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Trav Demsey (August 2005 Issue)
Breathing Life
Into The Living End"there are
too many
bands that play it safe these days." So says Trav Demsey, the
flamboyant drummer with one of punk's most
driving bands, The Living
End. "The goal should be to play out of your head," he says. "I want
people walking away going,
'Wow, I saw them six weeks ago and they were
completely different tonight.'"
Though Demsey's
playing might be loose and frenetic, The Living End
offers a tight brand of punk rock. But Trav's list of
drumming
inspirations prove the point: Topper Headon of The Clash, The Jam's
Rick Buckler, and Paul Cook of The Sex
Pistols dot his list, as do
Keith Moon, Charlie Watts, and Ringo Starr.
While Trav endorses Premier drums, Sabian
cymbals, and Vater sticks,
nothing is permanent in Demsey's world - at least as far as his setup
goes. "I'm
constantly changing it," he admits. "I don't have any
specific sizes. Sometimes I use 18" crashes for hi-hats." And
for
heads? "I pretty much stick with Remo, but I'm constantly changing what
kind of head. One week I was using CS
clear dots because I was going
through my Sex Pistols phase. This last week I was back on coated
Ambassadors. Next
week will probably be in a hardcore New York phase,
and I'll be using Pinstripes. I like to leave myself open
to
interpretation on any given day. I like our sound to be constantly
evolving."
David John Farinella
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