feature
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.
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…
Pat Wilson: Hearing Red
When Weezer entered the studio to track their sixth album, the band was committed to finding a fresh approach to their recording experience. “Recording The Red Album was a struggle in some ways,” admits drummer Pat Wilson. “The songs on…
J. Mascis: A Double Life
There’s J. Mascis, singer, speaker-shredding guitarist, and chief architect of Dinosaur Jr.’s very loud and deceptively tuneful sound. Then there’s J. Mascis, balls-to-the-wall hard rock drummer for Witch, and hoarder of 28" kick drums. “My first was a marching drum…
The Yellowjackets' Marcus Baylor: Total Awareness
by Paul Wells “I don’t hear music in categories; I hear music as a sound.” The Yellowjackets are a bit of a mystery in a jazz world that likes to conveniently categorize its various styles. You can’t describe them as…
Brian Frasier-Moore: Born to Play
by Robyn Flans “I am not much impressed by drummers these days; I always end up preferring drum loops to live drummers. But when Brian plays, you pay attention.”–Madonna Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Ciara, Janet Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Babyface, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet…
Glen Graham: Back With Friends
It’s a hard thing to lose a loved one, especially when not only is it a close friend, but also the front man and voice of your top-selling band. “It was a very difficult thing to go through,” admits Blind…
Thomas Pridgen: Turning Bedlam Into Beats
by Ken Micallef “I want to play stuff that hasn’t been played before, stuff that will make people wig out.” Twenty-four-year-old Thomas Pridgen unleashes the most rabid drumming in recent memory on The Mars Volta’s The Bedlam In Goliath. Of…
Deen Castronovo: The Journey Of A Decade, The Career Of A Lifetime
by Mike Haid During the heyday of metal music in the ’80s, an underground subgenre known as “shred metal” emerged. The shred style focused mainly on high-energy, neo-classical instrumental rock, which required a drummer to be fast, powerful, and technically…
Brian Blade: Always Be Reacting
by Ken Micallef “I’m always trying to tune in to what the other musicians are sending out, and then reacting to that as quickly as possible. If I’m thinking when I’m on the bandstand, I know I’m in trouble.”…
Testament's Paul Bostaph: Metal Risk Taker
by Waleed Rashidi “The demand on modern metal drumming is such that you have to be able to play a lot more syncopated patterns with your feet. I can’t approach double bass the way I used to.” Slayer, Testament, Exodus,…
Darren King : Freedom To Fail
You’d never know it by listening to Mute Math’s terrific debut album, but drummer Darren King got his act together not by playing his best, but by playing his worst. In between demoing songs for the band’s forthcoming album in…
The Great Levon Helm
Story by Ken Micallef Photos by Paul La Raia “You have to play some good music to get the people on the floor. I want to hear the meat. Until you can do that, it’s suspect to me.” There are…
Jimmy “The Rev??? Sullivan
“I have a clear vision of what I’m going to do before I go in there,” says Avenged Sevenfold’s speedy stickman, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. After recording an album as diverse and detailed as the band’s latest self-titled affair, he…
Alex Van Halen: Bashing and Crashing In the Here and Now
by Ken Micallef Practically joined at the hip to his brother Eddie, nephew Wolfgang, and David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen has finally returned to the road with the band that bears his name. It’s been four years since the…
