Questions and Answers

Q: As a drummer myself, I’d like to know exactly what you are using right now (drums, cymbals), as every time I see the band the kit seems to be expanding. – Rhys Bradbury

A: Well, first I’ll say that it seems that every time I come around on tour, or do a new record, the kit does expand, because I constantly wanna change the set up to inspire new playing and new ideas. I’ve recently, this past year, going back to Tama, and I’m playing their new line the StarClassic drums, which are pretty much the state-of-the-art, high-tech ultimate drum. They spent a lot of time developing this drum through the years, and I’m real proud to be endorsing them. My new kit will make its premier with the next record and tour. I’m using Sabian cymbals as I have for many years now, Latin Percussion, Remo heads and Hot Sticks, and DW pedals.

Q: Which two bands, one current, and one defunct, would you go to see given the choice? – Martin Best

A: The defunct band would be Jellyfish. They broke up before I got to see them. The current band which is a favorite that I’ve never seen is Spock’s Beard.

Q: Which of your drumming heroes or influences do you hear in your own plane, or the way you approach a new piece? – Martin Best

A: I usually hear all of my drumming influences in my playing, from lick to lick. Every time I play a fill it’s like: ‘Wow yeah, that’s a Simon fill, a Terry fill.’ I can pinpoint where it came from in my life of listening and picking up fills. If I had to pinpoint my style it would be a cross between Neil Peart and Lars Ulrich, and Bill Bruford and Vinnie Paul. Polling somewhere between the progressive technique and the energetic metal.

Q: How long prior to a show do you spend warming up? – Alan Muirden

A: I usually stretch and warm up about a half hour or so. I usually watch our support band, and make a stage appearance with them, and when they’re done, the 30 minutes that the break tape is playing, in between the opening band and when we hit the stage, is when I stretch and warm up. I have a practice kit that I keep in the dressing room that I warm-up on.

Q: Do you have particular songs which you find more difficult to play than others? As a fellow drummer, I was wondering if you wore any ear protection? – Alan Muirden

A: Yeah. Usually the simple songs! Songs like Another Day, Lifting Shadows; usually the very straight ahead ones are very hard for me to play, because it is hard for me to lay back that much, especially in a live situation when the adrenaline is flowing, it’s hard for me to kick back and just play a simple song for five minutes. That’s usually the harder stuff for me. Ear protection is something that I don’t do. In fact all the other guys do except for me and Derek, so we are the deaf ones! I have yet to find ear protection that I am comfortable playing with. I know how damaging it is to play without it, so I am continuing to look for that right one.

Q: How many hours of practice did you put in a day to achieve your standard of playing? – Dan Mullins

A: When I was younger I would play anything from 3 to 6 hours a day. Usually just jamming along with records, and other bands, and stuff like that. These days I hardly get any time to practice, cos when we are on tour, my kit and myself is always traveling, and then when I’m home after a year long tour, the last thing I wanna do is be playing. I’d rather be sitting on the couch watching the Simpsons or boxing. These days I don’t really get to put the hours in. But I find that I’m always playing, cos I’m doing a lot of clinics these days, and playing with the band. I get a lot of productivity just playing ‘air drums’ when I can’t get behind a kit. I always say this: that the great thing about being a drummer is that, your instrument, which is your four limbs, is always with you. So whether you’re sitting at the dinner table, are sitting on the toilet, or whatever, you can constantly be tapping and coming up with creative phrasings and stuff like that. So if I can’t get behind the kit, I tried to ‘air drum’ and use mental practice.

Q: Have you ever received former schooling or are you self-taught? Also, do you have any published instructional videos or tapes? – Aaron Gainer

A: The formal training as far as the drums go, I would consider myself self-taught, or rather I would say that I come from the school of Frank Zappa/Neil Peart. Basically, I learned a lot about drum technique from listening to records, primarily Zappa and Rush for technique. I did have formal training at Berklee in ‘85/86 where I met John and John, put the band together blah blah blah. That was formal training, but I think that was more useful for me in the musical sense, where I learned about harmony, theory, arranging, ear training. I took all those type of classes at Berklee, so I think my formal training was more productive in my overall musical environment, as opposed to the actual drumming skills. As far as my video goes, I did one for a Japanese company last year, and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be released throughout the rest of the world sometime in ‘96, and will pass on the information as it becomes available.

Q: Who originally thought of reversing Majesty to become Ytse Jam? – Patricia McLoughlin

A: I will have to say, in all humbleness, it was mine! I don’t remember how it came about, maybe I was shaving and saw it in a mirror, I don’t know. Just an idea being clever.