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Growing up, what was it about drums specifically that grabbed you?
I mean, I grew up in one of the best eras for drums: the ’70s and ’80s. So at my first drum lesson at 9 years old, I told the teacher I wanted to play “Rosanna” and “King of Pain”! “In the Air Tonight” was what sealed the deal, but my dad was always playing great music, and I was always listening to the drums. I also love guitar-driven music and all my favorite guitarists had great drummers. I just love music, man. And drums are the backbone.
Can you remember the first groove you became obsessed with learning?
“Billie Jean.” My dad said it was the building block of all grooves, and he was right (he’s a guitarist).
After college, you relocated to LA and ended up touring with Joe Firstman and playing in the Carson Daly band. What did that period teach you about being a working drummer?
Oh man, I could write a book on that! The Last Call band was always a “fly by the seat of your pants” kind of gig. Joe expected us to be ready for anything and was quite fond of throwing us curveballs – on live TV! I loved it; I thrived on it. In one show, we’d play a polka, then a Hendrix vibe, into a Meshell Ndegeocello groove thing, to some Charlie Parker bebop swing thing; you had to be ready!
You also studied with Chalo Eduardo and immersed yourself in Brazilian and world rhythms. This led to getting gigs with artists far beyond the rock scene. How did this expand your sense of time, groove and rhythm?
I would easily attribute Latin rhythms as being one of my most influential genres. To this day, I’m still trying to get a samba right, or working out how clave fits in certain tunes. When you play with the real cats, there’s not really metronomic time, as Western music defines meter, note rate, etc. Latin rhythms have to feel good, and there’s something about layering endless patterns that create a macro feel; playing in legit batucadas, especially with Brazilian musicians, changed my life!
“Just playing songs right, with the right feel is what every aspiring drummer should attain first.”
After all these years behind the kit, is there still something in your playing you’re actively working on? Do you keep a practice routine?
Oh yeah. Since the pandemic I’ve been obsessed with “flow” or what some call “gospel chops,” but basically I’m constantly trying to expand my vocabulary, but also to feel rhythms inside of rhythms (metric modulation). That’s kind of the pinnacle of chops. But just playing songs right, with the right feel is what every aspiring drummer should attain first…
As a founding member of Rival Sons, you’ve passed the two-decade mark with the band. Looking back, what moments – personal or professional – stand out the most?
Man, tough question to narrow down. I’d say I’m most proud of our grit and determination to stay together 17 years! Scott and I began this journey 21 years ago! But our catalog is something I’m very proud of, and we’re literally in the planning stages of making our 10th album within the next few months. Not a lot of bands can say they have 10 albums. And selfishly, it must come from my jazz background, but I can honestly say we haven’t really repeated ourselves; every album is fresh. It makes it exciting, kind of like the old days of playing on TV and not knowing what happens next – that’s kind of like our live shows.
You recorded the Big Rock Drums EZX alongside Dave Cobb a few years back. How did this come about and what was that experience like?
Gosh I’m not sure exactly, but I know Toontrack reached out to me and Cobb and I was like “Totally into it”… For those not familiar with the process, we legit play every dynamic and each drum, cymbal, edge, center, muffled, open, multiple times. It was tough but so worth it. These sounds are some of the go-tos in the Superior Drummer 3 session work I’ve done over the years.
Which Toontrack tools genuinely make it into your workflow – and how do you use them?
My default kit is the Big Funk preset in Superior Drummer 3. Minus my own samples, it’s the closest thing to what Rival Sons go for in the studio. I also love the editing features as well as the mixing features. I can control volume and pitch, microphone bleed, levels, busses, routing and of course all the effects and compressors and EQs… it’s really like having a studio within a studio. Like I have all my gear, but even before it hits my postproduction, I’ve got everything sounding exactly as I want!
Walk us through a typical day “in the life of” – off and on tour!
I love to stay in shape, and I’m also a family man. So the latter is tough on tour. So when I’m off I just try and soak it all in.
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