July 2018 Issue – Volume 42 • Number 7
Articles in July 2018
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.
Soundbrenner - Pulse Metronome
A wearable, vibrating device designed to eliminate the distractions of an audible click.
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.
Home Studio Drum Recording with Blair Sinta at ProMixAcademy.com
If you want a dose of reality, answer this question: When was the last time you recorded in a big-time studio with a generous budget and the freedom to experiment with drum sounds to your heart’s desire? The sad truth…
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…
Tempest - 8x14 Bell Bronze Snare
A massive German-made beast with a big, beefy voice to match.
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…
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.
The Boys Are Back in Town!
Hi, everyone. It feels as though I was just wishing you a happy New Year and we were all freezing in the cold—especially here in the northeast—and now I’m saying, “Happy summer!” Since we last spoke, I’ve been finishing up…
Kris Myers of Umphrey's McGee
Toasting its twentieth anniversary this year, Umphrey’s McGee is at the height of its powers, delighting fans with new music, raging shows, and an innovative approach to online outreach. That goes double for its ever-evolving drummer, who brings big beats…
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,…
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.
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…
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…
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…