Stewart Copeland

On March 25, drummers and music fans around the world were devastated to learn that drummer Taylor Hawkins had died. Hawkins was a good friend of Modern Drummer, and we join in the sorrow of losing such a wonderful person and amazing musician at such a young age. In 1997 …

The mission is simple, but critical: One Beat. One Mission. End Hunger. WhyHunger—a non-profit founded in 1975 by the late Harry Chapin and radio deejay Bill Ayres to “change systems, policies, and institutions that perpetuate hunger and poverty in our world”—enlisted more than 100 drummers and percussionists to perform a …

Stewart Copeland is certainly one of the drumming community’s most successful, popular, and respected artists. But it appears Copeland is not above criticizing his own work publicly. For example, on a recent episode of Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show, he told host Uncle Joe Benson that it’s hard for …

As a drummer looking for an opportunity in social media I started uploading videos to YouTube in 2014, obtaining immediate international popularity in my debut year gaining 1,000,000 views.

The November issue of Modern Drummer includes a news item on the hunger-awareness campaign Beat Hunger, which recently brought together a number of pro drummers to help publicize the ongoing need for nutritious food and support for Haitians living in extreme poverty. A few of the participants were kind enough …

Hey MD peeps! This is a great honor for me to be able to tell some of my story. Like most of you, I first subscribed to MD at an early age (back in the mid-’80s, yikes!) when I was busy trying to be what I eventually became―a pro drummer.

Stewart Copeland, who came to prominence in the ’80s as the drummer with the enormously popular band the Police and composed and recorded a number of popular movie soundtracks, has announced the formation of a new band, Gizmodrome.

Tyler West What’s up, Modern Drummer readers! My name is Tyler West, but most people call me Teeter, and I’ve been the percussionist in psychedelic rock ’n’ soul band Super Doppler since tenth grade. From banging on pots and pans in the kitchen as a youngster to getting my first …

Hey, MD! 

I’m Jared Evan and I’m a singer, songwriter, rapper, producer, and drummer. I’m twenty-six years old and have been playing the drums since I was six.

Hello readers, drummers, and music enthusiasts. My name is Alex Tanas and I am a Canadian musician, songwriter, and drummer for the band Magic! I’ve been playing the drums since I was ten years old and am a self-taught drummer.

Josh Eppard By Manuel Casanova   by Stephen Bidwell   Josh Eppard has been out with Coheed and Cambria since this past autumn. The group toured Europe in January, and March will find the band headlining the U.S. with Glassjaw in support. Coheed’s latest studio album, The Color Before the …

Hey, MD readers! My name is Nick Cesarz and I play drums in Vinyl Theatre. We’re an alternative rock group based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin….

New Jerseys indie group Speed the Plough’s first album in four years, Now, features the kit work of John Demeski. John is the son of one-time STP drummer Stanley Demeski, who some readers will recognize as a longtime member of the influential group the Feelies. Modern Drummer Online caught up …

With the holiday season upon us, there’s no better time to step back and look at all the different gift options that are available. In this first installment of our 2015 holiday buyer’s guide, we specifically want to focus on drummer gifts that are under $20. These items are perfect …

Greetings drummers of the modern age! We are Salvador Placencia and Garrett Ray, percussionist and drummer for the band Fool’s Gold from Los Angeles. We thought it would be fun to interview each other to give you a little insight on who we are and what we’ve been up to …

Vic’s Drum Shop in Chicago has been selected to receive the 2014 Outstanding Retailer Award from Vic Firth. The award was presented to drum shops across America that achieved double-digit sales growth last year with more than $25,000 in annual sell-through of Vic Firth products….

We asked the members of the Modern Drummer Education Team if they felt that it’s important for all drummers to study Latin music and other musical genres, even if they don’t intend to ever perform those styles. Here’s what they had to say….

The term effects, or FX, is applied to a wide array of cymbals, from tiny splashes to giant, oddly shaped sheets of metal to cymbals with tambourine jingles riveted to them. The key to helping customers find that unique voice they’ve been missing in their setup is to know what’s …

What is the rhythmic essence of progressive music? What makes prog so different from other genres? Does it require a specific skill set on the drumkit, or does the nature of the music make it open to interpretation? MD posed these and other questions to the drummers in Spock’s Beard, …

Hi, Modern Drummer readers! I play drums for the wonderfully talented Ruby Jane (jaw-dropping fiddle), and I have a soft spot for my rock project Cosmic Wolf.

The first drumset I owned was a Diamond Rock from JC Penney. My parents had to constantly replace the paper-thin heads because I was fervently trying to play the Police’s “Message in a Bottle.???

Following a two-hour private drum lesson awarded by composer and multi-instrumentalist Stewart Copeland to one very lucky local high school student, the founder of world famous rock band the Police openly wondered why his celebrity status keeps growing. The sixty-two year old Copeland, whose Facebook fan base tops 76,000, continues …

Following a two-hour private drum lesson awarded by composer and multi-instrumentalist Stewart Copeland to one very lucky local high school student, the founder of world famous rock band the Police openly wondered why his celebrity status keeps growing. The sixty-two year old Copeland, whose Facebook fan base tops 76,000, continues …

Our latest album, Representing, came out on May 13. Being in the studio and tracking multiple takes of a song helps you get tighter and allows certain fills or breakdowns to pop up in places that are unique. So never settle for the first take unless it’s the best!…

Good day, fellow Modern Drummer fanatics. Most of you don’t know who I am, but if you skim your way through this brief and painless memoir of my drumming existence, you’ll probably end up knowing more about me than you bargained for….

The road I took to get here was definitely curvy. Out of college, I toured with Lacy J. Dalton, and after that I worked extensively with local guys in Nashville, playing clubs, colleges, and even some cruise ship tours….

My professional recording career started in 1990 with Dog Society. After years of songwriting, club gigs, and sessions, the foursome was signed to Atlantic East West Records….

(on newsstands November 5, 2013) On the Cover George “Spanky” McCurdy “I’m always aware of what the fans need and what the artist is trying to do. If I’m coming in, it’s time to go higher, time to upgrade.” Lady Gaga’s drummer doesn’t mince words—but why be shy when you’ve …

I’m Nico Espinosa, drummer for Miami-based indie-rock band the Deaf Poets. I am originally from Entre Rios, Argentina, but Miami has been my home for the last thirteen years….

Hi! My name is Donagh O’Brien, and I play drums in Sweet Jane from Dublin, Ireland. This is a very exciting time for our band as we are gearing up to release our second album in September….

Question: What do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians? Answer: A drummer! With the prospect of being the butt of such drummer jokes, I have to ask myself the question, “Why did I choose to play drums????

An exclusive web-interview with Dave King of the Bad Plus.

My name is Luke Johnson, and I play drums in the band Lostprophets. We’re currently touring our fifth studio album, Weapons….

Hello, fellow time manipulators! I am truly honored to be given the opportunity to write this blog and to communicate with all of you! First, a little bit about my history and experience in the music industry. I’m a multi-instrumentalist. I began my career as a guitarist, being drawn to …

In his January 2012 Modern Drummer cover story, we dig deep with the drummer into the mentality of what it takes to be one of the most in-demand session players of the past twenty years.

In a Web-exclusive addendum to MD’s December 2011 cover story, we continue our conversation with Rush’s Neil Peart, discussing, among other topics, “drum solo week??? on Letterman, Neil’s surprise appearance at the KoSA Drum Camp, and the new Taking Center Stage DVD.

When I was really young my parents took me horseback riding, and the sound and feel of the rhythm got stuck in my head. It was then I knew I wanted to play drums. I come from a musical family: My mom was the lead singer/songwriter in an alt-rock band, …

My name is Matt Ochoa, and I play drums for the Dirty Heads. For those who don’t know us, we’re a reggae-infused rock band with a solid hip-hop influence. I’ve been with the group since ’07, and we’re currently recording our second album and getting ready for a co-headlining tour …

Jamaican music gets full-blown coverage in the fourth book of the Drum Atlas Series.

’Tis the season for Chad Smith followers, with new Chili Peppers and Chickenfoot music blowing up all over the place. MD and the Bombastic One recently grabbed some grub and talked about some of his favorite classic-rock albums.

More with the world-renowned right-hand man to rock’s singer-songwriter royalty, who is featured in the Different View column of this month’s issue of MD.

Hello, Modern Drummer readers. Marty Beller, drummer for They Might Be Giants, here. In 2000, I got a call from TMBG bassist Danny Weinkauf. We had met through guitarist Dan Miller, who I had toured with in my band Meow. He said they needed a drummer for a show on …

Welcome once again to the MD Readers Poll, where the greatest drummers on the planet are honored by the most educated drum fans around. Let’s get right to it: the envelope, please….

From the pages of the July 2011 Issue…It took a tragedy to make the members of Deftones stop their bickering and get back to the business of making music. Still, the band’s drummer reveals that some things—good and bad—never change….

The Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver founder on the great drummers he’s worked with—including Isaac Carpenter, who tears up The Taking, the third album by Duff’s band Loaded.

Hello, my name is Jamie Miller. Like the rest of the entries on the site, I will begin by saying I have been a huge fan of Modern Drummer magazine for a very long time and am pretty stoked to be writing this! With that said, I will give a …

When British rockers the Police launched onto the American airwaves in 1979, by way of the quirky new wave hit “Roxanne,??? the rock drumming community was introduced to one of its most innovative, controversial, and influential figures of all time…

What’s up, MD readers! Thanks for taking the time to read this blog entry, and a huge thanks to Modern Drummer for giving me the opportunity to do so! My name is Kevin Hogle, and I play in a band called 500 Miles To Memphis. We hail from Cincinnati, Ohio, …

My name is Robb Rivera and I punish the drums for a South Florida band called Nonpoint. I first started playing drums at the age of nine and I was and dabbling on guitar as well….

“To start, it is an honor to write for an outstanding magazine that caters to drummers and percussionists worldwide. MD is a great resource for the drumming community….”

The Echo Falls is a modern indie-folk-rock trio from Oakland, California. Our first CD is coming out next month and reception has been great already…

The longtime Letterman bandleader and keyboardist chats with MD about some of his favorite drummers.

My own little record store, containing only albums I still like after twenty-five years–that’s suddenly what all my records look like splayed out across my room.

My name's Guerin Blask, and I play drums for a band called the Urgency, based out of New York/Vermont.

My name's Guerin Blask, and I play drums for a band called the Urgency, based out of New York/Vermont.

With their new release, Common Existence, post-hardcore band Thursday returns as forceful as ever, driven by drummer Tucker Rule. Rule explains the concept of the album as “a culmination of all our records??? to date while still being a definitive step in the progression of their music…

My name is Oli Hecks, from England, currently living in Los Angeles…

My name is Oli Hecks, from England, currently living in Los Angeles…

I travel parts of this world with four close friends, and collectively we are known as People In Planes.

I started off as a rock drummer, but over time I’ve evolved into classical, jazz, and world-music playing styles…

I was introduced to drumming as a source of self-discipline at the age of eight. That's when I got a five-piece drumkit, fell in love with rhythm, and became obsessed. It became the center of my life….

This past April I wrapped up another tour, this time through South America with Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboard player Ray Manzarek….

Though Brian Reitzell is known in some circles as a drummer first, he maintains a “second??? career as a film music producer, choosing and in many cases composing and recording soundtrack music to many of the most highly regarded films of the past several years, including Friday Night Lights, Stranger …

In an industry that is fond of burning out young bands and tossing out their ashes with the trash, P.O.D. has been through the fire and come through purified and forged like a soldier’s blade…

By Billy Amendola Photos by Rob Shanahan Randy Cooke was born in Toronto, Canada, and has been playing drums since he was a kid. Influenced by his dad, a snare drummer for The Toronto Scottish Pipe & Drum Band, Randy began learning drums in the military drum corps known as …

Hi. Steve Mehlman reporting from Cleveland. I’ve been playing drums for a long time….

Hello. I'm Tim Turcott of The Exit Strategy, based out of Buffalo, NY/NYC/Philadelphia….

Nada Surf is one of the smartest, freshest-sounding rock bands of the past ten/fifteen years. And like they say, behind every brilliant band is an equally crafty drummer. Kit man Ira Elliot is as sharp as they get.

Since their debut album in 2002, Minus The Bear have staked an undeniably unique place on the music map. The band’s brand-new third studio album, Planet Of Ice, sees their formidable mix of imaginative odd-time manipulation and mega-precise performances scaling even further heights….

In the wee morning hours of 2004, Jason Bittner put on his slippers, leashed the hounds, and left his Albany, New York home to pick up the latest issue of Modern Drummer….

In 2001, Barry Kerch’s audition for Shinedown consisted of going into the studio, laying down tracks, and seeing what stuck. Within the tryout he performed the band’s eventual single, “45.???

Speaking with the fifty-three-year-old Copeland at his Brentwood, California studio about good times past and present, the drummer/composer/father of “fifty kids??? is typically erudite and humorous. Preparing for a tour with Gizmo and a Bonnaroo performance with Oysterhead, Copeland discusses drumming technique, his love for “borrowed chest hair??? music, the …

In the early ’90s, The Spin Doctors burst onto the music scene with a fresh, funky rock sound that generated several hits and millions of record sales. The band graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and drummer Aaron Comess became one of the most talked-about drummers of the time, …

Les Claypool sat down with MD Online to discuss an impressive partner in rhythm, his new bandmate in Oysterhead: Stewart Copeland.

Damien Fahey has a dilemma: These days he’s having a difficult time finding the time to play his drums. You see, Damien hosts one of MTV’s most popular shows, Total Request Live, which airs weekdays at 5:00 P.M. EST to an audience of 50 million viewers.

Growing up on a mix of R&B, pop, rock, and country, David Northrup, originally from Syracuse New York, moved south in the early ’90s playing sessions and gigging the Florida club scene. One of those gigs led him to meeting and working with ace session guitarist Les Dudek…

Tommy Lee is in a great mood, and he has every reason to be. His new CD, appropriately titled Never A Dull Moment, has just been released, and it’s off the hook! We recently caught up with Tommy while preparing for his upcoming tour.

MD Online caught up with Trey to get his thoughts on his new band, Oysterhead, and to gain some insight to the singular Stewart Copeland….

Audioslave’s Brad Wilk had plenty to say for MD’s April ’03 cover story. But there’s more! Check out the hard-hitting drummer’s comments on topics ranging from Audioslave’s incredible first video to the surprising similarities between The Police and Rage Against The Machine. (continue reading)

Quick: Who is the most visible drummer in the world right now? No doubt, it’s Adrian Young….

With all of the samplers, prerecorded loops, and programmers in the studio, how much of what we hear today from a drummer is actual acoustic drums or electronics? MD asked some of the best “hired guns” in the business to comment on their current role and gear requirements in the …

What do members of Faith No More, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, and Rage Against The Machine, as well as Bootsy Collins, Tom Waits, South Park co-creator Matt Stone, and legendary Police drummer Stewart Copeland all have in common? (continue reading)

A case can be made that Stewart Copeland is the single most influential drummer of the last twenty-plus years. A good case….

Les Claypool sat down with MD Online to discuss an impressive partner in rhythm, his new bandmate in Oysterhead: Stewart Copeland.

This time around, legendary guitarist John Scofield wasn’t looking for a jam-band drummer. With Adam Deitch, he went for the funk. The New York native handles all acoustic and electronic drumming on Scofield’s latest album, ‘berjam.