White Zombie - Astro Creep: 2000

When Ivan de Prume left White Zombie to start Burning Sound studios, they needed a drummer who could handle the new direction the songs were taking. Everything was getting faster and heavier with more industrial straight time rhythms, rather than the grooves that had made La Sexorcisto so successful. Everyone had their eyes on White Zombie, their low budget major label debut had surprised everyone, and with enough money and time to make the follow up, Astro Creep: 2000, they had to step it up, so they hired John Tempesta.

John was no stranger to heavy music, he had began his professional career by joining Exodus, eight years after their inception, moving on to Testament for their 1994 album Low. White Zombie did things differently than most metal bands at the time, it was metal, but it was also kind of dancey, kind of psychedelic and kind of psychobilly-esque. His parts had to have power but also had to keep the pulse going, and judging by the success of this album, he pulled it off nicely.

What I like about his playing on Astro Creep is the way he works a lot of toms into his playing. The beginning of Electric Head pt. 1 sounds like a big drum roll, but it takes shape as the basis for the rhythm, and when he returns to it later on in the song it has much more force behind it. Blur The Technicolor has a very tribal beginning, with deep, guttural toms leading into the first verse. Tempesta's kick/snare patterns are fairly standard, but it's the stuff he's doing between them that drive the songs. Super Charger Heaven keeps the snare on 2 and 4 for the entire song (except for the tag leading into the chorus), but his snare rolls and tom fills layer everything with just enough extra percussion to drive the song.

On Creature Of The Wheel the rhythm is jolted out of place by a five stroke tom roll that matches the guitar and bass. It tags the end of each bar in the verse but it never gets tiring, it keeps the listener focused and locked in. There are great examples of metal drumming all over this record, I Zombie, More Human Than Human, Blur The Technicolor, all are displays of drumming that is extravagant when it's supposed to be, but always locked on to the pulse of the songs.

Tempesta went on to play on Rob Zombie's solo albums, another Testament album and currently plays for The Cult. This record will live on as my favorite performance of his. White Zombie was just a slight enough deviance from his metal background to take advantage of his power and skill and warp it into their own brand of psycho-discobilly hard rock. I hope he made a lot of money for it, because he deserved it.

Now since I love seeing the pros make mistakes (hey, it happens to everyone) this first video shows Tempesta miss the hits at the start of More Human Than Human. Maybe his monitors were too low, maybe the keyboard loop was off, but either way the look on his face is that "aw, fuck" look that every drummer gets when he knows shits gone wrong. I love it.

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke

I fell asleep in the back of the van once on tour somewhere between Toronto and Thunder Bay. Actually I've fallen asleep a bunch of times in the back of the van on tour, but this particular time was when Phil Clark was playing in our band and he was in the middle of one of his Philip Clark Patented Power Drives that last between ten and twelve hours (the recipe for which, is canned sardines with mustard and a iPod playlist with at least 80% Jungle House). In between all of the boom-tchaka-thickaboom-tchak I awoke to the most wonderful sounding drums I had heard since Holly MacNarland's debut album (I'll get to that one someday, I promise). They were well recorded, with cool parts and with enough effects on them to push the right frequencies but without sounding stupid.

In a half dreamlike state I yelled "What is this? This is awesome" from the back seat. Everyone tuned around and yelled loudly, in unison "LADYHAWKE". They were in the middle of talking about the record when I interrupted asking about it. That's something that happens in our van a lot.

People like to assume that "musicians" or, better yet, "music" people have a hate on for pop music, and I guess it's a safe assumption. We can usually be found at parties bitching about Nickleback or Simple Plan or the Jonas Brothers or Canadian Idol and I'm no better, because I do that stuff to.

The thing that bothers me is that it's not that we don't like pop music, which is what people assume, and brush off as musical elitism, it's that we have a different idea of what pop music should be. Despite the fact that pop means popular, and obviously there is always the argument that it is catered towards a mass audience thereby making it a more dishonest and shallow type of music, it doesn't mean that you can't make it good. Some people make pop music, and from the get go they try to follow rules and criteria to make it fit into those guidelines in an attempt to market it to the largest possible amount of people. The end result is usually something fairly transparent and it leads to shirtless guys on TV singing about their feelings or five chicks with camel-toes wagging their asses around. Some people make music, and by being well written, comeposed, and well recorded with the right amount of creativity, talent and structure it appeals to a large amount of people. It's because of the components that it has mass appeal and it becomes pop music, not by playing into the conventions but by slightly shifting peoples ideas of what pop music actually is. If this wasn't true we would have never had the periods where classical music was pop music then jazz music was pop music then rock music became pop music, then new wave and punk became pop music then hard rock became pop music then hip hop became pop music and every shift had mini-scenes under them that contributed as well. Each of those movements had the actual important figures that put out important, great albums and then the hacks that capitalized on it.

My point is that pop music is not a bad thing. As long as things are done well (and if the average person had even slightly higher standards we would see an amazing shift in what comes out of your radio), you can have great records become extremely successful.You know, like Justin Tiberlake or Kings of Leon or that first Kelly Clarkson record. This Ladyhawke record is on par with all of those, and I have no idea why she is not part of my sister's CD collection.

You wanna know about the drums? Fine, the drums are awesome. The snares are beefy and there is lots of cool arrangements. Philipa Brown (aka Ladyhawke) got a bunch of different drummers for this album to suit the need of each song. Oh, and she wrote all the record herself too. She is an actual pop star, involved in her music from start to finish, making sure it's representative of herself.

I don't know where I am going with this. Phil Clark just flew away to Korea and it got me thinking about all the awesome stuff he had on his iPod and how much fun it was to hang out with him. Hell, the guy left and gave me lasers to use until Saturday. That's pretty awesome. I set them up in my room and now when I shut off the lights it looks like this:

If I could make one point out of all of this is people who are actually into music won't just dismiss something because of a label attached to it, they are going to analyze everything from the writing to the lyrics to the sound of the actual recording, and if it's one thing pop music has, it's well recorded songs. I have no problem listening to it, appreciating it and defending it as valid.

Now here are some awesome videos of Ladyhawke being awesome.

BDK Interview - Clive Deamer

While doing some research for my last post, I stumbled upon Clive Deamer's Facebook page. Having no shame I sent him a message with a link to my review of his performance on Roseland NYC and asked if he would be willing to answer a few questions pertaining to it. The worst that could happen would be I get no reply, and things stay exactly the same on my blog. The best that could happen would be for him to take out some time from his busy schedule to answer them, which is exactly what happened, so here it is.

1. What sort of adjustments (if any) did you make to your playing once the orchestra became involved?

The Portishead drum sound is based on a very small dynamic range. The albums were recorded with me playing at a tiny level, a stick moving 1 or 2 inches from the head or cymbal, acoustic instrument volume.

I also discovered the Zildjian Hal Blaine drum stick was the perfect stick for this kind of playing, I've used it ever since although Zildjian have discontinued it. I remember arriving at Roseland Ballroom and someone had taken it upon themselves to erect one of those ghastly Perspex screens for my kit. They must have assumed "English group - Orchestra - The drummer will be too loud". Before I even sat at the kit I explained we wouldn't need the screen.

2. You and Jim Barr (bass player extraordinaire) seem to be fused as one when you are playing, how long have you been performing together?

Jim is a fantastic Bass player, he has the mind to feel where the pulse is, which is not necessarily the same as hearing the notes being played. He understands the function of the part/parts being played. Jim and I have our own band called Get The Blessing (click the link to check them out).

3. I'm assuming you have endorsements for equipment, what was your main focus in selecting cymbals or drums?

To ensure we got "The Drum Sound" I simply used the same gear I used for recording the albums. The kit was my 1960's Gretsch sparkle, and the same cymbals used on the session. I can't remember exactly but there was definitely a 20" Paiste Full Crash that I used as a crash ride, Zildjian Hi Hats, I can't remember exactly which ones. Heads were Diplomat Remo on the toms. Can't remember the Bass Drum head, Ambassador or Diplomat on snares, I used the 3 or 4 snare drums from the sessions too, Gretsch, Ludwig, Premier.

4. Are there any slight mistakes or slip ups somewhere on the recording that you know about, but no one would ever notice just by listening? You know, something to prove you are not actually a well-crafted, slow tempo drumming robot?

I've only listened to it once or twice so I can't answer that. Again, you have to adjust your thinking because of the musical context, Portishead was based on drum loops I'd already played, so I was indeed being a slow tempo drumming robot, I just tried to do it with commitment and the appropriate mental intent. Mental intent is what counts.

5. What is your best memory from the entire session?

My son was at Roseland, he was about two years old. My wife and I bought him a Buzz Lightyear to distract him on the plane flight. I put Buzz on top of an amp and you see him briefly in the DVD (after the show Buzz got very drunk and disgraced himself!). My son is 14 now and thinks it's really cool his Buzz Lightyear is on the DVD.

So there you have it folks. Don't say random e-mails/Facebook messages never work. I'm living proof. While Clive is busy changing his Facebook privacy settings who knows who I'll randomly contact next. Watch out Steve Gadd.

Portishead - Roseland NYC

When you are sitting with a 35-piece orchestra at your back and the members of Portishead at your front your chops and flash wont save you, this is the proving ground. You've got to maintain a presence and a pulse at tempos half the speed of conventional rock bands. Every hit speaks volumes. Focus and precision are the most important parts of this puzzle, you can keep those thirty second note rolls to yourself. Your cymbals need to decay in time, your kick drum needs to be consistent with even attack and tone, and your sticks need to come down on the drums in the same fashion every time or everything goes bunk. One slip up and it all dissolves into a slow, sludgy mess. Keep the pace steady and you become the backbone of one of the best live performances ever recorded.

This was the pressure Clive Deamer had to deal with when he performed with Portishead for their Roseland NYC concert. Deamer was no stranger to the task, he had performed on their two previous albums, Dummy and Portishead, but throwing an orchestra into the mix takes on a whole new dynamic. Pardon my french, but classical musicians don't fuck around. You can't slip, everything needs to be mechanical and methodical. This is what makes his drumming on this record so perfect.

I've tackled minimalism in drumming before, but rarely do you get an example of minimalism that maintains as much soul as this. Snare trills in Mysterons lull the listener into a trance and they play off the constant whirr of a theremin perfectly. Deamer cuts them sharply as they lead into each measure. His light touch on his cymbals adds a nice amount of texture, letting the orchestra really fill up the space. The slowed down hip hop beat of Only You gets broken down into sparse hits of each drum that creates it, locking in with the bass guitar and keeping things in a state of suspension. Deamer works with the DJ to ensure neither of their rhythms collide, it's a balance act of percussion.

The amount of patience it would take to keep a steady pace on songs like Glory Box or Roads does not come without years of experience and rehearsing. Clive has played with everyone from Jeff Beck to Robert Plant, and he's even been a part of psych rock legends Hawkwind. The guy knows his rock music, but it's his approach to drumming on Portishead records that set him apart from other rock drummers. There are much less people capable of playing for Portishead than Jeff Beck. They realized this from the beginning and it has led to an amazing body of material.

Pick a Piper 4 Song EP

I'm fairly excited for this upcoming Saturday, March 13th.

Not only do I get to debut a new project I have been working on with some friends for the last year or so, but we get to play our first show with dual-drumming tour de force Pick a Piper, which features Brad Weber, a regular member of Caribou's touring ensemble. We will be playing at Studio A Cafe on Quinpool Road, and it's all ages, so bring the kids. I wrote about Caribou back in June, and I talked a little about how tricky it is to have two drummers play consistently well without getting in each others way. This Pick a Piper EP (available for FREE on their website) is a perfect example of what I meant.

The songs are loaded thick with percussion, but it's never messy. The songs keep a steady pulse, letting the melodies of everything from horns to mallet instruments to acoustic guitars shine through perfectly. Weber recorded and mixed the EP, and his talent as an engineer comes through with some cool panning effects and a perfect balance between the layers of percussion. This video gives you an idea of what you can expect from their live show, all sorts of audio and visual goodies.

Pick a Piper will also be joined by psych-prog masters Ace Kinkaid of Ottawa. My other band, Sleepless Nights will be joining them for the bar show later on at Gus' Pub. This is a chance to see some of the best drumming Canada has to offer.

Don't miss them.

Saturday March 13th

Studio A Cafe (Facebook event)

7:00

Barnsk Fiddlisk

Ace Kinkaid

Pick A Piper

Gus' Pub

11:00

Ace Kinkaid

Pick a Piper

Sleepless Nights

BDK Update

I recently did a guest spot on Noiseography, a new blog promoting east coast music. I wrote a review of Tomcat Combat's set from the Paragon last week, and you can read it on their site here.