July 2018 Issue – Volume 42 • Number 7
Articles in July 2018
Ben Koller on the Armed’s Only Love
The constantly engaged metal-drumming madman gets conned into recording one of the year’s most brutally raw albums— with a few surprises.
Drumset Ergonomics - Part 1: An Introduction
Hello, Modern Drummer readers. My name is Brandon Green, and I’m the owner of a muscle system health and fitness studio in Newmarket, Ontario, called Strata Internal Performance. I’m also a drummer. My mission is to help people move better…
What’s Your Favorite Simon Phillips Performance?
This month we check in with Simon Phillips, the U.K. jazz, fusion, and rock monster and former Toto drummer, who’s on the road in support of his latest solo project, Protocol 4. To find out which performances from the versatile…
Adam Levin with X Ambassadors
The group’s founding drummer embraces hybrid roles in the studio and on the road with the alternative pop/rock stars.
La Luz’s Marian Li-Pino
At the time of this interview, Marian Li-Pino of L.A.-based-via-Seattle psych-surf band La Luz had just returned from finishing their new album, Floating Features, at Dan Auerbach’s Nashville-based Easy Eye Studio. Li-Pino was riding high and excited about the creative…
Four-Foot Fiend
Mike Eaton, the drummer for the Colorado-based Christian rock band Renewed, assembled this month’s featured set with the goal of minimizing his touring kit’s overall footprint onstage. “I’d always imagined mounting several cymbals and drums using a very minimal amount…
Leon “Ndugu” Chancler: 1952-2018
Veteran MD contributor Robin Tolleson remembers the drummer, who made enormous musical contributions across multiple genres and coached scores of players in their own pursuit of greatness.
New Drum Gear from DW Drums, Paiste, Los Cabos Drumsticks, Spaun, Auralex and More!
Los Cabos Drumsticks Pro Series Line The new Pro Series drumstick line features two artist models. The red hickory David McGraw stick measures .680"x16". The white hickory Lee Stanton stick is .613"x16" and is said to offer more power at…
Symrna - Neoclassic and Araf Series Cymbals
Modern-sounding yet traditionally handcrafted Turkish instruments.
Drum Wisdom: Susie Ibarra
The highly regarded player/educator, who as usual has a number of fascinating new projects coming to fruition, shares her priorities on and off the bandstand.
John McEntire on the Sea and Cake’s Any Day
The multi-instrumentalist and Tortoise drummer ably anchors this Chicago indie-rock group’s outstanding new release.
Legendary Blues Drummer Sam Lay Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and More
Sam Lay This past May 9, the Blues Foundation, a Memphis-based nonprofit organization that preserves and celebrates blues heritage, inducted their thirty-ninth class of Blues Hall of Fame members at the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education in Memphis,…
Seether’s John Humphrey
To translate the heavy, hard-hitting drum sounds on modern-rock band Seether’s seventh studio album, Poison the Parish, to the stage, longtime drummer John Humphrey has returned to the brand that he started with as a child. “My first drumset was…
Must-Know Grooves - The Blues Shuffle
Although the blues is considered an American art form, it’s a genre of music that resonates around the world. With that in mind, if you’re a drummer trying to connect with new musicians, there’s no better opportunity to do so…
A Perfect Circle’s Jeff Friedl
Watching and listening to Jeff Friedl play drums is like studying a veteran chess grandmaster. All the moves are deliberate, nothing is about speed or rushing to execute ideas, and there’s a thought-out intelligence to every decision. As the drummer…