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Chris Johnson
2010-03-16 
Yo, what up, MD? This is ya boy Chris Johnson from Los Angeles, California. Like many others in this field, I started playing in church—my dad’s church, to be exact. So I was always there to play, practice, and everything. Needless to say, I was born in the church. Due to the lack of musicians in a small church, I had to play something, and I think I made the right choice!
A little about me: I attended Bellflower High School in Bellflower, California, where I played in the jazz and marching bands. I also sang in the school ensemble. Singing is what I credit my musicality at the drums to. I learned to listen to the other parts and approached the music as such. While growing up in a church background I was only allowed to listen to gospel music—John P. Kee, Hawkins Family, Fred Hammond, and drummers like Mike Nueble, Marvin McQuitty, Joel Smith, and Calvin Napper. It wasn’t until I got older and out on my own that I learned about bands and musicians like Tower of Power, Led Zeppelin, Sting, Steely Dan, and Phil Collins and drummers like Vinny Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Dave Weckl, and John “JR” Robinson. I love having this great balance of inspiration. At the end of it all I play drums with all these influences but always from my heart.
With God’s help I have been blessed to play and tour with Seal, Mya, Patti LaBelle, Anastacia, Fantasia, Beverly Crawford, Norman Hutchins, Stevie Wonder, and Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly. I am currently touring with Rihanna.
I hope this blog has touched, inspired, or blessed someone. I truly love what I do and know that I wouldn’t be me without the love and support of friends, family, and my peers in this drum business. “Keep sticking,” and God bless.
For more on Chris go to www.myspace.com/cjdrumdotcom.
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Seven Antonopoulos of Leaves’
Eyes
2010-03-15
Hello, all. I would like to start by thanking everyone at MD for the invite to blog a bit about what I’ve been up to. So after recovering from the NAMM show (that’s a long story in and of itself), I had a few weeks off at home in Stockholm, just rehearsing by myself and working on some tracks I’ll be incorporating into upcoming clinics. Always good to stay in shape.
Following that I was in Stuttgart with my band Leaves’ Eyes. I tracked drums and percussion on a couple tunes that will be included on the digi-pack version of our latest CD, Njord. One track is a typical LEs balls-out rocker. On the other tune, an acoustic version of “Irish Rain,” I played cajon with some shakers and tambos. I really love the cajon. I used it quite a lot on the last Atrocity record.
We recently hired a new guitar player, Zander Van der Meer from the Dutch band Cypher. Super cool guy, and an amazing player. I’m stoked to have him. Luckily we had a couple days to run through the sets before his first show. He had a ton of material to learn because the Moscow show had Leaves’ Eyes and Atrocity on the bill. (Same musicians in both bands, different singers.)
That brings us to the travel and performance aspects of the show. It started off like most one off shows, dealing with the promoter, venue manager, endorsers, tour manager, techs, etc. I have to say, as much as I love snow and cold weather, it sometimes throws a monkey wrench into touring this time of year. My flight to Germany was delayed twice, but it just comes with the territory and I don’t get surprised anymore. (LOL)
My bass player, Alla, is Russian and was born in Moscow. So you can imagine how much we were looking forward to this show. We made it to Moscow with no problems, and I ended up having a couple beers with the crew guys at the hotel bar, pretty mellow. The next day started early with a noon lobby call. Got to the venue, had lunch, and got most of the press out of the way. I feel fortunate that we have Tom Tom, our drum tech and monitor engineer. Although the kit that was provided was killer (DW custom with maple finish), Tom Tom was in hell dealing with six in-ear packs that were receiving Russian radio weather reports! (LOL) On a side note to younger players, when touring internationally it’s important to be aware of the fact that power voltage and wireless frequencies differ from each other in different parts of the world. It’s pretty easy to blow up that drum machine or in-ear unit you just paid through the teeth for. Needless to say, the in-ear issue was resolved and it was business as usual.
Next thing ya know, it’s dinner (huge chunks of steak in a bowl of au gratin potatoes!) and the pre-show meet & greet. I really dig this part of the day on tour. It’s always great to see how our music affects people. The multiple bottles of vodka I received as gifts are a testament to the warmth and generosity of the Russian fans! Our singer Alex actually got a gold watch. Liv received enough roses to accommodate any wedding! (LOL) Good times.
The Atrocity set list consisted of material from the Werk 80 I and II records. (Those records feature ’80s covers done in a heavy, industrial way.) The vibe onstage was good, and we all thought Zander did a hell of a job for his first show. For me it’s kind of different playing the Werk 80 tunes. I feel like there’s less self-imposed pressure when playing tunes that aren’t your own. It’s always fun for us, as well as the fans playing and singing classics we all grew up with.
After a twenty-minute break, we take the stage again around 11:00. The Leaves’ Eyes set list included the older singles “Farewell Proud Men” and “Elegy,” as well as some of my faves from the new record, “My Destiny,” “Ragnarok,” and the opener, “Njord.” Again, I can’t tell ya how cool it was to see and hear the crowd sing every word of the set. Killer crowd for sure!
After a quick shower, it was about time for us to participate in a very special Russian tradition—vodka! (LOL) Which I did. Ha ha! In all seriousness, after the show we had a great time hanging out and spending some time with the fans. I had a blast. Thanks to the promoters, Sergey and Eugene, for making it all happen!
As usual, I wish I could of seen more than the airport, hotel, and venue, but that’s how it is on these kinds of fly dates. So now we come to Sunday morning at the airport, when we come to find out that all Lufthansa pilots are beginning a strike/walk-out for the following day, which meant the cancellation of most flights departing that day. Again, these are the kinds of things that are part of touring. Luckily we were all re-routed and made it home that day.
I think I can speak for the whole band when I say that all in all we had a really good time, and we look forward to playing there again!
Thanks, y’all!
Seven Antonopoulos
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Jarrett Hottman of Before Their
Eyes
2010-03-11
What up, Modern Drummer readers? First off, I would like to thank MD for giving me this opportunity to write a blog. It’s an honor and privilege.
I’ve been playing drums since I was thirteen years old and have been in multiple bands. I’m twenty-three now and I’ve been in the band Before Their Eyes for three years. We were lucky enough to get signed after our very first show and to tour the U.S various times with some great bands. We are working on getting over to other countries very soon! It doesn’t always start off that quickly, though, and it wasn’t easy for me!
When I was very young my father was in various bar bands around town. My mother would take me to some of the closer shows so I could watch him play. I would sit down in front of the stage and just watch my dad and mimic what he was doing with his hands. For the longest time I could never figure out why he crossed his right hand over his left hand while playing. After watching me sitting in front many times, my dad asked if I wanted to learn. At this point I was probably nine or ten years old. I had been playing tennis since I was five years old, so my dad figured I would have the hand-eye coordination to play the drums. It didn’t turn out that way, however. He tried and tried to teach me how to play but I just never caught on. But in fifth grade I started in the band program as snare drummer. After getting the hang of the snare and learning to read music, I decided to try learning drums on my own. My dad always had a black seven-piece Pearl kit. It was a huge kit, so I knocked it down to a five-piece and then started practicing. Then when I was thirteen I started my very first band, Slipt-n-Fell, with friends of mine who were all learning to play. We got pretty good at playing Blink-182, New Found Glory, and Offspring covers.
During high school, I stopped playing the drumset for the most part but continued in marching band. I didn’t ever really take lessons on the full kit from anyone other than my dad, but I realized how much reading and playing snare drum has helped me on the full kit. After high school, I started a band called Memory Meets Tragedy. We played shows all around Ohio and would often play with a band called the Drama Summer (which included two members of Before Their Eyes). The Drama Summer broke up and Nick wanted to start a new band, so he asked if I would start a band with him. At the time the band was a side project, but we wrote two songs, recorded them, and posted them on MySpace. From there we solidified our lineup as you see it today, and have been touring since.
I still look back and think about the first concert my dad took me to when I was twelve years old. It was a Kiss concert, and I knew right then that there was nothing else that I wanted to do but play drums in front of people and tour the world. I thank my dad and family for being so supportive of the lifestyle I have chosen for myself. Without the love and support from them, I would simply not be where I am today. All I can say now is, Before Their Eyes is here to stay, and be on the lookout for our CD Untouchable, dropping on March 9.
I would also like to thank the amazing Tim at Truth Drums (for making the perfect drumset for me), Silverfox sticks, and Dream cymbals. Thanks everyone for reading!
For more on Jarrett Hottman of Before Their Eyes, go to www.myspace.com/beforetheireyes.
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