The 180 Drums Podcast

Some lessons are learned quickly. Others take a lifetime to learn. Brian shares some lessons that it's taken him 26 years of professional drumming to learn.

The only thing that being a three-time CCMA Drummer of the year means is that you're willing to work hard, you've been blessed with great mentors, and learned some important lessons along the way. Ben just finished the most extensive tour in Canadian history with Brett Kissel, and shares about what the ups and downs look like.

Kevin's known to have some strong, but well-warranted opinions about drumming, the state of the biz, getting paid, and how social media has affected the quality of drummers. We felt like a podcast was the best place to expand on those.

Kevin's known to have some strong, but well-warranted opinions about drumming, the state of the biz, getting paid, and how social media has affected the quality of drummers. We felt like a podcast was the best place to expand on those. In Part 1, we focus on the music industry, styles, and his unique approach to teaching.

Jeremy plays with many artists. He may leave for a month long tour and have to sub out on some shows, but many artists choose to put him back in once he's back. Artist's can't seem to replace him, so we talk about why this might be.

Alex has been touring from a young age, and has been the ‘new guy” enough times to know how to react and grow quickly to fill the shoes.

Moving between Montreal, Toronto, and Paris to pursue music hasn't been easy for French-Canadian drummer Elie Bertrand, but it's given her diverse set of experiences to draw from. Aside from playing in many “normal” bands, Elie's also spent time on the road as a drummer on a comedy tour. Ya, a comedy tour.

How is it that a drum company charging more than almost any other brand, is expanding, growing, and thriving? Ramy, founder of A&F Drum Co explains the key decisions he's made to grow his company. Good thing for anyone listening, building a drum company is a lot like building a career as a drummer.

Max's purposefully made sure that the first time he played Miranda Lambert's songs were at his audition to play with her. Max intentionally steers clear from promoting many of his career highlights on the internet. At first glance, some of Max's advice might seem to come out of left field, but trust me, he ain't crazy.

Max's purposefully made sure that the first time he played Miranda Lambert's songs were at his audition to play with her. Max intentionally steers clear from promoting many of his career highlights on the internet. At first glance, some of Max's advice might seem to come out of left field, but trust me, he ain't crazy.

Paul spent his first day at Zildjian sweeping floors. Over 30 years later, he's the one designing the cymbals many of us use and love. If you've ever wondered how they make your favourite cymbal sound dark, gritty, earthy, sandy, washy(or whatever other adjectives you use to describe your cymbals), listen on.

As NF's drummer, Rhett's watched their career 10X over the last couple of years. It's the type of growth we all want to see and be a part of, but in addition to the upsides of being in that situation, it comes with some downsides that can't be ignored.

Aside from being an accomplished tin whistler, he plays drums in his spare time with artists like James Bay, and Niall Horan. He shares his thoughts on properly composing drums for a song, and why it's important to really get to know the artist well.

After getting a degree in Jazz Saxophone, Robbie's spent years hopping between drums, bass, and keys for Matt Mays, Deertick, Midland, and many more. As someone who's spent a lot of time on stage playing along with other drummers, he has a unique perspective on how to approach the drums in a band setting.

Since being a member of Beyonce's all female touring band, Nikki started her own band called the Nth Power. if she's not out playing with them, she's with Dumpstaphunk or Maceo Parker. She talks about how touring has changed her, and what motivates her to continue making music.

Sahir owns and runs two drum companies, Masters of Maple Drums, and Ghost Tech Touring. if he's not sourcing trees or building drums, he drum teching or staffing tours with tech personnel. He shares some of his experiences in running multiple companies in the music biz.

Drumming in the same band for the last twenty years is a unique situation that most of us drummers haven't found ourselves in. Many of us started playing in bands with our friends, but have moved on to playing with different artists. Riley and his bandmates in Thrice have found out how to keep four original members happy and working as a team to make music they all love.

Kenny's tech'd for many of the world's top drummers, and has developed some essential tuning tricks that will make your life a lot simpler. He shares about what his job as a tech looks like, and some of the most important details in being a great tech.

Before touring with Julia Michaels, brooks spent time not he road with many other great artists like Adam Lambert, Demi Lovato, Skyler Grey, and many more. Understanding your role on each gig, and how it can change from artist to artist is extremely important. Brook tells us how he susses out the feel of an artist, and how to approach the music.

Dylan specializes in drumming in recording real drums for hip-hop, pop, and anything that needs really specific sounds. He walks us through why it took over 2 days to find the perfect sounds for a 6 note loop for Girl On Fire, by Alicia Keys.

In any given week, Jeremy could have shows with 5 different artists. We talk about his preparation approach, and how he manages each situation with care, and how to keep getting hired by prioritizing the artists' needs.

Andrew grew up on a tour bus, travelling with his family band. He started cutting his teeth at 11 when he replaced the drummer. Since, he's moved to Nashville from northern Canada to tour full time with High Valley, and explains how to legally move to the US as a musician.

Between a knife fight and a basketball injury, Hubert's lucky to be alive, let alone play drums. He is no stranger to adversity, and talks about taking action, creating forward momentum, ensuring your always better than you were yesterday.

Zack's shares some of his most memorable moments with Springsteen, Bowie, Gwen Stefani, and how he's used drumming to really explore other cultures.

Not receiving credit for a song/album you've recorded on sucks. Wolf's been improperly credited (or not-credited) for Grammy-winning albums. He covers all of the details on how he makes sure he receives proper credit now.

Stan has different goals than most drummers, he doesn't want to tour, he doesn't want to depend on drumming to pay his bills. He wants drumming to be his creative outlet, and not a burden. He explains why he's opted out of the touring world, and uses drumming to enrich his life daily.

We always hear the advice telling us to take every gig we get offered. At some point in our career, it becomes really important to know when not to take a gig. Wolf gives us his criteria for taking or not taking gigs.

After spending a decade on tour with Katy Perry as music director and drummer, Adam's joined the house band for American Idol. He gives us a closer look at how these two gigs challenge in different ways as a drummer

The industry is changing faster than it ever has in the past. To thrive and succeed, it's become imperative to adapt and reinvent how you play, how you work, and how you run your business. Wolf's been kicking ass as a drummer, producer, and drum programmer for decades, and shares how he's been in a constant state of change.

Jimmy is the OG of drum programming and had a front seat to the transition that took place as drum programming began to take over modern record productions. He shares what it was like, why it happened, and where it's at now.

Working remotely as a studio musician has become increasingly popular. Wolf has done a lot of both and breaks down the pro's and con's of each arrangement, and why he prefers one over the other.

Stanley's got pocket, and he shares about how he develops it, what he listens to on stage, how he interacts with percussionists, and what records he thinks help develop great feel.

We all fall into a trap where we look up to our favourite drummers and make an attempt to emulate what they do because if it works for them, it must work for me… Josh shares his insights on how to discern any incoming advice.

If Sean's not out with FGL, he's speaking to school students about how to achieve success in their lives, to which Sean is a perfect example who at 47, is performing at his best. 

Dave Debunks rumours about the body mechanics of a drummer, and about practice.

Joe was on the brink of finding a new career, when he started building a career with Ellie Goulding. Assuming the role of Creative Director for earlier tours, and now working endlessly as a musical director to develop a new approach, rather than playing along to a wall of tracks for an arena show, finding ways to create the tracks live.

Despite being a hired gun, Ben explains how he and the whole band act as a group who are all mutually invested in Rag N Bone Man's success.

Charles explains the difference between drumming for Ed Sheeran, Gaga, Kayne, and Ayo.

With a decade of arena tours under his belt with Carrie Underwood, Garrett's been through it all and gives us 5 specific experiences where he's learned his lesson the hard way on stage, and how he avoids it for the next time.

Chris explains how crucial it is to diversify your revenue sources and deconstructs his day to day responsibilities as a bandleader with Thomas Rhett.

The man that's drummed and programmed drums on countless hits deconstructs his process for programming drums. He covers exactly what programs he uses, his steps, specific techniques, how long it takes him, and when a song needs real drums or programmed drums. We take a closer look at how a major label studio record is made.

Hip-hop drumming is a different beast, and Dan has great insight on what to expect, and how it differs from other gigs. Dan's also a monster video content engine and is constantly growing his online brand with video. He shares some his insight on how to best use video to grow your brand.

From getting fired from his full-time gig to drumming with Keith Urban and Little Big Town, Seth shares his ups and downs his career, along with how perfectly balances the demands of being a family man and a working drummer.

Adrian was a part of the first ever international theatre production to perform in Saudi Arabia. He shares his experience of what it's like to perform to an arena of people who have never seen a concert before, and what it was like to meet fellow drummers in a country that playing music was illegal for so long.

Tucker compares his experiences with different artists and breaks down the distinct differences between being a hired gun, and a band member, along with some really important lessons he's learned in both.

Mike gives us a look into his day to day performance and production rehearsals with Shawn Mendes, and how they make the most of their time on tour, to continuously practice for upcoming performances. He shares his unique approach to taking auditions, and how he's used visualization to keep focused on his goals.

Ben is a touring/sessions drummer based in Nashville, TN. He's often so busy that he clocks more than 300 gigs a year. Ben is currently on tour with LOCASH. 

Christian talks about finding out what he's really good at as a drummer, and running with it, rather than fighting to try to be good at everything. He elaborates on how he measures success in his music career, and why he's built multiple revenue streams.

Greg has niched his way into the LA pop scene, touring with artists including Selena Gomez, Zella Day, Kristin Maldanado, Grace Vanderwaal, Christina Grimmie, Filter, etc… Attending Musician's Institute taught him some important lessons when it comes to auditioning and taking risks.

Marco Minnemann! The extreme drumming legend. Author of many books and DVDs, and has played for some incredible artists including Paul Gilbert, The Aristocrats, and currently Joe Satriani.

Previously drumming in the CCM world with Crowder has prepped Christian for his role with Maren Morris. Currently on tour supporting Sam Hunt, Christian is playing some of the biggest arenas across North America.