Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Ryan Pope: Gettin' Down With The Get Up Kids
Smart, melodic, and unflaggingly energetic, The Get Up Kids are part of a Midwestern pop-punk tradition that stretches from Cheap Trick through The Replacements and up to the current 'emo' scene. But one of the factors that distinguishes this Kansas…
Yvette Preyer
Yvette Preyer has been blowing away Michael McDonald audiences for the past five years, ever since she crossed paths with the famed singer/songwriter in Memphis, where Preyer resides. McDonald was doing a gig there for the National Civil Rights Museum…
Aquiles Priester
When he decided to be a drummer, Aquiles Priester couldn't have imagined the paths music would take him along. After studying with renowned drummers, playing in many groups, founding the band Hangar, doing a Brazilian tour, and recording Paul Di'Anno's…
Prince: School Of Funk
Twenty thousand people are on their feet, cheering and singing along as Prince and his band rip through hit after hit at New York City's Madison Square Garden for one of the purple one's many sold-out Musicology tour dates. "No…
System Of A Down Drummer John Dolmayan
'Ever since I was a kid, I knew I was destined for this,' says System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan. 'I used to go to shows and think, 'I'm going to be on that stage one day.' It's really…
Adrian Erlandsson of Cradle Of Filth
If there's any lesson to be learned from the success of Cradle Of Filth drummer Adrian Erlandsson, it's the valuable concept of persistence. Before joining the successful speed metal outfit in 1999, the Swedish-born Erlandsson worked with the bands At…
Billy Hart
Billy Hart is one of the unsung giants of jazz. He's recorded over six hundred albums, including seminal dates with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, Joe Zawinul, Sam Rivers, Pharoah Sanders, John Scofield, Lee Konitz, Hank Jones, Pat Martino,…
Brann Dailor of Mastodon
For Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor, playing in a band named after a huge prehistoric beast makes perfect sense. "When I'm performing or writing," Dailor says, "I sometimes think, That definitely sounds like a Mastodon part." Well, how about a "Sea…
Matt Abts of Gov't Mule
Jack Bruce, Larry Graham, John Entwistle, Chris Squire, Bootsy Collins, Les Claypool, Phil Lesh-is there a drummer among us who hasn't fantasized about playing with these and other giants of the bass guitar? Matt Abts of Gov't Mule recently got…
In The Loop With The Pros
For many years since the inception of studio recording sessions, the status quo for a successful session drummer has been to have exceptional time, great-sounding drums, qualified reading skills, and an approachable personality. But during the past couple of decades…
Tommy Aldridge Update
Fifty-year-old drum great Tommy Aldridge first came to prominence with '70s Southern-rock hooligans Black Oak Arkansas, although you wouldn't know that by visiting his current Web site (www.tommyaldridge.com). B.O.A. is only grudgingly referred to as "that band" in Aldridge's online…
Tommy Alesi
When Tommy Alesi gets chugging hand-to-hand on the snare in a train beat, the band cooks and people kick away their chairs. Alesi's band is Beausoleil, considered one of the best Cajun groups in the world. And you can hear…
Tim Alexander
When Tim Alexander left Primus in 1996, he was ready to move from the wacky, experimental frenzy of rhythms that had made the band a household name to a more structured rock format. He started his band Laundry to be…
Tony Allen
Providing the rhythms for African music icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has had a double-edged effect on Nigerian drummer Tony Allen's reputation. His work is ubiquitous, but his name recognition is negligible. Allen played with Fela's Afrika 70 orchestra for fifteen years,…