MD Web Log Archives

Rooney's Ned Brower
2008-04-23

Greetings, Cyber Dudes. My name is Ned Brower, and I play drums, sing, and write songs in the Los Angeles power pop quintet Rooney. We’ve been on tour for the past year in support of our sophomore album, Calling The World. I would describe our music as classic rock ’n’ roll modernized for the new millennium.

I'm writing this in Germany (where we have a number-one radio single). We recently played in Denmark, Holland, Scotland, England, Ireland, France, and Italy. I’m living the dream but ready to enjoy a little home time when I can. I like playing over here, as there seems to be more of scene for our type of "indie pop," as they call like to call it. We’ve never quite fit into any particular box in America. We often feel too light for modern rock and too rock for pop, but it’s cool for us because we get to do all kinds of tours and appeal to lots of different kinds of people. We’ve toured with The Strokes and we’ve toured with Fergie.

When it comes to drummers, I like the ’70s song men and I like a dead-sounding drum with lots of tape and a badass singer playing them. Levon Helm, Stan Lynch, Liberty DeVitto, Nigel Olsson, and Don Henley–this is the neighborhood I live in. I play a 1977 pattern A Ludwig Vistalite kit with a range of Ludwig snare drums including Black Beauties, Supraphonics, and Acrolites. I also have a couple of modern Ludwig "Classic" kits that I love. All my kits feature a 14x22 bass drum, a 9x13 rack tom, and a 16x16 floor tom. I play Istanbul cymbals, which rule the dark side. I use two 19" crash cymbals, a 21" ride, and 15" hats. Vater 5Bs are my stick of choice.     

Thanks for reading this blog. Check out our Web sites if you’re interested.

Your pal,

Ned

For more on Ned Brower and Rooney, go to www.rooney-band.com, youtube.com/rooneyvideos, or www.myspace.com/rooney.