Drummers on Drumming

This week’s guest is Mr. Joe Plummer. Joe has played drums for Modest Mouse, Cold War Kids, The Shins, The Black Heart Procession and so many more in addition to releasing his own album, Hew Time, with Dale Crover and Coady Willis. Basically, he’s a really cool dude. He’s the epitome of a working drummer and I love the personality he brings to any band he signs on with. He’s also the host of his o...

This is part 2 of my conversation with Guy Licata. While we kept to the traditional format in the first half of our chat, I think the topic of today’s episode deserved its own place in the sun. Guy prepared Emmy Award-winning actor Riz Ahmed for his role as a drummer in Amazon Studios’ film ‘Sound of Metal’. He was tasked with all aspects of the drum set instruction and preparation for the role ov...

This week’s guest is Guy Licata. Guy is most recently known as the founder of Reflexx Practice Pads (now the Zildjian Reflexx Conditioning Pad), but Guy is more than just a business owner; he’s a master player himself. While he’s a very-sought after teacher himself, Guy has studied with the greats including Jim Chapin and Jojo Mayer, which we get into during the episode. He’s played with countless...

This weeks guest is Mr. Jason McGerr. What can you say about Jason?...wellllllll, he’s the drummer for Death Cab For Cutie and one hell of a drum educator. It seems like everything he says is carefully thought out and this conversation is no exception. Yes, we get into the top 5 influences that shaped the player he is today, but it’s the little pockets of wisdom throughout that made this one of th...

This week’s guest is Darshan Doshi. Darshan is a prolific Indian drummer and composer based in Mumbai. He’s recorded a million Bollywood movie soundtracks and is one of the busiest drummers in India for the studio / tv / live stage...basically anywhere you’d need a drummer, Darshan is your guy. I’ve known him for a few years now and his passion for both bringing Indian rhythms to the international...

This week’s guest is Jonny Scott. Jonny is a badass session drummer for both the studio and stage who’s played with two of my favorite artists The Kills and CHVRCHES (among many others). He’s one of the go-to drummers when a band is looking to start adding the live drummer element after years without. You can trust him to do the job and bring the song to life in the most musical way. I look up to...

This week’s guest is Michael Benjamin Lerner…drummer, singer, and primary songwriter for the band Telekinesis. I love having songwriters on the show because, as we discuss in this episode, they usually have more of a birds-eye-view-approach to writing drum parts. I was made aware of Michael’s drumming in a really fun way (which we discuss) and, while I never got to meet him when we were both livin...

This week’s guest is Ira Elliot, drummer for the alternative rock band Nada Surf. Formed in the 90’s, Nada Surf has been going strong for multiple decades with no signs of stopping and Ira has been the backbone behind it all. Ira could be on a Mount Rushmore of drummers who know how to instill their own vibe while not taking anything away from a songwriter’s (in this case, Matthew Caws’) impactful...

This week’s guest is Patrick Hallahan, drummer for the rock band My Morning Jacket. Formed in 1998, My Morning Jacket leans heavily into rock and country, but they pride themselves in have no limitations. Patrick, while certainly not tame on MMJ’s records by any means, is a monster drummer live and provides the perfect foundation for a lot of the band’s experimentation. I loved this conversation a...

This week’s guest is Adam Deitch. Adam is the Grammy-nominated drummer for the bands Lettuce and Break Science. He’s also played and / or collaborated with legends such as John Scofield, 50 Cent, Average White Band, DJ Quik, Matisyahu and many, many more. His power and intention behind the kit is one of the most inspiring things to watch and he seems to reinvent his career every few years by just...

This week’s guest is the Global Drumming Ambassador himself, Mr. Dom Famularo. I gush over Dom’s impact on my playing at the top of this episode because Dom is an incredible drummer / educator / author / motivational speaker / and lifter-upper-of-vibes based on Long Island. He’s an authority (to say the least!) and it was an honor to have him on the show. In this episode, Dom breaks down the top 5...

Today, we have Mike Edison (author of the book “Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters”) on the show to discuss the quintessential recordings that showcase Charlie Watts’ progression as a player. Obviously, this is subjective, but thanks to Mike’s EXTENSIVE knowledge of both Charlie’s career and style, I knew he would nail it. Many people, including myself, take The Rolling Stones for...

This week’s episode is nothing but good vibes. We’ve got Carson Gant aka @oneupdrumvids on the show. Carson’s ability to recreate classic loops and drum breaks on the acoustic kit is unmatched, but not so much in the vein of Jojo Mayer, Adam Betts, or Richard Spaven (which I know I’ve described in a similar way), Carson focused more on the slower, hip-hop style grooves that might SEEM a little mor...

Today’s guest is Jake Reed. Jake is a Los Angeles-based session player / educator and the host of an incredible YouTube Channel breaking down recording techniques….(also, I must give a big shoutout to Blair Sinta for inspiring me to reach out to Jake after hearing him as a guest on the “Recording Drums with Blair Sinta” podcast). On top of knowing how to explain things in an extremely approachable...

We’ve got Justin Scott aka @jscottdrummer on the show today dropping a whoooooole ton of knowledge. I’ve been obsessed with Justin’s drumming for years and I’m sure you have too. If not, you WILL BE after this episode. He is a monster player that can fit more notes in a 15-second clip than I can in a lifetime, but he always puts music first. He’s a great teacher and you can find all of his extreme...

This week’s guest is one of my good friends and host of the Drum History podcast, Bart van der Zee. Drum History was actually one of the first shows I reached out to when creating The Drum Click Podcast Network. I am a huge fan of the work that Bart does with Drum History, but I feel like people might not know the man behind the microphone as much as they should. While he DID do a special Drum His...

Today’s guest is Philo Tsoungui…an independent drummer based in Berlin, Germany. If you don’t already know, one of my duties at Big Fat Snare Drum is Artist Relations. On one of my first days witht he company, Philo received my first endorsement offer. It was so immediately obvious to me that Philo was going to be a tastemaker for years to come and it’s still an honor to see our gear behind that k...

My name is Ben Hilzinger and this week’s guest is Lina Anderberg. I found out about Lina through her Instagram (@linaanderberg) and I was immediately blown away. She’s originally from Sweden, but moved to LA to attend Musicians Institute right before all of the world shut down. It was quite the frustrating story dealing with all that and she is currently in Stockholm waiting for her opportunity to...

Today’s guest is one of my favorite people, Scott McPherson. Scott founded Tackle Instrument Supply Company and was one of our first guests EVER on the podcast back when we had a different name and a different / no format. Back then, I did a series of episodes called “Behind The Company” and brought Scott on the show to tell the story of Tackle…soooo go check that out; it’s episode #12. In that co...

My guest this week is Mr. Jojo Mayer…a mind-blowing player who helped pioneer the drum n bass movement in New York City by “reverse engineering” programmed drum loops and applying them to the drum set. He is also revered for his exceptional technique, which he dissects in the wildly-popular instructional series titled “Secret Weapons For The Modern Drummer Parts 1 & 2”. He is also the leader of hi...

Today’s guest is returning champ..Dan Bailey! Dan is certainly a friend of the podcast and ever since we switched over to the new format, I’ve really wanted to have him back on the show. He’s a well-oiled engineer, studio owner and drummer…not necessarily in that order…currently the drumming and MD’ing for Father John Misty, but Dan’s also worked with Reignwolf, Pacific Air, First Aid Kit, Onerepu...

Today’s guest is Tosh Peterson aka @tosh_thedrummer. I’ve been following his playing for quite some time now and, while his professional career is relatively new, he’s accomplished a TON and seen more of the world than most players do in their entire lifetime. His showmanship is what grabbed my attention right away, but his finesse coupled with a deceptively controlled bombast is the reason he’s p...

This week’s guest is producer, studio owner and drummer, Frankie Siragusa. We are switching up formats a little bit for this episode; I had initially planned for this conversation to be a BONUS episode, but I think it still falls into the traditional format in its own unique ways. We’ve all heard a producer or bandmate say “Hey…give me a Ringo vibe!” when suggesting drum parts for a new song, but...

This week’s guest is Ian Chang. I love love love Ian’s playing. I first saw him live back in 2017 in Los Angeles following NAMM where he was performing and promoting his first solo effort, Spiritual Leader, utilizing his Sensory Percussion gear (which we do get into during this episode). In addition to being a MONSTER solo act, Ian mans the skins for Son Lux and Landlady (both have released new mu...

This week’s guest is Mark Stepro. Mark is the epitome of an LA-based working drummer with a resume that includes recording and/or performing with The Wallflowers, Ben Kweller, Courtney Love, Jackson Browne, Brett Dennen, Keith Urban, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine, Butch Walker, Leon Bridges…the list certainly goes on. Mark has an infectious energy and we actually shared lockouts across from each other...