Next 10 Blogs

Roxy Petrucci Of Vixen
2008-05-08

Hi, MD readers, Roxy here from the ’80s band Vixen. “I know you, you’re Robert Plank!” Believe it or not, my sister Maxine blurted out those words to the one and only Robert Plant! I elbowed her and said, “PLANT, dummy.” Robert smiled and said, “Yes, I’m Robert Plank.” Frozen with embarrassment, we didn’t know what the hell to do next. Maxine and I were hyper-excited, naive young teens who had just met the guys in Led Zeppelin…c’mon! The band was playing in Detroit, and we couldn’t go to the concert, so we decided to find their hotel and meet them. I didn’t fully appreciate the impact of shaking John Bonham’s hand until many years later. (I still have to pinch myself.) My sister and I were not groupies—we didn’t even know what being a groupie meant. We were just hell-bent on putting together a band that rocked hard like Zeppelin and Sabbath.

After the awkward introductions, we went home and jammed on “Communication Breakdown.” I hadn’t been playing drums very long, but instinctively I knew the power of Bonham’s drumming. His feel and placement of fills are so natural, and such an integral part of Zeppelin’s signature sound. And pocket—John had major pocket! It’s what every drummer strives for. I’ve become obsessed with finding that pocket. Intricate beats played in the pocket are impressive especially when you hear someone like Dennis Chambers laying down ridiculously difficult rhythms while keeping the groove sexy and steady. He’s another jaw-dropping drummer, and another one of my faves.

I was recently given a CD of Bonham in the recording studio, and that’s partly why I chose to write about him here. On the CD you can hear John grunting and humming loudly along to the music while laying down these heavy, hard-charging grooves that are passionate and inspiring. His simple beats aren’t so simple at all, and he makes it sound that way. He’s locked in, slamming the snare hard as hell, and driving it home. He’s in total control, and his drum sound is enormous. And every fill that rolls off his sticks, whether easy or difficult, fits the track and flows naturally from him.

I dig Bonham’s playing now more than ever. It took me years to fully appreciate the less-is-more concept. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always have metal in my veins, and I still get off on a good barnburner that calls for machine gun double bass and kick-ass fills. However, laying down a steady, hard-driving groove that’ll bring you to your knees is damn impressive!

I love being a drummer, and I’m still a work in progress. And they don’t call me the “Heavy Slammin’ Groove Queen” for nothing!

Check out what I’m up to and give me some feedback...I’d love to hear from you!

xxx

Roxy

For more on Roxy Petrucci, go to www.myspace.com/roxypetrucci, www.roxypetrucci.com, or www.myspace.com/roktopuss.

The Mighty Orq’s Matt R. Johnson
2008-05-06

Hey, everyone, this is Matt R. Johnson. I play drums and sing in a band from Houston called The Mighty Orq. I’m happy to relax and just write down my thoughts on drumming and my attempt to make a living in this business.

We have a CD coming out this September called To The Bone, and we worked our tails off getting it all together. We recorded the album in Dover, New Jersey at Showplace Studios. Mr. Ben Elliott (Eric Clapton, Keith Richards) engineered, co-produced, and mixed the album. We’re super excited to get this record out for everyone to hear and to begin aggressively touring to promote it. We like to work hard, and that’s what it takes.

I’ve been playing drums since I was twelve years old. I started in school band in the sixth grade and played in all of the available ensembles that I could throughout high school and college. Many hours were spent in the cold upstairs of our farmhouse outside of New Salem, North Dakota (my hometown), practicing on an old ’70s Rogers drumset with 14", 15", and 18" toms and a 24" kick drum. The drums were bigger than me!

The first Modern Drummer I bought was the November 1988 issue with Jeff Porcaro on the cover. I absolutely devoured that magazine. I still have it, along with every other issue since (except for a few that I missed when I was very broke—we’ve all been there, right?). I want to thank Modern Drummer for giving me an outlet at a young age to realize that I wasn’t weird for being so into drums. I grew up in the country, thirty miles from the nearest town with a music store (and it wasn’t a Guitar Center). I would pore over every issue when it came in the mail in its brown paper sleeve. (Anyone remember those?) To this day, almost twenty years later, I still get great pleasure and knowledge out of reading it every month.

I’ve been fortunate to work with some terrific artists over the years. Some of those are blues/soul singer Shannon Curfman, Texas troubadour singer/songwriter Hadden Sayers, and Jay Hooks, the Gulf Coast guitar terror. I’ve been able to tour from Alaska to Key West to New York to San Diego and pretty much everywhere in between in the US, and also across Europe. I’ve played under stairs in a club on 6th Street in Austin, Texas and on an immense stage in Ottawa, Canada for the Ottawa Blues Festival. I’ve gotten to meet some wonderful, talented, and hard-working people from all parts of the globe over the years, and I’m truly grateful for all of the relationships that I’ve gained. All of this is pretty much due to the fact that I really wanted my buzz roll to sound good when I was twelve—weird, huh? That, and a lot of practicing and gigs.

I began teaching in January of 2004 and I’m enjoying it more now than ever. It’s like anything else: You get better at it the more you do it. It makes me have to explain why it is that I play something, and that causes me to have to think it through before I open my mouth. I currently maintain a steady roster of twenty-five to thirty-five students a week. I have a recital for my students once a year where they play a song live that they’ve been working on in lessons for the past few months. I have friends come in and play guitar and bass, and the student gets the feel for playing in a live setting. It’s a blast to do. Plus, I believe it gives something back to the parents, who have been paying for lessons all year.

As far as drums go, I prefer to play, tinker, collect, and clean vintage drums. However, I love ALL drums, some brands more than others. I’ve had some killer old and new drums over the years.

I’m currently playing an early ’70s Ludwig kit in a black oyster finish. Some people refer to it as “bowling ball” black. These are the drums I used to record our new record with, and I play them live most of the time. The configuration is 22/12/14/16. My snare changes depending on mood and venue, but for metal drums it’s either a 1967 Ludwig alloy shell Super 400 or a 1966 Rogers brass Powertone. For a wooden drum, I mainly alternate between a 1964 Slingerland eight-lug and a 1960 Ludwig Jazz Fest. I recently converted the matching 18" floor tom on my kit into a bass drum, using some Gibraltar products. It’s an awesome little drum for small venues. Plus it doesn’t take up much room in the van! Cymbals are tricky, as most of you know. For me, nice-sounding crashes are easier to find than ride cymbals. I don’t think I’ll ever find my “perfect” ride, but I’m going to keep looking. My setup is mainly a combination of Sabian and Zildjian Ks & HHs. I prefer darker-sounding cymbals. I don’t use a huge setup by any means—two crashes, hi-hats, and a ride. I’m constantly changing my setup, once again depending on mood and venue.

Sticks, brushes, mallets, etc.—the things that I use to hit stuff—is all Pro-Mark. I’m blessed to be a Pro-Mark endorser, and I believe they’re the best sticks on the planet. Plus, they’re a Houston company—the factory is less than a mile from my house. Mr. Kevin Radomski, director of artist relations, is a great guy and a killer drummer. Everyone there has really made me feel welcome. I look forward to a long relationship with them while playing, teaching, learning, and using Pro-Mark products.

Thanks so much for reading. I truly appreciate it. When we play a show close by, please feel free to come out and say hi. I would love to talk drums with y’all. You can also drop me a note at matt@mightyorg.com with any questions or comments.

THANK YOU!

Matt R. Johnson

PS: No, I never played with Jeff Buckley, although that drummer’s name IS Matt Johnson and he IS from Houston. He’s awesome. Check him out here: www.myspace.com/drummermattjohnson.

For more on Matt and The Mighty Orq, go to www.mightyorq.com.

Ryan Brundage Of Experimental
Dental School
2008-05-04

Greetings to modern drummers worldwide. My name is Ryan Brundage, and I play drums for the Oakland based art-rock band Experimental Dental School. Working with E.D.S. has definitely been one of the most challenging and rewarding musical experiences of my life, and has also afforded me the privilege of touring the US and Europe extensively. Playing in such a wildly creative band allows me to experiment with different sounds, techniques, and time signatures like never before.

I am now and have always been influenced by a very wide variety of art and music. Growing up, I mainly listened to punk, metal, death rock/goth, and new wave, and in years since it’s been avant-garde black metal, ’60s-era free jazz, noise/ambient, and ’70s kraut rock, just to name a few genres. It’s my ultimate goal to fuse all of these concepts and styles into what I play and do artistically. I’ve never actually taken any sort of drum lessons, instead opting for the D.I.Y. approach to every instrument that I’ve learned to play. Luckily, I have a very supportive mother and father who let (and encouraged) me to beat on the skins in their basement incessantly for hours from age ten through eighteen.

In some ways I feel like lessons on proper technique can hinder some peoples’ creative abilities. Of course this is not always the case for everyone, but who hasn’t met a “killer” guitar player who can play anything and shred wicked solos all day but can’t write a good song? And then you have people like Robert Smith of The Cure who was technically inept but wrote insanely creative and lasting pop songs of all varieties. Most of my favorite music is a little more on the imaginative side rather than the technical.

I’ve always embraced the notion that “pro” gear will never help you be a good player. In fact, I still love the sound of some janky equipment, especially mics and guitar amps. If you can play well on a crappy kit (European tour), you will only sound better on a nice one.

This concept was reiterated to me tenfold while on tour with Deerhoof last year and watching drummer Greg Saunier completely rip on the most stripped down, non “pro” set that I’ve ever seen—while sitting on a milk crate. Incidentally, Greg is one of my absolute favorite modern drummers, along with Jesse Applehans of Upsilon Acrux/Bad Dudes (whose set I am playing on in the photo above while on a recent tour with Bad Dudes). I have learned more from watching those two play night after night on tour than from almost anything else.

Despite my love for less than ideal gear, I bought a five-piece ’72 Ludwig kit a few years ago, and it pretty much rules. Huge kick, huge floor, and a giant and booming classic-rock Bonham-like tone. Recently I have stripped down my cymbal setup and now play with only one hi-hat and one very expensive Istanbul ride/crash. The variety and complexity of tones within that cymbal are amazing, and eventually convinced me to shelf my other two crashes. It took me years (and a lot of convincing by my bandmates) to realize that sometimes less is more with regards to cymbal setup, especially in a live environment. I’m sure that any seasoned musician would agree that the use of time and space (learning when and what not to play) is invaluable, and only comes with years of practice and experience. I have only recently begun to TRULY realize the importance of this concept, after twenty-two years of playing, and I am once again reminded that there is always something to learn no matter how good you feel you are.

We finished recording our third album, Jane Doe Loves Me, a few months ago and finally released it in the US on April 1. It is by far the best piece of work that I’ve ever been associated with, and we’re all very proud of the way it turned out. It took almost two years to realize because we all had ridiculously high standards…we would work on some songs for weeks and then one day just scrap them, realizing that said song just wasn’t quite good enough for the record. Jesse (guitar/vocals) and I spent a few all-night twelve-hour sessions in our practice space, employing a method in which we would attempt to write twenty songs and record them all in one twelve-hour period. At one point in the night, five or six hours into it, our brains would sort of reach a new level of consciousness due to such mental fatigue, and then the really good ideas would flow. Some of our best song ideas were spawned from these sessions, and a couple of them even made it onto the album almost in their entirety.

The initial tracks were recorded in the legendary all-analog Tiny Telephone studios in San Francisco for that all-important warm drum, organ, and guitar tone. All of the overdubs were done via Pro Tools in our studio in Oakland, and the utmost care was put into not only the sound and feel of the tones, but also mic placement in the room and around the amps. Jesse would spend hours and hours down at the studio just moving the mic a little bit and then testing…a little more and then testing…and so on. The results were truly amazing, and we are all very happy with the outcome of the songs as well as the artwork.

We’re now enjoying a much-needed break after this exhaustive recording and equally exhaustive recent month-long European tour. Now we can kick back and watch our bank accounts grow from our millions of dollars in CD sales. Oh, I forgot to mention that that’s why I started playing drums in the first place. Thank you to Modern Drummer for letting me ramble on and on…later days…’til next time. Go forth and create.

For more on Ryan Brundage and Experimental Dental School, go to www.experimentaldental.com.

Motion City Soundtrack’s Tony
Thaxton
2008-05-02

Hi, I’m Tony from MCS, and as I write this blog I’m in Dallas, six shows into the Honda Civic Tour with Panic At The Disco. And so far, so good…well...for the most part. Here’s a road story.
 
We spent our day off on Monday in Amarillo. It was your pretty standard day off—food, drinks, and shopping, nothing too great, nothing too terrible. Our bus call was 4:00 A.M. I stayed up until about 3:00 A.M., and then tossed and turned in my bunk for a while. A little after 4:00, the bus starts up and something is clearly wrong. It’s making some funny sounds, and once we get moving, it never gets going very fast at all. We keep pulling off and stopping.

At this point I’m lying in my bunk, just waiting for our tour manager to tell me we’re either stuck here because the bus is broken, or we have to use some other method of transportation. Sure enough, 8:00 A.M. rolls around, and there’s our tour manager Brian’s voice. The bus is officially going to have to be fixed, and we’re going to the airport and flying to Tulsa—immediately. The five of us, plus Claudio, my drum tech, quickly gather some of our belongings and head to the airport.

We get checked in without much time to spare. Even though we’re only flying to Tulsa, we have to go to Dallas first. Did I mention we’ve hardly slept? I’m dead tired and grumpy at this point. Anyway, we arrive in Dallas for our layover. Grab some food, kill some time, then finally we board. We’re all aboard the plane; it’s time to go. Then the pilot comes on. Maintenance has found a problem with the plane, so we all have to get off of the plane. Our flight is cancelled.
 
Now what? We get rescheduled for a flight that’s leaving at 7:00 P.M. We’re seven hours away from the venue, and we’re set to go onstage at 8:30. Not going to work. So now we scramble to get a van rented (and get screwed on refunds for our cancelled flights), and we start driving to Tulsa.
 
Thank God the show was great—probably my favorite show of the tour so far! I thought I was going to fall asleep onstage, but the crowd was great, so that helped a ton. After the show we got hotels in town—since we were still stuck there for the night. It’s very exciting to me that I’m about to go to sleep. Then the hotel informs us that at 8:00 A.M. there will be construction with extremely loud drilling. Are you kidding me?! Thankfully I had some earplugs and was dead tired and fell asleep early. So, I did get some sleep in the end.
 
Side note—in the middle of the night, I was very thirsty. I stumbled in the darkness, found a hotel glass, filled it with some water…. Hours later, Matt wakes up (I’m sharing a room with him), goes to put in his contacts, and yells, “What the…!” It seems he used those hotel glasses to put contact solution and his contacts in, since he didn’t have his contact case with him. So…yes, I drank Matt’s contact.
 
Until next time,

Tony

For more on Tony and MCS, please visit www.myspace.com/motioncitysoundtrack.

Hawk Nelson’s Justin Benner
2008-04-30

Hello, MD readers, it’s Justin Benner from Hawk Nelson. I was back home in Nashville, Tennessee for a few days before heading back out on the last leg of the Green T tour. The tour has been going great, and we’re just about to wrap it all up. We started back in late February and have been traveling all over the US in support of our latest record, Hawk Nelson Is My Friend, which hit stores April 1. This is the first time that HN has done our own headlining tour, so we weren’t sure what to expect. But the fans have been amazing and the shows have been a lot of fun.

I got a new kit for this tour, reason being, my drum teacher, Chester Thompson, gave my first nice kit to me. I had the great privilege of studying with Chester for four years at Belmont University, and he hooked me up with one of his older SonorLite kits and it sounds incredible. However, being that it’s an older kit with a lot of sentimental value (not to mention, Sonor no longer makes that line of drums), I decided that it would be wise to get a new kit for the tour that was a bit more “road worthy.”

Thus, the search began, and I ended up finding a nice Pearl Masters Custom kit. It’s got a purple sparkle wrap with black rims and lugs. I think it looks classy, but it’s also got some edge to it. It looks especially nice when the lights shine on it. You can see some of it in the picture. I’m using a 10" rack tom, a 14" floor tom, and a 22" kick. I’ve got Evans clear G2s on the toms and an Aquarian Super Kick II on the kick. I’m also using the Pearl Chad Smith Signature Series snare. I just sort of happened upon it, and it’s got a great crack to it. I’ve got an Evans Power Center Reverse Dot on it.

Now let’s talk cymbals. I’m a Paiste guy myself—I use a Signature 18" crash, a 20" Full crash, and a 20" Dry Ride, great-sounding cymbals if you ask me—but I’ve still got some Sabian 14" AA Rock Hats and a 15" AAX Studio Crash.

I’m using all DW hardware because I think it’s the best, along with a DW 5000 kick pedal. (I’ll soon be upgrading to the 9000.) I just recently started using Pure Sound’s Speedball bass drum beater with the felt head, and it sounds awesome. Plus it’s got a great feel to it. I’m a big fan of the Pro-Mark 5AB Carter Beauford Signature Series sticks, I’ve got a Roc-N-Soc Nitro Throne to sit on, and I’ve been using Ultimate Ears UE7 Pros as my in-ear monitors for many years now. They’re great because they produce a lot of low end—and you’ve just got to love that low end!

Well, I guess that about does it for my tour setup this time around. I enjoy experimenting with new gear every now and then, so my setup changes from time to time. I think that’s one of the great freedoms we have as drummers: We have a huge variety of toys to play with! By the way, the two openers on our tour are Capital Lights and Run Kid Run. If you have a moment you should check out their music, too.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see some of you at a show this year. Be sure to say hello. I always enjoy chatting with fellow drummers.

Over and out,

JB

For more on Justin Benner and Hawk Nelson, go to www.myspace.com/hawknelson.

AB’s Weekly Obsessions
2008-04-30

Well, they say the road to Hades is paved with good intentions. As much as I’d hoped to gushingly blog about my favorite new releases each week, reality dictates that this might just be a monthly relationship you and I share. But seein’ as I still manage to fall in love with at least one new CD a week, how about we just cover more stuff, but a little less often.

This past March, ex–Geraldine Fibbers singer Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista project released Hello, Voyager, an intense album laced with dirty urges and heavenly rhythmic pounding. Fans of art-damaged rock from Captain Beefheart to PJ Harvey should dig this music. I always find myself entranced by the exquisitely drum-less “The Blue Room,” but on the way there I’m inevitably frozen in my tracks by the tumbling multi-man percussive assault of “Smooth Jazz,” featuring JON CLAUDE, GAMBLE, and LUC PARADIS. Later, I again have the bejeezus scared out of me by SHAHZAD ISMAILY’s snare-drum death march on “Truth Is Dark Like Outer Space,” while the abstract backing to “Paper Kitten Claw” doesn’t exactly lighten one’s mental load either—but sure sets the imagination spinning. Sweet and evil stuff. (Constellation)

Worlds away in almost every sense, French band Monade, led by Laetitia Sadier, has been keeping me pleasantly occupied until the next album by Stereolab (the singer’s main gig) arrives. Monstre Cosmic will immediately sound familiar to ’Lab fans, but the album’s got its unique charms, not least of which is drummer XAVIER CHABELLARD’s punchy, rolling approach to the bordering-on-prog numbers “Entre Chien Et Loup,” “Invitation,” and “Elle Topo.” (Too Pure)

A couple weeks ago the new CD by Constantines, Kensington Heights, crossed my desk. All I can say is, it’s Ramen Pride lunches for the next couple weeks, so I can save my pennies for their back catalog. What a great band! These guys might be Canadian, but they brilliantly elicit the heartland expanse of big-sound American outfits like Crazy Horse, Reigning Sound, even Springsteen’s E Street Band (pre-Born In The USA, thank you very much). I don’t mind telling drummer DOUG MACGREGOR I’m jealous as hell that he gets to kick those gargantuan guitars in the butt for a living. But Doug’s the man for the job, whacking the toms like his life depended on it on “Shower Of Stones,” rolling his snare like a tumbleweed on a mission in “Our Age,” and propelling the opening cut, “Hard Feeling” with a ridiculously insistent four on the floor. (Arts & Crafts)

Ex-Morphine drummer JEROME DEUPREE makes us proud on Next On The Mic, a collection of spoken-word-with-improv’d-musical-accompaniment recorded at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The series has been going for ten years, and the mostly sax/drums/stand-up bass house band is sensitive, swinging, surging, slithering…whatever it takes to support the intense, often politically incendiary poetry. (Rounder)

One of my all-time favorite albums is Architecture & Morality by Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark. So I was pretty jazzed to receive Architecture & Morality & More, an album documenting OMD’s May 2007 gig at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, at which they played their 1981 synth-pop masterpiece in its entirety. It would have been cool to hang with long-time drummer MALCOLM HOLMES as he prepared his gear for the tour. Replicating drum sounds from the Me Decade is always a dicey affair, but here Holmes supplies the goods. (Eagle)

There’s been a lot of talk about Portishead’s first new album in eleven years, 3. The group’s 1994 debut, Dummy, was the sound that launched a thousand trip-hop groups. The band moved quickly away from that tricky business, but they’ve retained the luminous tones and emotional intensity. As one iTunes reviewer correctly put it, every instrument on 3 is treated as percussion, so even the tracks that don’t feature the band’s regular drummer, CLIVE DEAMER, possess intoxicating beats and textures. This is extraordinary headphone music, and should be studied by any drummer or musician interested in balancing rhythmic and tonal elements within the song format. (Mercury)

Adam Budofsky is Modern Drummer’s managing editor.

One final note: A couple weeks ago we posted a blog by drummer Brian Bauer of Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears. While on tour recently, the group suffered a huge setback when their gear and transportation were stolen. We’re doing what we can for them by spreading the word. Here’s Brian’s description of the event and the band’s current situation:

Hello, friends. Tragedy has struck Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears. Our van, trailer, and all of our instruments were stolen the other night in Los Angeles. The band is stuck in L.A., and we’re in desperate need of your help.

In my MD blog, I wrote about how passionate I am for my 1966 sparkle-blue Slingerland four-piece kit. This 42-year-old drumset was among the stolen instruments. My grandfather passed away before I had a chance to meet him, but he played on that kit. Needless to say, I’m devastated.

Please find it in your heart to help us out. I set up a paypal account to receive donations for the band. Please go to www.paypal.com, click on “send money” at the top, and the receiving account email is
bauer_brian@yahoo.com.

Thank you so much.

Love,

Brian Bauer of BSST

Joshua Barnhart Of Port O’Brien
2008-04-29

The hum of bells in a monastery; the human heartbeat. The cosmic vibration of aum. Rhythm is what creates our existence, and what keeps it interesting.

Music was an important part of my childhood. Some of my earliest memories are of family parties, playing bongos with blues musicians in their jam sessions. They would compliment my father, a studio cellist, on my perfect time. I didn’t know what they meant; I was only having fun. In department stores, on road trips, anywhere music was playing my dad would ask my sisters and me, “Who’s this? What band is this?”

If none of us knew, we’d guess The Beatles.

It was a good primer for me. From then on, when I heard something unfamiliar but catchy, I would want to know the name of the band, who was playing what, where they were from, and how they came to be.

In my teens, I discovered the untapped resource of thrift stores. Family Thrift on Grande Avenue had a whole room, its walls covered with wood-grained contact paper and filled with bookcases, bins, and stacks of records. One bookcase was filled with little bins of cassette tapes. I found The Rolling Stones’ Aftermath, old Joy Division and Bowie records. I found a cassette recorder, the type used in ’80s courtrooms. I would walk around the high school and the town with my friend Sean with this little recorder on at full volume. Its little two-inch speaker would be screeching Thrift Store tapes. We didn’t have iPods. Portable CD players were too expensive. We used the cassette-corder; it worked for us.

This utilitarian principle has held true since then. Some drummers want to talk about the details of their kit, the sound of their cymbals, the brand and vintage of their pedals. I play a Yamaha Stage Custom kit. It’s a basic setup. I don’t sleep with my kit. We work together. I’ll play it until it dies. I’ll do the same to its heir.

I’ve been in Port O’Brien for two years now. We all grew up on the Central Coast of California, and knew each other through the local musical community. The last year has seen us touring throughout the US and Europe. Our first full-length studio album, All We Could Do Was Sing is coming out May 13. With such a grueling pace recording and touring, I feel so lucky to travel and play music with friends. We keep each other sane on the road.

I’ve been affected by the frantic explosions of Keith Moon’s arms swinging, the structured chaos of Mitch Mitchell, the minimalism of Maureen Tucker’s eternal rhythm, and the idiosyncratic genius of Brian Eno. These are only four names on a long list of musicians that have changed the way I comprehend music.

The prime influence on my drumming is life: my family, friends, the hum of the city, the buzz of insects, the clicketty clang of the workplace, stampedes, traffic, rivers, cluster bombs in Iraq. This world has been drumming on its own forever. I’m just adding to the beat.

For more on Joshua Barnhart and Port O’Brien, got to www.portobrien.com.

The Band Of Heathens’ John
Chipman
2008-04-27

Hello, MD Blog readers. I’ve been incredibly blessed in life. I have many close friends, and an amazing wife who recently gave me a son, Samuel Christopher. I’ve been playing drums for nearly thirty years, and like many of you out there, I started out playing at home as a child and was quickly hooked on playing the instrument. I studied privately and went on to major in music at the University of Oklahoma. As my professors would probably attest to this day, I was not the most talented or the hardest-working student—in fact, looking upon those days, I can honestly say that academically, I skated by. I would spend more time learning songs for my bar bands than preparing jury pieces. Once I graduated (I’m still not sure how I managed that one), I high-tailed it to Austin, where I have lived since 1993.

Since moving here, I’ve slowly managed to work my way up the food chain with regards to the local scene in Austin. There have been many ups and downs, but the climb still continues to this day. This last year was certainly a highlight that I will never forget. The first half of ’07, I was winding down my two-year tenure with Jon Dee Graham. If you’re not familiar with Jon, you should do yourself a favor and pick up Hooray For The Moon. I was hooked on that album before I joined his band. You might have heard of the drummer on that recording—Jim Keltner. I have always been a huge fan of Jim’s, and this recording is ridiculously good!  

I’d also been subbing in ’06 with a group called The Band Of Heathens, and during SXSW I joined up with them full-time. They were chosen as Best New Band at the Austin Music Awards in ’07, and to this day things for this ensemble continue to build momentum at a pace I had yet to see in my personal music career. It’s not often when you have a band with three lead singers who can all play guitars blisteringly well. This band has been nothing but a labor of love. This year, as a result of playing for so many great Austin musicians, I learned I had won Best Drummer at the SXSW Austin Music awards for 2008.

I grew up listening to Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl, Buddy Rich, and Steve Jordan, to name a few. I will never be remotely close in ability to these guys. In Austin alone, there are more sick drummers than I can count. Google these guys and see what you can find on them: Brannen Temple, JJ Johnson, Barry “Frosty” Smith, Art Kidd, Steve Samuel, and Phil Bass. All of these guys are ridiculously good!

Again, I will never be as good as any of them. (If I were able to lock myself in a practice room, maybe I could get close.) On top of that, over the past several years the Austin area has been blessed by having the likes of Terry Bozzio, Pat Mastelotto, and Jamie Oldaker move here. Drummers are really growing on trees here.

I live to play. It’s the closest thing to plugging into the universe that I know of. Music has in return blessed me, in that it is all I have to do now. This could all change in the future—you just never know what lies around the next turn in this business. Outside of the standard practice, practice, practice speech you always hear at clinics, I would like to pass on to you some tidbits of wisdom I have learned from other musicians:

1.) Never ask of music. When you expect music to do things for you, it will not happen. Music itself is the reward. If any success or fame comes as a result of playing music, be forever thankful, because you have already experienced more than 95% of the people who have ever picked up a pair of drumsticks have.

2.) The fewer notes you play, the more money per note you are making. Save your big stuff for the last chorus of the last song in the encore.

3.) Never play in a trio with a husband and wife.

4.) Never cop an attitude. There is always somebody better than you. If you see someone who might not be up to your personal yardstick, watch even closer, they will teach you something you didn’t know.

Be well, fellow drummers, racket makers, and conundrum creators. I will be on the road for much of the summer with The Band Of Heathens and would love to meet as many fellow drummers out there as possible. If you are ever in Austin, you will always find me playing (provided I am in town) with The Resentments on Sunday nights. Long Live The Saxon Pub!

Check out www.bandofheathens.com or my myspace page at www.myspace.com/drummeratlarge.

All of you be well!

John Chipman

Brian St. Clair Of Local H
2008-04-26

What do Chuck Biscuits (DOA/Danzig), Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, Descendents, ALL), Virus X (Articles Of Faith), and Spit Stix (Fear) have in common? They are some of my favorite drummers of all time. The energy these drummers produced was mind-blowing to me as a young self-taught drummer in Chicago. I would sit in my parents’ basement, put on my records, and play along. I would get the chance to see all these drummers perform except for Spit Stix. This was a real bummer because he does some amazing beats that even today I think, “How did he do that?”

Starting with my first band in 1982, Political Justice? (yes, with a question mark), I wanted to try to emulate these drummers. The vibrant punk rock scene in Chicago gave me the chance to see some of the best drummers in action. I wasn’t necessarily into playing really fast as I was into playing hard. I didn’t really come of age in my skills until I joined God’s Acre in 1986. We were doing stuff that would later become popular with help from the influential Sub Pop label out of Seattle.

In 1988, I switched up punk/grunge for the punk/rock outfit Rights Of The Accused. I had seen them many times and was very familiar with the music. My predecessor, Anthony Illarde, was one of those drummers you wanted to be. He was quick, rock solid—and his stage presence was incredible. I had to up my game to fill the slot. Rights Of The Accused was the first band I did any major touring with. Although I made singles with my two previous bands, ROTA signed to the BMG/Noise International label and toured a lot. On the last day of high school, instead of going to parties I jumped in the tour van and hit the road.

In 1992 ROTA broke up, and few months later Wes Kidd (who was also in Political Justice? and ROTA) and I formed Triple Fast Action. In 1994, we signed a deal with Capitol Records and we were living the dream. TFA’s music, in my opinion, was some of my best work. I never really experimented with dynamics until TFA. It opened new doors I’d never explored, and I was teaching myself to do things I never imagined.

In May of ’98, after two albums—1996’s Broadcaster (Capitol) and 1997’s Cattlemen Don’t (Deep Elm)—TFA played our last show. I packed up and moved to New York, where I started my new life behind the scenes. I was Liz Phair’s tour manager for about eight months, and then I got a call from Cheap Trick. Bun E Carlos was looking for a drum tech. I jumped at the chance. After all, I had always been a fan of Cheap Trick. Dream Police was the first album I used my own money to buy when I was a kid. So it was an amazing opportunity to work for them. I got to watch Bun E warm up and do sound checks, and I got my own front-row seat each night. My last show as drum tech was at their twenty-fifth-anniversary show in Rockford, Illinois. Two months after this show, I was back behind the drums as half of the Chicago duo Local H.

I thought I had intense energy in my previous bands. But I had no idea what I was capable of until joining Local H. Playing with Local H is a full cardio workout every night. I have to fill half the stage. (We set up side by side at the front of the stage.) Playing with Local H brings me back to my roots. It reminds me why I started playing in the first place. I want to be like Chuck, Bill, Virus, and Spit.

Local H will be on tour in May and June in support of the new album, 12 Angry Months (Shout! Factory), available online and in stores this coming May 13. Brian St. Clair can be contacted directly at brian@localh.com or at myspace.com/brianstclair. For more info, go to localh.com or myspace.com/localh.

The Yellowjackets' Marcus
Baylor
2008-04-25

Hello, MD family! 2008 has been a blessed and busy year, with more great things to come! My name is Marcus Baylor, and I am the drummer with The Yellowjackets. I’m a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and I began playing the drums at two years old at church, where my dad was the pastor. Watching my cousin play every Sunday morning was fascinating and inspired me to nurture an interest in drums. Playing at church was the greatest start I could ever have because I constantly played and it served as a platform for me to develop a sound. More importantly, it taught me what playing music was all about: touching lives and inspiring others.

What was the turning point that inspired you to play drums? Who are some of the drummers or bands you listen to that inspire your sound?

How do you develop your sound? To me a sound is not developed through volume but through feeling, emotion, and textures, whether it’s a groove or an open solo! Learning how to hit the drum allows you to bring listeners in—whether you’re in a huge auditorium or small practice room. I’ve learned this from listening to drummers like Michael Williams (Gospel group Commissioned), Dana Davis (Gospel group The Winans), Roy Haynes, Jimmy Cobb, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, William Kennedy, Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Eric Harland, George “Spanky” McCurdy, Chris Dave, Teddy Campbell, Chris Johnson, and Brian Blade. All of these drummers’ styles are different, but what they all have in common is a sound. With so many talented musicians and so much great music out there, don’t be afraid to learn and explore your own sound. It’s your sound that will inspire others and touch lives!

What is your latest musical endeavor?

The Yellowjackets have an exciting new album coming out this May, Life Cycle, which features guitarist Mike Stern. I also produced Testimony: My Life Story, the solo debut album by my wife, Jean Baylor, formerly of the Motown duo Zhane’.

I endorse Yamaha drums, Remo drumheads, and Pro-Mark drumsticks.

Feel free to hit me up at www.myspace.com/marcusbaylor. Check www.yellowjackets.com for upcoming tour dates! And check out some of my production at www.jeanbaylor.com and www.myspace.com/jeanbaylor.

Marcus Baylor photo by Kvon.

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