The Holy Ghost Notes Podcast

On episode fifty eight of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim are joined by their new friend, Mike Sleath (drummer for Shawn Mendes). Mike talks about his background, his experience with rejection (and sweet redemption), and shares a couple painfully awkward experiences meeting his drummer heroes. The guys talk about the difficulty of finding time to progress on drums while on tour, the value of treati...

On episode fifty seven of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim talk about their fondness ProTools for music and audio production, then transition into talking about their daily practice routines. Matt breaks down a simple way to structure your practice time and set goals, while still keeping it fun and relaxed. It starts getting fishy when Matt tells a compelling story that keeps Tim on his toes. The gu...

On episode fifty six of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim "exchange some pleasantries" and talk about the need for a getaway or something special outside of your normal workflow. Then they introduce their friend, Dave King (founder of iMatter Festival and executive director of HeartSupport). Matt and Dave reminisce a little bit about their friendship and how it developed. Dave talks about the YourLif...

On episode fifty five of Holy Ghost Notes, Tim kicks it off by correcting a mistake he made in a prior episode after being called out by a listener, the guys joke about Matt’s role as Peter Criss in an upcoming movie, and announce an upcoming HeartSupport conference. After Tim reveals a surprising factoid, they talk about how it’s never too late to brush off the dust and get back on the drums. Mat...

On episode fifty four of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt takes us to Hollywood (or maybe just New Jersey) by teasing his breakout role in a new feature film. Then Tim and Matt run through a list of “drumming essentials” or what they believe are the most crucial elements to being a proficient drummer, regardless of what style of music you play. They round it out with the deeply personal topic of Intrusive T...

On episode fifty three of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt talks about the preparation that went into the August Burns Red: Leveler 10 Year Anniversary Live Stream event. The guys proceed to reminisce about their friendship in 2011 when Leveler was first written and recorded. Then Tim and Matt each share a video of a drum performance that has meaning to them and talk about the difference between performing...

On episode fifty two of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim, in typical fashion, follow a tangent right out the gate prior to introducing an exciting evolution to the Inner Circle membership. Then the guys exchange frightening, painful, and embarrassing stories from their time on the road. They finish it out with the topic of “temptation” and come to realize some fascinating, insightful, and helpful pa...

On episode fifty one of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim get back to the classic format after four consecutive guest episodes and kick it off with some lighthearted banter. After getting a little sidetracked, the guys decide to revisit the topic of drum gear and the reasoning behind their choice equipment. They finish out the episode with another “hard hitting” topic rooted in a verse out of Ecclesi...

On episode fifty of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim are joined by drummer, composer and orchestrator, Hal Rosenfeld, who has worked on projects for The Greatest Showman, Ringo Starr, Hans Zimmer, Kanye, Fortnite, The Jonas Brothers, and many more! Hal tells some outrageous stories of sessions he's worked on, and the guys talk about the most valuable way to succeed in the music industry. Finally, th...

On episode forty nine of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim catch up after a busy couple of weeks then bring on special guest, Kortney Grinwis (drummer of Chapel).  Matt and Kortney talk about a small venue experience they shared together and the tendency to be over critical of yourself as a performer, then they discuss mentally preparing for a show, the effect Covid has had on the industry, and new m...

On episode forty eight of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt reads and talks about a speech by Teddy Roosevelt before introducing guest and friend, Alex Rüdinger (drummer of Whitechapel, formerly of Good Tiger, and The Faceless). Alex talks about his company, RS Drums, and what went into putting together their new drum sample pack. The guys chat about tour, pro tools, the difficulties of house hunting, and Al...

On episode forty seven of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim are joined by drummer and educator, Justin Scott (aka jscottdrummer). Justin shares a little about himself and his background and talks about how his approach to drumming is a little “backwards”. The guys discuss the importance of taking breaks and giving your brain time to process what you practice. Finally, Tim comically reveals to Matt a...

On episode forty six of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt shares his nightmarish encounter during the recent snowstorm. Then the guys breakdown some strategies to help increase your speed and stamina on the drum kit, before diving into Luke 10:38-42 (the story of Mary and Martha). The conversation takes a familiar course, but not without some interesting twists and turns along the way. 

On episode forty five of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt shares about a friend who recently passed away of cancer and Tim contrastingly shares about preparing for a new baby. The guys jump right into talking about a drummer’s unique ‘Drum DNA’ and how that plays into growth as a drummer. They also dive into Luke 5 and explore how obedience to God, even when it’s difficult or doesn’t make sense, can be the...

On episode forty four of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim are joined, once again, by their friend Adam Gray (of Texas In July) and it gets personal. Adam talks about his newfound enthusiasm for reading books, brought on by his fresh college career. Through many a shared laugh, the guys talk video games, tour life, "normal life", writing music, and answer some listener questions. To top it all off, A...

Merry Christmas! On episode forty three of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim switch things up and jump into their faith topic first. After reading through the Christmas story, they talk about what it means to them and, as usual, uncover some deep and unconventional truths. Then, inspired by a recent conversation with Matt Gartska, the guys refocus on what drum goals/resolutions to set in the new year...

On episode forty two of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim reminisce about the non-profit they “failed” to get off the ground and find a way to shift the perspective. Then they change things up and answer as many listener questions as they can fit into an episode, many of which lead to some very interesting dialogue, decisions, and discoveries. 

On episode forty one of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim bring on their friend Andrew Tkaczyk of The Ghost Inside for a heart to heart, and boy is it just something else! They talk about Adam Gray, Andrew's clothing company - TakeBack Brand, Andrew's uncanny voice impressions, gaming with Adam Gray, recovering after the tragic bus accident, the chilling TGI comeback show, and Adam Gray. This episode...

On episode forty of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim catch up after a busy month of non-podcast related activity. They quickly dive into an old-fashioned drum topic on the importance of playing with accuracy, and lend some tips on how to test and improve precision. Then the guys round it out with the timely topic of thankfulness and discover some deep truths for themselves. 

On episode thirty nine of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim are joined by Toronto based drummer, Sarah Thawer. They talk about Sarah's Zildjian Live experience earlier this year, the difficulties of being a female in a predominately male drumming field, and how breaking out of your creative process can actually inspire creativity. For the first time ever, Tim flies solo with some exciting announcemen...

On episode thirty eight of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim bring on their friend Alex Shelnutt (of A Day To Remember) and it goes to 11! The guys discuss the difficulties of progressing in a world seemingly standing still, and Alex tells of his recent wedding that didn’t quite go as planned. Alex also shares about his start as the drummer of ADTR and answers some listener questions. Hint: Listen fo...

On episode thirty seven of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim are joined by South Africa based drummer and YouTube personality, Cobus Potgieter (whose name they struggle to pronounce correctly). They talk about Cobus’ big project that was nearly ruined by the global pandemic, then Cobus shares a few stories of his time spent with Rush drummer, Neil Peart, while working at Drum Channel. They round it o...

On episode thirty six of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim try to figure out what exactly everyone is celebrating on Labor Day. When they jump into the topic of practicing, they quickly realize the conversation is actually about  motivation and gauging the value of sacrifice. Then the guys talk about positivity versus negativity and make some deep discoveries along the way.

On episode thirty five of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim have an impromptu discussion about stepping outside of your comfort zone to learn something new right before bringing on their friend Alex Camarena (drummer of Silent Planet). Alex tells of his unofficial induction into Silent Planet and their new album being recorded from home amidst the pandemic. He also talks about how he stays hopeful, w...

On episode thirty four of Holy Ghost Notes, Matt and Tim catch up after Tim's vacation and quickly realize that Matt has been tricked into going on vacation as a "helpful uncle". The guys discuss what being sensitive to the needs of a song means as drummers in different genres and how to apply it to the kit. Then, Matt opens up about a close friend who passed away this past week which leads into a...