 |
|
-2- |
|
Web Exclusive Interview
Jon Wysocki Of Staind Cont'd
 Did you take lessons when you were growing up, or are you self-taught?
I'm mostly self-taught. My first drum teacher would always be pissed at me because I would never learn my lesson until my lesson. [laughs] But I wouldn't go home and practice; I'd just practice other stuff. I was like that in school too. It got to my mom because she was a teacher. [laughs]
What was your practice routine like as a kid?
It was rudiments. I actually wish I did more of that back then, because I think I would have gotten certain things that I get now, but quicker. Like when you first think that you know how to play a certain groove, and then you realize you've been playing it wrong the whole time. The "Roseanna" groove was like that for me. I thought he was playing this double thing on a hi-hat and then just throwing in the snare hits, when it was ghost notes. When I figured that out I was like, "Ah, that's it!"
When you practice now, what will you work on?
Now I try to come up with a guitar riff first. I'll put it on tape, and then I'll just play a drumbeat around it. I have a bunch of beats on tape too that I'll put a guitar riff down to. I should probably take it to the next level and put down songs and get the whole thing done, but I just haven't taken it seriously yet because I focus on Staind. We've never had much time off. We get to the end of a touring cycle, take a couple months off, and then rehearse to go back into the studio again.
Your style of playing is very much about what's right for the song. Is that from playing along with records as a kid?
Oh yeah, because that's what I would do. I would try and copy what other guys were doing on records. I'd put on headphones and play along to their beats.
What records would you play along to?
KISS, Michael Jackson, Sly & The Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, The Knack, all those '70s one-hit wonders—Bay City Rollers, stuff like that. My musical taste is all over the place. I just like good music: Tool, Deftones, Korn, Limp Bizkit—all that stuff. And I'm a huge Steely Dan fan, Chick Corea band, all kinds of stuff.
Do you play any other instruments?
I play a little guitar. I can get my ideas across, though I wouldn't consider myself a good guitar player.
Staind has been together a long time now.
We've been very fortunate—it's been thirteen years! You can't be gone for too long, and with everything you put out, you've got to act like it's your first record, because the attention span is very short now.
Bands can't rest on their laurels anymore.
Exactly. There's not that following that used to be. When I grew up, you wanted to know everything about the bands. Now people are so quick to jump from one thing to the next, and a lot of bands are around only for a moment.
What do you think the secret of the band's success is?
I don't think that we've allowed ourselves to be overexposed. We've had management and people on our team who've wanted us to do certain television programs, magazine interviews, award shows—show your face here, and do this thing here—and we wouldn't do it if we felt it wasn't relevant to who we are and what we got into this for. I got into this to make a career out of playing music, not for my face to be shown everywhere. We focus on writing good songs and making records that you can listen to from top to bottom.
I noticed the band as a whole gets credited for writing most of the songs. How are you involved in the songwriting process?
Basically, the way this and pretty much all of our records have been made is very similar. It usually starts with a guitar riff, and what happens a lot is, maybe what I'm laying down for a groove will change that riff in some way. Then we'll add a bass groove. So that's why we're all credited with writing the songs; we piece everything together. We all have input into what each of us plays too. If there's something I feel could be done better or different, I'll throw it out there, and the same goes with the drums. If they hear something in their head that is going to work for the song—lay it on me and I'll try it. I always thought that Staind was very regimented for always wanting to start with a guitar riff, especially in the beginning. I was like, "Why can't we just jam?" [laughs] You can tell Led Zeppelin wrote some of their stuff from jamming. But that's how they operated. We don't operate that way. But however we do it, it works. People like our music, so we're doing something right. I'm still trying to get my band to jam more, though. [laughs]
|
|
|
|
|
Caught in the Web Exclusive Archive: (alphabetically, by last name)
Rick Allen (July 2005) Rick Allen has been playing drums all his life, and nothing w...Rick Allen (July 2005) This is Part 2 of our interview with Rick, where he talks to ...Trey Anastasio (July 2005) MD Online caught up with Trey to get his thoughts on his ...Billy Ashbaugh (May 2005) 'N Sync, a pop band backed by live musicians, have gained ...Chris Bailey (April 2009) Patience, persistence, and people skills, along with an in...Rich Beddoe (April 2007) Four years after their gold-selling, self-titled third albu...Pete Best (July 2005) Over the years many have claimed the title "The Fifth Beatle."...Curt Bisquera (March 2007) MD online speaks with LA session drummer Curt Bisquera ab...Jason Bittner (January 2009) Hi, everyone out there in drum land, Jason Bittner here...Hal Blaine (July 2005) Paving the way for some of the great studio musicians of our ...Michael Bland (September 2006) Funk/rock/R&B Master Michael Bland talks about his da...Cyrus Bolooki (May 2005) We featured this hot young drummer in our December '02 issu...Ned Brower (May 2005) I saw the California-based pop band Rooney perform live before...Jack Bruno (June 2009) Relationships these days are tough—for whatever the reason ...Chris Cester (May 2005) The band Jet has released what many consider to be one of th...Marcie Chapa (September 2009) Anyone who saw her perform as a young girl knew that i...Les Claypool (July 2005) Les Claypool sat down with MD Online to discuss an impressi...Aaron Comess (March 2006) In the early ’90s, The Spin Doctors burst onto the music...Randy Cooke (May 2008) In this month’s Web Exclusive interview, session musician R...Caroline Corr (May 2005) The Corrs formed in 1991, and broke big in the States in 19...Chad Cromwell (May 2005) We first featured Chad Cromwell in the March '04 issue of M...Mickey Curry (October 2005) Not many people get to do exactly what they love and get...Victor DeLorenzo (July 2005) Singer, songwriter, actor, studio owner, jingle writer,...Double Drumming (November 2007) In the February 2007 issue of Modern Drummer, we ran...Charley Drayton (March 2006) By the time he was five, Charley Drayton knew exactly w... Drew Steen and Jerry Roe (October 2009) Drew Steen has been the drummer for teen p...Ira Elliot (March 2008) Nada Surf is one of the smartest, freshest-sounding rock ban...Damien Fahey (July 2005) Damien Fahey has a dilemma: These days he's having a diffic...Mick Fleetwood (July 2005) Mick Fleetwood has lots of reasons to celebrate these day...Mick Fleetwood (July 2005) The history of Fleetwood Mac's discography and personnel ...Kevin Franks (July 2005) Drummer Kevin Frank, singer Walt Lafty, bassist Brian Weave...Stan Frazier (July 2005) The members of Southern California-based quintet Sugar Ray ...Stan Frazier (July 2005) The SoCal band Sugar Ray, with poster-pinup lead singer Mar...Glen Graham (September 2008) Blind Melon’s Glen Graham talks to MD Online about th...Zac Hanson (July 2005) Storming out of Tulsa, Oklahoma with their major-label debut,...Yogi Horton (June 2007) MD along with some of Yogi Horton’s closest musical friend...Ryan Hoyle (September 2008) Ryan Hoyle chats with MD Online about Collective Soul, h...Mark Hudson (September 2005) Mark Hudson has the coolest job in the world right now,...Steve Jordan (July 2005) Steve Jordan has accomplished more in his drumming career t...Harry Judd (November 2006) The Click Five’s Joey Zehr and McFly’s Harry Judd tal...Jim Keltner (July 2005) Jim Keltner needs no introduction to Modern Drummer readers....Athena Kottak (January 2007) MD Online chats with Athena Kottak about her husband&md...Joey Kramer (July 2005) Joey Kramer could be the first superstar to become a "modern...Mercedes Lander (July 2005) The intense heavy metal sound of Kittie is back with the...Tommy Lee (July 2005) Tommy Lee is in a great mood, and he has every reason to be. H...Lisa Loeb (July 2006) Over the years Lisa Loeb has recorded and toured with a number...Ryan MacMillan (February 2008) In ten years, Matchbox Twenty has sold 28 million rec...Rick Marotta (April 2006) Rick Marotta is no stranger to MD readers. And he’s cert...Dave McAfee (September 2009) Things haven't changed much for Dave McAfee. He played ...Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett (July 2005) Jonathan Moffett got the nickname "Sugarfoo...Xavier Muriel (December 2006) MD Online spoke with Buckcherry’s Xavier Muriel abou...David Northrup (July 2005) Growing up on a mix of R&B, pop, rock, and country, David...Rich Pagano (March 2006) New York City drummer Rich Pagano is way more than just a m...Tony Palermo (October 2008) Tony Palermo talks to MD online about landing the Papa R...Prairie Prince (June 2006) MD Online talks with Prairie about life on the road with ...Danny Reyes (May 2005) Daniel de los Reyes, a.k.a. Danny Reyes could just sit back a...Lil' John Roberts (July 2005) Lil' John Roberts's name has been popping up more and ...Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp 2006 (September 2006) The Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp was held...Joey Shuffield (July 2005) Power-pop trio Fastball - bassist/singer Tony Scalzo, gui...Chad Smith (June 2008) Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith takes a much-needed ...Ringo Starr (July 2005) At an age where most would be settling back and reaping the ...Erin Tate (August 2007) Since their debut album in 2002, Minus The Bear have staked ...Roger Taylor (January 2008) It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Justin Timberl...Tony Thompson (July 2005) Not many drummers dictated the sound of the 80's like Tony...Brian Tichy (September 2005) The first time I watched Brian Tichy play was a few yea...Tico Torres (May 2005) The last time we spoke to Tico Torres (November 2000), Bon Jo...Maureen Tucker (July 2005) In Part 2 of our interview with the drummers of The Velve...Alan White (July 2005) As Yes continues their world tour - featuring the return of k...Brad Wilk (May 2005) Audioslave's Brad Wilk had plenty to say for MD's April '03 cov...Robert Wyatt (December 2007) Since leaving the groundbreaking British psychedelic ba...Jon Wysocki (December 2008) Founding Staind drummer Jon Wysocki talks to MD online a...Adrian Young (May 2005) Quick: Who is the most visible drummer in the world right no...Billy Yule (May 2005) You can use whatever term you wish: "college rock," "modern ro...Joey Zehr (November 2006) Caught In The Web With Joey Zehr Of The Click Five And McF...
Copyright Modern Drummer Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.
|
|
|
|
