Feature Stories
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.
Ronnie Vannucci: Killer With A Cause
by Ken Micallef Seeing as he’s from Las Vegas, the home of twenty-four-hour gambling, retina-freezing neon, and spontaneous wedding ceremonies, The Killers’ Ronnie Vannucci has a penchant for doing things–to quote a famous Vegas crooner–his way. A natural drummer…
Carmine Appice Interview with Liberty DeVitto, Chpt 5
Carmine Appice Talks with Liberty DeVitto in Part 5 of this video interview at the Cutting Room. "We recorded "Keep me Hangin' On" in a one-take mono, all at once. And that was a demo. And they released the demo,…
Carmine Appice Interview with Liberty DeVitto, Chpt 6
Carmine Appice Talks with Liberty DeVitto in Part 6 of this video interview at the Cutting Room. "You were the first guy that I saw that made everything you played count... Everything that you played made sense in the music…
Carmine Appice Interview with Liberty DeVitto, Chpt 7
Carmine Appice Talks with Liberty DeVitto in Part 7 of this video interview at the Cutting Room. "Led Zeppelin did their first tour with us... Their album wasn't even out. When John Bonham saw my kit, he just flipped out.…
Carmine Appice Interview with Liberty DeVitto, Chpt 8
Carmine Appice Talks with Liberty DeVitto in Part 8 of this video interview at the Cutting Room. "That's the theatrics that no one was doing back then. It was taking Dino to the next level." CLICK HERE FOR Carmine Appice Interview with…
Great Drum Parts = GENIUS
The MD Editors Weigh In The March issue of MD (out now) features Billy Ward’s fascinating conversation with Simon Phillips, Doane Perry, Marco Minnemann, Thomas Lang, and Jerry Marotta about the grooves that inspired them to play drums early on,…
Pete Best: The Original Beatle Grooves On New Solo Album
Pete Best, the original drummer for The Beatles, has returned to performing in recent years. He’s also just released his first-ever CD as a leader, Haymans Green, which will definitely remind you that he was once a Beatle. Best’s music…
Daniel Adair: Truth Or Dair
Nickelback owns rock radio. Over the past five years the band has sold more than twenty-six million records while garnering awards and top-ten singles faster then you can say “Oh Canada.” In addition, Nickelback has set records on Billboard…
Derico Watson: Pocket, Chops, and Soul
Laying Down A Thunderous Groove With Victor Wooten and S.M.V. For the past five years, Michigan native Derico Watson has held one of the most coveted chairs a drummer could imagine, touring regularly with pioneering bassist Victor Wooten. A modest…
John Convertino: Finding The Sweet Spot
Read more in the February 2009 Issue of Modern Drummer Calexico drummer John Convertino has always been more a mood-setter than a traditional timekeeper. And his band’s sixth album, "Carried To Dust", offers plenty of examples of the drummer’s tone…
Eric Valentine: Firing It Up With Luke
Eric Valentine has always enjoyed performing with different people, so going from Patti LaBelle to former Toto six-stringer Steve Lukather wasn’t really a challenge for him, it was just another gig. “When I was growing up,” Valentine says, “I listened…
D.H. Peligro: The Undead Kennedy
Though legendary hardcore punks The Dead Kennedys are still officially together (minus frontman Jello Biafra), they’re currently enjoying a self-imposed hiatus. Drummer D.H. Peligro, (pictured left in photo) is keeping himself occupied with his solo band, dubbed Peligro. But with…
Sean Davidson of Blacklist Union
At a time when rapid-fire double kick and Pro Tooled precision are practically the boilerplate for modern metal drumming, Blacklist Union’s Sean Davidson takes a different approach: concentrating on simplified, groove-based playing while adding an aspect of old-fashioned rock showmanship…
Gavin Harrison: The Rhythmic Illusionist Is Now Elevating Two Bands, Porcupine Tree And King Crimson
by Ken Micallef “I stopped focusing on the muscles in my arms and started focusing on the big fat muscle in my head. That’s where the good stuff comes from.” Forty-five-year-old Gavin Harrison has led a drummer’s dream life. He’s…
