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J.R. Conners
(August 2005 Issue)
Embracing Phil "I'd always heard
Phil Collins was a good drummer, but I never really believed it,"
admits Cave In drummer
J.R. Conners. "But Taylor Hawkins of The Foo
Fighters turned me on to Phil, and now he's become one of my
favorites.
He could pull off all sorts of amazing things that were so creative."
No disrespect to Collins, but rarely these
days do young punk drummers
cite him as a primary influence. After shedding most of their hardcore
persona a few years
back, however, Cave In set out to redefine
themselves, morphing into more of a prog-rock act, complete with
epic
compositions. Jupiter,
released on Hydrahead Records in 2000, saw them embracing the
technicality of Rush
and the experimentalism of post-punk
experimentalists Fugazi, with Conners' drumming following suit.
With
this year's RCA debut, Antenna,
fans are experiencing yet another shift in Cave In's gears. This time
the
direction is more accessible and melodic. The band also attempted
to create songs that were more concise. "Short and sweet
instead of
long and drawn out," is how Conners explains the direction. "I decided
to make my drums the backbone of the song
instead of trying to outdo
everyone else."
Waleed Rashidi
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