Drummers on Drumming

This week on Drummers on Drumming, I'm taking a quick break from our usual format to ask for your help! First, a huge thank you to everyone who filled out the recent listener survey. Your feedback has already helped improve the show, and I want to keep that going. I'm officially introducing Listener Questions as a regular part of The Drum Panel. The idea is simple: You submit questions, and I'll b...

This week on Drummers on Drumming (powered by Big Fat Snare Drum), we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel with Mark Stepro and Chase Elodia. Mark plays with The Wallflowers and has worked with artists like Butch Walker and Brett Dennen, and Chase plays with Hudson Freeman and is getting ready to release his new record, Real Ones, on October 23rd. Check out Chase's music ⁠HERE⁠ We co...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel with Eric Urrea and William Goldsmith. William is the drummer for Sunny Day Real Estate and was also the original touring drummer for Foo Fighters. I’ve had him on the podcast before, and he’s incredibly funny, down to earth, and always really thoughtful about this stuff without taking any of it too seriously....

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel with Eric Urrea and Gunnar Olsen. We’re continuing with the new format for the Panel, using a few loose categories to give the conversation some direction without keeping us from going down whatever rabbit holes come up. A lot of this one ended up being about how your relationship with drums changes the longer...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel with Eric Urrea and Cain Daniel. This episode is also a test run for a new format for the Panel. After going through the listener survey, I wanted to give these conversations a little more structure while still leaving plenty of room for us to go wherever the conversation takes us. In this episode: What actual...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel. I’m joined by Eric Urrea, an independent drummer from Chicago who plays with Marina City and La Armada, and Adam Christgau, who has toured and recorded with artists like LP, Troye Sivan, MARINA, Sia, Miley Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Kacey Musgraves, Tegan and Sara, and more. I had just finished a week of rehearsals...

Thanks again for filling out the survey! --- Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today 🎯 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to order now!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, I’m bringing back a re-edited 2021 conversation with my friend Anthony Fung. The premise was simple: five-ish records and drummers that might finally get you into jazz. Anthony explains what makes each drummer distinct, from Tony Williams’s fearless choices to Roy Haynes’s light touch, Elvin Jones’s rolling feel, and Billy Higgins’s unmistakable swing. We also ta...

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS SHORT LIL EPISODE: Click HERE for the Listener Survey. Or HERE. Or even HERE. What about HERE you ask? Hell yeah HERE too. --- Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today 🎯 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to order now!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped som...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. Today, I’m joined by my trusty co-host Eric Urrea, and one of my best friends, Kris Mazzarisi, owner and founder of Big Fat Snare Drum, and drummer for Winnetka Bowling League. Over on the Big Fat Snare Drum Instagram page, we asked our followers to name their favorite cymbal intros. Here are the results plus a few honorable ment...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re jumping back into part two of my conversation with Brendan Buckley, Zack Albetta, and Eric Urrea. In this episode: How much production a live show actually needs The modern skills working drummers are expected to have Keeping your identity while adapting to the gig Why space can sound bigger than layers Whether a live show is for the artist or the audience...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel. I’m joined by Brendan Buckley, drummer and producer for artists like Shakira and Tegan and Sara; Zack Albetta, Broadway drummer and co-host of the Working Drummer podcast; and Eric Urrea, an independent drummer from Chicago who plays with Marina City and La Armada. This is part one of our two-part conversatio...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re revisiting a conversation with Richard Spaven, originally recorded in early 2021. Richard has worked with artists including José James, Flying Lotus, Gang Starr, The Cinematic Orchestra, and Jameszoo. His solo work blends acoustic drums with the feel and texture of hip-hop, drum and bass, dubstep, and electronic music. In this episode: Teaching with honesty...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel. This is part two of a two-part conversation with myself (⁠Ben⁠) ⁠Eric Urrea⁠, and ⁠Kyle Adams⁠. Kyle plays drums for Cartel and does a ton of session work from his studio outside of Seattle. In this episode: Posting from purpose instead of chasing likes Building a small, loyal audience over going viral Where...

This week on Drummers on Drumming, we’re back with another installment of The Drum Panel. This is part one of a two-part conversation with myself (Ben) Eric Urrea, and Kyle Adams. Kyle plays drums for Cartel and does a ton of session work from his studio outside of Seattle. In this episode: Why tempo can feel different on stage Trusting, and questioning, your internal clock Big cymbals, smaller cy...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. Today, I’m joined by my co-host Eric Urrea (Marina City, La Armada) and returning guest Zack Albetta (Broadway's & Juliet , Working Drummer Podcast) for another installment of The Drum Panel. In this episode: The problem with ranking drummers Playing the gig you are meant to play Learning from teachers who do not gig Technique ve...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, I’m joined by Carla Azar for a new installment of Big Fat Five. Carla is the drummer, a vocalist, and a creative force behind Autolux. She has also worked with artists like PJ Harvey, Jack White, T Bone Burnett, Jim Keltner, and more. But as you’ll hear in this conversation, the résumé is only part of the story. Carla’s playing has a rare kind of tension to it...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, a podcast powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. Terry Keating of the Bonzolium YouTube channel joins the show for a deep, hilarious, and wildly passionate dive into the world of John Bonham. This is a re-airing of an older episode that originally centered around five less obvious Bonzo tracks. And yes, we do get there. But with Terry, the joy is in the detours. This...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. Today, I’m joined by my co-host Eric Urrea (Marina City, La Armada) and returning guest Zack Albetta (Broadway's & Juliet , Working Drummer Podcast) for another installment of The Drum Panel. In this episode: Angine de Poitrine and the rise of microtonal math-rock weirdness Masks, costumes, performance art, and the word “gimmick”...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. Today, I’m joined by my trusty co-host Eric Urrea, and one of my best friends, Kris Mazzarisi, owner and founder of Big Fat Snare Drum, and drummer for Winnetka Bowling League. Over on the Big Fat Snare Drum Instagram page, we asked our followers to name their favorite worst-sounding snare drum. What does that even mean? Who the...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. This episode is a new installment of The Drum Panel, and it’s Part TWO of TWO of diving into Chick Corea’s Cheap But Good Advice For Playing Music in a Group. I’m joined by good friend of mine ⁠Rafa Vidal⁠, who also plays with the band Almost Monday, who are currently killing it, and of course ⁠Eric Somers-Urrea ⁠is back on the p...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. This week on The Drum Panel, I’m joined by my co-host Eric Urrea, an independent drummer from Chicago who plays with Marina City and La Armada, and Steve Durham, who is new to The Drum Panel but returning from Big Fat Five. Steve has worked with artists like Louis Tomlinson, Mumford & Sons, Foals, Wolf Alice, Aurora and a bunch o...

What is up? Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, a podcast powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. This week I’m re-airing a classic Big Fat Five episode with Tosh Peterson. Long before playing with Lady Gaga and Alkaline Trio, Tosh sat down with me to break down the records, mentors, and moments that shaped his drumming voice. We talk about discovering Thomas Pridgen at 10 years old, learning how to comm...

What is up? Ben here. Another Drum Panel this week powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. This one’s with Eric Urrea and E-MAN. We got into studio vs live drumming, why some players obsess over the grid, and whether modern editing has actually made people more musical…or just safer. E-Man had a great point about how at a certain level, everybody can already play close to the click. What actually separates...

Ben here. On this week’s episode of Drummers on Drumming (powered by Big Fat Snare Drum), we’re back with another round of The Drum Panel. Joining me: Gunnar Olsen: Currently out with Puscifer Eric Urrea: One of my favorite drummers to talk shop with because he somehow makes existential drum conversations feel practical. This episode starts with Gunnar talking about completely losing the plot duri...