September 2017 Issue – Volume 41 • Number 9
Articles in September 2017
V-Classic - V.16 5th-Anniversary Cymbals
Funky new designs from one of Turkey’s most creative companies.
Skid Row’s Rob Hammersmith
As drummers, the idea of leaving home for a gig with just a few small items can be stressful. For most of us, the choices we make regarding gear are well-thought-out decisions based on research, experimentation, and experience. The idea…
Tesla’s Troy Luccketta
“Back in 1987, when I first signed with Tama, I wasn’t all that familiar with their drums,” says Troy Luccketta, who this year celebrates thirty years of touring with the veteran hard-rock band Tesla. “What Tama has done over the…
Drums From Above
A photographer focuses on a way to shoot pro drummers that is certain to appeal to the Erector Set kid in all of us.
Barry “Frosty” Smith Passes, D’Addario Awards Six Grants, Roland Announces New Partnership and More
Barry “Frosty” Smith Passes Barry “Frosty” Smith died this past April 12. The drummer, known by many for his work with the popular soul-rock organist and singer Lee Michaels, worked in multiple genres since the late 1960s, and his devotees…
10 Reasons to Love Bev Bevan
There likely weren’t many impassioned “Where’s Bev?” cries at the several dozen shows Electric Light Orchestra founder Jeff Lynne performed as “Jeff Lynne’s E.L.O.” during 2015 and 2016, and that’s understandable. Though longtime drummer Bev Bevan formed the Electric Light…
New releases by Adam Deitch, Man Forever, and Nate Smith
RECORDINGS Taking the Reins Man Forever Play What They Want With his latest drum project, Oneida’s John Colpitts, aka Kid Millions, trashes musical labels while thrashing his kit. Aided by contributions from the percussion ensemble Tigue and avant-garde icon Laurie…
Oceans Ate Alaska’s Chris Turner
Since 2011, the British technical metalcore group Oceans Ate Alaska has been carving its way through the modern hardcore scene, driven by drummer, primary composer, and chops madman Chris Turner. After releasing two EPs in 2012, the group signed to…
Your Voice
Each month, as we prepare content for the current issue of Modern Drummer, we post a drumming-related question at our online outlets, sort through responses from MD readers and social media followers, and print some of the answers in our…
On Topic: R&B Legend James Gadson
On Knowing When the Vibe Is Right It’s a feeling that comes over you. Everybody’s on the same wavelength. Before click tracks, the music really breathed. Pro Tools is cool, but it’s not as true as analog. On Starting Out…
Eddie Fisher
Bands get cut loose from record labels all the time, but finding a new home is much easier when a group’s drummer thinks and plays like a record producer. The members of OneRepublic can vouch for that. Eddie Fisher was…
Dams of the West’s Gabriela Jimeno and Chris Tomson
Roles flip, as the drummer for the indie-rock hitmakers Vampire Weekend steps out from behind the kit to front his own project while recruiting an established solo artist, frontwoman, and drummer to handle his grooves live. The New York–based, world-music-influenced…
Love Custom Drums - Brass, Copper, and Old Steel Snares
Versatile but unique shades of awesome at prices a working drummer can afford.