And for a shitload more than we were led to believe a few weeks ago. The iconic Pepper drum was expected to fetch $195,000, but it actually raked in over $1 million. Not even the lyrics to John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” sold for that much.
We drummers finally get our due?
Chad Sexton and his 311 mates may be in the thick of writing and recording a new album with Bob Rock, but the drummer knows what is ultimately important to his band’s longevity:
I think we have the same appeal as a band like the Grateful Dead….We have some Deadheads in the band, and when they stopped touring, Phish kind of took over for them, and maybe Dave Matthews Band has some of that same appeal as well. We can jam on our [songs] like those bands, but I’d say we’re kind of a band between—and I’m not comparing us to these bands, but just in the level of status and accomplishment, and that they’re still together—U2 and Phish. It’s somewhere in the middle of that, and we’re hoping to define that a little better over the next couple of years. It’s a weird phenomenon: We keep playing, and kids are having a great time every summer….We wanted to make sure we tour every summer, regardless of our records, because we’re here to play live music. We don’t want to spend a summer getting away from the people.
The former Mars Volta drummer is joining forces with vocalist Zach De La Rocha to form the power duo One Day As a Lion. The pair’s self-titled debut EP will drop on July 21, and if it lives up to the following description, we’re buying two copies:
It’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask.
The name is taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights.
It reads: “It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.” This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound.
Jon Theodore, oh how we’ve missed you.
And the dude totally deserves it, what with all the false rape charges, attempted blackmailings, and media fuckups he’s had to endure lately.
The fete will take place this Saturday (June 28, 2008) from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Valencia, California. It’s free to anyone who wants to show up, but you can make an $11 donation (which in turn will be donated to charity) that will get you BBQ and a raffle ticket for “some awesome prizes.” Naturally, there will be music aplenty, and for any of you still rockin’ Peter Fonda sideburns, there will also be an organized ride that starts at 10:15 a.m.
[via, of course, TMZ]
…for around $195,000. That’s how much the iconic tub is expected to fetch at Christie’s auction house on July 10. Kinda makes those custom DWs seem like a sweet deal, eh?
Yeah, you know what we’re talking about: a Led Zep tour. Bonzo’s boy told the BBC today that his sticks are essentially loaded and cocked and ready to rock the fuck out whenever he gets the call.
Somebody get Plant a cell phone.
Rumors were circulating last week that ex-KORN drummer David Silveria had formed a new group called Satellite Syndrome. Blabbermouth is now reporting that the band’s MySpace page was a hoax and that Silveria is, quite sadly, still out of the drumming biz. According to KORN vocalist Jonathan Davis,
I just think [David] is done with music; it’s not his passion anymore. It sucks, but hey, he has to be happy, right?
Here’s to happier drum days gone by:
We’ve known since late February that Chad Smith and the Chili Peppers are on hiatus and that he started jamming with super group Chickenfoot—Sammy Hagar on vocals and guitar, Joe Satriani also on guitar, Michael Anthony on bass, and Smith himself on drums. The jams must have gone well because it appears the foursome are going into the studio to track a real-deal debut album. Hagar says:
We’ve written eight, nine songs….When people hear the music, it’s Led Zeppelin. It’s as good as that. I know that’s a mighty bold statement….We could rival Zep.
Hmm. We’re hoping Sammy’s playfully sardonic tone was just lost in translation when he said that, but anything with Chad Smith playing drums will no doubt be worth at least a listen or three. Stay tuned.
…for the English Heritage foundation. Moonie fans have been campaigning for the EH to install one of those blue here-lived-a-great-person plaques at his London residence, but they got shot down. The official response:
Moon died aged only 32, and many of his contemporaries, including other members of The Who such as Pete Townshend, are still living. Further time should be allowed to pass so he can be considered alongside his contemporaries.
Fuckin’ what? Jimi Hendrix already has one, and he died at 27. And he wasn’t even British.
Ever wish you could just turn down the other instruments in “A Love Supreme” to figure out what the hell Elvin is doing? You’ll get your chance if the MT9 format, also called “Music 2.0,” is embraced as the new digital-audio standard.
An MT9 music file includes a six-channel audio equalizer, with each channel dedicated to one of the following: voice, chorus, piano, guitar, bass, or drums. Isolating a drum part will thus be as easy as sliding a fader up or down in the digital music player (see photo below). Right now, only a few albums have been recorded in the format (and getting hold of them looks to be friggin’ impossible unless you got buddies with some Korean currency), but Samsung and LG are apparently interested in equipping their mobile phones with an MT9 player next year. Keep your sticks crossed for international development and adoption to follow.
The coolly eloquent John Densmore, former drummer for The Doors, has penned an essay about his journey in jazz—from enthusiastic fan to accomplished pro.
On an off night from the Orbit, a Santa Monica bar gig I got with my very lame fake ID from Tijuana, I stumbled into the Renaissance Club on the Sunset Strip, where Lenny Bruce had performed. It was my first time in a jazz club, and I was ushered to a table in the back behind a pole. I was one of very few white people in the place, and the Renaissance Club was intimidatingly cool. It had an attitude. I hadn’t cultivated one yet.
Pretty soon I was hitting all the great haunts: The Lighthouse, the Bit, the Parisian Room and Melody Lane down on Adams Boulevard. Some teenagers were dragged to church by their parents to get a dose of religion….I found it with jazz.
This music has brought me back to these clubs, only this time I’m on stage! It is with great humility that I step onto the same stages that my early mentors commanded. Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Oscar Peterson. There probably isn’t a jazz musician you could name that I haven’t seen play live.
Game haters, prepare to get that stick out of your bum. Three genuine drum heroes—Chad Smith, Stewart Copeland, and Travis Barker—think GH’s new kit is pretty slick shit, and there’s even a video to prove it. [Update 2022: Alas, the video has been removed.]
We experienced some server hang trying to watch it (every 14-year-old drummer on at least four continents is clicking that link right now), but be patient: it’s worth the wait.
Drumming quote of the day: Commenting on the kit’s durability, Chad says in the video, “If it holds up to me beatin’ on it, it should do pretty good.”
[via Engadget]
Happy news indeed. The Neshoba County DA has dropped the recent rape charge against drummer Rikki Rockett because, well, Rikki wasn’t the guy they were looking for. Turns out that a tool named John Minskoff, a convicted felon, used Rockett’s name to convince the alleged rape victim to sleep with him. It also turns out that the woman was planning to extort cash from Rockett by filing the rape charge.
Sound like a bad Jim Thompson novel? Rockett’s very real indignation makes up for the incredible plot twists:
I think it was a case where the woman and her husband unfortunately believed they could extort money from me and my band….This is a gross example of people attempting to abuse the law for personal profit. They tried to subvert and make a mockery of the criminal justice system. It is abhorrent and disgraceful….I remain surprised that no member of the educated and savvy press ever googled the name ‘John Minskoff’! Had they done so, they would have found out that in 1996, John Minskoff claimed to have been involved with the rock band, White Snake, when he lured and kidnapped a 15-year-old girl in Reno, Nevada. Minskoff is a violent career criminal and felon and convicted perjurer with multiple convictions who has admitted to impersonating “rock stars” to sexually pursue women.
