Syndrum Innovator Joe Pollard is a well-respected drummer who was part of the legendary group of Los Angeles–based session players in the 1970s known as the Wrecking Crew. He also toured with top R&B and pop artists, including Etta James, Wilson Pickett, the Grass Roots, and the Beach Boys. However, it was Pollard’s innovations in technology and electronics that helped define an entire era of popular music. Joe Pollard at Donn Bennett Drum Studio in 2011 I first met Joe Pollard when I was a teenager, in the mid 1970s, at a drum expo in Seattle. His tiny booth was dwarfed by the displays of the larger drum manufacturers. But Joe pulled me into it, excited to tell me about his virtually indestructible Duraline drumheads and drumsticks. He told me they were made of Kevlar, which is the same material used to make bulletproof vests. He said there had not […]

November 2020 Issue