Big Drum Thump

Drum and Drummer News and Photos

Category: Drum News

  • Ramblings on The Rocker

    We’ve been anxiously twiddling our sticks since May to see Rainn Wilson play a has-been drummer in The Rocker. Mercifully, the movie finally opens next week nationwide, but a few bastards way luckier than us have already seen it. Links to some sneak-peek ramblings are below. Consensus seems to be generally positive, as is absolutely fitting for a movie that includes drumming and the comedy genius of Dwight K. Schrute, er, Rainn Wilson.

  • Blue Man Auditions

    You like whacking on all manner of stuff and slathering yourself with body paint? Well, your career options are going to be pretty limited, so you might as well try out for the Blue Man Group. These dudes did in New York yesterday. The process involves a drumming audition, an acting audition, and (if you make it this far), a final two-day vetting procedure during which things sundry and mysterious occur. If you’ve been through the process, drop us some details in a comment. Until then, the next open audition is in Boston on October 20, 2008. Check here for more casting info.

  • Stoned Temple Pilot

    This “story” about Scott Weiland taking a tumble into Eric Kretz’s kit has been circulating ferociously for about a week now, but it’s way, way overblown. Sure Weiland was drug and/or booze addled (big shock), but we were expecting something a little more Keith Moon-y, with cymbals and drums exploding all over the place. Instead, dude just backs into the drums a bit, and it doesn’t appear that Kretz ever missed a beat. Have a look at the vid below, starting around the 1:23 mark.

  • Travis Barker Drives in the Gumball 3000

    Participants ask that the Gumball be referred to as a “rally,” but it’s really pretty much a race—a 3,000-mile race on public roads. Sound dangerous? Don’t be such a wussy: only a couple of people have died so far.

    The race (er, rally) was founded in 1999 by former model Maximillion Cooper (awesome name, by the way), and the drivers are generally well-to-do car fanatics (e.g., just the entry fee for this year’s Gumball was about $120,000). Along with David Hasselhoff, Orlando Bloom, and Tara Reid, the celeb drivers in the 2008 race include Travis Barker, who we expect to burn some serious rubber as the representative for all thumperkind.
    We’ll be scouring the Web for pics of Trav in his vehicle, which we’re betting is a muscle car with Zildjian Pitch Black logos. Let us know if you got the goods.

  • A Big-Ass Mike Portnoy Interview

    Portnoytes, rejoice. Living Legends Music has posted an 8-part vid interview with Mike. It was recorded on May 31, 2008, at Hard Rock Live, and in it the drummer chats about the beginnings of Dream Theater, the band’s extraordinary success, and all kinds of extraneous miscellanea that is easy to listen to because Mike himself is so engaging.

    From the fourth vid comes our drumming quote of the week: “I’m not at all a technical gear guy….I just love to get up there and beat the crap out of stuff.”

  • Abe Cunningham Fills Us In…

    Well, not us specifically, but anyone who peruses The Deftones’s blog. Here’s the straight poop about the band’s upcoming album:

    Hey all, we’re almost finished tracking our record up here at The Spot and we’ll head up to Terry’s studio in Seattle next month to add the final touches and begin mixing. We’re all excited about how this record is taking shape, and can’t wait to share it with all of you! In the meantime, we want to let our friends in the Phoenix area know that we’ll be headlining KUPD’s End of Summer Scorcher Sept 20th in Peoria, AZ with our good friends Alice In Chains. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, AUG 2nd at all local AZ Club Tattoo locations. They’ll also be available online beginning Monday, AUG 4th via Tickets.com. Check it out at KUPD.com.

  • Travis Barker Talks X Games

    We promise this isn’t a site devoted solely to his Travness, but dude is constantly in the news lately. He recently spoke with Metromix Los Angeles about the X Games and his future drumming plans. Surprise, surprise: Blink-182 ain’t much in the cards.

    You know, to be honest with you, I haven’t spoken to Tom [DeLonge] in five years. I speak to Mark [Hoppus] every day, he’s one of my greatest friends, so…that’s the status of that. I think everyone would have to be friends, and I think we’d all have to want to do it in order for it to happen.

  • Neil Peart Sucks at Rock Band

    Wow, so much for the theory that diligent Rock Band practice can make you a superstar drum stud. Here’s a vid of Neil and the boys butchering “Tom Sawyer” on expert level. It was caught on camera before their appearance on the Colbert Report last week.

  • Dixon’s “Drum Your Way to Hollywood” Contest

    Check this out, thumpers. Dixon drums has all growd up with a swank new website, three new series of drum sets (including the Demon), and an awesome new contest you’ll want to be a part of. Here’s the scoop:

    Dixon Drums is giving one Grand Prize winner a trip to Hollywood, CA to perform at Westlake Studios and be filmed performing and discussing drumming and music with top A&R executives. The feature will be broadcast on The A&R Channel on television! Five additional talented, inspiring drummers will get free gear from Dixon! Here’s how it works:

    1. Visit your local Dixon retailer.

    2. Have a friend film you playing the DEMON kit while you play your best 2-minute drum solo.

    3. Upload it to
    http://youtube.com/user/DixonDrums
    and share your link with friends who will vote for you!

    Dixon will pick the top 6 entries to be submitted to an A&R panel in Hollywood who will declare a Grand Prize winner. The Grand Prize winner will win a 3-day/2-night trip for two to Hollywood, CA and perform with studio musicians live in front of an A&R panel at a major recording studio!!

    The performance will be filmed and featured on the A&R Channel on television!

    In addition, Dixon will present the Grand Prize winner with a
    Dixon Outlaw Series 7-piece drum set and a full complement of hardware (ARV: Grand Prize $10,000). The five runner-ups will each receive a Dixon snare drum (ARV: $300). Be sure to check out the full contest rules so your video is submitted properly and gets posted for voting.

    All entries must be completed and submitted by 11:59:59 p.m. ET on September 27, 2008, to be eligible for public voting and the final judging.

    Now stop reading, and go whack a Demon.

  • Drummers Are Completely Awesome

    We learned a few months ago that drummers were smarter than most people, and now there’s scientific evidence that drummers (rock drummers anyway) are probably more physically fit too. Blondie basher Clem Burke participated in a study showing that 90 minutes of drumming could raise his heart rate to 190 beats a minute—a level on par with soccer players and other top athletes. Drumming at that rate could burn 400 to 600 calories an hour. One of the doctors involved in the study goes on to say:

    Footballers [“soccer players” to us Yanks] can normally expect to play 40 to 50 games a year—but in one 12 month period, Clem played 90-minute sets at 100 concerts….It is clear that their fitness levels need to be outstanding—through monitoring Clem’s performance in controlled conditions, we have been able to map the extraordinary stamina required by professional drummers.

  • Lionel Hampton Library Collection

    After jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and all-around-legend Lionel Hampton died in 2002, many of his papers and scores went to the good folks at the University of Idaho, who later established the International Jazz Collections. Lucky for all of us jazz-historian thumpers, the collection devoted to Hampton is now available online…for free. The site includes pics, videos, and a searchable database with over 100 pages of scores, photos, and other coolness that lifelong students of the instrument will definitely want to check out. Why? See for yourself. Here’s Hampton dueling it out with Gene Krupa and Chico Hamilton.

    And you didn’t really think that John Blackwell invented stick twirling, did you?

  • Gene Hoglan Interview at Sick Drummer

    The mighty Gene Hoglan spoke with Sick Drummer recently about drums, Dethklok, and the untimely, unfortunate death of Michelle Meldrum. As always, Hoglan manages to be affable, cheeky, wise, and passionate all at the same time—and all in about 1,700 words. Give the interview a read posthaste, and then check out the vid below of Hoglan playing a Meldrum tune.

  • Rikki Rockett Bitch Slaps Joe Elliott…

    Verbally bitch slaps, that is.

    It seems that all is not well in the Land of Old Rocker Dudes. During a June 6 press conference at the Sweden Rock Festival, Def Lep vocalist Joe Elliott made a kinda snippy comment about ’80s glam bands:

    …[W]e were never driven to do the mascara thing or whatever these bands did. They didn’t have any substance musically, I don’t think, in comparison to us, so we didn’t feel we needed to do it. Bands that do that are doing it to cover up the fact that there is no substance in their music. The only band—and I’m not saying it because we’re here—the only band that did pull it off was [Finland’s] Hanoi Rocks. I thought Hanoi Rocks were a good band, and they looked….Michael Monroe [Hanoi’s vocalist] was one of the best….I would have shagged him. [Laughs] I like Michael, I think he’s sexy, and I’m not gay. And I think Andy McCoy [Hanoi’s guitarist] does the best kind of Keith Richards…so much better than Motley Crue or Poison or any of those bands. They [Hanoi Rocks] were real: the rest of the guys, it was all a bit fake for me.”

    Poison frontman Bret Michaels politely responded the next day by essentially saying, “Look who the fuck is talking,” and Rikki Rockett, fresh from his exoneration megafete, added this on his MySpace page yesterday:

    I know, it’s kinda old news at this point, but I must say a few words about Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) talkin’ some smack about Poison and Motley. Mainly because he is continuing to talk smack in other interviews as well.
    Now, I’m sure Motley can defend themselves, so I’ll leave that alone and Bret did cover it rather well. However, I was talkin’ with some friends last night and we were shaking our heads wondering when Joe became a rock historian. Well, Joe, when did ya? Do you think saying bad things about another band makes people like your band more? Oh, no. Can’t be it. Let me guess, “You were JUST being honest.” Look, I have always enjoyed Def Leppard. But, as of late that pre-programmed, Mutt Lang live record you guys are doing out there on tour is anything but “substance”. JUST being honest.

    Joe! I’d be hurt if this were coming from John Lennon. Listen up, you are not quite that important there fella! Ya know, just like you I put my pants on one leg at a time, but when I put mine on Joe, they are cooler than yours! But, does it really matter? So it takes about 1 minute and 45 seconds to put on eyeliner. I suppose during that same time you were writing the next “Imagine”. In the words of the great Aerosmith, “Get a grip!” Oh, and by the way, just to add to your royal information pool of rock history, Sir Joe, in the 70’s it was “Glitter Rock”, in the 80’s it was Glam Rock.

    We shall await Joe’s retort, which will probably at least sound clever because he’s got that awesome English accent.

  • Rainn Wilson Talks Drums…

    And some other stuff in this interview about The Rocker, but it’s really only the drums that matter, of course. He says:

    How tough was it to learn drumming? I took drum lessons with this guy named Stuart Johnson who’s been in a lot of bands and we got to work for a couple of weeks before I went up to Toronto and really, he was just playing me like Zeppelin and White Stripes and a lot of real basic drum beats. So we worked on a lot of basic drumming, but then he also really coached me on the specifics of heavy metal drumming which is a whole art form to itself.

    Cool. Almost cool enough that we can overlook the misspelling of Neil Peart’s name:

    Yeah, we went to see Rush. There weren’t any really metal bands playing at the time when we were shooting in Toronto. We certainly didn’t have time. We were shooting 6 days a week, but we went to play with Rush and got to hang out with Neil Pierce and got to actually play his drum set. That was a pretty rare privilege.

  • Travis Barker Interview on Young Hollywood

    The big T recently sat down with Young Hollywood for a 2:45 interview. It’s billed as a think-piece in which Trav “tells us all about his music, family, and fashion sense,” but it’s really pretty much about his tattoos, always the hallmark of a great drummer. The one interesting bit—completely missed by the interviewer—comes when Barker is asked about his plans for the future:

    I want to retire playing jazz.