Podcasts about drumgab

Benny Greb is one of the most celebrated drummers over the last ten years. With his acclaimed educational content such as “The Art and Science of Groove” and “The Language of Drumming”, Benny has been opening up the minds of drummers in a unique way. He currently has another book that is due to launch in Q1 2020. Along with his educational content, Benny is well known for his original music with his Grebfruit albums and his fusion trio Moving Parts. Benny also holds clinics and camps worldwide to expand the knowledge and abilities of drummers. I would imagine it would be an amazing experience for anyone who attends.   A Big Opportunity   Since running this podcast I have always hoped that one day I would have an opportunity to interview Benny. Any content that I have viewed, Benny stands out to me as an exceptional communicator, teacher, and performer. He would bring up concepts that went further than simply the mechanics of drumming by also implementing the psychological and scientific aspects of how we play. He breaks these concepts down into very understandable smaller parts so that literally anyone can understand it. Looking at Benny’s performances will also very quickly indicate to you that he is very methodical and intentional about his musical decisions and execution. So with all of these ingredients, you might imagine that an interview with Benny would be very eye-opening and an event that I would be very excited to present to all of you. And you would be right — mostly.   If you have been listening to DrumeoGab, or in its earlier days, DrumGab, you will know that I like to promote the idea of pursuing your work with integrity and to push yourself to reach greater heights with your art. Stagnation usually leads to boredom. So, I think it is important to step out of your comfort zone and do things to the best of your abilities. With Benny’s interview, I prepped a lot and tried my best to design something a bit different for listeners that would challenge myself with being able to host it. It was all really deep subject matter that brought curiosities forward but I hadn’t fully established my own thoughts on it yet. Instead, I wanted to see what Benny would bring forward and discover what kind of conversation could be had from the questions I had. I also enjoy challenging my guests with these deeper subjects as well.   All was going quite well I thought and then towards the end, I asked a question that would end on one word that would essentially ruin the question. The question was whether a drummer should spend their time mastering one to three styles of music or if it is better to know a lot of styles — but just a little bit. Nothing too in-depth or “masterful” so to speak. We as drummers hear a lot of people suggesting that in order to have a better shot at a stable career that we should learn as many styles of music as possible. But how is that information being handled? This is my curiosity. Are people just dipping their toe in styles or are they spending a great deal of time in a style of music and as a result finding their own voice within that style? So the question seemed pretty interesting to me when it is phrased that way. It seems like something people may want some clarification on but I really flubbed the question. I said, “should you half-ass it all?” which is absolutely horrible wording. It also contradicts how I approach this podcast and I personally don’t think that anything should be half-assed whatsoever. But I said it. And instantly, I regretted it.   During the interview with Benny, I felt what was best was to just let it pass and try to continue with the interview without having to defend myself at that moment, even though my ego felt the need to pipe up to try and regain some worth. It was tough making a big mistake on the podcast with Benny. I don’t know why the word came out of my mouth. It just kinda popped out of there and before I thought to stutter a bit and readjust my question, I committed instead.  It was this type of catastrophe that I used to worry about happening when I first got into doing this podcast. It is the kind of event that I never wanted to have happened because I am not good at feeling embarrassed and I have a perfectionistic approach with this show. Whenever embarrassment happens I have a tendency to ruminate on my embarrassment and it cuts away at my confidence quite a lot. So what did I learn from this?   Growing Pains   The episode is titled “Growing Pains” because that is what I had experienced making this one. It connected me again with the fragile side of my ego that has always been a bit soft.   Before I continue though, I need to hit rewind a little bit.   When I started the podcast people were saying, “it’s really good considering you have practically no experience! Keep doing it!” What does that really mean? Well, I guess translated it means, “it isn’t very good yet but I think it will be good once you learn more about how to do it. Definitely stick with it.” So even from the beginning when I was incredibly uncertain about myself doing this kind of work, people were very gentle with their feedback. As the show grew and I felt that the content was becoming much better, I felt that the feedback was far more natural sounding. People were telling me often how much they look forward to it, that it was making a big difference in their personal lives and with their approach to drumming. The feedback has been really great, with only a few small comments stating otherwise. But that is the thing, I haven’t had much “bad” stuff to deal with while making this show. It has all been very good and it has been easy to feel positive about the work.   To clarify, I have also been very careful not to get too comfortable or confident either. Believe me, I still get nervous butterflies with every interview. I always want to hit a home run. It is very tough for me if I feel that I didn’t. This is why I prep so much and pour so much love into the work because I am actually really afraid to fail. That feeling of embarrassment is one of my biggest fears.   For my listeners, you must know the following about me. I grew up being incredibly self-conscious. Even something as insignificant as playing a game of basketball as a kid was stressful because I wouldn’t want to trip over the ball, miss a shot, miss a pass, or anything that put me in a place of inferiority to my peers. I didn’t want my teammates to say I was the reason why they lost the game. Overall, I wanted to be accepted. This mental strain actually caused a lot of these “misses” to happen and I felt like the loser on the team. In school, I was always the last person to be picked to be on a team for gym class because most of the kids didn’t like me much. And that became my truth.   Fast forward a few years later — I was always in a band, playing a lot of shows and having a lot of fun with music. I would come off the bandstand and my bandmates would tell me how tight the show was, and some members of the audience would say how they dug my playing. I got told this all the time. Hugs all around and everything is alright! I felt like I was competent at something! I was being accepted for a skill that I had.   Once I packed in playing music, due to Harrison arriving soon and needing something different for myself, I decided that I would start up a podcast. And again, I found something that really worked with me. I have felt a bit embarrassed or self-conscious a few times for sure, but I knew it was all part of growing with the show. The difference was that it was always in micro-doses, never a full blast of it. And that all changed with this episode. The thing I was trying to protect myself from by over preparing, over-editing, and playing it a bit safe with questions lead me to what I needed. A big jolt of something that would force me to make a decision that would test my comfort levels like no other time in this podcast. Do I keep the part of the podcast that I cringe at when I hear it? Or do I remove it and continue to be safe from humiliation?   Making A Tougher Decision Always Has A Better Outcome   Even writing this article took me about a week to visit. The reason being that I have to relive the bad feeling. As you heard in the intro to this episode I confronted it once already, and it felt GREAT when I faced my fear. I felt so uplifted and proud that I decided to keep something in the show that I felt was as embarrassing as running down my neighborhood naked with a cowboy hat on. But coming up to the release of this episode I am once again feeling a bit worried about what people might think when they hear it. Will any credibility I had built be lost? Will people make fun of me when they are listening to it and praise Benny for pointing it out? Is it going to be spread around on the internet as the big highlight to this episode? Will fans of the show email me about it to ask what went wrong this time? So now as I observe it again, I am hoping I can let go a bit.   As you build something and the momentum grows as this podcast has experienced, you feel even more need to protect it. It can become this thing that you place on a pedestal. Like a game of Jenga, you are more reckless at the beginning of that game than you are towards the end when you know it could all fall down. With the relationships I have formed, the wide listener base that comes here to get their weekly dose of podcasting goodness, and the growing sense of responsibility to everyone above, I am feeling the imposter syndrome more than ever.   I was told once by a good friend, Ned Burwell, that a decision should be looked at as a circle with a line running through the center. The center line represents a neutral state. On the right side of the circle starting in the middle is the hard decision. It is a vertical climb to get to the top and then an easy fall to get back to neutral again. An easy decision is represented on the left side of center on the circle. You can fall down the edge of the circle but it is a hard climb to return to neutral. This concept has become one of the most influential things to me when I need to make a decision. In this case, I felt it was no different. I had to make the hard decision in order to live with myself easier. I also had to do it not just for me but to inspire you too. I want people to make decisions that challenge them for the right reasons. I could have removed that part of the show and avoid my humiliation but instead, I thought it would be best if I just owned it instead. It is what I promote after all.   With More Influence Comes More Responsibility   As you become someone that people look to for inspiration and advice I feel that it is absolutely crucial that you practice what you preach. That might seem incredibly obvious and it kind of is. But doing it can be tough especially if you think there is a chance to avoid it. It negatively affects your confidence if you know in your conscious that you aren’t living up to what you promote.   We live in a world now with social media influencers everywhere. The potential issue with that is simple. Social media doesn’t have to be real to be believed. We can edit and filter out all of the stuff we don’t like about ourselves through it. We can essentially lie to both our audience and ourselves and only we will truly know that. Personally, I don’t want to live with that burden. That also means that I have to grow to become a person that truly doesn’t care what people think about me. If I know myself that if I am being honest with myself and my audience, that is all I can do. I should feel liberated to show my scars and insecurities. I should also feel liberated to show my successes too. Overall, we need to accept what is. We need to practice what we preach.   Ned told me another amazing thing once about trajectory and influence. Let’s pretend that we are a ship setting sail. The trajectory is going to be one hundred miles. In order to get to our destination, we must sail perfectly forward on the trajectory to meet our destination. If our moral compass is off by one or two degrees, it has less impact if we have only traveled five miles. You may only be off center by a few feet and it is easy to get back on course. But if we are have traveled one hundred miles and haven’t checked our moral compass we could find ourselves off course by many miles. So what do the one hundred miles vs five miles represent? It represents influence. As we gain influence in the world we must be more aware of our moral compass because we are now affecting more and more people. The intention behind our actions has to come from the right place. Many things can have an effect on our moral compass and so we need to check in with it every so often. As an example, I have heard of some people falling into what is called “the messiah complex” by becoming really influential. It is a real thing, look it up if you don’t believe me.   I am always trying my best to stay humble and remember that loser kid that no one liked. I feel grateful that I have an audience that adores this podcast. You come here each and every week to get your weekly dose of quality media that I try so hard to ensure it is good for you. (Hence the catchphrase for this podcast has always been, “It’s good for you”) I don’t ever want to be misguided by my desires, for acceptance. I just want to make my show and learn more about how to be a better version of myself, have great experiences (like this one), grow the show in every way, and develop more relationships. In addition to that, if people are learning, growing, achieving, facing their fears, working hard and being respectful and kind to other people too — then I am very happy with that.   Face Your Fears   With this decision to leave in something that I am insecure about is the very thing I needed. I needed it to see for myself where I stand with my own growth as a person and to ensure that you, my audience, understand my intent with this media. I hope that after you hear this episode that you feel that it is a great thing to own your failures, observe them for what they are, and move on as soon as possible. It is all part of the process. I can also guarantee each and every one of you that growth lies on the other side of your fears. It is better to face them now and see what they really are instead of allowing them to fester in your mind.   You have to prove to yourself time and time again that your fears are not what your mind makes them seem. It is nothing more than something your mind has conjured up in order to prevent you from moving forward. I also think other people are wanting to see other people set the example of walking through their fears before they take their first step. So be the person that shows others the way. Be encouraging to your peers who you know to struggle with moving past their fears. Once fear turns to worry, it only becomes harder to move forward.   I hope you all have a tremendous week and thank you for coming along on this leg of the journey to finding more growth within myself and maybe even you too.    I also want to say a huge thank you to Benny for spending his time with me on this episode to provide some incredibly thoughtful insights in this interview. Also, with teaching me more about myself.   Music used in this episode:   “Barking” - Benny Greb Moving Parts “Stabila” - Benny Greb Moving Parts “Bunker” - Benny Greb Moving Parts   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP3o84bMduE   Benny’s Socials   Instagram Facebook Website   Drumeo Gab’s Socials   Instagram Facebook

Sarah Thawer has been on the show once before, as you might recall. It’s coming up two years ago in October and Sarah’s career has grown immensely since then. She has been involved in many things since then including international drum festivals and drum clinics, major video shoots for the companies she endorses, Drumeo, VF Jams, international touring with Watsky. She even started her own jazz outfit called “Sarah Thawer and Friends”. It is absolutely crazy what she has been accomplishing. She is totally in it.   After our interview, Sarah performed at the Victoria Drum Festival and she absolutely killed it. I swear that she has improved greatly since the last time I saw her perform. It appears that there are no limits to what she wants to achieve as a musician and this episode really brings out the “how’s and why’s” to her success. She is incredibly diligent, hard-working, intelligent, musically educated, creative, passionate, unique and kind. I can’t see how anyone couldn’t love Sarah. She has captured an amazing audience to cheer her on and so I wanted to name this one after the many times during her tour with Watsky where the audience would chant “Go, Sarah, Go, Sarah, GO!!” during her drum solos every night.   What needs control and what doesn’t   When Sarah and I first chatted on the podcast she had talked about her level of exhaustion and how her schedule was filling up fast. She was learning how to keep it all organized and together. The level of dedication and work she puts towards the instrument must have been tiring, and then for that to produce the big opportunities while trying to continue evolving with her drumming must have been tough for her. So with all of that in the back of my head going into this interview, I wondered how Sarah was feeling these days ‘cause it hasn’t slowed down much!   Interestingly, Sarah not only appeared to be more relaxed than before, but she also seemed more confident and in control. Everything that she spoke as a response happened so quickly and firmly. She had figured out a way to slow things down when she needed to. Mediation became a big part of her routine to calm herself and also be more present mentally during her performances. Even when stressful situations arise, such as the story where her parents’ car got towed just one hour prior to a gig, she still managed to focus on the gig and set the drama to one side for the sake of the gig.   The other thing is her scheduling habits and the spreadsheets she creates for music that she needs to listen to, or practice related stuff for an example. She is able to control what is in her control and let go of what is not to be controlled. This is by far one of the most incredible revelations anyone can have about their lifestyle. It is scalable and realistic. Being well organized is so important of course, but also allowing spontaneous moments to arise is important as well. A mixture of the two is what I am gathering from Sarah. Be real   A big topic that we cover in the interview is directed toward attention seeking, social media addicted, phony people who chase something for the wrong reasons. This may be a part of the episode that triggers a part of you that doesn’t sit very comfortably.   I think it is human nature to want to be seen. We want acknowledgment. We want praise. But for what?   That is the question that each and every person should be answering.   What if we don’t feel “cool” enough or that our lives aren't constantly being packed with adventure? Can we compete with what we see online? How can we decorate our lives through social media to appear relevant and worth checking out? Personally, I think it is all about finding something that we can obsess over that brings us knowledge, experiences, skills, income, confidence and through those things we can advance. But what if what we do isn’t something we think is exceptional and makes us feel insecure? What else can there be for us to feel confident to share with the world what we are doing?   I would suspect that there are a lot of people who do feel a bit underwhelming compared to what they admire on social media and so compensation enters the picture. Fortunately, social media has been designed to make our lives seem more exciting than ever! And we can put any filter we want on our reality too!! Insecurity combined with a desire to feel worthy is maybe one of the main reasons why this exists for so many of us and why we decide to live in our phones instead of our waking lives.   So, if we never have to face the world that we have represented ourselves through social media filtering, we are safe. All is well and we can continue to live out our “ideal” image that we create. But what if a social media account turns influencer? What if we get to a point where social media “you” and the real you collide together in the flesh? Do you feel able to stack up to what you have portrayed?   When I created DrumGab, I hid behind it a lot. Due to a myriad of situations that cut away at my self-worth, I really felt convinced that I didn’t stack up to how my podcast was being accepted. Like sure, DrumGab might be cool but I am not. I won’t lie about the fact that I heavily edited my show because I hated the way I sounded. I would feel embarrassed if anyone heard the audio while I was editing it. I was terribly insecure about myself and yet I continued to make the show. When I think about it, I actually cannot believe how willing and obsessed I was making the podcast. It was an exercise of taking the raw audio (that I almost always thought was awful) and turn it into something I could really love. That was the experience for me over and over again. It wasn’t until I was sixty or so episodes deep that I was starting to enjoy the raw audio and I got excited about how much I could add production to make them even better!   Then one day I found myself on an airplane heading to Drumeo to meet Todd Sucherman and to interview him. I was originally very excited about it. I couldn’t believe where the podcast had taken me! As time went on I began to realize that what I had become comfortable with, was no longer present. I had to step into the now famous and iconic, “Studio A” at Drumeo and proceed to interview drumming royalty. Me!! Well, I can tell you that the occasions have been few where I felt pressure like that in my life. All of my podcasts were crafted quietly, privately, and in the safety of my home. And all of that work was now amounting to this. I now had to host an interview in front of people who were fully convinced that I was the right person for this job.   So, how was it? Well, it was scary. Very scary. But I have only been that focused a few times in my life. I remember most of that interview by memory because of how involved I was in that moment with Todd. I also felt a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders when it was over. I actually managed to do what was expected of me. And this may sound like I am being incredibly hard on myself and you aren’t wrong. I rip my own work to shreds in my mind. I am always looking for how I can get better at this. I am incredibly picky with how I conduct interviews and what I am trying to achieve with them. But I also know about the edits I used to make. I know about how I feel before an interview. It is all a little bit shaky at times.   I feel that if I wasn’t editing the show and I always did face to face interviews, Todd’s wouldn’t have been as scary. But Skype interviews allow you some protection. Something to feel safer behind. And that is almost all I ever did.   I feel that with social media we can feel that safety as well. We edit stuff and then put it out. We give a lot of thought to our message or how we format captions to gain more engagement with our content. But if that is all you ever do, what are you like in person? Without naming names, there have been people I thought I knew over social media and then met in person and it was so different. It’s like, um where is the person I was following on IG? Where is he at? ‘Cause this person in front of me right now seems uncomfortable and well….different.   So use social media for the right reasons. Be real on it. Face the fear of being ignored, mocked, or posting less than perfection. If you are being real on socials, then you have nothing else to live up to but yourself. It makes everything much more comfortable and you will be happy you did it.   Inject your passions into your life   The last thing I want to cover regarding the episode is why you NEED to inject your passions into your life. These are the activities that you cannot wait to learn more about, practice, perform and so on. It doesn’t even have to be drums. But let’s be honest, it probably is if you are reading this. But anyways, I think every person should assess what they want out of their passions. Once that is done, decide how long you are willing to wait to become what you want to be within your given passion. Based on that, work accordingly while maintaining the obsession. Even the most incredibly interesting new thing that pops up in your life may fade into oblivion and fall into the “I used to be into that” category.   I feel that when we have our own “thing” that we are chipping away at, it has the potential to fulfill us in a deep and meaningful way. I have always been the kind of guy who likes to have a couple of hobbies going at all times. One of which is Disc Golf. It gives me a chance to watch the flight of a disc, walk through a wooded course, have some level of competition with myself, and learn the technique involved. Plus, I have a few buddies that are into it, so it gives us a chance to catch up and hang out for an afternoon. Do I want to become a pro? Nope. I just want to have it in my life as something fun to do, and keep it being fun.   I think this is what drumming has been for me for most of my life as well. Although I did believe when I was young that I wanted to be a pro. It was something that I felt was not going to be approved by my parents and so I settled on just playing. Due to the fact that I had not believed that being a pro drummer was something that could be, I left drumming as a passion. It actually did bother me a lot for many years that I didn’t pursue a life in music. Usually, this would be the commentary I would vocalize when I was having a terrible day in my construction job. Fortunately, that dream became revealed to me in the form of a drumming podcast which I must admit filled that void I had all those years.   I guess my point to this is that you should have some passions in your life to keep you from rotting your brain in front of a TV set. Keep sharpening the skills that make you feel unique and confident. I think that if you have your own thing to work on, all aspects of your life can benefit from it.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KKZ-SaVZhA Sarah’s Socials   Instagram Facebook Website   Drumeo Gab’s Socials   Instagram Facebook

Murray Creed is one hell of a guy. The Victoria Drum Festival celebrated its 10th year anniversary this year and what an amazing job he and his team did! There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes, and I am not going to pretend like I even remotely understand what goes into this, however, it is safe to say that the list of duties is indeed plentiful. So why would someone decide that they would like to run a drumming festival? As Murray explains in this short interview, it was a way for him to celebrate the tenth anniversary of upon business “Groove Studios” in Victoria, British Columbia and inspire the local drumming community simultaneously. The reality of hosting and organizing an event like this must be a labor of love first and foremost. With all of the conversations I have had with Murray, he and his family are very much committed to making this festival happen for years to come.   So how did it all start?   He and his family take this trip out to Qualicum every so often and this is the time that Murray takes to reflect on the “big picture”. On one such trip, Murray suggested to Tanya, his wife, that they should look into running a festival that essentially would be a mega-clinic. How cool would it be to host an event where the world’s greatest players come and mingle with the drummers in attendance, share their thoughts, and perform? It, of course, would be amazing for everyone but what goes into making this possible and what are the realities of hosting such an event? That is what this episode focuses on primarily. Murray also talks about the changes the festival has experienced, what plans are in the future, and the response from the people who have attended over the years.   For me personally, this event holds a special place in my heart as well. If it wasn’t for this festival, I don’t think DrumGab would have ever been a thing. It was due to an ad that I saw, sponsored by Drumeo, explaining the requirements to submit a drum solo video that spawned enough interest to commit myself to a refreshed approach to studying the drums in hopes that I could create a solo that would contend and even perhaps win the opportunity to be flown out to Victoria to perform in front of the people in attendance. Long story short, I didn’t win, but I did create this podcast due to the shift in how I spent my time and the new found use of social media within the community. I owe a lot to Murray for making this festival for us and so I wanted to have a special episode just for him.   The next series of interviews, including this one, were all filmed and recorded on location at the Songhees Wellness Centre where the festival was held this year. I hope that you all enjoy this episode and the next three that follow. Drumeo Gab’s Socials   Instagram Facebook   Murray’s Socials   Instagram Facebook Website

And this is what happens when two podcasters meet! Brynner speaks with fellow drummer and host of the Drumgab podcast, Seamus Evely. In this candied interview, Seamus talks openly about his childhood, podcasting career and how DrumeoGab came together. He also speaks about his philosophy on life, that has attributed to his mindset that allows him to overcome certain obstacles and how that has transitioned into many new opportunities in his life.  

100. I have thought about what I would do with my 100th since the time I started DrumGAB. It's the episode that I have looked forward to the most. I always knew it was going to be long, quirky, wandering, nostalgic, and challenging and not just for me to make, but for you to listen to as well.   I see it as a symbol of devotion and commitment to something. Not to say that this thing is important in any way at all, but it was tough to make and it meant something to me to assemble something purely from my own personal warm fuzzy places. And I don't consider myself a content creator, but rather a content assembler. In fact, I am really trying to get out of the way more and more often as time goes on. I am less concerned with creating a character; I am the character. I am also less interested in forcing the conversation to suit my prep. I dunno, this is all just shit that you learn when you do something that you know nothing about and decide that you will give it a try. Nearly two years later and I have assumed the role and position and that is a weird realization to me still. Little transformations and adjustments have been happening on a subconscious level. It is all slow and consistent, so you never notice the spikes of progress and change. You just realize one day that you do it now, and you are comfortable doing it.   So what is DrumGAB to me? Is it anything similar to what it means to you? I do receive a lot of detailed feedback from listeners and it is usually a few months after someone discovers the show. The things that are said to me is just fucking awesome. It really is. I don't take this shit lightly because I have now developed a show that I felt didn't exist in the drum industry and threw myself directly into it without noticing, and for reasons beyond my control people feel it's their show too.   And that is what I want!    I have ALWAYS been the odd duck who would show other people and friends things I have made or something that I really like and most of the time it isn't accepted. I used to be really self-conscious about shit that I liked or how I wanted to go about making something. Acceptance is a big issue with me that I struggle with, but at the same time I have always been an anti-pop weirdo who can't seem to fit into an easy place, so I really work against myself in that way. But here we are with DrumGAB, and I have always just made what seemed like the right thing to make at the time and it seems like there are a group of individuals who are kinda like me too. I found a lot of my people through this show. So connectivity is maybe the biggest components to the success of this show.    But back to the 100th. This episode features fifteen interviews (technically speaking) from both good friends of mine or fans of the show. In a couple of cases, I think it was just something seen as an opportunity to be on the podcast, which is fine too. We also have six original compositions from my friend Matt Davis who accepted the challenge to create the music to some drum tracks that I sent him. We have numerous studio recordings featuring my beautiful Sugar Percussion drum set played by yours truly and tracked by the talented recording engineer and drummer Michael Marucchi. We have VIKING!!! Fucking Viking man. He made this so special both with his VO impersonations and the interview that we had that was based on some fan-generated points on what annoys a drummer. It was absolutely wonderful to have him involved with the project, as he is a dear friend of mine. There are four different flashback chunks of some of the funniest moments in the show's history. I recorded three separate narrations to guide you along this incredibly long episode and also to offer some perspectives on my experience with creating DrumGAB. Fuck what else is there.....? Oh right, there are tons of audio snippets that I yanked off the internet. All of it is stuff that I have loved for years, whether it be Monty Python, Beavis and Butthead, Norman McLaren, The Big Snit, or the Twilight Zone, it's all in there. I use these clips to bookend the interviews and sporadically throughout the actual interviews.   There is a lot of stuff....thirty mp3 sessions were created and then all assembled into one session to create 100. A LOT of time and effort went into making this thing. I am not sure if I have ever put something together of this scale ever before and I am so happy with the results. It is a winding road of many different perspectives, stories, messages, music, culture, and it all stems from the keen interests that I have and how I used DrumGAB to explore and share them with you. Thank you all again for taking time from your life to get inside of mine a bit.   Here are the running order and times for 100   Viking Intro (0:00 - 2:13) Old Jingle (2:13 - 3:23) Narration One (3:23 - 22:02) New Jingle (22:02 - 23:02) Flashback One (23:02 - 35:02) Hunter Krasa (35:02 - 50:00) Adam MacEachran (50:00 - 1hr32:40) Viking 1 (1hr32:40 - 1hr40:17) Steve Nadler (1hr40:17 - 2hr21:50) Flashback 2 (2hr21:50 - 2hr30:48) Viking 2 (2hr30:48 - 2hr46:01) Kevin Nordeste (2hr46:01 - 3hr21:09) Brandon Green (3hr21:09 - 4hr20:57) Charlelie Fusillier (4hr20:57 - 4hr52:53) Viking 3 (4hr52:53 - 5hr04:06) Narration 2 (5hr04:06 - 5hr12:25) The Big Snit (5hr12:25 - 5hr22:16) Anthony Lafrate (5hr22:16 - 5hr42:32) Ryan Claxton (5hr42:32 - 6hr06:17) Alex Kaufman (6hr06:17 - 7hr03:24) Flashback 3 (7hr03:24 - 7hr12:59) Viking 4 (7hr12:59 - 7hr26:07) Joe Mintz (7hr26:07 - 7hr49:24) Boyd Little (7hr49:24 - 8hr05:16) TJ Hartmann (8hr05:16 - 8hr59:09) Flashback 4 (8hr59:09 - 9hr12:23) Travis McGowan (9hr12:23 - 9hr49:58) Rob Maybee & the flower shop family (9hr49:58 - 9hr53:47) Vinny Werneck (9hr49:58 - 10hr42:55) Viking 5 (10hr42:55 - 10hr57:16) Narration 3 (10hr57:16 - 11hr10:07) Vikings’ Outro (11hr10:07 - 11hr11:42)   I hope you enjoy this piece and thank you again for listening to DrumGAB, it was my pleasure creating it.

Episode 92 of the podcast is a special one. For starters, this interview took place in the same place (and the same table) as my very first interview for DrumGAB and one of the three guests featured in this episode was Archie, who was the first person I ever interviewed for the podcast. So that is a lot of firsts that are being revisited for this episode. I guess I could go one step further by stating that this was my first "true" roundtable interview. So, now that's out of the way, I will now introduce the guests.   John Huff, Nicholas Elie, and Archie Gamble were the gentlemen who joined me at the table at The Scots Corner bar for this session. Each of them has a history of playing in London, ON, including myself. They all have their own unique perspectives and experiences with gigging, the scene, and forging a career with music.   John has been playing professionally for about six years, while he has played drums for much longer than that he had decided six years ago to pursue drumming as more of a vocational activity than simply a hobby. He is about to head out on a European tour with Sarah Smith and he is also responsible for writing a blog as well. The blog is the reason why I invited John to the table, as some of his thoughts that he writes were fodder for a good chunk of this interview. You can check at the bottom of these notes to read up on his blog.   Next is Nicholas who is currently drumming for the group Nimway. I have been buddies with Nicholas for several years (even in the audio clips featured in this episode you can hear Nick's voice several times). Just to indicate something to listeners, those musical snippets were recorded on my iPhone (yes just a phone) a few years ago in an attic where both myself and many other local bands used to rehearse in (oh the many times I have been up there over the years). In any case, those were improvised jams that we recorded one night for fun and I held onto them over the years and decided to insert them into this episode. Anyways, back to Nick. So Nick is a drummer's drummer. He is a passionate player who simply loves to play. He has been involved in many projects over the years and while he is often found performing around London, he does not consider it his vocation. He is a lot like me that way where he just wants to create musical projects and gig here and there and have fun, while of course being compensated for his time. But he has a day job and is content with just having music as part of his life but not his sole source of income.   Finally, we have Archie. So Archie has been gigging professionally since 1984. That is 34 years....and he has been playing drums for 41 years. In London, Archie is one of the most respected and admired players around and gigging has been Archie's primary source of income since he began his career in music. He has no education, no savings, no retirement plan, and now he is beginning to experience the trials and hardships of being a musician primarily. He recently turned 50 years old and he acknowledges that this was a big deal for him as he looked around at his life and what it consists of at this very moment. Looking to diversify and find a way to survive on music alone is at the forefront of his mind when considering his professional life. It is in some ways, bitter sweet. Archie has been through many incredible experiences that drumming and music provided to him, but on the other side of the coin it has left him with very little to sustain himself unless he gets a normal day job and he damn near refuses to do that. Think about it, he has never worked a normal day job in his life. Why would he ever want to start at 50!?   So having these three at the table provides an incredibly broad point of view that is rooted in considerable amounts of experience. Between all four of us at the table there is a century worth of experience with drumming. We discuss the industry, the scene locally in London, self-doubt, taking chances, our futures, and some realities to this life we choose to live. All in all, this is an episode that I felt I had to make. I was once very much a part of this music scene in London and then one day decided that I would try to make something on my own and look outside of this city for the results I was wanting. To create something for myself that involved something I knew I really connected with and I decided to call it DrumGAB. Two years later it feels good to reconnect with some folks in a place I know all too well to discuss some topics that I know are on people's minds. Big thanks again to John, Nicholas, and Archie for their time and honest input towards this interview. There are loads of takeaways from this one and it is presented in a way that is totally different from other episodes in the podcast's catalog.   John's Socials Instagram | Website/Blog   Nimway Socials Instagram | Facebook   Archie's Socials Instagram | Facebook   DrumGAB Socials Instagram | Website

NOTICE: Jeremy is putting together a fundraiser called "Beats for a Cause. Check out the link below to learn more about this fundraiser. He is trying to raise money to help fire victims in the Carr fires that are happening in Northern California.   Learn More About Beats For A Cause!   Jeremy "Walrus" Schulz is a teaching coach, professional drummer, and educator based out of Brooklyn, NY. He has performed and toured with bands such as Barbie Car and Mother Crone.   Jeremy shares some very compelling stories about how he started playing drums (this is maybe the most fascinating thing ever said in the show's history) and how music education, drumming, and working with his instructor Steve Smith (no not the Journey one) at Seattle Drum School of Music played a major role in his massive change of direction in life.   We hear about a lot of concepts that Jeremy uses in his day to day life that help him live a more purposeful life. I am certain that this episode will inspire anyone who listens to it.   Jeremy also wanted to offer the DrumGAB podcast community a 30% discount on his program. Listen at the very end of the episode to check out what he has been generous enough to offer listeners.   Jeremy's Socials Instagram | Website   DrumGAB Socials Instagram | Website

Reuben Spyker is a drummer from Abbotsford, BC who is an employee at Drumeo and also just released his own album titled "Forward" as the Reuben Spyker Quartet.   This episode of the podcast focuses on Reuben's creative process with improvisation, and why he needs to be in "the zone" with his music. We talk about how this album came to be and the process in recording the album, which was totally improvised with a group of musicians that had never played as a complete group together before and was captured live off the floor in a continuous five-hour recording session. Reuben then chopped it up and made it into an album and the results are fantastic. It is highly textural, organic, and executed with a strong command from each of the four musicians on their respective instruments. The conversation we had regarding the creative process was fun and interesting, as improv is Reuben's preferred method of performance.   Reuben is also an employee of Drumeo. His title is "community manager" so he handles emails, communicating with the members, helping Dave with his workload, making the guest instructors feel comfortable as they stay at the facility, and quite a few other tasks including developing lessons and so on. How he got involved with Drumeo was over the course of many years, in fact, because Reuben and Jared both live in Abbotsford and have for several years, they have been associated for quite a long time. But over the course of several run-ins and Reuben's interest in the company, eventually Reuben found his opportunity with the company and this has made him very happy with his situation career-wise. But there was a big question surrounding this. Whether it is a cop-out to serve another's dream. Whether it is better for all of us to become entrepreneurs and be our own boss, rather than working for someone else. Both Reuben and I have our thoughts about this and the dialogue surrounding this may help others feel more at peace with themselves if being an entrepreneur isn't in your wheelhouse. It takes the focus away from the noise we all see online where it seems like a trend to be an entrepreneur and that we shouldn't fuel the dreams of others, but rather our own.   Overall, this is among the stronger episodes in the DrumGAB library, if you ask me. It is refreshing, thoughtful, funny, and certainly entertaining. Below are links to listen to Reuben's new album "Forward".     Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/album/5jxvSC4IO9qJtCGP0HqYEf     itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/forward/1416475856?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4     Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/forward/1416475856?app=apple%20music&ign-mpt=uo%3D4     Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Reuben_Spyker_Forward?id=Bbg3yyrb3jpqw4otmzduktyjofm     Reuben's IG     DrumGAB's Socials   Instagram | Website

DrumGAB is one of the most popular drumming podcasts on the planet. Over the last couple of years, Seamus Evely - its creator - has acquired a lot of experience putting it together. In this episode, Seamus will be sharing his experiences as a drumming podcaster with you, by discussing his motivations and vision behind it, how he prepares for each episode and chooses his guests, besides touching base on monetization.

Modern Drummer magazine is something that most drummers grow up with. I remember watching the 2000 Modern Drummer Festival DVD over and over when I was a teen. I learned and tried to mimic so much of what I saw in that video, always trying to aspire to produce anything remotely similar to Billy Ward’s sound….and failing miserably of course. But, regardless of how it came out, the most important thing was that a lot of my inspiration that came from that video.   So speaking with Mike Dawson, who is the managing editor at Modern Drummer, I found that there was an association of nostalgia that came along with this interview. Like many of us, Mike grew up with the magazine as well and fortunately through hard work, a chain of fortunate events, and perhaps even a bit of luck, Mike found himself a seat at the Modern Drummer table.   In this conversation, which is important to note that this is much more of a conversation than an interview, we sprawl over so many different topics. Our chat ranges from how Mike found himself at Modern Drummer, the truth about how Mike felt initially about the Mike and Mike podcast, the fleeting muse of a musician, and parallel universes…yes you read that correctly.   During the conversation there are many moments where Mike and I discover we are so similar in ways and this lead to many improvised moments of true conversation and I feel that is the magic of podcasting. When you find a kindred spirit on your line and you just spend most of the time relating and deliberating about whatever comes to mind. This one is full of that.   I hope you enjoy this one and have some takeaways from it. I’ll catch you all next week!   Mike’s Socials   Instagram   DrumGAB’s Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

If you know about drumming podcasts, even if only a little bit….it is almost impossible not to know about Drummer’s Resource. With over 360 episodes recorded, Nick Ruffini has never failed to release a podcast every single Monday since November 2013. Some of the guests that Nick has had on the show include Mike Portnoy, Thomas Lang, Ndugu Chancler, Steve Gadd, Chad Smith, Nate Smith and Lenny White. Any of the guests listed above gives you the impression that Nick has made some deep contact within the industry. It is not a small task to book those caliber of shows, as I can relate to the process myself.   So I have to share a small story to explain to you why this episode is pretty special to me as a podcaster. Over a year ago when I started DrumGAB podcast I had never listened to a podcast before. I knew what they were but that is all I knew. So when I decided to develop my own podcast I had no references initially which was a problem because I had no idea if I was doing it correctly and so it was time to start listening to them.   I didn’t know of any drumming podcasts so I went to Google to search and the first result that came up was Drummer’s Resource, so I clicked on it. I can’t remember the first episode I listened to but I do remember my first impressions of the show upon first listening. The host was comfortable, the audio is good, the episode list is stacked with legacy players and I had a lot to learn.   For about three months I listened heavily to the podcast picking up some nuances of flow, the delivery of questions, responding organically through careful listening to the guest and some production stuff. It wasn’t that Drummer’s Resource was a blueprint but I felt that I was gaining experience by listening.   Eventually I reduced my listening to Drummer’s Resource and other podcasts and began isolating myself to my own project so that I could be as original as possible and find my own way in podcasting. I think that was a wise move because I didn’t want other podcasts to be my source of creative inspiration.   It was November of last year when Nick reached out and in our first conversation had said that he was digging what I was doing with the show. I must say that because his show was the first podcast I had ever listened to and originally obsessed with when I started mine, receiving a compliment like that was pretty awesome.   Fast forward up to a couple of weeks ago….I recorded a solo show about social media engagement and influence building and sat on it for a week. The show is actually assembled and I could have published it by now, but I kept holding onto it. Then a lightbulb moment happened and just figured, why not talk to Nick about this stuff? I caught a couple of his live feeds on Instagram and he was talking about this stuff and I figured he would be a great guest to have on to discuss this stuff and besides that I wanted to talk some podcast shop too. That brings us up to the present.   The Episode   I think listeners will recognize a few things relatable to themselves in this episode. One concept that I think people should take away from this episode is not to limit yourself by having a restricted way of thinking. You have to decide how badly you want something and then understand that it is not impossible at all but that it will be difficult and you will have to deal with personal tests that will challenge your passions.   Another strong message in this podcast is how too much information and not enough action can create an unhealthy cycle of over motivating your mind but underachieving as a result.   We also go over the importance of engagement on social media and that big numbers don’t always mean big engagement or meaningful connections. There are more examples of great points being addressed that are beneficial to the modern drummer, whether it is practical application or state of mind, this episode touches on a lot of quality subjects that lead to great conversation with a veteran in the podcast game.   Drummer’s Resource Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Philip Guay from Los Cabos Drumsticks in this mini podcast episode.   A little bit about Los Cabos   Los Cabos is a family run operation from New Brunswick, Canada. They have been in operation since 2005, however, it was a wood working business that had been around for years before it became Los Cabos operating as Lawrence Wood Products. Originally the shop produced spindles and business was very good. But eventually the clients took their business to China and things fell apart pretty quickly forcing the company to find another way.    They had all the tools they needed to start making drumsticks and so they did. Phil's parents hustled those drumsticks wherever they could making road trips out of it. It's a pretty cool little story and I always like hearing about the ma and pa small business stories.   The company also makes a conscious effort to reduce waste by using their wood scraps to heat the shop with their wood stove in the cold winter months, selling their “wood nubbins” to a company that makes fire starters and lastly by donating their sawdust to a local farmer to provide bedding to the farmer’s horses.   Los Cabos is also the only drum stick manufacturer that offers a Red Hickory line that is available in most models in their regular Hickory line. Red Hickory offers an advantage over the regular Hickory in that the wood molecules are denser and thus a little bit heavier and offer more durability over the regular Hickory and Maple lines. I currently use these Red Hickory sticks and so far I am loving them.   Who is Phil?   Phil Guay is the Resource Manager and Artist Relations Representative for Los Cabos. A Canadian Armed Forces Vet, Phil served our country for ten years before working for his family business.   Concluding Thoughts   It is no secret that I am a very proud Canadian. With that bias aside, these are great drumsticks. I am the kind of person that just likes shit that works and doesn’t have gimmicks attached to it. That goes for anything, just to be clear. I am just kind of a simple no frills type of person.   These sticks feel incredibly natural and “real” in my hand. They are well balanced and their drumstick line has everything I would personally want. I have been using these sticks for a short while and I have made up my mind that I will only buy Los Cabos sticks going forward.   Another point I will make is that my wife and I run a ma and pa flower shop in a small Canadian community, I have empathy for family run businesses and I want to support that. It is fantastic that the sticks are great and that I like how they perform, but the fact that they are Canadian, offer a no frills product, retail for a fair price and finally because it is a family run business.   Check out their full line of products at www.loscabosdrumsticks.com   Beats performed by: Cameron Fleury // Los Cabos Artist   Los Cabos’ Socials   Instagram | Facebook   DrumGAB’s Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! Today’s episode should be listened to with headphones or at the very least…not in an environment where expletives aren’t welcome.   So I had the pleasure of meeting Randy at the Yamaha 50th anniversary party in Toronto late last year. My first impressions of Randy were really special…lemme explain. Randy had absolutely no judgements when he first met me and when I told him that I would love to have him on the show (I had already heard his session with Dave from I’d Hit That Podcast…which was great) Randy didn’t even think about it. He just smiled and said “f*** yeah! Anyways, Randy is a champ and this session went fantastically.   Who is Randy?   Randy flies under the radar for most drummers. However, Randy is a rock solid player who can blend into many musical situations and through that ability has had a successful 30 plus year career as a session/live musician. Some of the artists you may recognize that Randy has performed with include Kim Mitchell, Ringo Starr, Smash Mouth, Lee Aaron, Edwin and the list literally goes on and on with over 200 recordings to his credit.   Originally from Toronto, ON, Randy was one of the most in demand session players in the city for over a decade. Then in 2004 he moved to L.A. to expand his opportunities and likely to flee from the freezing cold winters. Overall, Randy is a great example of someone with cumulative experience working as a musician and preserving the love for playing drums in any situation.   Concluding Thoughts   When I first heard Randy on I’d Hit That, I knew that our personalities would gel well for a podcast, so months ago I knew eventually I would invite him for a session. Then I met him and was like “Yup, this is going down for sure.”   This episode is basically a recording of a couple of dudes becoming friends while we reflect on Randy’s career. There is a lot of great story telling with some major highlights that you could only imagine and plenty of great advice that’s coming from 30 years experience as a pro drummer.   Music clip featured: Max Webster: Battle Scar   Randy’s Socials   Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter   DrumGAB’s Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This week we go international with Siros Vaziri from Sweden. In this episode we cover the story of Siros' month long clinic tour and how it impacted him. We discuss the journey of creating his Instagram page and how he is converting that into a business for himself to relieve many aspects of his drumming career that he feels isn’t as important as forming his brand. I believe that many listeners, especially who inhabit the Instagram community, will find this episode particularly inspiring and helpful.   Who is Siros?   Siros is popularly known as “The Fill Guy” which is something he didn’t fully recognize until he went to NAMM and was repeatedly approached with his famous hand gesture. He creates “Fill Packs” that contain 100 fills in each lesson pack as well as mini packs to get people started. Beyond that, Siros is a self taught drummer who has incorporated YouTube and Instagram for educational aid, which seems to be popular with drummers of his generation. By teaching himself he has managed to become a very capable player and before I understood that he was self taught, I would not have thought that.   Siros is also a very wise and tactical thinker when it comes to internet marketing and creating influence through social media. Along with many others, he has proven that it is more than possible to create a brand and market yourself to create your own career with drumming content. I believe that Siros will continue to develop his brand and he won’t be permanently known as “The Fill Guy” as he understands the importance to be in the moment and constantly evolve.   Concluding Thoughts   Siros has taught himself everything that he knows that pertains to his content. Filming, recording and the playing. He also lives in a small city of 16,000 people in Sweden that virtually has no music scene, yet he has an engaged following online that is five times that amount. I can relate to this myself. Hosting a podcast that is listened to worldwide and yet I live in a country neighbourhood in a town of just over 12,000 people and there is NO music scene whatsoever.   So what is interesting is that location has so little to do with what a musician can accomplish with hard work, quality content and a vision. It is a topic that a feel many of us are contemplating when things will break through or what is “my thing?” but remember….Siros has been doing this for 3.5 years and has worked very hard at developing his content and pays close attention to what people aren’t doing and fills those gaps (no pun intended).   Siros’ Socials   Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Website   DrumGAB’s Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast. If you are a Canadian drummer from Ontario, and you take drumming even mildly seriously…you probably know about Mark Kelso. For me, I have known about Mark for years and have wanted to speak to him since starting this podcast. You just don’t start with Mark, ya know what I mean?   I invited Mark to the podcast when I got a chance to meet with him at a Yamaha party in Toronto. Ask my friend/past guest/past student of Mark’s, Aaron Spink….he calls me the buffet bandit. A little backstory is in order. At the Yamaha party there was a buffet table for the performing artists. I was near the front of the stage and next to the buffet table and I spotted Mark eating some fried calamari and decided I would join him and introduce myself. I indulged in some buffet, against my better judgement and Aaron spotted me chowin’ down and dubs me, BB.   Who is Mark?   Mark Kelso has been playing drums for over 40 years, has been featured on over 400 recordings, currently plays in 40 bands (that’s a lot of fours). He is the leader of his own band, Mark Kelso and the Jazz Exiles, he is the head of the drum department at Humber College and he is a husband and father of two children. In other words, a really busy guy that I can’t believe even had time to be on my podcast.   He is an enormous fan of Bruce Lee. Mark finds the famous martial artist as his main influence for his approach to drumming, which may seem odd at first, but he provides an very clear and understandable reason for this as he discusses the parallels between martial arts and drumming in this episode.   Overall, Mark is a Canadian legend that is highly skilled, educated and has a prolific career with music, drumming and education.   Concluding Thoughts   I have said this numerous times before, whenever I hit a new height with podcasting and that is this episode simply better than anything else I have recorded up until now. There are some gems in the DrumGAB library for sure, but this episode was incredible. That is largely because Mark was a great guest to be interviewed by me. I have known about him for so long and have done extensive research on him, I just knew that the questions I like to ask were ones that he would like to answer. Sometimes you just know.   Many times I found myself in the zone with this conversation and it lead to more interesting spur of the moment questions than some of the other episodes I have made. Mark is DEEP and I like deep people.   Starting the podcast with his poem that he wrote the night before his Drumeo appearance was a touch that I am glad makes contextual sense to our episode and how we discussed it in our chat. I want people to hear what Mark had to say because it is worth listening to…and to whoever made the YouTube comment “shut the fuck up and play” can suck my arse. It’s all the more reason to put it upfront in this episode because I felt empathetic to Mark on that one. He’s a thoughtful guy and I really enjoy what he has to say.   Overall, this is an interview that I am extremely proud of. I am glad that Mark and I had this chat and that it is now stamped in time as a thing we all can listen to whenever we want. Please enjoy the show, this one is special.   The opening spoken piece is from Mark's Drumeo performance.   Mark’s Socials   Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Website   Listen to Mark Kelso and the Jazz Exiles HERE   DrumGAB Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This week I decided to bring you all a solo show with my thoughts and experiences on my first NAMM trip. To add some spice to the show I have included some dope Dan Mayo clips throughout.   Big S/O to the following people:   Austin Burcham, Gabe Helguera, TJ Hartmann, Adam Tuminaro, Dan Silver, Love Custom Drums, Legado Cymbals, Sugar Percussion, A&F Drum Co., Ramy Antoun, Dan Mayo, Evan Ryan, Earl Talbot, Ryan Claxton, Brandon Green, Dom Toso, Kelly Voelkel, Siros Vaziri, Cam Fleury, Joey Bones, Jared Falk and Drumeo   DrumGAB Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This weeks episode goes international with Polish drumming sensation Wojtek Deregowski. For the first time ever Wojtek’s unique story is told through a podcast interview and we go through all of the stages of how his career is forming and what exciting things are to come for him.   Who is Wojtek?   This twenty-two-year-old drummer hails from Poland and has only been playing for eight years. While he took private lessons early on he later decided to utilize the internet to continue his path of learning the drums and has continued to search and develop on his terms by using YouTube and Instagram for material to inspire himself and learn from over the years. He attended Berklee for one semester before finding himself having to return to Poland, however, this was good enough for him to use his experience at Berklee to his advantage. Currently he is developing online lessons that will be released sometime this year.   Key Moments in this episode   - Wojtek unravels the story of how he found drums through the popular “Rock Band” video game and shortly thereafter received a drum set for Christmas. With noise restrictions from neighbours and his parents, Wojtek spent the first two years playing very little. Eventually he and his father built his practice space with soundproofing to isolate the racket and Wojtek then began taking the drums very seriously. He would seek private lessons initially but later found that learning on his own through online resources was his preferred method to learn.   - At the age of eighteen, Wojtek travelled across the world to the coveted music school Berklee to study. Leaving his family, friends and girlfriend behind was a challenge for him and Wojtek explains some of the hurdles he had to overcome to adapt to his new environment. We also learn why he had to return to Poland after one semester of school and what followed.   - So after returning to Poland the opportunities for Wojtek became quite steady and it was apparent to him that there was an impressive “perceived value” associated with going to Berklee. Then came Instagram where he used originally to record his ideas, use his followers to help him determine whether something was cool or a good idea or not and eventually develop a massive following.   - A social media account with the proportions of Wojtek’s and also the incredible surge in popularity I must wonder “how do you manage that and is it really addictive to receive so much praise and be that popular?” We discuss at length how social media triggers us and how it can become very distracting and addictive but by managing ourselves and our socials we can remain productive in our “real” lives while still adding value to others with our content.   - We conclude our chat with some information about Wojtek’s new lessons plans that he is going to release very soon and how he is coming up with a creative way to distribute this content and package it for consumers. We also discuss how important it is to leverage our accounts to promote our own products for fans as well.   Concluding Thoughts   There are a few European “Instagram Drumming Stars” in our midst, and I plan to interview at least one other as well. These people are the next generation of young entrepreneurial thinkers that are passionate about drums and education but also realizing that with large Instagram profiles, they can focus on a specific goal and attempt to make it their job.   It is great to see young people apply themselves in a thoughtful way like this. They utilize their technological strengths along with their incredible drumming and popular socials to create opportunities for themselves. Session work and touring may be more scarce but it also just may not work for everyone. It is becoming increasingly popular for drummers to create content online and find ways to create their own path with music through utilizing the internet instead.   Wojtek's Socials Instagram   DrumGAB's Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This week we are speaking to J-Rod Sullivan from the Atlanta based jazz fusion group, The 4 Korners. J-Rod is also the man behind “Got Pocket” apparel. We talk about creating opportunities for yourself, how education can serve a player, diversifying within your industry and influencing others in a positive way. J-Rod plays Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth drum sticks.   Who is J-Rod?   J-Rod began exploring rhythm and drums at the very young age of two years old and stuck with him ever since. Over the years of playing church services, his roots in music are R&B and gospel music. Currently he is the drummer for the Atlanta based jazz fusion group The 4 Korners.   Throughout his experiences with this band, he has found a way to apply what he already understood musically and refine his approach and sound to meet the high demands of performing jazz fusion. J-Rod also studied at AIM to further his understanding of music. J-Rod studied during the time that Tom Knight was faculty, who is a past guest and dear friend of DrumGAB. Overall, J-Rod possesses the spirit of music and wishes to inspire as many people as possible with his gift.   Key Moments in this Episode   - J-Rod explains the story behind how he became the drummer for The 4 Korners. A trip to Best Buy lead to a call which lead to him to join the band. It is a story that shows that opportunities are created and earned, not gifted.   - J-Rod spent most of his musical life not understanding how to read music, knowing what it was he played or why he played it. He decided to change that by attending AIM. J-Rod explains how attending school served him well and how it was also a significant challenge for him.   - We get back to The 4 Korners and the bands’ writing process for new compositions. J-Rod breaks down their organic and open formula to create their music.   - Besides being a musician, J-Rod also programs live shows and produces artists under the name “J-Rod Sullivan Productions”. J-Rod talks about how he began doing this type of work and what programming a live show is.   - J-Rod also teaches drum lessons online and so I ask about the challenges with instructing a Skype lesson and the benefits and deficits of an online lesson versus an in person lesson.   - We talk about how it is his hope to inspire people all over the world with his music. I ask him if there is anything else that he does in life that can affect people like his drumming does.   Concluding Thoughts   At the end of the day you have to recognize your passions and keep them a priority in your life. Once you develop your craft you then have to begin creating opportunities for yourself and somehow make it your career. Jerrod had a strategy in mind when he asked Clarence and Isaac to help him out with a gig. He wanted to put himself in front of the people that he admires and if the opportunity ever happened, be in the band.   Between that milestone and the fact that he went to AIM to up his theory and learn how to read music, constantly diversifying in other areas of the music industry and teaching online….J-Rod is cornering his success. J-Rod is living in his purpose and spreading positivity around with the gift that he has.   Music by: The 4 Korners   Order of tracks:   Table for 2 Orbiting Hands Phraseology King’s Highway Portal of Gold   Opening interview sample “The Pace Report” with The 4 Korners   J-Rod’s Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website | YouTube   DrumGAB’s Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This week is a very special interview with one of my personal favorite modern drummers, Eric Harland. In this episode the discussion is deep. We break down some components of drumming in an interactive exercise that I also explored with Aric Improta recently, being in the moment with music and if there are influences unrelated to music that inspire Eric’s playing, to name a few. Then in the second portion of our interview, we explore spirituality, why we are here and self-perception. This is a very insightful episode and ranks as one of the best episodes to date, IMO.   Who is Eric?   Eric Harland is a multi-grammy nominated drummer and is one of the most in-demand drummers of his generation. Already in his career, he has been featured on close to 200 recordings, including Joshua Redman’s “James Farm”, “Prism” from Dave Holland and Kevin Eubanks and his very own group “Voyager”. Overall, Eric is an incredibly ethereal musician who has inspired players all over the world.   Key Moments in this Episode   - We begin by examining 8 components to drumming. Creativity, Timekeeping, Endurance, Independence, Coordination, Groove, Chops, Technique. Eric’s interpretation is far different from what we heard previously on Aric Improta’s episode but each player expresses very convincing points of view that opens up our own minds towards this question.   - Next, we explore nonmusical influences towards his music making. Eric explains that everything acts as an influence. As our minds process our surroundings, our moods, and personal circumstances, it all affects how we create music.   - What follows is the moment of music. Eric expresses how this varies for him. Sometimes he is hired to fulfill a role musically and how it is not always a situation that he relates to internally and how he wishes to convey creativity through the instrument. Another component of this discussion is subconscious listening and how we can enter “the zone” with music and be on another level of listening.   - To wrap up our discussion with music and performance, we talk about musical freedom. How do we obtain freedom on the instrument? Eric breaks down how time is simply a measurement. Anything can happen within time as long as you have internalized it. He encourages people to understand that we as players do not need to lock into time with our playing but rather internalize the space of time and play within that in order to be free.   - The second chapter of this episode deals with life and spirituality. We start things off with the beginnings of his spiritual quest, where he grew up in a very religious household and would eventually study theology and become an ordained minister. However, after some time he began to feel that he could do something wrong and ended up leaving the church to explore other spiritual possibilities. To this day he remains open to receive and process what is possible with spirituality.   - I ask Eric, “If someone were to approach you who struggled with inner peace, how would you respond?” Eric in all his wisdom replied to me with “What is so important about inner peace?” Now that may seem like he disregarded my question, but believe me, his reasoning behind that statement was what blew my mind in this interview.   - Eric had recently received an award from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and he selflessly gave his award away to someone he felt deserved it more. In his speech, he talks about how we don’t really know how we see ourselves, instead we just experience life. So this made me want to ask him his opinion on self-perception and whether we know how we truly live as people. Again, another part of this interview that is so deep and so wise.   - To conclude, I ask Eric what the most impactful advice he had received in his life was. At first he had difficulty recalling something specific but eventually, he recalled elderly women telling him “don’t sweat the small stuff.” Simple but very true and he elaborates a bit on that to bring more substance to the point.   Concluding Thoughts   Eric Harland is a musician that I noticed quite a number of years ago and instantly enjoyed how he played. While I wasn’t incredibly familiar with all of the work he has done, the preparation for this interview really allowed me the chance to see more into his life and his values through all of the interviews I have watched or listened to before speaking to him. So typically for me, my favorite conversations are ones that surround spirituality, the beauty of life and music and Eric is all of those things and a perfect guest to explore these topics with. This was definitely one of my favorite interview experiences as a host and how it translated as a listening experience, it encapsulated the essence of my podcast. Eric is a truly wonderful human being and I am very thankful that he took some time to speak with me and explore some interesting subject matter on the podcast.   Music featured in this podcast is from Eric Harland's Journey. Album is titled Vipassana Other music is from Eric Harland's loop pack from The Loop Loft   Eric's Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB's Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website

TRUTH.    

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This week I spoke with Etienne Mason from Montreal, Canada. We discuss his process with making a daily video series that he calls “Night Improvisation” and the trials, the successes and the overall vision with this series and what he hopes to achieve with his efforts.   Who is Etienne?   Etienne is a fellow that I met through interesting circumstances. Back in 2016 I competed in a drum solo contest for the Victoria Drum Festival and through those efforts DrumGAB was born. A year later I checked 2017’s winners and Etienne was one of them. After looking at his Facebook profile I decided to reach out to him and make a connection. This started a friendship and I have been very interested in his journey since then.   Etienne is a jazz enthusiast that goes about his own way in learning about music, making videos, recording audio and using social media to distribute his content. Through his efforts he has created a very unique sound and visual aesthetic to his videos. He also incorporates keyboards into his music and controls everything live. I have heard several times that people find Etienne to be mysterious and so hopefully this podcast will allow people to understand him better.   Key moments in this episode   - Etienne begins by explaining how he developed his drumming abilities, which for the record are impressive. After one year at McGill University, Etienne dropped out because he felt he couldn’t have fun practicing anymore. Etienne prefers to learn his own way and likes to explore and mess around to learn new things. He used the money saved from leaving school to find his own place to rehearse.   - Next we discuss the level of composition that goes into a musical piece. We debate a little about whether he a drummer first or a composer first. Etienne walks us through how he goes about creating his music and what is revealed as a very lengthy process that he does every single day.   - So how does Etienne make these videos? What exactly did he have to do to make it happen daily? Well, the story to that may be the most important aspect of the interview. He literally had to set up and tear down every single day. He would ride his skateboard for twenty minutes with all of his gear in his hands to get to the space that he only had access to from 10 PM to 5 AM. He didn’t sleep much to say the least and whenever he had band rehearsals, he didn’t really sleep at all. I have never really heard of a story like this of how difficult it would have been to uphold a daily routine like this for the first eighty videos he would make. He had to make a change to survive the winter and continue with this series.   - Before these videos and his EP’s, Etienne played in TWENTY bands! All original music and it was up to him to keep it all organized. When he told me this, I was impressed with his will to work. It is nearly impossible for me to imagine how difficult that had to have been. He eventually burned out and had to remove himself from that situation and so he began making his own music again to fix himself.   - We then discuss what brought him to the Victoria Drum Festival and how that experience changed his outlook with his career that he is now trying really hard to establish.   - Our final point that we discuss is the topic of failure. Why is failure so important to personal growth and whether Etienne feels regret for any of the decisions he has made up until now.   Concluding Thoughts   I think the thing that people will take from this conversation is that we as artists and musicians need to approach our projects and develop our skills from an internal perspective. There is nothing wrong with referencing other people to help inspire us, but ultimately we have to be okay with who we are and what we want to create. Once that is identified, we have to push as hard as we can to become noticed. There will be many times when we all question our efforts and whether they are a waste of time, but every once in a while a wave will come by and introduce us to the next stage of our journey.   It is the hardest part of doing this. The not knowing part. Believing that we are moving in the right direction and whether anyone really cares or not. Etienne is not quite halfway through his daily series and it will be interesting to see what comes of his efforts. But whatever the case may be, it cannot be denied that what he is doing is unique, good quality and is a testament to what he is prepared to endure to see it through.   Tracks featured (in order) all performed by MaySun   1. Flashbang 2. Black Silver 3. White Peafowl 4. 009 5. One Sky 6. Wanderlust   Click this link to listen to all of Etienne’s EP’s.   Etienne’s Socials   Instagram | Facebook | YouTube   DrumGAB’s Socials   Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! This week’s episode is particularly special. Noam and his wife Louise are authors of a children’s book series called Jungle Jam and Noam has graciously provided the book series to my son Harrison and so I have dedicated this episode to my little boy.   Who is Noam?   Noam is someone that is quite inspiring and if you were to simply watch his Instagram feed you would have no idea to what degree this man has achieved in life so far. He served in the Army, published over 100 books (mostly musical education publications), he and his wife Louise have created a children’s book series called “Jungle Jam”, he is the Principal of a musical enrichment school called “Academy of Rock” and is also a very active professional musician and plays for the chart topping band Captain SKA. He is also a father and a husband and finds time for everything that he closely values in his life. After spending time with him through the creation of this episode we have become very good friends and I find his approach to life very inspiring and left me with some very good feelings about my own life and my personal goals.   Key Moments in this Episode   - Noam talks about his time in the Army and how it was illegal to play in a band if you were involved with the Army. Do you think that stopped Noam from following his heart? Listen to the incredible story of how he performed on national Israeli television for over a year thinking he had fooled the Army and his CO.   - Next we dive into his band Captain SKA. They have topped the charts with their song “Liar, Liar” and made waves with the press. BBC banned them from being played but that didn’t stop the flood of views and support from listeners all over the world. Noam also shares how the band has evolved since then and their new song “Sons and Daughters”.   - Noam is the Principal of the musical enrichment school named “Academy of Rock”. Noam gets into significant detail about both his own vision of how he wishes to teach students and the values of this music school. Noam makes a very important point that teaching music to our youth is far too important to half-ass. You MUST be passionate about education and not just look at it as a means of providing yourself with income. This is a great segment.   - That leads us to Jungle Jam. Noam explains that Jungle Jam was all about giving back to people. He and his wife work on these books together as a family and it has filled their home with more love and support for one another and I just love this. It is heartwarming to hear him explain what Jungle Jam means to him and his family and how this will hopefully become an animated series for television and there are other plans for it as well.   - Noam then talks a bit about his gear and some of the common questions he receives on Instagram. He also shares the purpose of his Instagram page. It is literally just a place for him to experiment with sounds and uses the feedback to help him decide what to keep and what to scrap. He uses Instagram as a large sounding board for his experiments and musical ideas.   - We conclude by discussing social media and this is where I pipe in on DrumGAB’s vision with social media and connectivity between myself and my audience and what I hope to provide to them. By this point Noam and I are just talking and reflecting on how we can make social media more “social” and provide value to our community.   Concluding Thoughts   This is the last podcast for Season 1 of the podcast and it marks an important milestone for DrumGAB. Going into 2018 I have discovered the purpose of this podcast and my socials. It is all about providing value and experiences for our community through content and engagement. Much like Noam’s philosophies on life, we share a great deal of common ideas when it comes to giving back and how we view ourselves in our work and our purpose.   I hope that you all enjoyed this past year of content and thank you all for your continued love and support. My goal is to develop further in order to bring more meaningful content to you. It is a journey and I hope that by sharing myself and the guests with you that you find inspiration to stoke your own fire. Make your life what you want it to be. Do the things you want to do. See the results you want to see. Life is precious and incredibly rare so grab life by the horns and make your mark with the opportunity life has given you and shine through. God bless.   Music by: Captain SKA Song: Sons and Daughters   Noam’s Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website   http://academyofrock.com.sg/ www.jungle-jam.com   DrumGAB Socials Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Welcome to another episode of DrumGAB podcast! My release dates fell on the Christmas holidays this year so I felt it would be nice to have a Christmas themed episode with my good pal Tim Baltes.   A message for listeners   Tim and I wanted to encorporate his quirky karaoke mishaps into this episode. We had a lot of fun putting this one together and even though with the silly karaoke bits, this podcast is actually quite heavy at times. Something that Tim addresses at the very beginning of the episode is how he wondered what people would say when they hear Tim and not "Timbo". Overall a really solid chat about Tim's life, vintage drums and social media marketing.   Also, I just wanted to say Happy Holidays to all you fine listeners out there. I am happy that Tim and I were able to make a Christmas special to mark the near end of season one. I am very excited about what next year will bring and I am very happy with how things have gone this past year. I hope you folks cozy up with some coffee and relax to this fun and informative episode!   Tim's Socials Instagram | Website   DrumGAB's Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast. This week we are taking a close look into the life of Aric Improta. Aric is the drummer his long time passion project band Night Verses and more recently has taken the throne for Goldfinger and is also the drummer for The Fever 333. This conversation takes a deep look into his highly diversified year in 2017, his philosophies on his approach to drumming and many stories about his journey over the years and what inspires him.   Who is Aric?   I feel that a lot of people found Aric through his viral Guitar Centre Drum Off video, where he placed second to the incredible Juan Carlito Mendoza (which for the record is probably the most incredible champion solo from that event). Beyond that, people will know him for his video series ADD (Attention Deficit Drumming) that has had well over 100K views in total and then of course he is the drummer for Night Verses.   Aric’s style of play is rather extreme in every aspect. He mixes his love for skateboarding and free running/athleticism with drumming, LIKE NO ONE ELSE. Aric is a one of a kind player. He has made headlines with being the drummer to backflip from one drum set to another during a solo and soon to come Meinl will be releasing a 40 minute drum solo of Aric pulling ideas from his six month creative binge that lead to the ADD video series. All in all, Aric is ALWAYS pushing the boundaries of what is possible on a drum set.   Key Moments in this episode   - Before we even really “begin” the interview we talk about the major changes for him in 2017. He joined two bands, Goldfinger and The Fever 333 and he talks about how a Night Verses had to cancel a tour, which resulted in a six month creative binge. This was the time that he released the ADD videos and a slew of other creative projects. We also talk about how these additions to his work schedule has forced him to be more focused with his time and how he utilizes it to ensure that he is always prepared for gigs, recording, practice and illustrative work.   - Because Aric has such a unique approach and sound, I ask about how much time he invests in discovering new techniques and the development of his sound. Basically his point to the question of discovering “your sound” is about the importance of finding a unique way to blend in. How can you be “you” and still remain inclusive to others and to be an adaptive musician. That is difficult to pull off I think but Aric has some great thoughts on this that listeners can apply to their mental game.   - The next section was an activity that we have never done on the podcast and it may be interesting for you to give this thought as well. I had Aric organize the following components in order of most important to least important - Creativity, Time keeping, Endurance, Independence, Coordination, Groove, Chops, Technique - This is a killer part of the episode.   - Along with drumming, Aric also draws a lot. Something that you often see in his drawings is the “Eye of Providence.” We talk about why he draws this symbol so often and we also explore the three common meanings to the symbol and what it means to Aric. Long story short, Aric will tell me a few years from now. It spirals into a deeper conversation about “creating your own world”. Brian Eno references and the discussion of science vs art for example.   - We wind down by talking about the effect of music. How music can transform your perspectives and how people click with music in their own personal way. At this point great moments were captured and there was weight to this part of the conversation.   - Recapping 2017 and how Aric’s 2018 is looking.   Concluding Thoughts   There are times when I speak with a guest and there is just undeniable synergy. For me, it is tough to relate to most people because I tend to have unpopular tastes and I am very personal with how I feel about most things. So it is rare when I sense someone else comes from a similar place. What this synergy created was a very spontaneous and free flowing conversation that is packed with good vibes. Great points were touched upon and there is a very unique angle to a lot of Aric’s thoughts and I really enjoyed listening to his reasonings.   Another fun aspect of this show was the editing of it. I am a very big fan of abrupt and “vibey” production. I enjoy Aric’s approach with his ADD videos. There is an intangible grime to those videos and I really wanted to model this podcast after that “vibe” and so I used a lot of clips from the ADD videos and they will abruptly come in and partition the conversation at key points that were very intentional and there was an effect I was looking for with each one. Overall, I spent more time on this episode than most because I related to it a lot and it was very fulfilling to make. This is one of my favourite shows I have made so far, Top pick.   Music by: Night Verses Song: Introducing: The Rot Under The Sun Album: Lift Your Existence (2013)   Aric’s Bands (Soundcloud links) Night Verses The Fever 333 Goldfinger   Aric’s Socials Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Night Verses Website   DrumGAB Socials Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast. Our guest this week is probably best known as the drummer for the Jason Aldean country artist but he is much more than just that. He is a motivational speaker, an author, actor and producer as well. In this episode we explore the concept of finding your “calling” and journeying that path until success is reached. This is an incredible discussion that will speak to two different categories of people. Those who know their calling and are working diligently to find career success or those who didn’t heed the calling and may have remorse about their decisions.   Who is Rich Redmond   Rich has been a drummer for 40 years and has been a working drummer in the Nashville scene for nearly 21 years. He and his friends Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy, AKA “The Kings” have been working together for nearly two decades as a professional rhythm section that fuelled one another with work in the Nashville scene and make up the Jason Aldean rhythm section. The idea behind “The Kings” is that power is in numbers when working as professional musicians. Besides being a drummer, Rich has recently created a second life in Hollywood to pursue acting. He views this as the next season of his life that he feels he is supposed to focus on for the next 20 years of his professional life. Rich is also a motivational speaker, using his CRASH course for success to bring good message to the public about how to develop the tools to be the person you want to be in life. I find this particular aspect of his career incredibly interesting and Rich shares some good wisdom with me and ultimately listeners of this show. Rich also ran a production company called New Voice Entertainment which he and the Kings helped produce demos for up and coming musical acts but has since dissolved about one year ago. All in all, Rich is a super eclectic artist who merges entertainment and education to help bring positive influence into peoples lives and is quite possibly the most diversified guest I have ever had on the show.   Key Moments in this Episode   - We briefly discuss how Rich is now diving into acting and how he feels this is the next step in evolving as an entertainer.   - Is being a dreamer unhealthy? Rich goes into incredible detail about how dreams are what fuels our curiosities to attempt being someone other than simply average. Following our dreams will have its ups and downs but believing that you know the path is what is important. One day it may all work itself out.   - I then ask a question that opposes Rich’s discussion about not quitting and following your path. I ask him how long must a person wait until they need to reassess their path and possibly create a plan B for themselves. Again, we have an unreal conversation about this.   - After all of this it becomes apparent that we had discussed everything that encompasses his CRASH course for success philosophy - Commitments, Relationships, Attitude, Skill and Hunger - We then discuss how this message affects his clinic audience.   - At this point of the interview we go full circle. I ask Rich how we know we are on the right path and how to find it. Rich then goes into detail about his thoughts on people who never heed the calling because of life’s circumstances and certain barriers that our journey in life can create that keep us from selfishly pursuing our own goals and dreams. To be selfish is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you allow to balance it out with selflessness. We can be better to people if we pursue our dreams and this includes our loved ones as well as society as a whole.   - We close things out by talking about his now dissolved company, New Voice Entertainment. This includes discussion of The Kings and how they worked together as a team for years to help create the success they now have in their careers.   Concluding Thoughts   So….this podcast is one I will always enjoy listening back to. Yes I listen to my own show but it is because I pick it apart for things I wish I did better or new approaches to interviewing people. It would be like making drum videos and never watching them to see how you played and how you can improve. This is the first episode i have made where I feel I executed the interview to my likings. I am so proud of this one and it is something I would like to reflect on years down the road. Capturing a conversation like this one is something that gives me relief. It is relieving because I know I couldn’t have done it better with the equipment and knowledge I have at this stage of my journey as a podcast host. Rich and I managed to create something that I feel is quite worthwhile listening to and I hope it gets some people thinking about their own lives and how we can alter our course and pursue the things that bring us real joy in life. This is a motivational episode.   Music by Rockett Queen   Rich Redmond’s Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website   www.crashcourseforsuccess.com   DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. It is hard to say how many people pursue drums because they just know that it is something they want to do. A natural draw that is more of an instinct than anything else. To play drums for some is the same thing as eating food. It is something the mind and body needs and through years of experience, learning and naturally finding a path for yourself, you realize it was never a choice. It is just something that you do.   Troy Wright is a fine example of that.   Who is Troy?   Troy is from the Gold Coast, Australia and tours for Plini and Amity Affliction. He also runs a fine drum education school called "Wright Drum School" where he also has two additional instructors Morgan Blake and Jamie Keys. His style is definitely heavier and quite progressive and often transcribes pieces prior to executing if they are more challenging to play. Besides the touring and teaching, he also has a very successful YouTube channel, with over 100k subs and video views well into the millions.    Key moments in this episode   - We get straight to it by talking about our mutual friend Stan Bicknell and how they originally met. Stan suggested that Troy attend a Thomas Lang boot camp, after seeing Troy’s Meshuggah medleys on YouTube, and from there they became friends and have remained since. Troy explains in a lot of detail what the experience of this boot camp was like.   - We flip back to the beginnings of Troy’s background in how he began and what proceeded. Immediately you will gather that Troy identified drumming as his true passion early in life and never had to rely on a regular job while he was a teenager. Through performing gigs and teaching drum lessons out his parent’s house, he managed to earn some small income which allowed him to stay consistent with his drumming.   - Troy has had the opportunity to perform with artists such as Plini and Amity Affliction and spends nearly four to five months of the year touring. So with knowing that I had to ask a series of questions that revolved around touring life. The stories, the issues with being on the road and whether he enjoyed that or not.   - The final segment of this interview deals with his drum school, Wright Drum School. Along with how it came to be, I was aware that there is a drum solo ceremony at the end of the curriculum where his students perform a piece in front of an audience to showcase their growth and abilities on the drum set. Troy talks about how this makes him feel to see his students in the spotlight and how this teaches them a valuable lesson about performance.   Concluding Thoughts   I believe that this episode might have the most WPM (words per minute) ever. This is a rapid pace episode and you will want to pay close attention to the things that Troy says. If you miss the flow of this conversation, it will not be received as effectively…..SO pay close attention.   Music by: Plini   Join me next Monday for another episode of the DrumGAB Podcast.   Troy's Social Media YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB theme music: Ian Maciak @ianhitsdrums VO Artist: Tom Knight @tomknightvoice Background Music: Etienne Mason @maysun.music  

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast. Today’s guest is known as “The Orlando Drummer”. A hardcore YouTuber that has been creating content for the better part of a decade and through trial and error has managed to create a business selling drum lessons and other content online through his website www.orlandodrummer.com   Who is Adam?   Adam is a unique drummer in that he has learned most of what he knows through the internet and not paradoxically distributes his lessons online as well. He is a very well known musician in the online scene and from all my conversations with him since and before the podcast, Adam is a seriously nice guy and has been quite helpful in personal questions I have had. Overall, he was a blast to work with.   Key Moments in the Episode   - We kick things off by discussing the process with making content and how he discovers the gaps in online drum lessons to provide useful and needed content to drummers all over the world. We also discuss what aspect of content creation Adam is partial to and this is a moment that I admit is also my favourite aspect as well.   - Then get into what inspires Adam to create content and his answer is well…..very interesting and it makes a hell of a lot of sense once it is explained. This segment of the interview is one of the deepest conversations that I have ever shared with a guest before.   - Moving right along to something that Adam and I have in common….we both interview artists. I was very curious to why he got into interviewing people and what he has taken away from branching off into this direction.   - We close things out with a completely improvised discussion about social media and the ironic disconnect between people. It spawned from Adam talking about how he spends so much time locked up in a box making video content and how he wishes to spread out more into public masterclass events and the clinic world. This is again…not planned and it turned into one of the best conversations I have ever had on the show about the state of social media and how it’s amazing but at the same time, limiting for “real” connections.   Concluding Thoughts I’ll start by saying that I really enjoyed working with Adam with this episode. He was very prompt, professional and incredibly generous of both his time and the resources in order to make this a high quality episode. It makes all of the difference as a host when a guest, regardless of public stature, gives you so much of their attention and treat you with humility. This episode is more “in the moment” than planned. While I had points that I wanted to discuss and an objective going in, I found myself just talking to Adam. He made a few comments that I pounced on immediately in order to create a situation within our chat. These moments make up the best parts of the episode. Overall, there is a lot of incredible knowledge shared and insight to Adam’s life and what motivates him to create content for people. Also, something worth noting is that Adam is very selective with people and projects he associates himself with, so I feel quite privileged to be given this opportunity to create with him. Adam has not been on the record with many journalists and of what I could find, this is likely the most in-depth and personal interview Adam has ever been featured on….SO GET ON THIS!   Join me next Monday for another episode of the DrumGAB Podcast!   Adam's Social Media YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB theme music: Ian Maciak @ianhitsdrums VO artist: Tom Knight @tomknightvoice Background Music: Etienne Mason @maysun.music

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast. Well, I made it to 50 episodes and I can't believe the growth that has happened over the course of this project. I wanted to celebrate by having two past guests and friends, Joey "Bones" Parasole and Carson Gant on the show in a round table chat about nothing in particular. This is kind of like my "Seinfeld" episode. We had wrote random questions for one another to answer and then I took that audio and chopped it all up.   It is a very quirky episode that I modeled after two things. Frank Zappa's "Lumpy Gravy" and the Quasimoto albums. It is a mixture of Carson's IG videos that I reduced to audio and our conversation. I believe I took 17 beats from Carson's account to make up the music. It is the most experimental podcast I have made and it was one of my favorites to make because it was nothing more than an art project for me.   Thanks to everyone who has taken time to listen to this podcast. It is the single most important thing to me that people tune in and enjoy this content. It is a pleasure to provide it and I hope everyone is looking forward to next year as much as I am and continues wandering this DrumGAB road with me to see what is discovered.   For people who love this show, I made this episode for you.   Music by: The Morgan Freemasons   Carson Gant's Social Instagram | YouTube | Facebook   Joey Bones' Social Instagram   DrumGAB's Social Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB theme music: Ian Maciak @ianhitsdrums VO artist: Tom Knight @tomknightvoice Background Music: Etienne Mason @maysun.music

Welcome to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast. Today’s guest is Mike Johnston. Widely regarded as one of the leaders in online drum education with his business Mikeslessons.com, Mike has incredible positive influence and affinity in the drum industry with his friendly and relatable demeanor. He has been creating instructional content for years now and is very careful in his approach to ensure that his audience and students can be as engaged as possible and fill their minds and hearts with positivity to trudge through with learning this incredibly challenging, and often times, frustrating instrument. I don't think anyone does it better either. He was an absolute treat to interview and has affected how I think as well about my DrumGAB podcast and how I engage my audience.   Key moments in this episode   - Mike talks about how his new musical project, Man on the Moon, came about and how Mike hasn’t been involved in a band for ten years since he decided to start his own online teaching business, Mikeslessons.com. We also learn about how the album was originally tracked elsewhere but the drum sounds and vision from other producers weren’t matching what Mike had in mind….so Mike recorded it himself at the Mikeslessons.com facility.   - The next segment of the interview is perhaps the most valuable to listeners. We talk about the differences between company culture and client culture. The concept of client culture has personally spawned a more focused effort for how I build DrumGAB and my listening community. Anyone who has a product or media that they are trying to get off the ground needs to really listen to what Mike has to say here. It contains the special ingredient for long-term success and maximum engagement.   - Next up in the interview is Mike’s drum camps and that whole experience. If you are a softy, you may want to have Kleenex nearby. This also, in an indirect way applies to the client culture discussion as I believe Mike’s drum camps are a perfect solution to client culture. It is great to hear how the camps started and what people are getting out of them. I’d be surprised if you don’t love Mike after this part….but let’s be honest you probably do already anyway.   - The final chapter of this interview deals with the 500-pound elephant in the room…..what Mike thinks about online drum education. Mike lends some major knowledge about this side of the industry and for anyone trying to become online educators, he explains what you need to do and what to expect for this long and arduous journey that lies ahead. In many ways, Mike and a few others got on board at the right time and while it hasn’t been easy for any of them, the level of saturation was next to nothing compared to today. Mike started doing this before the term “streaming” was a thing, it was simply called “broadcasting” and the technical limitations were extreme and the frustrations must have been high back then. In any case, Mike reassures the listeners with some great advice on this subject.   Concluding Thoughts   This episode marks a huge milestone for the DrumGAB podcast. It sits perfectly at Episode 49 and everything that has led up to this moment has been a whirlwind of learning, experience, and fond memories. Mike provided such a positive experience to me personally and I feel listeners will gather that from our chat. Overall, this episode provides some of the best knowledge shared on DrumGAB and I feel it is a precursor to other great opportunities on the show. Thank you to all the listeners that have supported the show so immensely and for Mike giving me a chance to produce a top quality episode with him. This one, on a personal level, was an incredible session that I won't soon forget.   Music by: Man on the Moon   Join me next Monday for another episode of the DrumGAB Podcast!   Mike's Social Media Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Website   DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB theme music: Ian Maciak @ianhitsdrums VO artist: Tom Knight @tomknightvoice Background music: Etienne Mason @maysun.music

Welcome to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast. Today’s guest is Brody Simpson: drummer, engineer, and producer who runs his business Real Drums for You at Underground Studios in Perth, Australia.   Who is Brody?   Brody Simpson is an exceptional studio drummer that hails from Perth, Australia. He has been a co-owner of Underground Studios in Perth for nearly six years and has developed an online service business named Real Drums for You. He specializes in many genres of music and he then applies his expertise in audio engineering and production to create bespoke drum tracks that in my opinion is hard to match in regards to his level of detail and quality.   Key moments in this episode   - After we finish joking around about huntsman spiders and some funny anecdotes we get straight to business. Brody tells us how he and his business partner Mark got into owning their own studio, Underground Studios. Brody then describes the obscene level of talent in the city of Perth and a number of high-level studios that Brody and Mark ultimately have to compete with to not lose their shirt. You immediately understand that this was a risky move and that they had to get good fast in order to not go bankrupt.   - What follows is a fantastic conversation about the Childish Japes sessions that took place during JP Bouvet’s Australia and New Zealand clinic tour with Childish Japes. We learn about the band’s creative process in the studio and Brody describes just how measured and tidy the musicians in this group truly are and how this was an amazing session to track.   - Brody Simpson is highly specialized in creating a vibe in his drum tracks and he is fascinated with sounds and how to pair them in order to create a strong musical impression. We go into great length discussing how sounds play an important role in providing the right "vibe" to a song and how a “middle of the road” approach to creating drum tracks simply isn’t good enough in order to create a strong reputation around your brand.   - So what is the experience that a client can expect when they employ Brody and Real Drums for You? Well, Brody breaks that down for us and all I can say is that no stone is left unturned. He goes to incredible lengths to ensure that the client is satisfied and that he gets the job done right the first time.   Concluding Thoughts   Brody doesn’t want to tour, he doesn’t want to leave his family and friends in Perth BUT he wants to engage further with bands and individual artists. So, how do you do that? Brody’s solution is to capture the worlds’ attention with the work he does in Underground Studios and use the internet and social media as his medium for exposure and reputation. He wants to work with the best musicians possible and create some incredible music without having to leave the comfort of home and his studio. We are now in an age where we can do just that and Brody sees this as his ultimate goal. His dream is to one day not have nearly as many physical bodies in his studio but rather correspond and create purely through the power of the internet. With the quality of his work and enough time I believe this will happen for him because of his imagination, creativity, pure skill on the drums and his no bullshit approach to correspondence and knowing what he needs from his clients in order to create a bespoke product.   Music by: The Siren Tower   Join me next Monday for another episode of the DrumGAB Podcast!   Brody’s Social Media Instagram | Facebook | YouTube http://realdrumsforyou.com/ http://www.undergroundstudios.com.au/   DrumGAB’s Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB theme music: Ian Maciak @ianhitsdrums VO artist: Tom Knight @tomknightvoice Background music: Etienne Mason @maysun.music  

Welcome to another episode of the DrumGAB Podcast! I am pleased to introduce this weeks’ guest, Elie Bertrand, who hails from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is the final guest for our exciting October podcast series that I call, Chicks with Sticks.   Who is Elie?   As a young child Elie describes herself as “crazy” and had to hit something other than her sister and thus turned to drums. She was only five years old when she received her first drum set and as she puts it, “it was my therapy” to deal with her anger and frustrations as a young girl. Fast forward years later and Elie has continued to pursue drumming as her career and has become well established as a “hired gun” for hard rock gigs all over the world.   Key Moments in this episode   - We begin with some typical DrumGAB banter and we discuss her feature in Batterie Magazine, which is the largest drum magazine in the world that is published exclusively in French.   - When Elie turned 17 she and her Father drove from Montreal to Toronto to get Elie setup in her new living space that she would share with twelve other people. She had 500 dollars, a single mattress and some of her belongings. She had no idea how she would survive but the stories she tells about her early years in Toronto with Scarlett Sins is very entertaining.   - Elie talks about the differences between being a band member versus the freelance approach that she now takes. She reveals real world pros and cons to each and provides valuable insight to what people can actually expect in this industry.   - Elie has eluded to this “American Thing” a few times here and there but hasn’t really revealed what that actually meant. She is currently in a transition phase to try and broaden her opportunities in this industry and the challenges she will face reaching a new market.   - Finally, we talk about what would happen to her career if she became a Mother. Strange to ask in a sense but it is an interesting conversation.   Concluding Thoughts   Elie is a fun loving person with exuberance for life and lives by the seat of her pants. She travels often and is never quite too sure what her life will consist of month to month. This is a common story told in this industry and while it is exciting to hear about, it cannot possibly be for everyone. However, I feel young musicians who haven’t quite begun the process of living the “rock and roll” lifestyle, really don’t understand what is truly gained and lost by being involved in this profession. There is a lack of stability and your next paycheque only arrives if you can deliver the goods and hustle to make the opportunities happen to prove your worth. Elie is standing proof of all of this and has done this for a decade professionally and she has no plans of stopping anytime soon.   Music by Sticks and Strings   Join me next Monday for another episode of the DrumGAB Podcast!   Elie’s Social Media YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website

It was a little over a year ago when I met Sarah Thawer for the first time. I was at D’Addario speaking with the AR rep for Canada, Larry Davidson, about some ideas for my brand at the time. This was in the very beginning of DrumGAB. It was a trial season for the podcast and I had a few episodes up, that are no longer online. At this point I was still experiementing to find the direction for the brand. Anyways, after speaking with Larry for the better part of a half hour, in walks Sarah. Larry introduced us and Sarah and I chatted for a bit about what each of us were doing around that time of our careers. After a tour of the D'Addario headquarters Sarah and I left the building and exchanged our social media handles and I haven’t seen her in person since then.   When I got home I loaded up Instagram and looked up her profile and immediately I was blown away. I had no idea that the girl that I had just met in Larry's office could play like THAT! Ever since then I have been checking in on her career and making mental notes because from that day forward I knew that we were going to collaborate on something at some point in the future. That brings us to the present with Episode 46 of the podcast and all I can say is that this episode is absolutely incredible.   The past year for Sarah has been a rollercoaster of opportunities and as a result of those opportunities, major growth in her career that is taking the drum community by storm. After seeing multiple reposts from Drum Talk TV, major endorsement announcements and some prestigious events that she is performing I knew all too well that this was the perfect time to catch her for a session on the show.   The week that we recorded this session was in fact a week of many firsts for Sarah. This week has marked her first drum solo show, her first clinic and she has now assembled her very own band as band leader for the first time and this was her first podcast interview, which I am still in disbelief considering the quality of our conversation. It is an exciting time for her. It is abundantly clear to me, and many others who follow her, that she WILL be a recognized professional in this industry in no time. It could be argued that it is already happening even. Now, I am not suggesting that she will be world famous and a star, because I don’t have a crystal ball on my table, but it is certain that with her work ethic, musical knowledge and dedication to her craft big things will continue to happen for her.   I typically don’t outline my episodes in these articles but instead provide an overall impression of the person I spoke with and how I internalize the conversation. Many people who have appeared on this show have bright futures but many of the podcast episodes aren’t quite at peak timing for the artists, unlike this one. I feel that this episode is one that Sarah and her peers will reflect on in a year or two and recall how all the stars were beginning to align and that we all knew that something big was in store for her but we weren’t yet sure what it would become.   This is easily one of the best shows in the history of the podcast purely for its humility and honesty. I have never once had a guest be so honest with me on the show. So as I listened to this episode once I was finished producing it, I felt a great sense of happiness for her. I hope that you connect with her on this level too when you listen to this incredible podcast episode.   Sarah Thawer's Social Media Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Website   DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website

Are you ready for blast off? The second edition of Chicks with Sticks is a stellar episode. It follows a recent podcast with Earl Talbot, who is Jessica Burdeaux’s instructor. It becomes quite clear after watching Jessica’s videos that Earl can produce some amazing musicians through his teachings. I don’t want to discount the fact that Jessica has poured her heart into her craft, because it all boils down to personal diligence to succeed with most things in life but when you combine hard work and a resource like Earl Talbot, Jessica is the product. The players that I have on the show this month are all very unique to one another. They all have their own unique voices and background with music and Jessica is no exception. She came onto the Instagram scene by learning about the hashtag #VF15 and decided to make a video based on the paradiddle and created a groove using this common rudiment. Much to her surprise, Vic Firth had shared this on their page and it created a lot of buzz and it really acted as a sign that she should develop her social media platforms and use them to forge new opportunities for herself, which she has certainly done. Recently she became an official Destroy a Drum artist and earlier this year she was featured in Drum! Magazine, which is really quite impressive and as she describes, “a surreal experience.” We talk a fair bit about how incredible it is that we can make world wide connections with people throughout the industry by creating content from the comfort of our homes and that while it is a saturated platform, if you are consistent and create quality content, anything is possible. In each episode of the DrumGAB podcast, I focus my interviews along a theme. The theme to this episode is that content creators need to stick with it. We use the time frame of six months specifically in a particular part of the interview. The example was the following……if you post daily content for six months, it can seem like a long time and it can feel especially long if nothing major is happening and your growth is happening at a snail’s pace and that it is within this time frame people start to feel like nothing will ever come of their efforts. It is hard to describe how a person’s attitude should be in order to MAYBE get a breakthrough that will help their name become recognized, especially when it can take a long time for some people and not so long for others. One thing that people DO respect, however, is persistence. Just don’t quit. You have to allow a space in your mind that believes that anything could happen at any time and that people WILL notice you over time. The truth is tough sometimes to come to terms with. The music industry is famously unpredictable for better or for worse and sustaining a career is even more challenging than getting it started in the first place sometimes. If you truly believe in yourself and you really love what you are doing, just try to enjoy the process and the journey. Don’t get hung up on the fact that some accounts are massive and get tons of exposure and yours doesn’t. Remember and tell yourself that those massive accounts didn’t just happen overnight. Many of those people went through the same trials in their first months and years and likely have spent several years developing their exposure and influence. I hope that listeners take this away from this episode. Jessica has over 50,000 followers on Instagram BUT that was realized through her amazing content, her persistence and her belief that anything could happen if she applied herself. It is a valuable message and it is something I believe many people need to hear and internalize. All in all this was a terrific episode that covers a lot of ground and delivers a strong, positive and useful message to listeners. Jessica Burdeaux’s Social Media Instagram | Facebook | YouTube DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website

** Circles for more important things. . We're teaming up with the fine people at Sugar Percussion, Paul Mabury and That Sound, Drummers Corner Group and the team at Drumeo to give to those in need. Drum fan or not, help us help out. Details on the raffle are as follows. Sugar Percussion is offering a 14x6 Eastern Black Cherry snare drum with a gig bag. Tickets are $5 each and there is no limit on tickets purchased. . Payment sent as gift via PayPal to js@sugarpercussion.com . Send an email to js@sugarpercussion.com with your name, address and telephone number. . The Raffle runs for the month of September, and we are sending payments to organization every week. . The charities we have chosen to support is Texas A&M University Veterinary Emergency Team and for Hurricane Irma we are sending money to Direct Relief. Thank you everyone so much for showing your appreciation and support for our raffle. We love all of you. **   The intro to this episode is a montage of audio clips from Aaron Edgar's SQ-590 "The Holy Grail" unboxing. Music is by Oli Bernatchez   So as many of you recall I had interviewed Aaron back in Episode 12 about six months ago. After that session we touched base every so often, mostly in the form of bug pictures and snow storm videos. But one time he sent me a really interesting update. Aaron said he was changing his studio, his business and also about how he was working on a book, but nothing more. At this point, I decided that he needed to be back on the show because of these major transformations that were happening but I didn't understand much beyond that.   In many cases with DrumGAB everything is fail-safe and proofed for any catostrophies while recording the show. I plan the show pretty meticulously as a rule. Aaron's show was no different. However, once we got chatting and the show started going, I only used the notes a couple times for major points I wanted to discuss and to direct the show. But in this episode the conversation took over pretty fast. This episode is as real as it gets I feel. I am blown away with how well this session turned out.   The main thread in this episode is the idea of self awareness and evolution. What you need to understand is that Aaron has been biting off big portions for years as a way to prove to himself that he can do anything he wants. In addition to that point, Aaron is a workoholic and has difficulty with saying no and because of this he felt that he was becoming spread too thin. Aaron had reached a threshold and had to reinvent himself.   Now, what's really interesting about this interview is that he shares so openly about all of this. I sensed some self-reflection, almost like the podcast session was a time for Aaron to unwind to someone. So within the first 30 minutes the chat hits some deep points and then we "close" on some snare shop talk. Aaron talks about his SQ-590 snare drum that has some of the most incredible providence I have ever heard about. The story behind how Aaron became the owner of that drum is a story for generations to tell. Legendary stuff. And then we begin concluding and it sounds like the show is over.   I remember how I felt during this part when we recorded it. There was an awkward tension in the air as it didn't feel over yet somehow. I can't really explain why, but I decided to blurt out a question concerning Stickman out of the blue. I didn't even see it coming. Aaron says it was great and next thing you know he's telling me about how he rewrote his clinic and lead a meditation et cetera. At this point shit got real. He opens up like I have never heard on this show. He openly talks about what his life is like and how blindfaithing his career had really taken a toll on him. He discusses a particular book he read several times called "Effortless Mastery" and how it changed his life. He talks about being kinder to himself and treating himself like a human being, not just locking himself away in his basement teaching, making video content, freelance gigging and working on projects. His entire adult life has been without much of a social life. It has just been drums and music and he is now realizing that he needs to reform in order to keep the fire going strong within.   When I think about all the caterpillar pictures he sent me over the summer, all I can think about is what those caterpillers represented to Aaron. As he explains, "What does a caterpillar represent? It gets into a cocoon and turns into a completely different animal." It is amazing when your guest lives in the moment on your show. It is rare when it is this genuine and I am so glad I captured it.   Music by: Third Ion Song: Van Halien Aaron Edgar Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Facebook | Website

** Circles for more important things . We're teaming up with the fine people at Sugar Percussion, Paul Mabury and That Sound, Drummers Corner Group and the team at Drumeo to give to those in need. Drum fan or not, help us help out. Details on the raffle are as follows. Sugar Percussion is offering a 14x6 Eastern Black Cherry snare drum with a gig bag. Tickets are $5 each and there is no limit on tickets purchased. . Payment sent as gift via PayPal to js@sugarpercussion.com . Send an email to js@sugarpercussion.com with your name, address and telephone number. . The Raffle runs for the month of September, and we are sending payments to organization every week. . The charities we have chosen to support is Texas A&M University Veterinary Emergency Team and for Hurricane Irma we are sending money to Direct Relief. Thank you everyone so much for showing your appreciation and support for our raffle. We love all of you. ** During the course of making DrumGAB podcast, I have had the pleasure of speaking with a wide variety of guests, all of which having their own unique stories that are an absolute pleasure to listen to. But every once in a while I have a guest that completely blows my mind with their incredible wisdom, experiences and advice. Jared Falk is a guest that fits this description to a T. Because of the unique opportunity to speak with someone that holds so much experience on this kind of scale, I had to take advantage of this and create a unique and deep podcast episode. This episode will resonate with people who are building their own brand online and the conversation we have about this topic is incredibly realistic. I personally hope that people will reflect on their personal efforts and feel encouraged that the ebbs and flows are just part of the process. In this podcast we take it from the ground up with how Jared and Rick Kettner got this project up and running. The level of risk that was assumed in creating Drumeo, which is a name that was chosen much later, is kind of insane. Borrowing money from his brother and maxing out his credit cards, Jared is an all or nothing kind of guy. He was either going to succeed or crash and burn. Most people do one of two things, play it safe or they put themselves at great risk for great rewards. To hear where Drumeo started and where it is now is nothing short of incredible. I absolutely found it necessary to discuss his thoughts with online education. Not to set him up in anyway, but Drumeo is widely regarded as the most successful brand in this segment of the industry and I had to ask his opinion on this subject. What he says is both positive and negative in a sense but all his feedback is very objective. In this episode Jared and I have a lot of laughs, deep conversation and overall amazing rapport. For someone who’s time is limited and brand is so large, he remains approachable and truly humble about himself. As a quick little side note, I want to say that Jared is standing proof that with enough willpower, patience and strategy, you can do great things. I am going to refrain from really going into any great detail about this episode in the notes. It is a strong episode that will open your mind and make you feel empowered to encounter your own dreams. Drumeo Media Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Website DrumGAB Media Instagram | Facebook | Website

** Circles for more important things. . We're teaming up with the fine people at @drummers_corner_group and @drumgab1 to give to those in need. Drum fan or not, help us help out. We're raffling off a 14x6 Eastern Black Cherry snare to contribute to the Houston relief effort. There are countless organizations to which to donate but we have a soft spot for the pups and this one struck a chord close to home. The Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team sees to the search and rescue dogs looking for victims of the floods, supporting FEMA's efforts, as well as aiding in the care and relocation of the countless animals rendered stranded or homeless. The work is crucial and their efforts have been extremely well reviewed. We will run this raffle through the month of September, sending 100% of the proceeds weekly until its conclusion. Please, help us help those who fiercely need it. Thank you and spread the word. . To enter: 1. Send $5 gift payment via PayPal to js@sugarpercussion.com 2. Enter as many times as you like. 3. Send email to same address (link in bio) with your name, address and phone number. . That's all. $5 to contribute to the relief and a chance to win a pretty circle. **     Bryson admires the drummers of history such as James Gadson and other legendary artists of a bygone era. He identifies with these historic drummers and the drum sets they played. This is why he is attracted to vintage gear and has developed the habit of buying and selling them. Bryson was a touring drummer for quite a long time before Nelson Drum Co. came into existence. It was on his drive up to Nashville from California that he decided to start a drum company and had his friend draw the logo straight away. Bryson was just buying and selling vintage gear from his home and inviting drummers to be filmed and recorded in “guest features” for his social media. It hasn’t been two years and Bryson is stepping into retail and growing at an incredible pace. Between the striking visual aesthetics, fantastic selection of drum equipment, the superb videos and Bryson’s good hearted nature, it is no wonder how he has grown so rapidly. It was really nice to have Bryson on the show. It was a lighthearted conversation between a couple of drum dorks discussing our love for gear and the drumming world as a whole. Make sure to check in October 4th for his grand opening with Andy Foote Drum Supply. Best of luck to you buddy! Also, huge shoutout to my dudes Ian Maciak and Chris Freeman for their contributions for DrumGAB’s brand new theme music. Thanks fellas you guys rock! I am very fortunate to have such talented friends. In addition to the great music I also had the incredible talent of Tom Knight to do the VO work that is now included in my show. Thank you so much brother! Nelson Drum Co. Online Media www.nelsondrumco.com | Instagram | Facebook Drum Supply Instagram DrumGAB Media Instagram | Facebook | Website

The goal with DrumGAB is to find the fire in the belly of the artists that I feature. Every person has baggage and experiences that make them unique and ultimately, interesting. Normally I dig deep ahead of time to find the key to the doors that contain great conversation and true honest perspective. With Billy, things went a little differently. I have been listening to MMW for years and have always enjoyed their performances and Billy Martin has been an artist that I have admired for years. Now, I must confess that beyond Billy’s music, I am not very familiar with his complete range of work. For me personally, I have been curious about his process of creating, his philosophies on improvising and what life means to him and how being an artist fits into that. In all honesty, while this episode may feel like it’s an interview, the reason for that is because Illy B has so much wisdom to shed on every single question I had. I discovered quickly that if I were to continue peeling layers on a single topic, this could have easily become a two hour plus episode and I have to keep brevity in mind for the sake of my monthly podcast allowance. So we explore a handful of interesting ideas that are unfolded with unprecedented detail on a DrumGAB podcast. This is a podcast you may find yourself replaying just to capture the depth of his explanations. It is nothing short of incredible. Billy shapes his responses into a powerful string of sentences that are coupled with vivid metaphors time and time again that gets your brain moving. Early in this episode, we discuss Billy’s music camp, Rhythm, Sound, and Magic, which I mistakenly addressed as a festival, oops. Illy B discusses the purpose of the camp and what campers can expect to take home with them and the concept is simply wonderful. This camp attracts all walks of life who share the love of rhythm, sound and the magic of creating in the moment with your peers. The result is a beautiful celebration that I can only imagine leaves the campers feeling inspired and fulfilled. Billy seems to have a strong inclination to implant radical ideas into people to help them find their true path for creating and find themselves in the process. It is one thing to copy someone else and shape yourself around someone else, but it is another thing to gather and store knowledge as your tools and use those tools to experiment, fail, succeed and eventually develop something that is truly you, which acts as a genuine and sincere contribution to the world. Bob Moses is also a topic of discussion in this podcast. Billy has known and mentored, unintentionally, with Bob for many many years. The stories about Bob and Billy are treasures. It is pure gold what Billy shares with us. I won't spoil any details here, you'll just have to listen. Although I will say that I do ask about the reason why Bob and Billy both often use branches and sticks to play the drums and how it changes your playing from using conventional drumsticks. In my ignorance, I referred to the branches as "twigs" so I am somewhat regretful of how I addressed my question, however, the reasons for using this technique surely has opened my mind considerably to this idea. There is one more particularly special element to this episode as well that I would like to share. I have a friend that I have made through creating DrumGAB and he has become a devout listener and I am grateful for him. Mayo Coates created the intro music for Ep.35 with Freddy Charles and I was so impressed with the results that I asked him if he would like to create an intro for this episode with Billy. Mayo probably thought about the offer for about a second because his response was a resounding YES! He told me he would spend the week working on something and because Mayo is an enormous fan of Billy, he wanted to make it perfect in honor of the opportunity. So he sent me the tracks and while I loved them, I didn’t see it as an intro this time around but rather one piece in particular, “Grooves for Whales” as an outro piece. It features the beloved Morfbeats Marvin in action and it just works, so instead of going the usual route of featuring the guests’ music I decided to use Mayo’s music as he saw it as a tribute to Billy and I personally believe in sharing and adding value to people’s lives whenever I can. I am sure that Mayo will treasure the experience and I love how it is a true extension of Billy’s teachings as Mayo has been indirectly mentoring from Billy for years through his books, videos, artwork, and music. You can also hear Mayo’s creative sounds when the call drops between Billy and I, in a trippy void of technological misfortune. As for the intro that I put together, there is a small reflection of myself in this. I am an only child and I spent a lot of time experimenting with recordings and sounds as a child and I feel that as we age and we become more and more objective and realistic and as a result, we lose the ability to be open to our imagination. The man in the interview is Captain Beefheart, whom I am fascinated with and have been for years. Beefheart had an often brutal, dictatorial approach to controlling his creative environment but one thing cannot be denied. He pursued his creativity with no barriers and with a childlike nature that made him one of the greatest creative minds in the 20th century. I find that there are mild parallels to Illy B and Beefheart in terms of exploration and their prolific catalog of work but beyond that, this intro was simply interesting and fun to create, albeit dark and sinister in tone but I like that sort of thing. As a final thought, I will never forget my involvement with this podcast. Besides the incredible experience of speaking with someone that I have been admiring and listening to for so many years, I was in the Bruce Peninsula cottaging during the editing process and I found myself in the perfect headspace for working out this episode. While I was up there I kept thinking about how honored I am for the responsibility of making this special episode. The task of creating media that features Billy's wisdom and knowledge for people who truly appreciate Billy is something I don't take lightly. I consider this episode as one of the most important episodes that I have done so far and I am completely humbled to have been the director of such a thing. Amazing. Thank you for this opportunity Illy B, it has been a slice. Billy Martin Media Instagram | Facebook | Website | Amulet Records DrumGAB Media Instagram | Facebook | Website Music By Mayo Coates Instagram

At one point or another, I had decided that my goal for DrumGAB was to have conversations with drummers about their lives and get to know them as people rather than talking about drumming. Don’t get me wrong, drumming is the hinge to the door of DrumGAB, but that is all. I want to explore the life experiences, wisdom and general knowledge of each guest to gain a multitude of unique perspectives from each and every person who appears on the show. I have to admit that this episode with Tom Knight in many ways is the interview I have been waiting for. I don’t want to sound like I don’t enjoy my other episodes, because they all have their place with valuable insights, information and in general I feel that most of them are entertaining to listen to but I am a person who is drawn to history and legacy and I have yet been fortunate enough to speak with someone with at least 30 years of professional experience in this industry, with the exception of Ramy Antoun. It is these style of interviews where stories are found and if the person is well spoken and descriptive, it can make podcast gold. This episode is exactly that, and it is exceptional listening. Tom Knight has a colorful career filled with larger than life stories and he captures these tales with incredibly vivid detail. Tom is a great story teller. It also doesn’t hurt that he is a seasoned professional in the VO (Voice Over) industry, so along with having a high-quality microphone for recording, what he says into it is simply great to listen to. We riff some VO bits for fun and discuss how he found himself in this industry, which was basically by mistake. He tells us the story of how Don LaFontaine produced a wedding gift on Valentine’s Day for Tom’s wife and how he got to know him very well in the last couple of years of his life. In this segment of the interview, there are a lot of laughs, stories and we learn a side of Tom's career that is possibly even better to him than his drumming career. While I was preparing for this interview, I stumbled across a name that immediately caught my attention and I knew we had to talk about….none other than Dave Weckl. Yes, Tom studied under Dave and developed a friendship with him over the years and he tells us stories about Dave that are so personal and would seem to border on fiction if it weren’t told from a person who experienced it firsthand. The stories and how Tom vicariously describes Weckl is a true pleasure to listen to and a definite highlight in this episode. Next, we discuss how Tom almost blew it with Zildjian. Let this be a cautionary tale to any cocky, overly confident players out there that thinks their shit don’t stink. Tom explains that the head of AR at Zildjian would field between 75 to 150 endorsement applications PER DAY! This is the reality of the matter. This is one of the most realistic and valuable pieces of advice, told through his own near fatal move with Zildjian. The main thing that held the Zildjian deal together was the fact that he was about to hit the road with TLC and obviously TLC being an international sensation, it was in their interest all along to sign Tom, but first, he had to be knocked down a peg. So what is road life like with a major act? Well as Tom describes it, “utterly boring for 22 hours of the day and earth shatteringly amazing for 2 hours.” The truths that arise about Tom’s true feelings towards touring is so refreshing and only because I feel that many people would imagine him to respond with unwavering positivity. Instead, his perspective is one where the novelty has worn off and he has to factor in living away from family, the local business relationships he forged and all of the physical and mental struggles of touring. He makes it clear that this was how he viewed it but that others may LOVE the nomadic nature of touring but that he wasn’t really wired for it and now that he has three children and a marriage to nurture, the money would have to be of epic proportions for him to leave his family these days. He has no plans for touring in other words. However, it seems to me that he has no regrets about touring and that perhaps it needed to happen in order for him to gain the perspective he needed for down the road. Tom shared this concept of neurobics on his Instagram recently and it really caught my interest, which led me down a rabbit hole of research to learn more about this incredible learning tool. It is essentially aerobics for your brain. Keep that muscle sharp with certain exercises so that your brain doesn’t turn to mush is the general message here. We review different methods to train yo’ brain and the importance of neurobics. Are you noticing yet that drums like never came up in the chat we had? Before we get into concluding statements, the conversation takes a turn into left field and Tom shares with us how he conquered fear and how people should just do the shit they don’t want to do. Break old habits, forge new pathways in their lifestyle and live out their true potential. Both of us agree that we are not saying this stuff to appear like we are “perfect”, hell I can speak personally that I have a lot of growing to do and that I make mistakes all the time and Tom expresses himself in a similar fashion, but that we have a better understanding of what we CAN do and that we are working on it while encouraging other people in the process. Overall, this is an episode that acts as a true snapshot of a person that I now admire more than ever after speaking to him. An episode filled with tales of an illustrious past and how to adapt to your situations in life to remain busy and employable in what is a very competitive industry, especially these days. This is an episode that will rank high in the DrumGAB podcast library and I am so eternally grateful for Tom’s time in creating this fantastic episode. Music by: Adam Nitti Song: Skitzo Social Media for Tom Drumming - Instagram | Facebook VO - Instagram | Facebook | Website   DrumGAB Website | Instagram | Facebook

Podcasting is a very interesting prospect. In the beginning, it is terrifying and exciting. I was so unsure of my first publications but you have to almost pretend no one heard it until I began receiving good feedback from people. Over time I began to adjust to the idea of making a forever time capsule that anyone, at any time, can access and I am being held responsible for this content. That is a lot to process at first and every host has their story on how this experience went for them. In this episode we reach back to the beginnings of Drummers I Like podcast and Behind the Kit podcasts and we learn how Rich, of Drummers I Like and Matt from Behind the Kit, adapted to the pressure of hosting and how their first experiences as podcast hosts treated them. We begin by really dig deep into Drummers I Like’s history. Rich has really turned it up with his podcasting obligations and as a result, he is a very sharp host/guest. With lots of practice, yields great results. He realizes that the Daily Fill is a training ground for the big picture. It is the hamster on the wheel. I was really impressed how he performed as a guest and it is a true result to his 50+ Daily Fill episodes in less than 3 months. Rich Ducat, is a fucking beast ladies and gentlemen. It is hard to deny the work he puts in and his growth personally and as a brand. I have been a steady follower of Drummers I Like for several months now (roughly since Episode 29) and the show, the brand, the community, and the brand image has really focused and is attacking with everything Rich can throw at it. It is very inspiring and respectable, so the dude has my vote right there. Echoing that question to Matt, his story is just as amazing. He just kept acting on his impulses and stuck with it to produce something to leave behind. We learn that Matt’s motivation was to be comfortable in his own skin and do what comes naturally to him. Give back to the community and keep the focus off of him. I always admire a person who is genuine about being this way. Matt is as transparent as they come. He evolved into a podcast host, which is echoing how I began as well. I can really understand Matt’s approach to creating content. The objective is to explore your interests and create a time capsule for yourself. It’s a method of creative expression and the process of podcasting suits our personality. Learning about the forging process to a podcast is good story material it turns out. There is always something I think about with Drummers I Like and it is how Rich manages the workload and maintains the scheduled behavior to their product. The quality seems to only improve in ALL areas. Rich opens up big time on this topic of time management and how he manages to keep this all running as smooth as possible. He goes into incredible detail about how imagines the future of Drummers I Like and what he plans to achieve with it. He also talks about his concept behind Drummers I Like PRO and what this platform is designed to accomplish. It is all very well thought out and it is quite obvious that Rich has got something here. But sometimes good things must come to an end. Matt hosted a well-received podcast called “Behind the Kit” and it ran for over 50 episodes. So why he shut it down and if he plans to get it running again was a major question I had. His response to this reminded me of someone who gets injured at the gym and has to take time off to heal. Between scheduling conflicts, technical obstacles and fewer download figures than desired, Matt called his 54 episodes, Season One. Whether the show will return is not a priority but certainly not an impossibility. As a result of this section of the interview, we all speculate the idea of when our shows will end and if that our shows are even something we can give up. To finish out the episode we all run through a questionnaire to get some opinions on common podcasting practice. Music By: Matt Dudley Album: Trial, Transition, Advance Songs: Interlude, Trial Order the ALBUM Trial, Transition, Advance at mattdudleymusic.bandcamp.com Drummers I Like Social Media Instagram | Website Matt Dudley Social Media Instagram | Website DrumGAB Social Media Instagram | Website

#humpdaygiveaway | Week 8 Q: What are the two major opportunities that were offered to Stan earlier this year? (Prizes provided by @canadiandrumgear There are podcasts in the DrumGAB library that are resourceful, others are purely conversational entertainment and somehow Episode 29 with Stan Bicknell lies somewhere in the middle. I don’t really think that it was intended to become an episode where people could learn anything, besides the life of Stan Bicknell of course, but it unfolded in such a way that reveals a strong underlying message. You see, I draw a strong parallel between myself and Stan. We are both family men that are self-employed and drumming is a big part of us but it is no longer the forefront of our existence. While life presents new responsibilities and obligations, it begins to determine what is most important to us as people and how some things in life may take on a significant value that we couldn’t possibly understand in our younger years. It is widely understood on the Instagram medium that Stan is easily one of the most popular drumming figures on social media currently. What he holds is something that many of us would, for lack of better words, give a testicle or two as a trade for the kind of success Stan’s Instagram profile bears. However, even given the tremendous growth and rise of popularity, Stan does not ignore the life he lives in the flesh for this digital circus of likes, comments, and shares that he so regularly receives. Instead, he sets time aside when his family is sleeping to produce his content and share his thoughts with his followers through blogging in his captions. He very responsibly restricts his use of Instagram to be present in the moment with his family, friends and business partners. In short, he consumes the Instagram drug with a great deal of caution and regulates his intake. So what was the reason for Stan creating an Instagram account you may ask? Well, he had stopped touring with a band named Kimbra due to this little thing called, your self-consciousness, and felt that it was only going to get deeper and deeper and so he passed off the sticks to another player and quit the band. He continued playing drum set in his coffee warehouse, Rumble Coffee Roasters, but it just wasn’t satisfying enough playing to no audience. So he began using Instagram and all he was trying to do was keep a low profile but it obviously hasn’t worked out to plan as his acquisition rate for followers has been well over 1,000 per week over a course of over 52 weeks. So, what do 112 thousand followers in 15 months do to a person? Well, that all depends on the person. I would imagine for most people it would improve a persons’ self-esteem, and depending on your ego, it could turn someone into a complete arsehole. For Stan, it seems that what he enjoys most about having so much rapid growth is that it opens up a very wide audience to make a positive impact upon. For example, Stan receives many messages from fans all over the world who thank him for being the reason they are getting back into drumming. These kinds of comments are a highlight for Stan and is definitely a contributing factor to his continuation on social media. However, he is clear about his love/hate relationship with social media. It would be tiresome to keep up appearances and respond to every single message, in fact, you wouldn’t even have a life to speak of when you have that many followers. So Stan had made a reference to “Good Will Hunting” where he exclaims, “What if I deleted my account one day and didn’t tell anyone about it?” And it’s not that Stan is unappreciative, I think he’s just accessing, hypothetically, how much he really needs social media. In the interview, we discuss the fact that Stan will never leave his family and business partners to become a star and seek fame and fortune. He takes great pleasure in his day to day life and at the end of it all….he still gets to play his drums. And simply, that is what's important. Not the where or the who or for how much. He just wants to hear the crack of his snare. This puts a great deal of perspective in this conversation. A person who is at the forefront of popularity on Instagram and the drumming community at large is a simple man who knows what he needs and why he is needed. It is truly amazing someone who holds this in his hands has complete control over what his destiny is and that it hasn’t corrupted him with temptation. That is exemplary and it is the reason why this is such an interesting listen. A conversation captured at the apex of where a healthy perspective is absolutely paramount. I believe Stan could become an A-list drummer for a very major act and it could all have been seeded in Instafame. I wouldn’t put it past Stan, that if this all becomes too much and he has to decide what to do, he may do as Matt Damon did, and just not be there one day. Photography courtesy of @jessbicknellphotography Music Credits | Band: The New Caledonia a.) Breathing Space (coffee montage) b.) Solar Parade c.) Celestial Satellites Stan's Social Media Instagram Rumble Coffee Roasters Media Website | Instagram DrumGAB Media drumgab.com | Instagram | Facebook  

#humpdaygiveaway | Week 5 Q: What are the names of the two students that I spontaneously interview towards the end of the show? Episode 26 has been in the works for a bit of time now. A couple of months ago I saw a video of Omari’s father, Cyril, playing drums, on his IG account. I understood from Episode 37 on DrummersILike’s podcast that Omari had watched his father, Cyril, play drums a lot during his childhood. It was clear in the tone of Omari’s voice on the podcast that he was truly inspired by his father and strongly looked up to him. I was inspired by that episode and I really enjoyed Omari’s personality on the show and I kinda decided that I needed him on DrumGAB after that. But after seeing Cyril playing, the thought hit me like a wall, I HAD to have them both on the show together. So, literally within minutes of having this idea, I messaged Omari to ask whether or not we could have Cyril on the show as well. Omari’s response to my request was unanimous. My wish had come true. A father and son podcast was going to happen on my show!! I had not ever seen something like this before on a drumming podcast before and that made it even more reason to do it. The main goal with this podcast for me was to capture an honest reaction from both of them once we became more involved in the conversation. There was such a great opportunity to create some magic on this one.   A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OMARI Omari is a coveted drum instructor from Trinidad and Tobago. He has multiple endorsements including Promark Drumsticks, Evans Drum Heads, D’Addario, Serenity Drums, Tru Tuner, LowBoy Custom Beaters, Drumlite and Drumtacs. He is also a certified Drumeo Teacher, a drum tutor at Angelic Sounds Music Centre, a drum coach at CJ’s Coaching Institute, and he performs with many musicians including Curtis Jordan, GIEL, Helen Baylor, Koen Duncan, Shiselon, Tiko Angelos, and Wave. That is quite a pedigree! Oh right, I almost forgot…..Omari is an absolute beast!! Best not forget to mention that. A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CYRIL Cyril is a self taught player and it was his Uncle, who also played, that introduced Cyril to the drums at age 11. Cyril’s Uncle showed him enough theory and different rhythms to begin a lifelong passion for drums. Cyril had played with many bands in the area and there was a time when Cyril was unable to attend a performance and so he recommended Omari to fill his spot for the night. The bands response the following week….? “Well Cyril, we didn’t miss you that much”, said Cyril’s bandmates. For years, Omari and Cyril had never jammed together. Each of them worked at their craft without crossing paths musically. Until one day they performed a duet….at Omari’s wedding. Both gentlemen sporting their finest tux and both of them are shredding it up! To think their maiden jam would be at Omari’s wedding is very special indeed. Overall, this is a heartwarming episode with lots of character and it highlights the beauty of family and people coming together to reach a common goal through music. It is a very inspiring episode to say the least. Music featured on this episode a) Learie Joseph standup / End credits, Eraserhead b) Cyril and Omari Augustine duet at Omari’s wedding Instagram | Website

#humpdaygiveaway Week 3 - What cymbal is Scott ranting and raving about? Last summer I was writing a weekly piece that I released on Sunday mornings that I called "Weekly Warrior". The "Weekly Warrior" were articles about drummers that I really liked. I would just randomly pick a drummer from my head and then I would write an article on drummer I had chose. One of the reasons that I was writing the weekly piece was to practice my writing. I also had to create a routine around DrumGAB, or it would have died early on. Projects like this require constant effort or else they don't work. So in the very beginning, I had to create content from my inspirations and Scott Pellegrom was one of those first 6 articles. Once the article was all done, I tweeted it to Scott and thought nothing of it after that. Until a couple days rolled by and I received a message from him that he had read it and he said thanks for the thought. So, thinking back, you could say that Scott was actually the first confirmation for DrumGAB directly from the artist. Fast forward about 10 months later and we got in touch to hang on my podcast. This is kind of a special episode to me because it is a full circle moment and how it all played out and how it all turned out, is so rad and I am so thankful.  So what is this episode about? Well, it is really hard to answer that OR break it down into any kind of formula. It is simply a great conversation with a down to earth guy that seemed to enjoy the "no pressure" zero "agenda" that my show can offer someone. It is really a place to just be yourself and hang out and this episode captures a fine energy. Also, Scott hooked us up with a trio of SP3 (Scott Pellegrom Trio) tunes that are wild. If you dig the vibes you can check out the entire album SuperNaturalBang right here! i) Bees Knees ii) Creepin' iii) Squatchin' Enjoy the show! Scott's Media Instagram | Twitter | www.scottpellegrom.com www.drumgab.com

#humpdaygiveaway Week 1 - What brand of drumsticks did Aaron receive on his birthday? This episode features a new interactive weekly contest. #humpdaygiveaway is a brand new weekly giveaway that is being brought to you by Nick at Canadian Drum Gear and DrumGAB. Every week I will open up the podcast with a question pertaining to the podcast. Here are three ways you can win.... 1. Repost the podcast art on your Instagram page and tag @drumgab1 and @canadiandrumgear you will immediately receive 1 ballot. 2. If you are really bringing your eh! game, DM me on my Instagram page @drumgab1 with the correct answer between noon-3pm EST and you'll be entered into the draw with 2 ballots. 3. Combine 1&2 and you will have 3 ballots!! Yeah, math! Everybody has a chance to win but if you listen to the show your odds just got a whole lot better. The window for the contest is each Wednesday 7am-7pm EST. So what do you win? Well, you get to choose your own pair of drumsticks and your choice of Aquarian Drumhead. We are also kicking in a #DrumGAB coupon code that will save you 15% on all purchases at www.canadiandrumgear.com for the week of the contest (Thursday - Thursday). On with the program...Aaron is a true working drummer. He is a master educator at the Yamaha Music School in Toronto and has been teaching there for a decade. He has studied under guys like Mark Kelso and Paul DeLong and because of this Aaron has some ridiculous facility. Aaron is what I would refer to as a "true drum nerd". Aaron will gladly spend a Friday evening studying something music related over a loud night at the club. So that is why this podcast is so filled with good stuff. He has so much info crammed into his dome and he just spills it in this podcast. This is also an episode that is heavily diverted from an "Interview". Both Aaron and I appreciate a good conversation and so we had one. I am not going to get into detail about every little thing we talked about...cause I would miss a bunch. You will just have to listen to it and hear it for yourself. Artist: Exes for Eyes Songs: Remember Savannah Shot in the Dark Aaron's Social Media Instagram www.drumgab.com      

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. One-Up Drum Vids is a very interesting project to me and in a lot of ways speaks to me in terms of how to create content. I enjoy seeing people that are creative and have a high attention to detail. Carson’s videos are consistently great and I when he posts something, I never skip over it. I always want to see what it is that he is up to and the music he is creating. In many cases, I prefer what he comes up with for drum sounds, compositions, and execution over the originals. You can’t replace human interpretation and performance with a drum machine or computer. So with the rad content, he puts out, I felt like he and I were going to have many common interests that we would discover and talk about throughout the podcast. Sometimes you just know the guest suits the show. I had prepared an outline for the interview, fail-safe shit, and I pretty much botched my own interview. Within a few minutes, I glossed over about half of the points that I wrote down and so as a result, most of this is ACTUALLY just a conversation. Carson, on the day of the interview, hit 10K subs on YouTube, so we open things up talking about his content on YouTube and the challenges that were involved. Carson logged 60hrs on the Matt Garstka Challenge video….and I believe that video just shy of 8 minutes. That is seriously crazy. Here is the link to that video. Back a few months ago, Carson got a chance to do some work with a band names Paper Route. It came out of nowhere for him and it involved processes that he has not really had much experience with. Carson played some gigs that were out of his comfort zone. Low volume situations playing in highly resonant rooms were a particular challenge. We talk about playing with intensity at low volumes and reference a particular musician that does this with considerable conviction. Both Carson and I both feel that “chops” videos are overdone and we have a mutual love for groove and feel. It is refreshing to see videos that focus on the importance of knowing how a beat really sits. The devil is in the details with the stuff Carson does. He creates a new level of pocket that I don’t hear much and it is so addictive to listen to. One of the biggest factors as to why I had Carson on the show, was because I knew we both loved instrumental hip hop….and we are talking about the good stuff. I enjoy talking about records and music and so there is some time in the podcast dedicated to some good tune GAB. Overall, this is a really fun hang. It’ll go down as a classic in the library of DrumGAB podcast. Check it. Instagram | Facebook | YouTube www.drumgab.com

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. Episode 19 is with none other than Ramy Antoun, CEO of A&F Drum Co. and it is a trip. It is hard to recall every moment in this podcast, but it is so stacked with greatness....and let that be known, Ramy is a person that has a lot of unique life experiences. Ramy is truly blessed. So the official interview begins with Ramy giving us an overview of his experiences as a musician. Whether it was some of the people he made records with or toured with, Ramy has had some incredible moments as a musician. As an example, there was no audition for the Seal gig that lasted four years, you won't believe that story. Beyond that, Ramy talks about Buckethead for a bit. I don't want to spoil anything there. In general, Ramy's experiences as a musician are on the cusp of fable nature. Then enters A&F Drum Co. We touch on the beginnings, the current affairs, and Ramy's future plan to preserve this ever growing company. We talk about how the A&F Family were found and came together as a collective unit, harnessing each persons' strengths as they contribute their skills to this amazing company. It is a very organic process that took place and it explains why it seems like they have all known each other for ages. Ramy also discusses his philosophy behind how he designs and creates these instruments. I then ask Ramy what his chief motivation is in life. His answer is short and mine is long. For a time, I became the guest. Ramy is a very empathetic person and I believe it was hard for him not to ask more questions, but it was beautiful how he took the wheel and challenged me. Very rare to hear something like this in my podcast, or others podcasts that I have heard. It was a great moment in the conversation. That leads us to perhaps the most compelling part of our conversation. A couple of weeks ago Ramy sent me a text and the message contained a story about how Ramy dreamt about a Syrian immigration agency named CRIS. No word of a lie, he sent me the link to the website and there is an agency that focuses on helping Syrian refugees reach and sustain self-sufficiency by integrating these people into communities throughout Mid-Ohio. So, Ramy wanted to know if we could discuss this stuff in the podcast and send a message to the drumming community. I, of course, said yes to that and so we discuss some ideas in this podcast and we urge you folks to consider thought to our idea. In conclusion, this podcast is very intimate, thoughtful and funny. Of course, there must be some good laughs in there too. I hope you enjoy this raw podcast session and hopefully enjoy the in-depth look at why A&F is a thriving company and family.    A&F Instagram | A&F Facebook | Website | CRIS

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. With each passing interview, I feel more and more able to connect with my guests and it translates to better podcasts. It was some time ago that I booked a date with Dan Mayo and I had thoughts of what I would want to ask him. Dan is a drummer that I am personally a huge fan of and as a podcast host, I wanted to capitalize on that opportunity by producing a memorable podcast. My focus is ensuring that I am steadily improving my ability to communicate with people. I do this so that down the road, I will have some profound experiences and memories with my drumming brothers and sisters. Dan Mayo's interview is a personal turning point in how I perceived my podcast. We don't discuss Dan's history for much, although we do briefly touch on this. Basically, Dan has played drums since before he can accurately recall. The heart of this podcast, besides some discussion on his amazing band TATRAN, is about how Dan approaches drumming. When a player shows so much physical and mental freedom, I have to know the liberties that are included with that. How does he become so engaged so quickly in these one-minute clips on Instagram from a cold start? How Dan answered some of my questions were unlike what I was expecting. I won't spoil anything else, you will just need to hear it for yourself. Dan's Instagram TATRAN Website

Welcome to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. I am going to keep this short and simple. This is a special bonus episode for all the people who listen to my show, graciously support and encourage me to continue this project. Without the support of my listeners and the participation of my guests, it wouldn't be possible. So thank you all. Robb Ryan is a familiar name to DrumGAB. Besides my wife Amanda, Robb was literally the first person to know about DrumGAB and he was the guy who literally said, "Get off your ass and write a blog." That blog turned into an actual total of 20 articles if you count my original series "Weekly Warrior" and my three review articles. Then the podcast came along and I recorded 6 trial interviews that are no longer online. I put DrumGAB down for a bit when my son Harrison was born but after a while, I realized it had to continue and my wife and friends agreed. I then rebuilt my website and relaunched the podcast in January. The podcast is an absolute blast and I take a great deal of pride in it. I try to treat it like an art form and I want to create memorable experiences. So to commemorate this anniversary, I wanted to do something special for you, the listeners and my friend Robb who is only days away from going to Drumeo to film some lessons. It is an amazing opportunity for Robb and I wanted to have a chat with him before he goes. I wanted to know how he felt about things and if it was a matter of confidence. Robb is solid on this. He is so well practiced and this material is second nature to Robb. We just have a good conversation and it is reflective. So grab a glass of wine, bourbon or cold beer and sit back and listen to what might be history in the making. Instagram | www.robbryandrums.com | Facebook

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. This episode is very special. It is the first of three episodes under the "Royal Podcast Series." TODAY is DrumGAB's first birthday and we are also approaching A&F Drum Co. first birthday on May 1st. To mark this special occasion, I really wanted to do something unique. For one year I have learned so much about producing a podcast and also finding my vision within it. It is now a lifestyle and a duty to some degree. It is taking on a life of its own and I can sense many great things in DrumGAB's future. The same can be said for A&F and I feel very connected to their company and I am becoming familiar with some of their artists too. The day I get to play an A&F kit will be a very special day and may involve tears, if I'm honest.  Our first guest of this mega series is Daniel Dufour. A supremely talented player from Austin, TX. He showed up on my radar several months ago. I guess I had some questions then too, but I am glad I waited. We get into a lot of good stuff here. We discuss his new musical project and record coming soon.....Side note (the opening track in this podcast is from Daniel's upcoming album. The song is titled "Push Back.") We talk in depth about the recording process and how the band formed and so on. Next, we dive into some of the artists Daniel has performed with. A couple of names are pretty serious and I couldn't believe it....and then Pete Rodriguez. Daniel played for a few years with Pete and cut the record Caminando con Papi (Walking with my Dad). We feature the track "Shut Up & Play Your Horn" at the very end of the podcast for an added bonus. The story of how Daniel gets involved with Pete was a true test of his abilities. I then ask Daniel a series of deep cut questions. Dealing with subjects such as Daniel's mental game when recording and how it compares to a live situation. I ask him what his dream gig is and his answer is so humbling.....you gotta hear it. We then break open the story about how Daniel came to join the A&F Family. He explains just what makes them so special to play, what he enjoys most about them, and how Ramy left the door unlocked and he had his first moments alone with them. It is no surprise that Daniel is overjoyed with what he has found in this drum set. Overall, this is a great chat, recorded from top to bottom. I hope that you enjoy this session. Daniels' Website - www.danieldufour.com Instagram

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. Custom builders are coming up everywhere you look. Many different people are putting their woodworking skills to use and creating some really nice instruments. With common woodworkers, stave builds seem to be a favorable choice of build. While many are doing this type of construction, one brand, in particular, is receiving quite a lot of recognition lately. Meet Mike Martin. He and his partner, Steve Tepee, are tearing up a storm on Instagram lately with their stave drums.   I wrote an article a few months ago about Predator Percussion but wanted to revisit thier company because of all the updates since I spoke to Mike last. He is really trying to find a way to make Predator Percussion his full time job. By streamlining certain aspects of his business and creating entry points for new customers on a more restrictive budget. It is clear that Mike has been strategizing and I think his ideas are sound.   Take a trip with us while we explore these topics and many more on this podcast episode. You can find Predator Percussion at the following social media. Facebook | Instagram    

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. So in this episode, we wrap up the Sweet Spot Invasion Trilogy with Robert Michl, owner, and operator of Sweet Spot Clutches. This is actually not the first time that I have interviewed Rob. In fact, it is not even my second time. I have spoken to Rob on three separate occasions, including this interview. So, how is it that I have spoken to Rob so many times? Well, even though this marks episode thirteen, back last summer I tried to do a podcast and Rob was a guest. I did a total of six episodes in the summer of 2016 but I had them taken down this past fall and decided to reboot the podcast. So, that still doesn’t explain three times….it explains two of em’, but not three. So back when DrumGAB first started, I was using a service called Spreaker (I explain this little story in the gag reel) and it sucked. I had to pay for it, I had to save every 30 minutes and if I forgot to save….I would lose it. So, I would imagine you are beginning to realize where that third interview comes into play. I still remember the moment when I realized that I would have to call Rob and tell him that I needed to redo part of the interview. Anyways, long story short, we did an interview last summer. But lemme tell you something, that interview would not hold a candle to this one. It is a much more developed company now, even in short time things have changed considerably and DrumGAB is beginning to turn into a much more developed podcast as well. The results of this interview are fantastic. We begin by talking about the humble beginnings of Sweet Spot and how Rob was finding it tiresome dealing with the industry norm for hi-hat clutches and decided to make a difference about it and make his own. He had a lathe and knew what to do with it and the rest they say is history. One person tells another person and next thing you know Rob can’t keep up with making them himself and turns to a more serious manufacturing process. Even though Rob is always thinking about what will be next in his line up of goodies, he also has some people that chip in too. We get to hear the story about how his lightsaber clutch came to be, how sometimes mistakes are are a good thing (the story behind the rat rod finish) and Rob even leaks his most diverse project yet!! The big picture with Rob is to diversify without straying too far from what he originally set out to do. He wants to be at the top of the food chain for the style of hardware he produces and I think that he has done just that. Before I saw Sweet Spot, clutches and cymbal toppers were kind of all the same more or less. Some are definitely worse than others, but from a 50/50 shot, you can’t really tell much difference. What Rob has done is create something completely new and he has innovated more than once on these rather simple concepts. Between his wear sleeve that he provides with each clutch or the Fuzion clutch that can be altered with an adapter to put a splash or effects cymbal on top of your hi hats, there are many new ways to implement cymbal hardware into your existing setup. Plus, Sweet Spot really blings up your drums, which helps you stand apart from other people. All in all, I really like Rob and what he makes for the drumming community. He is a solid dude that is willing to help wherever he can and it is very much appreciated by all of us. Instagram | @sweet_spot_clutches Facebook | @SweetSpotClutches www.sweetspotclutches.com

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. This episode marks the second edition to our Sweet Spot Invasion series that we are doing on the show. SO…how did this one go? Well, put simply, I really like bro down episodes. I mean, they are as natural as can be and the experience simply flies by. This episode is that, in spades and it will definitely go down as one of those memorable episodes/nights for me. So right off the top, no pun intended, we get into his Pimp Fang/Clutch series with Sweet Spot Clutches. Aaron and Rob have worked together to create some very distinguishable hardware. After we get the lowdown on how the Fangs and Pimp Fangs came about, we get into how Gavin Harrison and Gary Chaffee pretty much blew Aaron’s mind and changed his course with drums forever. Aaron can’t keep away from the weird stuff. So Aaron has been running a YouTube account for six years and he is one of the grand daddy’s of online drum videos. So we talk about the process of building Aaron Edgar Drum and what made him decide to do that. Then Drumeo enters the picture. Aaron was the FIRST satellite instructor for Drumeo and to this day he still works with Drumeo on a weekly basis. Drumeo’s production edge taught Aaron how to make high-quality drum videos and perform live video sessions while interacting with the audience in real time. Hearing the story of how this all began with Drumeo is a great story. So Aaron is known for his biblical Sonor collection. It is godly. I normally don’t discuss gear on this show, unless it is in fact about gear, but in this case we HAD to gab about gear. So Aaron tells us the story about how he found the Sonor sound and how he never looked back once he heard it firsthand. We learn about the “Jet Set” and how it was the most expensive wooden drum set ever created. We then get into the Drum Fam Questionnaire. The questions for this week were………….. Cameron Fleury - How long have you been making videos for and what is the most difficult part about gathering a fan base, especially considering how saturated the market is. Robb Ryan - How has studying Gary Chaffee’s material changed your outlook on drumming and what do you do to make that material your own. Also….when in the hell is Third Ion coming to Hamilton or Toronto? Mason Grant - What is your favourite practice routine to develop alternative foot/double kicks? Here is the link to the Modern Drummer article Aaron was talking about. This is an epic podcast episode. I am very happy with how natural and comical this episode is. It does feature language that some may find unsuitable but regardless I feel that it was just on auto pilot the whole time. Aaron is a fantastic dude to talk to and he is a pure monster on the drums. Until next week, stay happy and stay drumming. Instagram - @aaronedgardrum Facebook - @AaronEdgarDrum Youtube - Aaron Edgar Drum Aaron's Website Third Ion

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. Well, we made it over the ten episode hump with many lessons learned and lots of support from my friends and advocates of DrumGAB. I can begin to see the journey that is laying before me and it is up to me to fulfill it. Thank you all for your support with this project. My guest this week is a fellow Ontarian and while we have some mutual friends….but we have never met or spoke until this interview. Well, all I can say is that Ryan is a really great human. I feel that he is at the apex of a major moment in his life. He is about to call it a day with his current HVAC career and turn drumming into a full-time gig. Not completely cold turkey, he did get his smart serve to have a little bit of insurance while he makes the brave transition. There is no doubt, he is definitely taking the plunge and I am so stoked for him. It takes guts to follow your passion. He has a good plan though and he is driven, so I believe he will succeed. So in the beginning of the interview, Ryan discusses where he comes from as a drummer. It all started when Ryan’s father tried to teach drums to Ryan, however, he only wished to play with his toys and it wasn’t looking like Ryan was going to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Jump ahead a decade and Ryan begins to face some facts. Drums are cool. Ryan learned from his father until one day Ryan got a Jim Chapin DVD and changed their lives forever. It spawned the desire for them to get playing with better technique and ultimately Ryan discovered a whole new layer to drumming that opened his eyes wide open. Ryan has been receiving instruction with Aaron Edgar for about a year now and this has expanded Ryan’s vocabulary entirely. Today, Ryan has a website www.claxtondrums.ca where he has drum cover videos, drum groove exercise videos and more. It is all executed with care and in particular, the exercise videos are explained incredibly well and are totally worth checking out! He is also playing in a metalcore band Lungless. In this podcast we have a special DrumGAB exclusive of Lungless’ brand new, never been heard track “The One and Only” and we also feature “To the Part of Me That’s Missing”, which they just released a video of. The link to that is at the bottom of the podcast notes. We round out the podcast by talking about motivation and the way life ought to be. Ryan and I connected on a very deep level throughout this interview and we leave feeling very positive about both of our choices in life and where things are heading. It was a very cool interview that I won’t soon forget.

Welcome to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. Well over here at DrumGAB we have learned many lessons about troubleshooting technology, recording equipment and how to conduct an interview. I think it is fair to say that a lot of these major hiccups have since past us now that we are into our tenth episode. Of course there will always be plenty to learn and grow upon, however, the shaky beginnings of working on a new podcast project seem to be behind us now...and for that I am thankful. So for our tenth episode, we are speaking with a very little known player from Atlanta, but if this guy starts to push himself into the right directions in the industry, he could be a giant. This is one of the most amazing things about Instagram and the drumming community. There is a ridiculous talent pool out there. It is incredible, to say the least. There are plenty of fantastic drummers out there that are simply waiting to be heard by the right people and Instagram can absolutely provide those opportunities. So what do Justin and I discuss? Well, we start things off by discussing his background as a player. We go all the way back to the very beginning and then work our way all the way to the present. One notable thing about his growth as a player is his crazy work ethic through it all. He wanted to be the absolute best player that he could possibly be. We also talk about some practice tips to increase efficiency, of practice time. He has a lot of good advice about how to maximize your retention levels and it actually pretty refreshing material that we discuss. He also talks about how to utilize rudiment patterns with different accents, note rates, and orchestration. This is also straight up up golden material, as far as I am concerned. Towards the end of the interview, it becomes clear that Justin had not considered what he can do with this drumming thing, especially considering his talents. He wants to be a clinician, or bring his education to the online space and it could even go beyond that. The point to this section is that doing masterclass clinics around the world isn't just meant for drummers like Benny Greb and Ash Soan. Justin could also enter that world and you can tell that some light bulbs go off and that he felt very inspired towards the end of the interview. Overall, this is a very in-depth interview that tackles a lot of valuable subject matter and it was an absolute pleasure having Justin on the show.

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. I think Hunter S. Thompson would enjoy Episode nine. I normally get to know my guests beforehand through private messages in order to find out what makes them tick. I did that with Ian and got to know him a little bit. After a while, he mentioned to me that he had some crazy stories to tell me if I wanted to go that route in the conversation. On this podcast, there aren't really limits to content I guess. What Ian told me was apparently watered down a bit, but that's kind of like watering down gasoline I think.  The first part of the interview is about Ian's time growing up in a highly musical family. His brother Eli can play pretty much anything and do it well and his mom and dad play several different instruments as well.  We talk about our mutual interest in electronic music and we reflect on the lore of Aphex Twin.  The main part of this interview is the story of when Ian was in college. He and his girlfriend were heavily caught up with heavy drug use. Ian explains some of the things that happen to them during this time and how addictions lead to a lot of unfortunate situations. The things that he shares in this interview is pretty intense. I will leave out the details on the notes. But Ian is clear of all of that now and the future is bright indeed. He and his band mate, Tony Grey, are releasing their new album. The music featured in this podcast is Ian and Tony's band Galactic Duo and the song is titled "Awaken". He has many great opportunities ahead of him I am certain as well, with his attitude and musical skill he will go very far. I wish him all the best. In closing, Ian has many great opportunities ahead of him I am certain as well, with his attitude and musical skill he will go very far and I wish him all the best. It is remarkable that Ian is alive and well today, as you will soon discover. It is another testimonial regarding how drums bring good quality to life and that some of us truly live for the drums.

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast. Episode eight is all about social media and personal networking. For anyone who is curious about how to properly grow an Instagram account, how to use Facebook to the fullest advantage, or what people are looking for with your content when you are being scouted, then this is definitely the episode for you. Richy's story starts with a dream. A dream to perform in front of a sea of 20,000 people and actually make a living from it. He felt, even at seventeen, that it was important to avoid the 9-5 grind altogether. So how did he do it? He starts by moving out of Inland Empire and getting down to L.A. It was a make it or break it strategy. He received a scholarship for music and decided that he was going to take his drumming to the next level. After completing 2 years of a music program, he decided a third enrollment wasn't worth it for what he wanted to do in the music industry.  He was learning plenty by asking questions and observing the pros and taking pages out of THEIR books. Richy goes into great detail about creating YOUR brand. Whether that is a podcast, like DrumGAB, a drum manufacturing company or an artist page, there must be certain aspects of your content that have to be in check for it to benefit you. We talk about understanding Facebook boosting vs sponsored ads. Richy is a wealth of knowledge on how to utilize your social media. It is clear that it means a lot to Richy to help his community. He throws down some hard facts about the state of musical education in L.A. It doesn't exist to children until they reach grade four. He shares a compelling story about this young girl that was living in a ghetto and he used to walk by her house and saw a drum set in the window. Eventually, he felt compelled to approach her mom about giving this girl lessons. Richy gave this 11-year-old girl lessons for almost nine months and it made a huge impact on her life. The outcome of these lessons inspired Richy to create Unik Education. It is a very positive initiative that Richy and his partner Marius create. The big picture is to get Unik Education in every school in L.A. I hope they reach their goal. In closing, Richy explains that he wants to represent himself as a helpful and resourceful drummer. He wants to give back to people and let everyone know that you have a choice to pursue your dreams. You can play drums for the rest of your life if you want to and Richy wants to demonstrate how it is possible. Very inspiring conversation overall. Richy's Instagram Unik Education website

Welcome back to another episode of DrumGAB podcast.  So episode seven turned out to be a very spontaneous episode.  Every episode has a pretty clear path for how it will go but sometimes things go off in a totally different direction.  When this happens and it is feeling good, it MAKES the episode.  This is one of those interviews, I think.  I had to figure out a different way to present the interview to include something that....just happened. So the interview starts off discussing how Francois started playing the drums.  Long story short, he bought a $50 drum set and with support from his parents and advice from his father, who also played drums, he began his journey.  Eventually, he would become a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.  In this segment, I ask him questions about his education background and certain benefits and deficits to attending such a prestigious music program.  In the second section of the interview, we get into some of the aspects of being a working drummer.  How important is reading music?  How does the scholastic advantage play into how employable and desirable you are for gigs.  We get into a bit of detail on this.  We also discuss his accolades.  For example, in 2010 Francois won the PASIC International Drumset Competition for R&B/Funk/Gospel category.  Quoted by David Garibaldi about Francois, "Solid timekeeper. Good facility and very ”loose” looking hands and feet. Really creative. He’s very good!"  That's a pretty glorious statement.  Nuff said.  The third phase deals with the loss of his father and how music and his family kept him on the right track, which in my opinion, highlights those achievements further.  How this ties into how Francois was introduced to drums by his father and their relationship through the instrument is really touching stuff.  It is very clear that he is a very focused person that carries his father's spirit with him.  His dad always said, "Just go have fun".   Francois is also putting together a project, which I am stoked about.  It is pretty clear that he is a fan of jazz/funk and likes to groove his ass off.  Francois is a very smooth player.  While going on a tangent about how I like the groove videos but that I am tired of chop videos.  Then....we conclude the interview. And then Francois asks me if I do the "Ketchup, Mustard thing", which alludes to the first interview that was wiped off my hard drive....I explain this in the intro.  I tried doing this bit at the end called "Four off the Floor" and I decided to forgo this bit in the second interview.  But then I try to say goodbye and see ya next week and then Francois says the nicest thing about DrumGAB and it got me going.  I started getting introspective about why I do DrumGAB and my time developing it so far and how it adds a lot of value to my life.  I become my own guest in a way and it is totally out of nowhere and it kind of turns into a confession about my time so far with this project and my thoughts about a clinic that I am trying to prepare for.  Basically admitting that I have very little theoretical knowledge of the drums and how that presents a major challenge when performing a clinic.  Then Francois suggests that it is important to let some of the theory go when it comes time to play music.  I also suggest my thoughts on how I abstractly look at music and approach drums. Then we conclude the episode. Throughout this episode, I include "System" by Brotherly.  Francois performs some incredibly tight and groovy drums on this track.  There is some intense soloing towards the 3/4 mark in the interview. Check out Francois' website Instagram @franky_freedom

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast.  It's only days away from Valentines' Day and ironically I interviewed Buddy Love from Love Custom Drums.  Buddy and Steve make some beautiful kits and I don't think you can argue that.  However, after speaking with Buddy, I am beginning to understand that this company is so much more than gorgeous drums.  There is an overwhelming sense of...well....LOVE in this company.   In the beginning, Buddy modified his DW drum kits.  He had multiple kits and did everything from reworking bearing edges and even wrapping a shell in skateboard grip tape.  After a while, he wanted a kit with tube lugs and DW was not able to hook that up.  So what did Buddy do?  He took matters into his own hands and began building drums.  There was a problem that was beginning to occur, though.  Every time he built a kit, it would sell.  He saw this as his opportunity to begin Love Custom Drums. I ask Buddy a variety of questions regarding different wood shell construction.  Ply vs Steam Bent vs Stave shells.  It is interesting and educational what Buddy has to say about the different build techniques, which leads us into, my question as to why he feels the need to learn everything there is to learn about building drums.  His response to this question is inspiring. We discuss another prospect with Love Custom Drums..."Old Steel".  What is "Old Steel"?  Well, it is kind of a crazy story about the original idea and how it was turned into something so much greater than Buddy could have imagined.  Buddy goes into explaining how he prefers metal drums over wood and how the gnarly patina is where it is at for Buddy. Getting to the near end of the interview I thought it would be nice to talk about the late Johnny Craviotto and his fondness for him.  This was Buddy's hero.  He goes on to explain his encounters with Johnny and a special dinner invitation by Ronn Dunnett.  A truly touching segment of the interview and it is just great to hear the level of respect that Buddy has for this true legend....plus we geek out about his 2002 DW Craviotto snare and my 2001 DW Craviotto snare...kinda cool that we both own this rare drum. I then ask Buddy to reflect on the past two years and try to imagine where Love Custom Drums might be in two years.  You cannot deny the huge amount of growth and level of interest in the brand and that they had a successful year.  I wish the Love team all of the best and it was an absolute treat to speak with Buddy on this incredible little company. Visit Love Custom Drums @ www.lcdcustomdrums.com Instagram @lovecustomdrums

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast.  This weeks’ guest is coming to us from Asbury Park, NJ.  This episode will go down as one of those podcasts that you don’t forget.  It is amazing to think that I can archive this recording and listen back to it years later.  I know it would make me happy to remember this time that I recorded a podcast with Joey “Bones” Parasole.  First and foremost, Joey is so filled with positivity.  The vibe came blasting through my laptop and into my headphones.  It was impossible not to have fun with this guy.   Joey had just arrived back home from Winter NAMM 2017, days before we spoke.  His experiences while being there were still very fresh in his mind and so I opened up the conversation with asking about his time at NAMM.  We discuss those damn sound police with their DB meters and how Ramy, from A&F Drum Co. could have been shut down.  He reveals the three booths that he thought were major highlights of NAMM as well.  I also ask Joey about being at NAMM as “Joey Bones”…..his answer is so candid and I love it.   When he arrived home from NAMM, what awaited him!?  Oh, just a Predator Percussion stave snare drum!!!  We talk about the level of service you can expect with Mike’s company.  The process that Joey describes is the seal of approval for me on why we should ALL consider boutique brand drums if you want high end.  There was just so much care and involvement between Mike and Joey when creating this drum.  It is really inspiring to hear the story behind his drum. Then there is the beard.  Lemme say this much…..that boy can grow a god damn beard.  I am super jelly about it and I only wish I had such capabilities in that regard.  He goes on to express the common challenges with being a cable guy and having such an intrepid beard.  The hot, sweaty, summer days where he must power through with courage in order to reach the ultimate goal of Wizard status.  Honestly, this part alone is worth the price of admission.  Pure jokes. It’s no surprise that Joey is a pretty sensitive dude.  I mean sure, he’s covered in ink, has a shaved head, and a monster beard that could eat you at will, but at the core, he’s all heart man.  With that being said, I asked him about what it is like seeing his son take interest in drums and what it must be like to jam with him.  It is hard to not be touched a little with this segment. At the beginning of this podcast, we feature a song by Joey's band The Morgan Freemasons, "Dragonfly".  We discuss who his bandmates are and the good times they seem to have together as a band.  Make sure to check them out on Instagram @the_morgan_freemasons. We then round things off with a tough question and some of you may even question why I asked him this.  I ask him if Instagram hinders his life.  I relate to him on this because let's be honest for a minute….if anyone had a video that eclipsed 100,000K….more than once, you can’t tell me that it wouldn’t give you a rush.  Bigger accounts, like Joey’s, see a lot of action and so I had to know the scoop on how this plays into his daily life. At the end of the interview, I feel that we discussed some interesting topics.  If you read between the lines, it is clear that this episode focuses on what it is like to be an everyday guy who is becoming a celebrity within a specific online community.  Think about it…….It is all done in the man’s basement with a GoPro, phone and computer.  He then goes to California and is recognized by tons of people.  He has scored endorsements, millions of views and a whole lot of love from our drumming community.  What I think most people appreciate is how Joey is taking it all in and then he spreads it back out again.  This is the sign of a true gentleman and I consider the guy a friend at this point.  I hope that you enjoy this very exciting and natural episode of DrumGAB podcast. Joey “Bones” Parasole endorses Love Custom Drums, Predator Percussion, and Zion Cymbals.

Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast.  This weeks’ guest, Tim Buell, speaks to us from Nashville, TN.   Episode four is quite anecdotal.  It spirals into several rabbit holes throughout the interview and for the most part is completely spontaneous.  Like all interviews that I perform, I always have notes and questions prepared for each podcast, however, on this occasion, I referred to them twice.   Tim has such an interesting background with drums.  The stories about his time in Belmont University are a definite highlight in this podcast episode.  He studied under both Derico Watson and Chester Thompson, while at Belmont, among other teachers.  Tim shares some of his experiences while studying with these two iconic players.  In particular, the story about him and Chester is something you won’t want to miss. Tim also elaborates on the fine balance of being yourself as an artist and “getting the job done” as a Nashville session musician. We go pretty deep here, to say the least, and I believe we uncover some really interesting points of view that perhaps you, the listener, might take into consideration when you enter a studio or a live musical setting. Later on, we talk about the great Brian Blade.  I don’t want to spoil anything here in the podcast notes but this story is the cherry on top with this episode.  A close encounter with this magnificent drummer and how any great player can make any situation work for them. Finally, we wanted to promote Tim’s new Ableton Live video series titled “Ableton For the Working Drummer”.  This video series that Tim has produced focuses primarily on how to run tracks in Ableton.  Up until now, there haven't really been any resources, according to Tim, on how to run tracks in Ableton so he wanted to remedy that.  Catch the video series, it will launch today, 01/25/17 and he will have this available for a limited time before he will take it down for further refinement. The track at the beginning of this episode is titled “Sides of the North” by Remedy Drive.  Tim endorses Vic Firth and The Drum Wallet. I hope you enjoy the anecdotal nature of this interview and please subscribe and leave a review, every little bit helps!!

Drummer on the Move.  It is an aptly titled project for Marlon Williams, a.k.a. @williamssnare.  Episode 3 of DrumGAB Podcast takes an in depth look at the man behind his videos on Instagram.  Marlon became a prominent Instagram drumming account when he started receiving shares by such acccounts as Grooveshare, Vic Firth, DrumGAB and many many more.  Hundreds of thousands of views later and Marlon is still innovating and creating truly spectacular drum videos that have this spontaneous quality to them.  I have personally been a fan of @williamssnare since the summer and it has been on my agenda since then to talk to him about how he makes his videos, what inspires him, his growth since Drummer on the Move began, who the photographer is for all his videos and his background as a musician.  We tackle all of that and then some in this podcast episode. What is important to mention about Marlon is his passion for drums and life in general.  He is such a humble and thankful person and it seems to me that he is surprised that his videos have received as much notoriety as they have.  I think we can all take a page out of Marlon's book on life and apply it to our own.   I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed making it with Marlon Williams, a.k.a. @williamssnare, a.k.a. Drummer on the Move. 

Robb Ryan is a deep pool of knowledge.  He will forget more than I will ever know about playing the drums.  In this interview we go into every little nook and cranny about his past, present and future, uncovering a sprawling 30+ year career behind the kit.     Currently, Robb is a private drum teacher, recording artist, clinician, online educator, blog writer, father and husband.  He explains that time management and knowing your goals is the key to balance a heavy workload with positive results.  He is endorsed by Mapex Drums, Dream Cymbals, Los Cabos Drumsticks and Aquarian drum heads. In the late spring last year Robb had developed Rhythmic Vocabulary (Instagram tag @rhythmicvocabulary).  Under this moniker, Robb has written articles for Drumeo, 180Drums, theblackpage.net, Canadian Musician Magazine and the Los Cabos educational page.  Also in April this year he will be appearing for his first time as a drum instructor for Drumeo in some recorded lessons!  He also has some recording projects on the go with artists ranging from pop music, metal and even D&B.  Hard to believe that in 9 months Robb has established himself so firmly in the drum industry, and this is only the beginning for Robb.  While all of these successes have propelled him into some major canals in the drumming industry, he remains humble and courteous. I asked about any records that he may have bought lately.  He is currently listening to David Bowie's Black Star album (which comes highly recommended), Tower of Power, Galactic and Maggie Koerner. Enjoy Episode 2 of DrumGAB Podcast!

Kenton Bell is a truly remarkable person.  He has pledged his life to the drum/music industry since he was a teenager and has never looked back.  Recently, on DrumGab's blog www.drumgab.com, we discussed his 20+ year career and while I discussed as much as possible in that blog article there was still more of Kenton to uncover and reveal, hence this podcast.  A lot of what we discuss in this episode isn't even necessarily about drums, in fact a lot of it is not about drums at all.  Sure, we discuss his company KentonDRUMS in some detail and his relationships in the drum industry, but the heart of this conversation is about his sacrifices in his personal life to keep this whole thing running.  He also talks about chasing your dreams with thoughtfulness, discipline and consistency.  I would say Kenton is one of the most insightful and "Guru-like" people I have met in my life, even considering his young age.  Listen to this podcast to discover a very real and personal conversation about what it is like to be in "the biz" and some terrific insight on being heavily involved in the drum/music industry.