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What bands were you in prior to your current one? This is the only band I've ever been in. Have you worked with anyone outside of your band? Actually back home I just had a jam session with some of my really old friends but I don't think it's really going to be anything more than that. Maybe one day but right now I'm on tour. How old were you when you decided to become a drummer? I was 12 and basically it was that I was really bored and I decided that I needed to do something with my time. Why did you decide to choose drumming as a career? Basically it's because what's not to like about beating the shit out of an inanimate object. You get to take your aggression out. You get a good workout. It gives you good discipline which I have a hard time having. It's just an amazing, amazing instrument to play. What bands were a major influence on you? In the early days I grew up with bands like Van Halen, KISS, AC/DC, the heavy metal of late '70s early '80s. Those bands were my initial introduction to music but now I listen to all kinds of different music. Some of my favorite bands right now are Figure Four, American Nightmare, Poison The Well which we're on tour with instead of Shadows Fall. They're awesome. The drummer from Shadows Fall is an amazing drummer. Mastodon, Most Precious Blood. Bands like that. Which drummers influence you and why? I wouldn't say that I ever really had an influence because of the fact that I didn't pick up the drums because I idolized somebody. I didn't really have an initial influence but I can tell you some of my favorite drummers. I love Vinnie Paul's style. He has a double kick pattern. The drummer from Mastodon, Ron, is the most amazing technical drummer in the entire world. If anybody gets a chance to see him I recommend it because he's just amazing and he's great. The drummer from Tool is a jazz based drummer. I just recently got a chance to see him from the side of the stage and I crapped my pants. I had to leave because he was way too good. Jason Bitner from Shadows Fall. Anybody that I recommend that people see because he's really good too. Tell us the specifics of your drum setup. Basic set. Two rack toms. Two floor toms which go as follows: 12", 13", 14", 16". 22" by 18" kick drum. I use Zildjian Z Series. I use Zes because I'm Canadian. The Zes Series cymbals. Basically I use 16", 17", an Oriental china which I think is an 18" or maybe 20". I use 22" big bell rides. My ride is really, really big and the little bells. Do you do warm-up exercises and if so, how do you warm up? I don't really. I just stretch. I'm not at the point where I'm playing three hour sets so I really don't want to tire myself out before I play. I'm always afraid of that. I try to warm up before and halfway through the set I'm like "oh my God. I'm going to die." I try not to do that too much. I just usually stretch a little bit. Do you use any kind of rudiments? No, not really. Just the basic paradiddles. That's about it. What other instruments can you play? A little bit ot guitar. A little bit of bass. Any wind instrument that doesn't involve the reed like trumpet, trombone, tuba. Any of those. Piano. The recorder. That's about it. Is there any piece of gear that you'd like to see come out? I'm not the type of person to be a gearhead. I fucking hate technology. It just drives me insane. Other than that, I think right now I'm really happy with everything that I have. How do you feel about triggers versus mic setups? I personally fucking hate triggers and I wish they were never invented. Just because of the sole fact that it's cheating. Because it's not your actual acoustic drum sound. People have tried to tell me to use triggers and I've told them to fuck off before. I personally would never use any sort of technology based aid just because I don't like technology and because of the fact that I really consider it cheating. How do you feel about playing to a sequencer for prerecorded backup vocals? I think that is awful, awful, awful pieces of shit. I consider that cheating too. I know a lot of bands out there who have extra drum tracks on a fucking dat. Extra vocals. Extra fucking bloops and beeps. Extra bass tracks. For the bands that don't use those things, it just makes us work so much harder than the other bands. It just takes so much away from bands that actually use mics and actually play their fucking instruments rather than having somebody just playing to a click track and have backup vocals like Disturbed for instance. The singer has harmonies on dat and it's disgusting. What monitor mix system is best for you and what do you like to hear in the mix? About a year ago I started using inner monitors and basically they're awesome. You get to hear everything. Every little thing you hear. I love lots of kick drum. I don't have to hear anything else but guitars, bass, and kick drums if I had to. I like to hear a little bit of vocals, a little bit of guitar, a little bit of bass, lots of kick drum, and a little bit of cymbals. I don't really need to hear much else. Do you sing as well as play drums? I don't sing in the band but I'm actually the only person in the band who's had classical vocal training. Do you play to the guitar with or the bass? A little bit of both. There are some parts in our songs where I have to listen to the guitar and there are some parts in the songs where I have to listen to the bass. I think most of the time it's conjoined of both of them together. There are some instances where I'm heedless to one or the other. How do you achieve the best drum sound in a studio situation? The most important thing for me is my kick drum above all. Basically what I use is woodbeaters with a metal kick drum pad so it has a nice clicking sound and lots and lots of kick drums. I just usually have little mics on the kick drum. It's usually a really pretty easy setup. I usually have this big fucking tent on my kick drum just because my kick drum is so important to me. What's your favorite drum sound on an album? I would have to say the drum sounds on ...And Justice For All, the Metallica album are some of the most advanced for their time. I just love how you turn it up to 10 and the kick drum rumbles your ass. It's so loud and you can't hear anything else but the kick drum and vocals on that record. A little bit of guitar but no bass whatsoever. I really love the drum sounds on that record. Do you have any pointers for anyone who is interested in learning to play drums and pursuing a career as a musician? Basically pick an instrument that revolves around your personality. If you seem like you want to play the drums you're going to suck. Honestly you're going to suck for the first year at least. You have to. It's inevitable. Just try. Just keep on going. Eventually you're going to get good. That's what happened with me anyway. Are you currently working on any special projects? Not right now. Maybe someday. Are there any particular bands you're listening to lately? Right now I've been listening to the new New Found Glory a lot. They're so good and it's totally not the music I usually listen to. It's just pop punk. It's awesome. How's the tour going so far? Everything's been going great. We're about two weeks into it now and it's going to be a long one. It'll be a really long haul. Last night we went to The Clubhouse and got really drunk. The whole tour came. Like 40 of us. We all got really, really, really wasted. The tour's been going great when you're having so much fun and everybody gets along wonderfully. It's so hard to find bands that don't have big egos and none of these bands do. Up until now we've had some pretty shitty tour mates but it's awesome now. .
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