocabulary, and I had to respond to
the musical challenges the best way I knew
how. Ultimately, it would come out sounding quite a bit different because Alex is
Alex, and I’m me. But it wasn’t for my lack
of trying. Some things were almost out of
respect to him. It was the way he did it. I
wouldn’t even try to imitate that.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 5 9
Selected
Discography
1971 This is Jazz, Vol. 10
Weather Report
1973 Best of Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
1976 Black Market
Weather Report
1977 Arabesque
John Klemmer
1977 Captain Fingers
Lee Ritenour
1977 Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter Joni Mitchell
1977 Heavy Weather
Weather Report
1978 Black Forest
Luis Conte
1978 Captain’s Journey
Lee Ritenour
1979 Collection
Lee Ritenour
1979 Extensions
The Manhattan Transfer
1980 Autoamerican
Blondie
1980 Ella Abraca Jobim
Ella Fitzgerald
1981 Mecca for ModernsThe Manhattan Transfer
1982 Heartlight
Neil Diamond
1982 Touchstone
Chick Corea
1984 How Will the Wolf Survive?
Los Lobos
1985 Rit
Lee Ritenour
1985 Atlantis
Wayne Shorter
1985 Dog Eat Dog
Joni Mitchell
1986 Brasil ‘88
Sergio Mendes
1987 All Systems Go
Donna Summer
1987 Richard Marx
Richard Marx
1988 Rattle and Hum
U2
1988 Urban Daydreams
David Benoit
1989 No Woman, No Cry
Joan Baez
1989 Selected
Sadao Watanabe
1989 World in Motion
Jackson Browne
1990 Neighborhood
Los Lobos
1990 Tiempo de Vals
Chayanne
1991 Ceremony
The Cult
1991 Heart of the Bass
John Patitucci
1991 Mambo Kings
Original Soundtrack
1991 Storyville
Robbie Robertson
1991 Woodface
Crowded House
1992 Fat City
Shawn Colvin
1992 King of Hearts
Roy Orbison
1992 Matters of the Heart
Tracy Chapman
1992 Night Calls
Joe Cocker
1993 Native Land
Don Grusin
1994 De Mi Alma Latina
Placido Domingo
1995 Vanessa Rubin Sings
Vanessa Rubin
1996 Hits
Joni Mitchell
1996 This is Jazz, Vol. 19
Wayne Shorter
1997 Cookin’ For You
Eddie Marshall
1997 Loving You
Shirley Horn
1998 Human Being
Seal
1998 Priceless Jazz
The Yellowjackets
1998 Todos Los Romances
Luis Miguel
1999 Looking Forward
Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Young
1999 Slowing Down the World
Chris Botti
2000 Telling Stories
Tracy Chapman
2002 Best of Weather Report
Weather Report
2002 Faces & Places
Joe Zawinul
2002 Silver Lining
Bonnie Raitt
2003 Alegria
Wayne Shorter
2003 Escapology
Robbie Williams
2004 Dreamland
Joni Mitchell
2004 Only You
Harry Connick, Jr.
2005 Good Night and Good Luck
Original
Soundtrack
2005 The Long Road Home
John Fogerty
2005 Songs of a Prarie Girl
Joni Mitchell
2005 Rio/On The Line
Lee Ritenour
2006 Forecast: Tomorrow
Weather Report
limbs—equally as amazing. They’re
so different, but at the same time, they
influence each other so much. But one
of the main reasons why I play both is
because I love people. When you love
people, you love cultures. When you
love cultures, you love their music.
And when you love the music, you just
love the world. I’ve been blessed, traveling to Cuba and going to Puerto Rico,
coming to the United States, going to
Brazil, going to Africa, going to Japan,
going to Europe and so many parts of
this world. All those places have incredible music. Seeing those cultures
and people first-hand has given me a
passion that continues to grow in me,
and is still growing. When I was living
in Puerto Rico, I’d play in the streets
and become friends with people. When
I came to the United States, it was the
same thing. I saw the rock drummers,
and I said, “Wow, man, amazing stamina.” When I saw the jazz drummers
like Jack DeJohnette, Tony Williams,
Gadd, Erskine, I said, “Man! I wanna
play like these guys.” If there’s ever an
opportunity to be inspired or further
my understanding of the drums, I’m there.
When I’m not working, I practice at home.
For example, tomorrow I have a Latin percussion session at 2 p.m. By 10 a.m., I’ll be
playing with a couple of Latin CDs so I can
get warmed up to go and perform. Day
after tomorrow, I have a pop session on
drums, so in the morning I’ll play R&B or
whatever for a couple of hours. Sometimes
I just play with a click, and try to grab that
style, that groove.
EDGE: You have such an energetic vibe when
you play live. Is that just Alex being in the moment, or is it something you consciously do to
be a performer?
AA: It’s not so much being a performer,
it’s just that the music really takes you to
another place. We can define it in many
different ways, but I have a word to define this: it’s like “worship.” It’s like giving thanks. It’s like being thankful and enjoying the moment, not only because I’ve
had a good career, but just being thankful
that I’m alive, healthy and still playing and
making music. I really admire people like
Roy Haynes. When I saw him last year at
the Modern Drummer Festival, he was 80,
and I said, “That’s how I want to be.” So, I
take care of my health. I exercise, eat properly and try to avoid bad times. The idea is
to play as long as I can.
EDGE: You’ve worked with so many artists in
so many genres of music. You talked about doing a Latin session one day and a pop session
the next. How do you adapt from gig to gig and
mold yourself to play with such a wide variety
of musicians?
AA: One example is when I was hired to
do a session with U2, the first day I sent
all of my percussion gear, everything that
I owned. Bono and Edge were there, along
with the producers and engineer. I thought,
“Man! What can I play to complement this
band? They have a sound, they have a
style.”
“I can get that Latin sound, and
that’s the drum set I’ve always had
in my heart and in my head.”
“They played the track
over and over for me,
and I just relaxed and listened along. All of a sudden, I heard an overtone
in the music. it gave me an
idea to use this drum that
I hadn’t used in a while.”
more relaxed, and
we could just be
creative.
EDGE: So that’s
how you approach
all these different artists, you listen?
AA: Yeah, listen and see what you can do
with the track.
EDGE: How does working with an artist in a
recording situation differ from doing a movie
session?
EDGE: And you don’t want to mess with it.
AA: I don’t want to mess with it! [laughs]
Right there, the honesty has to come out.
You have to tell them, “You really want me to
play this tune?” They said, “Oh no, we want
you to contribute.” I replied, “OK, play me
the track.” They played the track over and
over for me, and I just relaxed and listened
along. Not thinking, just listening. Listening
is what it was all about. All of a sudden, I
heard an overtone in the music. That overtone gave me an idea to use this drum that
I hadn’t used in a while. They didn’t hear
the overtone, but I did. I said, “You don’t
hear that?” They said, “What?” “That tone!”
“No we don’t hear that.” “Well I’m going
to try that, OK?” So I went and I got one of
my huge frame drums and started playing.
They liked the fact that it was a complementary bass tone that was rhythmic, but not
clashing with the bass or bass drum. It was
an open door, you know. Now we had common ground. I was more relaxed, they were
AA: Well, with a film session, everything
is written down for you. You kinda have
to read what is there. Oftentimes, they call
me in to be the utility man, you know, if
they need an extra snare player, or an extra
gong player, cymbal player or bass drum
part. With the timpani or mallets, nobody’s going to touch that; Emil Richards
has a lock on that. Those guys are hired
to play that stuff. Just like they hire me
to play the congas, timbales, bongos and
shakers. That’s my territory and nobody’s
gonna touch that. There are other special
drums, other sounds, effects and everything is written, and right there is when you
have to also listen. The utility stuff is also
written down, but it’s up a for a little more
interpretation. For film, the important thing
is to follow the click, follow the conductor,
and play with the ensemble. With a movie,
it’s also more like a perfection situation.
You’re following a recipe. It always has to
be perfect. It’s orchestrated, and you have to
respect that situation.
EDGE: You’ve very recently made the move here
to DW. Talk a little bit about why you’ve made
the change and how you feel about your new kit.
AA: Sure! First of all, I was made aware of
Gon Bops. I had played Gon Bops drums
for years, and most of my friends still have
and cherish their Gon Bops congas. When I
found out I could be a big part of re-releasing Gon Bops to the masses, I thought it was
a very special opportunity. It made me emotional and I said, “Wow, man!” It’s not about
money or becoming famous or being in the
magazines. You know, we all had that. Been
there, done that. It was about respect and
the respect that Drum Workshop has for me
as an artist. They also value my input as a
player that has experienced many situations.
I’m a part of the design team, and that’s
something I’ve always wanted. So, I was introduced to DW drums after being up at the
factory for Gon Bops. They make their custom drums up there, too, and it’s just amazing! I had already tried the pedals and was
sold. Once I got my first taste of the drums,
I also knew this was the sound for me. I
wanted a full tom sound, but with plenty of
attack. John Good made me a special VLT kit
with 6-ply hoops, and that was it! To tell you
the truth, I wasn’t so interested in the drums
at first because I’d been with Yamaha for
almost 25 years. I was in the NAMM show
and was tapping a lot of the drums in the
DW booth. In the past, everyone said, “No,
those drums are rock ‘n’ roll.” In fact, they
probably still say that, but I said to myself,
“I’m not going to be influenced by anyone
else.” Once I gave them a chance, I realized
how versatile they were and how this had
been a sound I had been searching to find
for a very long time. Everyone at DW told
me to take my time and think it over. They
said, “Alex, take your time with the drums.
There’s no rush.” Then one day I went to
the factory, and John Good started explaining the philosophy about shells and wood.
He physically played some toms and some
bass drums, and then I was able to understand, not that I was trying to be convinced.
It hit me. I said, “I’m going to improve my
sound.” I wasn’t changing my sound; I was
making it better.
EDGE: So what is the sonic difference between
your DWs and what you had been used to?
AA: My new kit has depth, it has tone, it’s
so easy to tune. It also has color—or timbre,
as it is referred to—that I had never experienced. They’re also incredibly versatile and,
in my case, the drum set has to be versatile. I
can record it in the jazz studio, on a pop gig,
record it with rock or R&B projects. I can get
that Latin sound, and that’s the drum set I’ve
always had in my heart and in my head.
>Pdp
SpotLIGHt
Jo n a h Dav i d • M at i syahu
Brea k i ng t h e b o u n da rie s of Pop, Ro ck and Regg ae is
nth ios l ateae stsy
f e at. Despi te the pi tfal l s, r ising star Jo nah Dav id is re ady fo r th e ch a lle ng e . I n
i nsta l l ment o f P DP sp o tli ght, Jonah speak s out a bout payin g hi s due s , li fe on th e roa d a n d
l a n d i n g t h at b ig g i g.
EDGE: You’ve been on tour for a bit supporting
this latest release. How’s the road treating you?
Jonah David: It’s treating me well and
changing me, that’s for sure. I’m becoming
more and more used to living out of my
suitcase and depending on the tour manager to schedule my life. I was more used
to staying at home and hustling my schedule months in advance. It’s a weird feeling
to come home off tour and sleep in my own
bed. Sometimes, I wake up in the morning
and get scared because I feel like I’ve forgotten to play or I’ve missed sound check.
I also noticed that I’ve started asking questions like, “What day is it?” or “Where am
I?” There’s also the all-important, “Hey, do
you have that European adapter I lent you?”
I remember waking up one morning in the
middle of the last run incredibly jetlagged
and calling the front desk asking a hotel receptionist, “What country am I in?” Other
than that, I’m seeing so much of the world
and meeting so many people. I’m learning
more now than I ever have before.
EDGE: Have you always played reggae or have
you had to adapt to that particular style of music?
JD: I can’t remember exactly when I was first
exposed to reggae, but I’d definitely say that
I was pretty taken back by it. I just remem6 2 [ E D G E 7. 1 ]
but we’re not playing
ber falling in love with
strictly traditional regthat sound. It was a
“We’d go up and down gae anyway.
groove that I was able
to grasp and develop
the Garden State
You have some
fairly quickly. I didn’t
Parkway during the EDGE:
pretty serious chops.
think that I was going
summer. It was the How do you stay in shape
to really play reggae at
the time. I was a jazzbusiest time of year while on the tour?
head. Then I got a call
for me. Sometimes I’d
Wow, thanks for the
from a buddy of mine
play 13 shows a week. JD:
compliment! Ideally, I
named Mike Heady,
Playing “Margarita- try to keep sticks movwho wanted to stop
playing with a reggae
ville” and “The Elec- ing in my hands for
least four to seven
band to focus his studtric Slide” paid my at
hours per day. We’ve
ies on jazz. I needed
college fees for quite been playing onethe work to pay the
a few semesters. I to two-hour sound
rent, and he knew I
could play, so it all
had no idea that I was checks where we run
grooves and
worked out. Within
paving the way for the through
new material. After
a couple of years, I
gig with Matisyahu.”
that, I’ll usually pracwas playing in four
tice for another two to
Top 40 reggae bands
three hours before the
and touring New Jershow. The set is anothsey. We’d go up and
down the Garden State Parkway during the er one to two hours on top of that. I carry my
summer. It was the busiest time of year for books, pad and metronome around with me
me. Sometimes I’d play 13 shows a week. almost all the time. I’m actually kicking myPlaying “Margaritaville” and “The Electric self right now because I just left everything
Slide” paid my college fees for quite a few backstage at the Chiemsee Reggae Festival
semesters. I had no idea that I was paving in Germany. It’s getting mailed back to me,
the way for the gig with Matisyahu. I feel but I won’t see it for a couple months bethat I still have a lot to learn in terms of the cause I’m still on tour. I have to stop at the
style, and I don’t always play it traditionally, Guitar Center when I get home. Sometimes
the practicing just doesn’t happen, but I really
try to keep that goal if at all possible. I also
stretch every day and do my best to hit the cardio. If I can get in 30 minutes of cardio three
days a week, I feel great. I’ve been slacking on
my regular workout routine this last run— just
too jetlagged.
EDGE: What have been some of your favorite gigs
recently?
JD: Playing in Japan was a blast! The shows
themselves were nothing spectacular, but I
had never been there before. I also brought my
fiancée with me and proposed on the steps of
the Seen Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo. The country was so incredibly beautiful. I really fell in
love with it. I want to visit again for a longer
period of time and really soak in the culture. I
wouldn’t mind living there and studying Taiko drumming and karate for a year or so.
EDGE: Talk a little bit about your new kit and how
you got hooked up with Drum Workshop.
JD: Man, my new kit is really beautiful. 8” and
10” mounted toms, 12” and 14” floor toms, 22”
kick and 14” snare. I’m seriously digging the
Kurillian finish. It’s one of the new PDP exotic
kits. It’s a Charcoal to Natural Fade, and it
looks and sounds amazing! I have another DW
kit being built with the same finish, but with
a Blue to Natural finish and with Gold hardware. To answer the question, I got into DW
because of the pedals. When I was just starting
out, I had a DW 5000 single pedal, and it was
amazing. I wound up trading it for some cymbals when I bought a double kick pedal, but I
wasn’t ready to lose the DW 5000, so I wound
up trading the double with someone else just
to get that exact 5000 back! At the time, I knew
nothing about the honesty and integrity of the
company; I just wanted to get through the first
couple pages of “Realistic Rock” and “Syncopation” with a metronome. When I got older,
and my career started blossoming, my good
friend Yael made a call to Steve Vega over at
DW. We talked, and everything just felt right.
It’s good to work with people who you could
consider to be family.
EDGE: What’s your idea of the ultimate drum
sound?
JD: Honestly, it all depends on what style I’m
playing. I like a lot of overtones on the highpitched toms when I’m playing jazz. The added response of the heads makes it easier to articulate at lower dynamics more clearly. When
I’m playing with Matisyahu or Roots Tonic,
I love a clear, warm sound. I never tune my
toms very low. I use Evans drumheads. In my
opinion, the EMAD is the greatest bass drum
head on the market.
EDGE: Which drummers have influenced you
most, and have you met any of them?
JD: I’d have to say that most of my influences have been Jazz drummers. Many of them
passed away or retired before I even picked up
sticks. Let’s see: Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones,
Tony Williams, Billy Higgins and Max Roach
are all big influences. Elvin Jones is a major
influence on my playing, and I got to meet
him through my teacher Ralph Peterson at the
Blue Note a few years before he passed. I met
Roy Haynes too and he is still killing it! Lenny
White is also a massive influence. There are
too many to name; it all depends on what style
we’re talking about. I got to really hang with
Sly Dunbar while he was working on Matisyahu’s new single, “Jerusalem,” and Desi Jones
who works with Jimmy Cliff. He’s crucial. He
wrote one of the first and only good books
out there on reggae drumming. I also listen to
some of the Philly guys too, Questlove from
The Roots and Chuck Treece.
EDGE: Where do you see yourself in a few years?
JD: Well, married for starters! I do have a longterm goal of finishing college. It’s something
that I’m going to do when the time is right.
The next few years are not completely clear
because nothing is cut in stone in the music
business. A safe assumption would be that I’m
still playing with Matis, but I’ve also appeared
on a number of other recordings with Roots
Tonic and some other artists. I’ve also released
one of my own recordings. I’m really just continuing to get a foot-hold in the entertainment
industry. Who knows: maybe I’ll start my own
label, maybe I’ll try acting or fashion. Maybe
I’ll be teaching English in Japan while I study
Karate, or living in Ohio with my wife. You
never know where life takes you.
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©2007 Pacific Drums and Percussion. All Rights Reserved. The PDP logo is a registered trademark of Drum Workshop, Inc.
9100M>
9120M>
< 9101
Low throne
Series Features >
Dual-Locking
Base
Dual Foam
Construction
Vise Lock Seat Clamp
photo by Andrew MacNaughton
Pneumatic Height
Adjustment
< 9100AL
< 9120AL (shown with
optional backrest, sold separately)
Sturdy 4-Leg Base
Let’s Talk Hardware
Removable Seat Top
Whu did you choose the 9100 throne?
Billy Kilson: The choice was easy. Just
one look at the 9100 and its strength and
stability are evident.
Is your throne an important part of your setup?
Billy Kilson: The sturdiness is what I rely on
for balance. It gives me the utmost confidence
when approaching my kit.
“Made to last!”
The 9100, 9101 and 9120 feature dual-foam construction, solid-
ear casting, oversized 1” base tubing, double-braced legs and sturdy vise lock
seat clamp. The 9120 has an oversized tractor seat, while the 9100 and 9101
have the standard 14” round seat. The 9101 utilizes a scaled-down tri-pod
base for lower positioning.
— Billy Kilson
cora coleman-Dunham
Prince’s
Trust
It’s every drummer’s dream to get a
career-altering gig that catapults
them into the spotlight. There’s no
doubt this savvy newcomer has
photos by Stephen Morales
found her prince.
EDGE: What drew you to play drums?
sense, considering my dance experience.
Cora Coleman-Dunham: I actually started
beating on buckets, and in middle school,
just playing around in the backyard. Then,
in high school, I joined the marching band.
EDGE: For people that don’t know, a few years
ago you won Guitar Center’s Drum Off competition. How did you get involved with that?
EDGE: So how did you make the transition from
playing on buckets and being in the marching
band to drum set?
CC: Well, I actually got some congas from
a pawn shop to travel with the jazz band in
high school. In 11th grade, the drummer that
had been the primary drummer for the jazz
band graduated, and my teacher noticed
that I was a pretty quick study, and he said,
“Hey, why don’t you just try the kit.” It just
sort of went from there.
EDGE: So, were you self-taught or did you take
formal lessons?
CC: I started taking formal lessons in college
at Howard. I had played drum set for about
two years before college. My drum teacher
was a trumpet player, actually. He was a
great communicator, I mean, he played keyboard, too, but he could communicate what
I needed to be a drummer. He’d say, “Hey,
you know you have to practice rudiments.”
You know, just fundamental stuff.
EDGE: But that’s interesting, coming from
someone who’s more melodic than rhythmic.
CC: Yeah, it was funny because in elementary school, I tap danced, which is another
rhythmic aspect, I guess. I did tap dance,
ballet and jazz dance. It all helped me hear
things a little differently, but it’s really the
same approach as drum set. My drum teacher at Howard would say, “If you can dance
to it, then everyone else can.” That made
CC: Actually, I was staying with family
friends at the time, and I couldn’t really play
drums at their house. So, I would always go
down to the Guitar Center in Hollywood.
The manager of the store and I became
friends, and he encouraged me, “Hey, you’re
always in here playing, you should do the
Drum Off.” Plus, I had done it before when I
lived in DC, and, man, did I need a new car.
That was the grand prize that year. I’m still
driving the car I won at Drum Off.
EDGE: So you won the Drum Off, and that’s
how you were noticed by the drum industry. Before that time, had you ever thought about endorsements?
CC: I was looking at Remo and definitely
looking at DW, but figured there was a timing thing about it, you know. I was interested, but I didn’t really know the process. I
knew people who were endorsed, and I was
like, “Man, that must be pretty cool.” I always saw Sheila E. with DW, for example.
EDGE: Now that you’ve transformed from aspiring drummer to a professional player, what
recommendation would you give to players starting out who maybe don’t have a big gig yet, but
are looking to get there?
CC: I would definitely encourage them to
play as many styles of music as possible and
learn to read, I mean, as much versatility as
you can create for yourself. It just makes you
that much more marketable and gives you a
wider vocabulary.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 6 9
“My drum teacher was a trumpet player, actually. He
was a great communicator. He Could communicate
what I needed to be a drummer. He’d say, ‘Hey, you
know you have to practice rudiments.’”
EDGE: What styles of music do you play, and
which one would you consider to be your specialty?
CC: Let’s see, now I’m playing pop. I was
playing gospel and started off playing jazz.
I don’t know if I have a specialty. I’ve also
played R&B, and I’ve played blues a lot, too.
I really enjoy the blues, come to think of it.
I’ve even played some alternative stuff. I
mean, I toured with Pink for a second. So I
don’t know if I have a particular specialty.
I’d like to say that I could at least approach
all styles.
Buddy Miles and Jabo Starks.
I think these guys are my favorites
based on my experience with many of these
great drummers and having the fortunate
opportunity to learn directly from many of
them. Besides the fact that Aaron, Terri Lyne,
Gordon, Grady and Munyungo are phenomenally talented, the thing that I admire
most about their playing is the humility and
integrity that these artists possess. Although
they have chops for days, they only play
parts that complement the music. If at one
point it calls for a crazy fill or lick, then they
do it, but they respect music enough to play
what makes sense. I appreciate Ed Thigpen
and Grady for their “feel” and brush work,
and revere Clyde, Poogie and Jabo for their
commitment to the groove. Buddy Miles,
Mickey Hart and Lionel Hampton are my favorite because they take risks, and they were
innovators. It’s hard not to also appreciate
their aggressiveness and their creativity.
EDGE: Now the rhythm section of Prince’s new
band is you and your husband on bass. What’s it
like playing, working and living together? It’s a
fairly unusual scenario.
CC: It’s really good, actually. It’s sort of relaxing because we don’t have to wonder
what the other person is up to. It’s also cool
because, in addition to playing in band together, we’re both from Houston, we share
a lot of the same values and, most importantly, we’ve been friends all of this time, so
music is just another common thread. It’s
definitely fun in the house, you know.
EDGE: Right now you’re touring with Prince.
How did you land that gig?
EDGE: What do you listen to around the house
for inspiration?
CC: He came to a gig. I was playing with this
keyboard player and R&B singer out here in
L.A., and Prince came. We played two sets,
and in between his bodyguard came up and
said, “Hey, Prince is back there, and he wants
to talk to you.” So, on the break, we just talked. We talked about music and gear and everything. One of the things he said was that
it’s important to have the best gear for whatever your craft is, to produce the maximum
results. After the gig, he was gone, but his
assistant came up and was like, “Hey, you
know, P wants to get you a kit, whatever kit
you want.” That’s when I got my first DW
kit. Then, we did a party at Prince’s house.
He had all these “after-parties,” like the BET
awards, the Grammys and the Oscars. Every major event, he had a party, and we were
playing, and he was always sitting in with
us. It wasn’t an announced thing, it just kind
of happened.
CC: Always Aretha, always Patti LaBelle. I
don’t know, Nancy Wilson, a lot of gospel.
EDGE: What’s in your iPod?
CC: I’m always adding things, but here’s
what I have right now: Tye Tribbett, James
Brown, CeCe Winans, Prince, Patti LaBelle,
Larry Graham, a few audio books by Robert Kiyosaki, The Avila Bros, Bootsy Collins,
Bobby McFerrin, Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers and India.Arie. I also just added the Foo
Fighters and Maroon 5!
EDGE: It’s funny, many of the serious R&B
drummers we know learned to play at church,
and a lot of them still do. They attribute a lot
of their chops to playing at church. Do you feel
that’s affected your playing, as well?
CC: I actually think it comes mostly from
marching band. That’s where I got my chops.
I really only started playing gospel the last
couple years in high school. I didn’t grow
up playing in church. I grew up Catholic, so
that was mostly tambourine and guitar.
EDGE: Who are some of your favorite drummers
and why?
CC: Let’s see: Terri Lyne Carrington, Gordon Campbell, Billy Cobham, Aaron Spears,
Philly Joe Jones, Munyungo Jackson, Clyde
Stubblefield, Poogie Bell, Mickey Hart, Ed
Thigpen, Grady Tate, Lionel Hampton,
Set-up Specs:
1
6
9
7
3
4
10
8
5
2
Collector’s Series® Birch Drums with Tangerine to Blood Red
Sparkle Lacquer and Black Hardware
18x20” Bass Drum
8x14” Collector’s Birch Snare Drum
7x8”, 8x10”, 9x12”, 10x13”, 11x14” Tom-Toms
9002 Double Pedal
9500 Hi-Hat Stand
9300 Snare Drum Stand
9900 Double Tom Stand
9991 Single Tom Stand
991 Single Tom Clamp
9700 Straight Cymbal Stand (x2)
9100M Standard Drum Throne
934 Cymbal Arm
934S Cymbal Arm (x2)
EDGE: Let’s talk gear. Tell us about the new kit.
CC: Tangerine Sparkle Fade, it’s a beautiful
kit. It’s got 8”, 10”, 12”, 13” and 14” toms. I
got the Neil Peart Snare, and I got this crazy
8x14” snare; it’s beautiful! It’s all with 9000
hardware, of course. Prince loves the kit, I
love the kit, it’s a great, great color and great
sound. The shells are birch, and all of the
drum hardware is black.
EDGE: Does your studio kit differ from your
tour set-up?
CC: Yes. I only use the SPD-S pads and the
TD-20 module for live shows, unless I am
actually recording on V-drums. Otherwise,
my basic set-up is the same. I might switch
a cymbal or two around or remove a tom; it
really depends on what the music calls for.
EDGE: When you get a new kit or a new piece of
gear, do you feel like it changes your playing?
CC: Definitely my approach, because it’s
got a different character, you know. I’ll also
change up the way I sit sometimes. Like if I
sit lower, I feel old, like an old guy, [laughs]
you know, like the old school approach.
Michael Bland, Prince’s old drummer, used
to sit low, and that’s a different way of approaching the kit. Because the toms used to
be so big, they sat so low, I guess. I have a
more aggressive approach if I’m sitting over
the toms, so sometimes I sit much higher.
Little subtleties like that make a big difference.
EDGE: Describe a typical day on tour.
CC: I guess it depends on whether we are on
the tour bus or flying, but for the most part,
we wake up, pray, work out, eat breakfast,
do a little reading, tour around the city a bit
and get to sound check a few hours before
the show. Depending on how far away the
hotel is, I might bring my clothes along to
the venue. We usually get to the venue while
the workers are still setting up chairs and
getting the room together. I connect with
Mike, my tech, and we discuss any changes
or set-up concerns. Sometimes we play for
an hour or so, and then on to dinner. After
dinner, I get hair and make-up done, get a
warm-up in and head for the stage. After the
show, there will usually be an after-party,
where we’ll get to jam for another two hours
or so. We normally don’t finish until around
2 a.m.! I’m usually back in the hotel room
just before sunrise. Then, we’re on to the
next city.
EDGE: What’s your warm-up routine like?
CC: My warm-up is usually whatever time I
have between sound check, hair and make-
up. I usually grab a
towel or two in the
green room along
with a pair of 3S
sticks.
Sometimes
I spend time just
twirling the sticks
between my fingers
just to get them
moving. Other times,
I sit and just play
single, double and
triple strokes aggressively. I try to let my
warm-up time be a
secluded activity, if
possible, just to get
my mind in showmode and refresh
myself on any pivotal arrangements or transitions.
I also work on page changes and
patch changes on the SPD-S pad.
Electronics are usually an afterthought for many drummers, but
I try make it part of my warm
up. Let’s see, I also do traditional marching rudiments, such as
flams and Swiss armies, in the
warm-up as well.
EDGE: Does Prince give you a solo?
Describe your recipe for the perfect
drum solo.
CC: Yes. I think the perfect drum
solo gets right to the point. It
should also have some sort of
direction and dynamic range, instead of playing for the sake of
playing. I think a great solo makes
a non-musician say, “Wow.”
EDGE: Where do you see yourself
headed and what goals
have you set for yourself in terms of your
music career?
CC: That’s a good
question. I try to
pride myself on just
staying positive, but
I really don’t know
what’s next. I’m always
networking.
I’m always communicating with people
and always establishing relationships.
I want to get more
into writing and
leave a mark there. I
also definitely want
to perform and have
options.
[ E D G E 7. 1 ] 7 1
>NEW ARtIStS
Adrian Ost • Powerman 5000 [1]
[7]
Alex Acuña • independent
Alvaro Lopez • independent
Andrew Hurley • Fall Out Boy [2]
Andrew “The Butcher” Mrotek • The Academy Is...
Angel • PIG/Switched
Benjamin Byrne • Starsailor [3]
Bertram Engel • Peter Maffay
Billy Goodness • Sean Patrick McGraw
[12]
Billy Miller • independent [4]
Bobby Jarzombek • Rob Halford/Sebastian Bach
Bodo Stricker • 2$Haircut/Final Virus [5]
Bradley Webb • Blue Man Group/independent
Brandon Saller • Atreyu
Brandon Wakeham • If Hope Dies [6]
[11]
Brian Flenniken • The Mad Caddies [7]
Jan Windszus
Caesar Griffin • Joss Stone
Chris Witten • World Party
[14]
Cory Jenkins • Tito Jackson [8]
Craig Randolph • independent
Daniel Galluci • Cirque du Soleil “Quidam”
Dan Lamagna • Suicide City [9]
Dave Hooper • independent
[9]
David Carr • Third Day [10]
David Lemonds • Keith Anderson [11]
Derek Bloom • From First to Last
Donald Guillaume • Fugees/Wyclef Jean [12]
Eric Boudreault • Cavalia/Waza [13]
Eric Scribner • Cirque du Soleil “O”
Gene Trautmann • Eagles of Death Metal [14]
Gordon Marshall • The Moody Blues
Guy Davis • Reuben [15]
[13]
Henry Cole • independent [16]
Hernan Hecht • Hernan Hecht/X-pression Quartet
[3]
Ian Matthews • Kasabian
Ben Rose Photography
[24]
[18]
[27]
[26]
[25]
[17]
Jason McGerr • Death Cab for Cutie/educator
Jeff Gilbert • Kutless
[1]
[6]
Jimmy Fox • James Gang [17]
Joey Waronker • independent
Jonah David • Matisyahu [18]
Jonny Quinn • Snow Patrol
Joshua Eppard • independent
Kevin Haskins • Bauhaus [19]
Lori Peters • Skillet
[16]
Marc Allen • Finch
Maria Martinez • independent/educator [21]
Mark Chadwick Hagedorn • Gizmachi
Meggers • The Casualties
[23]
Nathaniel Mullins • Gloria Trevi/David Melillo/studio [22]
Adriana Hernandez
Lawrence “LB” Breaux • independent [20]
Omar Abidi • Fightstar [23]
Patrick Caccia • Eric Sardinas
Patrick James Keeler • The Raconteurs
Peter Erskine • independent/studio
Raul Pineda • independent [24]
René Detroy • independent/We Will Rock You
René Martínez • Intocable
[21]
Richard Bailey • Incognito
Robert Perkins • Michael Bublé [25]
[15]
[2]
Rod Bland • Bobby Blue Band
Ryan Hoyle • Collective Soul/studio [26]
Sammy Siegler • Nightmare of You/Rival Schools/CIV [27]
Scot Ellis • She Wants Revenge
Sean McDaniel • Monty Python’s Spamalot
Seven Antonopolous • Opiate for the Masses
[8]
Shawn Fichter • Peter Frampton
Spencer Smith • Panic! At The Disco
Tom Meadows • Lucie Silvas
[10]
Trevor Freidrich • 18 Visions
Walter Rodriguez • Yanni
[4]
[20]
[19]
Dinah von Niessen
[22]
[5]
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