Papa Roach and drummer Dave Buckner have parted ways, at least for a while. Frontdude Jacoby Shaddix has this to say:
It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. He’s taking this time to get his life together. We are still friends and still talk on a regular basis.
No word about a replacement yet. Need a gig?
Brian Wilson got a tribute tune from the Barenaked Ladies, but Dennis Wilson….well, he just got himself drunk and dead and then fairly forgotten. So in remembrance of a fallen stick swinger, here’s one dude’s take on Dennis’s 1977 solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue.
Hell yeah! Vinnie Paul is the subject of this week’s Vic Firth video podcast. Vinnie chats a little about his influences, how he got started playing double bass, and (surprise, surprise) his new signature stick.
This time, though, he’ll be off camera and (probably) dressed. Lee’s going to narrate a documentary, Dear Jack, about Andrew McMahon’s battle with cancer. McMahon is the vocalist/pianist for the band Something Corporate and his solo project Jack’s Mannequin. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005. Check out a preview of the movie here.
A 22″ ride and a couple pairs of hi-hats (including some 16″ whoppers) join Zildjian’s K Lights. Click on the images below to get to audio files of the new cymbals.
Sweet! Roland has introduced a new series, the TD-9, to fill out its venerable line of V-Drums. Those of you lucky enough to be attending NAMM (our badges, alas, appear to be lost in the mail) will be able to try a kit out. No word on pricing yet, but the series is mid-level. $2,000?
Ringo is pretty goddamn sure it was himself. The other three lads liked to take a whack at the kit, particularly Paul, who played the drum part on “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” but Ringo ain’t backing down:
…[Paul’s] an incredible bass player, but he’s not a great drummer. George Harrison had his own way of playing drums, John Lennon had his own way of playing them, too. They’d hit them about a bit but they couldn’t really play.
Jimmy DeGrasso got Sabian to make him one big-ass ride cymbal, a 23″ monster with an 8″ bell. A Sabian product specialist says about the new OverRide:
This cymbal is designed to be loud….
You think?
Lots and lots of them. Beats are programmed by putting the balls in receptor cups that represent different parts of a drum kit—kick, snare, hats, and (yes!) cowbell. It was designed by Peter Bennett, who’s working on his PhD thesis tentatively titled “Interaction-Design Techniques for Multimodal Musical Interfaces.” What any of this will mean for drum-machine design we have no idea. But maybe future drum techs will have to add “ball polishing” to their list of duties.
New Metallica is on the way, and Ulrich has spoken a little bit about it to Revolver. Apparently (and somewhat miraculously), producer Rick Rubin has the guys returning to the kick-ass sound, energy, and drumming (!) of albums like Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets.
So does that mean we’re going to feel metal up our collective ass? Here’s what Lars had to say:
I hate to be that specific, because six months from now people are gonna go, “What the f***? Lars lied to us!” But it feels that way to me.
You already know all this shit, but Harmonix has put together some good drumming tips for Rock Band. Pass them along to all your guitarist buddies. Maybe they’ll share a little bit of the limelight.
Well, he does hit things with a big old stick for a living, but we had no idea that MLB’s Mike Piazza also plays drums. Paiste is apparently a little more up on these things and featured Piazza at a NAMM autograph signing a decade ago.
The awesome-ass Vadrum posted his latest video on YouTube last month, but we just had to spread the link love in case there was anyone out there who actually hasn’t heard this fantastic and fun drummer. On a scale of 1 to 10, he get’s 11 for skillz and a solid 15 for being so kitsch-y cool.
Percussion, protests, performance art? Fuck yeah!
Trash Orchestra is using their banging skills to make the world a better place. Or at least piss a whole lot of people off. Here’s what they got to say:
Trash Orchestra is a marching percussion band – a bone-shaking recycled orchestra. We make percussion on tuned cans, hubcaps and barrels, drums, pieces of sheet metal, and homemade oddities. We show up at demonstrations and performances, sometimes invited, sometimes not, to make a big noise wherever it is needed.
We have experience working with kids, fighting cops, taking streets, entertaining crowds, tearing up a house show, leading parades and marches, spicing up an anarchist cafe, or crashing the local farmer’s market. We want to play with you.
Check ’em out here.
[via Santa Cruz Indymedia]
After last month’s one-off Led Zep gig, the reunion rumors kicked in with full force, and now Dave Grohl is reportedly interested in taking over the drum chair….Well, yeah, who the fuck wouldn’t want that gig? It seems likely, though, that Jason Bonham will handle the stick swinging duties should Zeppelin actually tour. Grohl himself said as much to NME.com in this interview:
I am at their beck and call, but Jason should be the one….It should be Jason and everyone knows that, it should be Jason. And Jason’s a fucking phenomenal drummer, you know? And he’s a really sweet guy, he’s a really good guy. They seem like a family, they feel like a family that have been around for a long time.
