Modern Drummer Magazine

Catching Up With… Albert “Tootie” Heath The essence of jazz is evident on his latest, Philadelphia Beat—and that means swinging and searching. by Ken Micallef “Art Blakey always said, ‘It’s not what you play in between, it’s how you start and how you end a piece.’” Albert “Tootie” Heath, one of the few drummers to […]

Catching Up With… Mickey Curry It’s thirty years and counting, tracking and touring with hitmaker Bryan Adams. by Bob Girouard By his own admission, Mickey Curry’s career has been close to idyllic. The New Haven native’s résumé is, to say the least, sturdy: learning the ropes in the ’70s with the Scratch Band, featuring future […]

Catching Up With… Brendan Hill Blues Traveler has helped define the jam-band aesthetic since well before the genre existed. The group’s latest foray, however, is down a road previously untraveled. by Bob Birouard Blues Traveler’s sound is so closely tied to John Popper’s harmonica playing that it’s easy to take drummer Brendan Hill for granted. […]

Get Good Anger Management Dealing With Difficult People Without Losing Your Cool by Juels Thomas As musicians and support staff, we work in an environment with so many different personalities and egos constantly swerving around. It’s impossible to avoid a crash sometimes. We’ve all had to deal with a club manager, front-of-house engineer, guitarist, etc., […]

Features Adam Christgau Whether he’s focusing on pianissimo in intimate club settings, slamming home the backbeats in arenas with Tegan and Sara, or replicating the studio sophistication of Joey Waronker in every type of room in between, this Los Angeles–based drummer studies the situation, decides what needs to be done, and does it good. Story […]

Features Dylan Howe He’s spent years simultaneously developing his jazz drumming concept and accompanying a lively selection of rock artists. Now he’s found a unique way to marry both aesthetics by Ken Micallef In 1976, rock chameleon David Bowie escaped the public eye by moving into a small apartment in West Berlin. Peering out the […]

Features Jay Postones The drummer with the progressive metal band Tesseract will happily turn to technology to help him realize the ambitious ideas in his head. Then he jumps on the drums, and the real fun begins. by Ben Meyer Tesseract was formed in 2007, when the British group emerged out of guitarist and principal […]

A Different View Merrill Garbus She describes her band as “a three-person rhythm section where two people are making up the drumkit for a lot of the time.” The leader of Tune-Yards is obviously willing to go pretty far out to realize her unique musical vision. We wanted to find out why, and how. by […]

Setting Sights John Tempesta The heavy-rock journeyman takes Motor Sister for a Ride. by David Ciauro John Tempesta has been a constant presence on the hard rock and heavy metal scenes since the ’90s, playing with the iconic thrash bands Exodus and Testament, as well as with Rob Zombie, Helmet, and the Cult. Earlier this […]