Features
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.
CATCHING UP WITH…Jimmie Fadden
Fifty years ago he and guitarist Jeff Hanna founded a jug band to avoid the straight life. Today the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s beautifully twisted tale continues unabated. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
Twenty One Pilots’ Josh Dun
Phoning in on a day off between dates in Japan, the drummer opens up about his journey to success, what it takes to stay there, and the pressures of holding down the throne in one of the most popular acts…
The History of the Drummer Boy
Musicians have played an important role on the battlefield for centuries. Fifes, bagpipes, and trumpets have been used to instruct friends and intimidate foes. And since at least as long ago as the days of ancient Babylon, the beating of…
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT Joe Butler
The Lovin’ Spoonful burned brighter than most bands in the ’60s—perhaps too bright for its own good. But the singing drummer who made a habit of beating the odds, in an era when studio cats regularly ghost-drummed on major productions,…
SETTING SIGHTS: Raphael Mura
When the leader of the lauded French post-punk trio Underground Railroad joined the rising neo-psych band Purson, he honed his drumming approach by leaning on indie-rock influences and investigating prog pioneers. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG…
Setting Sights - Gerry Gibbs
Usually the hippest music happens when nobody in the room is consciously trying to sound hip. Drawing inspiration from an oft-derided genre, this drummer/leader has made another unexpected—and, yes, hip—addition to his already eclectic body of music. TO READ THE…
On The Cover - Dom Famularo
In the hundred or so years since our instrument was invented, the art of playing it has evolved significantly. And so has the way we teach it. Few people understand drumming history more fully than this month’s cover artist—and no…
Jeff Plate and John O. Reilly of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
During most of the year, Jeff Plate and John O.Reilly are busy with numerous projects. Plate is the drummer for the veteran hard-rock groups Metal Church and Savatage, as well as a cover band, Rust; he also teaches. O.Reilly, whose…
Snarky Puppy’s Holy Trinity
Snarky Puppy’s Holy Trinity Robert “Sput” Searight, Jason “JT” Thomas, Larnell Lewis Photos by Stella K. For Culcha Vulcha, Snarky Puppy’s eleventh album and first studio effort in close to a decade, bandleader, bassist, and primary composer Michael League recruited…
Catching Up With…Jason Bittner
In 2007, at the Sounds of the Underground festival in Phoenix, Arizona, where Shadows Fall was on the bill, Jason Bittner heard that Kelly Smith, drummer for the thrash veterans Flotsam and Jetsam, was in attendance. Bittner first met Smith…
Catching Up With… Good Tiger’s Alex Rüdinger
Since kicking down the door to the metal world with his jaw-dropping YouTube play-along videos more than six years ago, twenty-four-year-old journeyman Alex Rüdinger has filled in on tours with Monuments and Revocation and recorded and toured with his still-breathing…
Steven Tyler’s Sarah Tomek
I was first convinced of Sarah Tomek’s eminent skills on a night when our bands were both on the bill at Asbury Lanes, a bowling alley turned rock club in Tomek’s hometown. Yup, the same one immortalized in the title…
Paal Nilssen-Love
Imagine an organic synthesis of Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, and Milford Graves poured through a thoughtful post-hardcore player, and you have Norway’s Paal Nilssen-Love. A busy musician who divides his performances between solo concerts and support roles, Nilssen-Love brings the…
Up & Coming: Poly-Math’s Chris Woollison
The progressive British trio Poly-Math rocks. Hard. And all without vocals, because the music is already so full. Consisting of guitarist Tim Walters, bassist Joe Branton, and drummer Chris Woollison, Poly-Math has recently released a three-song mini album, Melencolia, its…
