"I'm
not the guy out front putting on the show," says Breaking Benjamin's
Jeremy Hummel. "I'm
the guy in the back, laying the foundation so that
all the parts can build on top. I look at playing drums like conducting
an
orchestra."
Hummel formed Breaking Benjamin with
vocalist/guitarist Ben Burnley. After they snagged their two
bandmates
from another band, and then things started to happen. A local DJ from
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania backed the
band financially, allowing them
to record a five-song EP. The band eventually got signed to Hollywood
Records, and their
career took off with their first single,
"Polyamorous." The key to Breaking Benjamin's sound is an aggressive
rock
attitude that firmly holds onto substantial musicianship.
Hummel and Burnley wrote all the songs on the band's
debut album, Saturate.
Burnley would bring in a riff, and then Hummel would build a drum part
around it. The
combination led to an album full of songs that are
rhythmically diverse.
Hummel says he strives to create drum
parts that serve the song and
are interesting from a drumming perspective. "That's why "Natural Life"
is so cool,"
he says. "It lets me go off, but what I do also works for
the song."
