An amazing night with Everclear

What a great time. That is my overall feeling, but it didn’t come easy.

The Everclear show came at us like a whirlwind. In mid October we had the fortune of being allowed to enter a contest to open for Everclear. The contest required that we have our friends add Everclear on Myspace and then leave a comment on the bands page essentially voting for what local band they wanted to have open for Everclear. We really gave it our best to try to get people to the page to vote for us. Ultimately we lost the contest by a very small margin, and the band Kiss Me, Kill Me won. Good job guys! Once we heard the news and congratulated the winner, we forgot about the contest and continued on with our plans of continuing to play out as much as possible and add to our fan base.

Then out of the blue, our bass player went missing. No messages, no phone calls, nothing. WTH? We had shows coming up that were booked and didn’t know if we would have our friend playing with us. Finally we had some contact with him, but it just added more questions and answered very few. WTH? The day of the first show we showed up with all our gear and everyone there except our bass player and hoped for the best. Then, about 10 min. before we were to go on, he showed. Whew, dodged that one. We played well considering and then planned on our next show two days later on Friday. The Friday show was a lot of fun, but we finished with wondering what was wrong with our friend.

Two days later I then received an email asking if we would still like to be on the Everclear bill. I contacted who I was suppose to (including all band members) and by that evening, we were officially on the bill. Whoa! What just happened? Then at band practice for the biggest show of this bands career so far, our bass player doesn’t show. No messages, no phone calls, nothing……WTH? So we scrambled for a replacement for the show and Cort stepped in and saved our……butts!

The show went great and the crowd really seemed to like us! After the show, we were able to talk with Art of Everclear and he had told us that he really liked our music and since we were so close in the competition he wanted us to still play. Now how cool is that?!!!!!! Art and his new band were very cool to us and so were all the other bands too. The stage crews were extremely helpful and we seemed to have made an impression on the booking company, because they said they wanted us back ASAP! I am so thankful for being able to play in a band that I enjoy and have people enjoy our music, it makes all the years of playing and paying my dues worth it. Now I better go change a baby’s diaper.

Love & Respect

My band is opening up for Everclear

Well, well, well.  What can I say?  Last week my band Missing Method got involved with a contest to open up for the band Everclear.  After a long hard fight, we were told that we did not win.  So we sulked a bit, and went on and played two great shows and forgot about it.  Then yesterday as I was checking band email like I tend to do in my OCD kinda way.  I saw an email from Everclear saying they wanted us to open for them still.  I danced around doing my happy dance then told my wife and the rest of the guys while still doing the happy dance.  Actually, I’m still doing the happy dance!  I can’t wait to rock the stage with Everclear!

Rockin the hut, err the Tiki Lounge

So last night Missing Method played Burt’s Tiki Lounge and YOU missed the best show in the world!  How do you feel about that?  You really should feel utterly depressed because you weren’t there.  We rocked our set and even started out with a brand new song that isn’t finished yet.  Why did we pull out all of the stops?  Why not?  That’s how we roll.

We are playing out more often and it’s really helping this band.  Live is really the only way a band grows and this band has truly taken on a life of it’s own.  Our newer music is more moody, powerful, and completely drum filled!  I am surprising myself constantly with what I am playing and being asked to play.  Those who are familiar with Internal Hate know that that was some extreme drumming, but the parts that I am playing in Missing Method could rival some of the best Metal out there!  The cool part is that it fits great and doesn’t sound out of place or overplayed.  At the end of the day, it’s great to love what you do.  Hope to see you at a show soon!

I saw Tool in concert in Salt Lake City.

I finally had the chance to see Tool in Concert on Sunday and I was blown away!  The show had so many different lights and lasers and really neat backdrops and cool video.  The setlist was great.  They played a couple of songs that surprised me because I never thought those songs were really live set material, but everything was put together wonderfully and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Danny Carey is such an amazing drummer, and getting to see him perform with Tool was awesome.  Danny Carey is pretty much what I would call a Super Drummer.  These are drummers that never cease to amaze with their independence, coordination, and textural choices.  Whenever I have the fortune to witness a Super Drummer perform I try to take many notes so I can take away as much from the experience as possible.  To me, these are not just concerts, they are clinics as well.

Whenever you go to a show you should always watch the drummer.  Try to learn from them.  Weather its a huge show in a stadium, or a local show with some high school kids.  You can learn from everyone.  Look at how they are setting up their kits, try to see what techniques they use.  See if they embelish anywhere, and ask yourself why.  If you get a chance to talk to the drummer after the show, pick their brains for information.  Not only will you expand your drumming knowledge, you might even make some new friends that understand you better than most.

The process of creation.

Well, we (missing method) have been working on a new song that our bass player Dallin has written. Actually, we’ve been working on a couple of his songs and they have been shaping up very nice. The latest one has really taken on a shape all it’s own. I wanted to talk a little bit about the process that I go through when I am coming up with a drum part for a new song. Most songs that are brought to the band, they usually just have a simple generic drum machine beat. This is to give the players a reference of tempo. This song was no exception.

As a drummer, your job is to provide a solid beat that creates a foundation for the other players in the band to use. When I am writing drum parts, I ask myself, what beat is this song asking for? Ya see, I believe that every song has a certain beat that it requires for the song to sound right. Once I find a beat that seems to work, I then ask myself the following questions.

Is this beat taking away from the song?

No matter how cool your new beat is, if it takes away from the focus of the song, then it has to be changed. This song needed a back beat on the 2 and 4 and it really needed something to help anchor the steady bass line. I also knew that the generic beat was not doing the job, but getting all funky wasn’t going to work either. So I played the generic beat, but started riding the bass drum with eighth notes. This seemed to work, but still needed something more. I then asked myself the next question.

Can this beat be improved?

Now this doesn’t necessarily mean add more to it. Sometimes improving the beat means not playing cymbals at all during the verses, or switching to brushes for the bridge. It is very common for drummers to confuse the word improve with add. I knew that the snare needed to solidify the back beat on 2 and 4 or this song would wander and lose focus. I also really liked the feel and the foundation that riding the bass drum created. So what was I going to do? I took away the hi-hat. That freed up my right hand and allowed me to listen to the song a bit more. I started hearing a really cool melody that I wanted to help strengthen so I started playing tom parts, but only on the accents of the melody. This I must say was a grand slam! Now the next question.

Do the band members have any suggestions?

I always ask my band members what they think and if they have any suggestions. I lean heavily on them for input. It helps give a different perspective and you would be amazed at the ideas that you might get. Even if the ideas don’t workout for that particular song, you have some new ideas for future beats. Everyone was loving the verse, but the pre-chorus and chorus needed something else to help the bigness of the chorus. So we fiddled around and settled on a very staccato drum part for the pre-chorus to build some tension. Then we settled on a more standard beat for the chorus with a stagnated back beat to add drama.

Now throw in a cool subdued bridge section and a trippy atmospheric intro, and the song is framed! The song is still in it’s infancy, but it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up whenever we play it. That is always a good sign that the song is a keeper. I can’t wait to hear this thing in its completed form.

See the video here.

The example video for this blog is just me playing the final drum part by myself. The structure of the song is a bit unique as well. The structure is Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, Final Chorus. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it gives you inspiration with developing drum parts. Happy Drumming!

Sometimes less really is more

I know it’s so cliche, but I am learning that it is very true.  I have taken away the second bass drum from my setup to see what options it will open up.  I am really liking the challenge.  I didn’t realize it, but I really used two kicks as a crutch.  It is definitely a part of my style, but I don’t want to be just a double bass drummer.  I have also taken away a couple of cymbals to see what this will bring of my playing.  I am currently trying to focus on feel and groove over chops and technique.  It’s funny, after playing for 22 years and trying my hardest to build chops, I am going back to the basics and trying to become a more tasteful drummer.  You can have all the skill in the world, but if you can’t compliment the music you are playing, then you are worthless as a drummer.

Hi

Hello everyone.  I want to thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  My goal with this blog is to share my thoughts, skills, and love of drumming with as many people who are interested.  If anyone has questions, please email me and I will do my best to answer them.