Drummers on Drumming

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming…a podcast powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. I’m back with another installed of Big Fat Five — a segment of the podcast where we dive into the five records that shaped the way great drummers approach their craft. My name is Ben Hilzinger and today’s guest is someone whose playing and educational work has impacted me personally in a big way. David Garibaldi is not o...

We’re back with another installment of the Big Fat Five—where I invite on a drummer that inspires me to break down the five records that shaped their voice behind the kit. My name is Ben Hilzinger and today’s guest is Jacopo Volpe. Born and raised in Italy, Jaco has played with Vanilla Sky, Post Malone, Damiano David, The Bloody Beetroots, Salmo, Portugal. The Man, and a bunch more. He’s got power...

Welcome back to The Drum Panel—a roundtable-style discussion on all things drums. This week, I’m joined—as almost always—by my co-host Eric Urrea, and today’s special guest is Jeremy Taggart: longtime drummer for Our Lady Peace and co-host of the Taggart and Torrens podcast, where he blends his love of music, comedy, and all things Canadian. At the end of the day, we’re just good buddies—and those...

What is up!? We’re back with another installment of Big Fat Five, where I invite on drummers who’ve inspired me to break down the five records that helped shape their unique voice behind the kit. This week’s guest is Sam Cohen—a Canadian drummer who, much like Marco Kleebauer a few weeks back, popped up on my Explore Page and instantly caught my ear. Sam also makes music under the name Glitter Par...

What is up?! Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming — a podcast powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. My name is Ben Hilzinger, and today’s episode is a little different. A few months ago, I was sent a book by drummer and educator Mark Feldman — founder of Bang! The Drum School. The book is called Drumming Decoded: The Secret Code to Quickly Go From Newbie to Confident Drummer. It’s a relatively quick read...

Episode 13 of The Drum Panel Welcome to The Drum Panel—a show where a rotating group of professional drummers engages in roundtable discussions pertaining to all things DRUM. For today's panel, we have my co-host Eric Urrea and special returning guest, Mike Robinson. Today we discuss: What the hell does it mean to be "rock"? Dealing with social anxiety and imposter syndrome while trying to network...

This is another installment of Big Fat Five, a segment where I ask some of my favorite drummers to break down five records that had a major impact on their approach to music. This week, I’m joined by Marco Kleebauer—an Austrian drummer and producer who very recently popped up on my Instagram Explore page… and instantly peaked my interest. His drumming is minimalist yet experimental, and his analog...

This is another installment of Big Fat Five, a segment where I ask some of my favorite drummers to break down five records that had a major impact on their approach to music. Today, I’m joined by Dee Simone, a Bay Area-raised dummer currently based in Los Angeles. She’s funky, powerful, dynamic, and incredibly versatile behind the kit. I have to give credit where it’s due—this interview wouldn’t h...

Episode 12 of The Drum Panel Welcome to The Drum Panel—a show where a rotating group of professional drummers engages in roundtable discussions pertaining to all things DRUM. Today, we've got two fantastic guests joining the conversation: First up is Eric Leiderman. Eric is a producer at Late Night with Seth Meyers, where for years he oversaw the rotating drummer chair—regularly bringing in incred...

This week’s guest is Fred Eltringham! If you listened to our recent episode with Sterling Laws, you heard Fred get a lot of love as one of Sterling’s five picks—so it was an honor to finally have him on the show himself. And I gotta say…his voice is so soothing and calm. Puts mine to shame. Fred has been playing with Sheryl Crow since 2012, but his résumé also includes The Wallflowers, The Chicks,...

This week’s episode is going to be a little different. I’m starting a new, perhaps self-indulgent series where I pose a question on the Big Fat Snare Drum Instagram and make an episode out of your responses. Maybe it’ll stick. Who knows?…but these are the conversations I have with my musician friends anyways, so now I’m just pushing record. The first question posed was “which records helped define...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, the podcast powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. This is another segment of Big Fat Five, where I invite my favorite drummers to break down the five records that shaped their approach to the instrument. Today, I’m joined by my friend Chris “Woody” Wood, drummer for the internationally loved band, Bastille. Since exploding onto the scene with Bad Blood in 2013, Basti...

Episode 11 of The Drum Panel Welcome to The Drum Panel—a show where a rotating group of professional drummers engages in roundtable discussions pertaining to all things DRUM. For today's panel, we have my co-host Eric Urrea and special guest, Britt Bowman (Demi Lovato, KiNG Mala, Meg Myers, Royal and the Serpent, Toni Cornell). Today we discuss: What’s the one piece of gear you’ve held onto the lo...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming, the podcast powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. This is another segment of Big Fat Five, where I invite my favorite drummers to break down the five records that shaped their approach to the instrument. Today, I’m joined by Ian Matthews, drummer for the "future rock" band Kasabian—a group that, like many of the greats, enjoys massive success outside the U.S. while s...

Today, we’ve got another segment of the podcast called Big Fat Five. This is where I invite my favorite drummers on the show to break down the five records that helped shape their approach to the instrument. Our guest today is Jason Gerken, a Kansas City-based drummer known for his work with Molly McGuire, Shiner, Open Hand, Project 86, and most recently, Hum. After our episode with Jared Shavelso...

Episode 10 of The Drum Panel Welcome to The Drum Panel—a show where a rotating group of professional drummers engages in roundtable discussions pertaining to all things DRUM. For today's panel, we have my co-host Eric Urrea and special guest, Jessica Burdeaux (Covet, City Mouth, Host of Reverb.com's "What's That Sound?" series on YouTube). Today we discuss: How do we get into the mindset of authen...

Today, we’ve got another segment of the podcast called Big Fat Five. This is where I invite my favorite drummers on the show to break down the five records that helped shape their approach to the instrument. This format also inspired my book, Drummers on Drumming, which is available now as a paperback or ebook on Amazon. Today’s guest is Jared Shavelson. I met Jared through a mutual buddy and Big...

Episode 9 of The Drum Panel Welcome to The Drum Panel—a show where a rotating group of professional drummers engages in roundtable discussions pertaining to all things DRUM. For today's panel, we have my co-host Eric Urrea and special guest, Kris Mazzarisi (owner/founder of Big Fat Snare Drum & drummer for Winnetka Bowling League). Today we discuss: What was the most game-changing moment in your d...

Ok, I promise I won’t be promoting my book forever—but give me at least a few weeks to talk about it (I’m proud of it!). And hey, the sooner you grab a copy, the sooner you’ll stop feeling guilty... and, well, left out. In this episode, I read a few excerpts from my new book, Drummers on Drumming. You’ll hear stories and song choices from incredible drummers like Jason McGerr, Madden Klass, Jojo M...

Episode 8 of The Drum Panel This week, Eric (@ericsurrea) is back!...alongside our newest bestie George Martinez (@skinnygeorge). In this episode, we dive into: Are ghost notes the modern-day equivalent of skinny jeans—cool now but overdone? How do you strike the right balance between technical precision and feel in your playing? Are dynamics the single most important factor in making a drummer so...

Episode 7 of The Drum Panel This week, we're joined by Stacy Jones (Miley Cyrus, Letters to Cleo, American Hi-Fi) and Elias Mallin (Kesha, Noah Cyrus, Filter)—two seasoned veterans of the touring music industry and influential figures in shaping the competitive LA music scene. This episode steps away from our usual bullet-point list of hot takes and dives into a bigger-picture conversation about w...

Welcome back to Big Fat Five—a segment of Drummers on Drumming brought to you by Big Fat Snare Drum, where I chat with my favorite drummers about the stories and records that shaped their sound. I’m your host, Ben Hilzinger, and this week’s guest is the incredible Sterling Laws. Sterling is a fellow Pacific Northwest native now based in Los Angeles, but more importantly, he’s a Grammy-nominated dr...

Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming! Today, I’m thrilled to share a conversation with a true force in modern drumming—Ilan Rubin. You’ve heard his incredible work behind the kit with artists like Nine Inch Nails, Danny Elfman, Angels & Airwaves, Paramore and so many more. But Ilan is not just an outstanding drummer; he’s also a passionate educator, and his latest project proves just that.  He’s r...

Episode 6 of The Drum Panel This week's guests are two of my favorite drummers and people, Sarab Singh (MUNA) and Adam Christgau (Tegan and Sara). In this episode, we dive into: What’s the greatest compliment a drummer can get, and does it truly matter? How do others really describe your playing style—are you sure you'd agree? Should every drummer dive into jazz, or is it a skill only some truly n...

We’ve got another installment of Big Fat Five: a segment where I talk to drummers about the stories and records that shaped their sound. Today’s guest is Lucy Ritter, a New York/New Jersey native who picked up the drums at just 9 years old and was already landing professional gigs by 14. After three years at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, she made the bold decision to leave and...