Drumgab Podcast

“I wake up every day and have many ideas for what sounds I would like to try.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Wiktoria Bialic is a great live and studio drummer from Poland. She has been working hard towards making a career in music and was even told that it wouldn’t work out because she lives in Poland. I think it is fair to say that she has busted that myth.   You Will Hear About….   Location and how it plays a role in how we approach the music industry. Experimentation with sound. Wiktoria breaks down her financial situation. Whether or not Wiktoria’s parents have been hesitant for her to become a musician. Why passion leads people to a higher chance of success with whatever they do. Why Should You Listen?   Wiktoria is a drummer that I have been following for some time now. I have seen her sound, ability to play, and success come through in a big way in the last year or so. To listen to a young person talk in such a mature way about their goals and where they want to be in life is really sati

“I need things like skateboarding, or surfing, or art, or like you, building to just balance myself out.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Brandon Scott is an online drum educator through his very popular YouTube channel. Most of the content he produced was while he lived in Cape Town, South Africa. Recently, however, he made the move back to the USA with his wife.    With a growing YouTube channel, a huge uproot, and sorting out his next moves, this was a great time to sit down and chat about what is going on with him.   You Will Hear About….   What makes something good and letting go of certain things during the creative process? His experience recording 400 minutes of content at the Drummers Collective. Is Brandon getting bored of what most drumming content consists of? The big uproot that Brandon and his wife are currently going through. Some thoughts about Covid. The fine line between overdoing the drumming thing and not doing it enough. What is Brandon’s ultimate goal with his YouTube channel?

“The one environment that I cannot lie in is music. Music tells the truth all the time. Either you can play or you can’t.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Our second episode with the great Billy Cobham. In this episode, we are talking about the nature of creativity.   You Will Hear About….   Billy shares his thoughts on where creativity comes from. Does creativity ever tire for Billy? With advancements in technology are we better off nowadays or was there more of a hotbed of creativity in the past? The importance of taking notes to capture creativity that would be fleeting if not captured somehow. Why Should You Listen?   Creativity is a deep subject and it is one that I enjoy exploring with my guests. In particular, to hear testimony of an incredible musician stating that his creativity never ceases to exist is inspiring to hear. I just wondered if there ever comes a point where you run out of ideas.   Follow Billy   Instagram Facebook Website   Follow ‘Drumeo Gab’   Instagram Facebook YouTube

Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   The time has come for me to part ways with the DrumeoGab podcast. It has been a blast making this show but my time has come to move onto other things.    I also share a prank call that I made to Drumeo where Jack Thomas answered the call.   Follow ‘Drumeo Gab’   Instagram Facebook YouTube

“It’s been told to me that our minds are like Teflon when it comes to positive and velcro when it comes to the negative.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   We are back with Larnell Lewis! Our first episode dealt with Larnell ranking some facets of drumming in order of their importance and I think we all learned a lot from that one. Today though, we are dealing with something very different.   What happens when life gets in the way of your drumming? It happens to all of us. Even the pros. Larnell has had his fair share of interruptions and having to deal with balancing his professional career and the rest of his life. He shares some invaluable wisdom that struck a chord with me not just when I interviewed him but also today as I write this.   For those drummers out there who feel guilty for not feeling like they are spending enough time behind the kit then this one is for you. You Will Hear About….   Reaching your greatness and the balancing act that comes along with that. The importance of your brand

“I have to play stuff that I truly love.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   When I interviewed Todd Sucherman for the top five unique snare drums (and five honorable mentions) we also discussed endorsements.    I feel that endorsements will always have a gravitational pull for most of us. If someone gets offered one what do you think the likelihood of someone accepting it be? My guess is that it would probably be quite high. Even if it isn’t really something they need for their career or if it meant that they would need to take out a line of credit to buy the cymbals, or drums.   So, what are endorsements for?    Well, I share my views on it and Todd shares his. You Will Hear About….   What does it mean when drummers switch companies a lot? Why you should play the instruments you love. Some common misconceptions about endorsements. How Todd got hooked up with Sabian. Why Should You Listen?   I have spoken to many artists. I have observed many posts regarding endorsements. I have spoken about endor

“That’s old history. Great history. Like I said every now and then I’ll think back on it.  Especially when someone asks about it.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Dennis Chambers is involved with Billy Cobham’s “Guide To Stress-Free Drumming” and so for that ongoing event, I was invited to speak with the legend himself. Due to a house fire situation, all of Dennis’ recording gear was offsite which meant that we would need to do this over Zoom. Or did it…?   I decided that maybe it would be a vibe to just record a phone call. You know, an old-fashioned phone call! It was amazing. I was sitting out on my hammock on a beautiful sunny day talking to one of my all-time favorite musicians. It turns out that Dennis is funny, charming, and down-to-earth. That made this all the more incredible. Sometimes they say “never meet your heroes”. This was certainly an exception.   You will hear about many things in this messy and natural conversation. No notes. No prep. Just a phone call that I will never forget. I ho

“I was lazy until I found something I liked to do.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Since I started doing this podcast thing I have been friends with Jefferson, a quirky woodworker out of Santa Cruz, CA. I can almost see his eyebrows raise when I refer to him as being quirky. What I mean by that is that he doesn’t give a shit. I mean, he definitely gives a shit about the whole people and drums thing, but at the end of the day he really just does his own thing. That is probably why we both connected like we did.   The drums are second to none. I play Sugar drums and they are simply spectacular instruments. There is a sense of occasion every time I play them but the time is never spoiled with unrealistic expectations of yourself. Good drums can sometimes feel like they expect a lot from me and it has gotten to my head before. With crappy drums I feel like it is more of a surprise when someone sounds good on them. So, nice drums, I feel, set up a scenario of expectations. The worst case scenario with Sug

“It took me two years to convince my parents that I needed a drum set.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Greek metal maestro and drummer for Nile, George Kollias, is on another level when it comes to extreme metal drumming. He has authored the trilogy, The Odyssey of Double Bass Drumming and has also released his two DVD’s Intense Metal Drumming 1 and 2.    In this episode you will hear a lot about George’s thoughts about comparisons, creating independent learners, Nile, Derek Roddy, whether blast beats can groove and much more.   You Will Hear About….   Has having an abundance of convenient knowledge hurt or helped drummers? George’s observations on students discovering their potential. What does George think about comparing ourselves to others? What does George’s practice routine look like currently? Hobby versus professional career. Which is better? Derek Roddy and Nile. Can blast beats groove? How George goes about creating independent learners. About George’s teacher Yannis Stavropoulos. How is b

“It’s all about the why. If you figure out the way then you figure out purpose.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Juan Mendoza is a classically trained musician who is one of the smoothest, knowledgeable and musical drummers around. Hailing from New Jersey, Juan has developed his own home studio where he films his lessons, teaches his students and records for artists. The results that he manages to achieve are second to none.   In addition to being a fantastic performer, Juan is also an incredible teacher. He has filmed courses at Drumeo where he got into, what I feel, is his specialty. Rudiment applications. I highly recommend checking them out.   I wanted to have Juan on to talk about how he interprets his students and how they can become better students but this also means how can teachers become better teachers because they work hand in hand.    You Will Hear About….   What is it like to teach the next generation? How recordings help with education? How Instagram clips might be hurting our abiliti

“What is the impression that we make when we say what we say with regard to speed, ya know?”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Part two of my conversation with Dream Theater’s drummer Mike Mangini.   You Will Hear About….   Rhetoric and the importance of knowing the true meaning of words. How do we define music that has feel?  Mike’s thoughts concerning speed and musicality. A dream Mike had and Virgil Donati. Thoughts about gratitude. Why Should You Listen?   Mike’s thoughts regarding the words we use and their true meaning is important to hear. We hear folks talking about how speed isn’t musical and certain genres having feel while others don’t. These topics are interesting to a lot of people and Mike makes a lot of sense with what he has to say about this stuff. Plus, a dream that Mike had enabled him to achieve a goal is very interesting stuff.   Follow Mike   Instagram Facebook YouTube Website   Follow ‘Drumeo Gab’   Instagram Facebook YouTube

“It exists for you because it exists.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   You are probably familiar with Mike Mangini, drummer for Dream Theater. He was known for his speed, independence, crazy drum setups, odd time and subdivisions, and much more. There is no doubt that he is one of the greatest drummers alive today. Whether you like his style of play or not, he is remarkable.   He is also a great teacher. He developed the renowned “Grid” system for improvisation and turned this system into a DVD pack several years ago.    This is the first of two parts where I sat down with Mike and had a very lengthy conversation with him. You Will Hear About….   How Mike felt about the original interview I had with him and why we decided to do it again. Why practice? The importance of writing things down. How to manage our thoughts. How can practice change a person for the better? Creating discipline. Mike and his history with hockey. Why it is good for people to have their hobbies and passions. Perception. How ou

“It was so good to just be alive and walk down the street in the rain. I’ll never forget it.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Continuing from last weeks’ episode, we are now going to hear what life was like for Jason Mills AFTER surgery. What is Yummy Sounds about? How did an outlet for musical creativity allow him to weather a terrible storm?  You Will Hear About….   Jason and John talk about the project “Yummy Sounds” and what it means to them. Three stories told by Jason that were very meaningful to him post-surgery. Why Should You Listen?   This whole experience of making ‘Drums As Life Preserver’ was so organic and fun. We are both stoked that Jason’s story is now out there. He told me that his buddies were telling him to get his story put into a book or something.    So, basically, we are happy about it and a lot of love went into it. I just hope that you enjoy the story and the power behind what drums and art did for a human being out there. I could see this one inspiring a lot of people

“I’m just glad to be alive.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Jason Mills wrote me an email late last year to talk to me about how my interview with Jack Thomas deeply resonated with him. He then proceeded to tell me about his story. Before this email, I had never been introduced to Jason but the depth of his story immediately inspired me. I wrote him back to say many things but among them was an invitation to host him and tell his story.   Drums as life preserver. A fitting title considering that drums happened to be one of a few aspects of his life that kept him sane during a major rehabilitation. I won’t spoil anything but please listen closely to this and reflect upon it with your own experiences as a musician. Have they ever saved you from tremendously difficult times? Are they a dependable companion to you? If you answered yes, this will likely resonate deeply with you. You Will Hear About….   Today’s episode goes back over twenty years when Jason began having crazy neurological symptoms throu

“I’m not gonna get a scholarship but I’m gonna go in there and I’m gonna try!”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Taylor Gordon, AKA The Pocket Queen, originally from New Orleans is a drummer and producer who has been through some big ups and some big downs. We are mostly all aware that in order to succeed, you must also fail. Taylor embodies this statement very well.    You will hear about her story from the time that she was accepted with a Presidential scholarship to Berklee, her mishap with a harddrive, her spontaneous encounter with someone important in a fast food restaurant, and how she took it upon herself to begin creating her own music. Which you can listen to right here.   This is a nice reminder that we will all experience ebbs and flows within our lives and they become more drastic in either direction when we take more risk.  You Will Hear About….   Taylor gets into Berklee. Her mom said no to Berklee but also wanted Taylor to challenge this instruction. How Taylor’s family success influe

“It has to start with the why.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Benny Greb recently released his book Effective Practicing For Musicians: The Ultimate Guide For How To Become Better At Your Instrument. So far we have discussed how to practice more effectively and in part two we talked about the importance of recording yourself. Today we focus on why we are making an effort to improve, practicing gratitude and always doing your best with what you have in the moment.   So, how did I make out with the EPM system? It is a bit of a surprising conclusion that I didn’t see coming whatsoever.    I consider this book an essential resource for drummers who are committed to becoming the drummer they wish to become. You can get it right here.   You Will Hear About….   Your why. The right way to compare yourself. Practicing gratitude. My conclusion to the three-month EPM cycle. Staying on course. Doing the best you can with what you have right now. Why practice should be exciting.   Why Should You Listen?   Th

“I was a good person but I was just miserable. I hid it well but I was not happy.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Steven Wolf is a bi-coastal drummer, programmer, remixer, producer, and songwriter who has worked with artists such as Beyonce, Alicia Keys, David Bowie, Katy Perry, Pink, and many more.   With all of his efforts made towards his musical career it hasn’t come without some difficulty regarding physical and mental health. But are they connected? Body and mind health is something that may seem disconnected but Wolf believes that they are absolutely connected. He shares his personal experiences with mental health and his thoughts regarding body and mind health in today’s episode.   You Will Hear About….   Wolf’s brief history with mental health issues. Physical activity, BDNF, and endorphins. Completing small tasks to get you moving when you feel down. Distractions can keep you from improving your mental health. The problems associated with the labels we place on ourselves. Stored trauma in

“I felt like I didn’t have any time to finish my project which was kind of hard.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Jost Nickel returns to DrumeoGab to talk about his new record “The Check In”.    Click here to listen to “The Check In”  or get a signed copy on CD or Vinyl.   You Will Hear About….   How the project to record an album started for Jost. Did the pandemic play a role in the album’s completion? Managing expectations. Exploring different types of microphones with Victor Guidera. Jost’s involvement with creating the album. Did he write this music to satisfy drummers or a general audience? Were there any new senses of vulnerability with creating this album? What surprised him the most about the process?   Why Should You Listen?   For anyone who has considered writing and recording their own album or have done so in the past will connect with this episode today. Jost also contributes some great thoughts about making things to satisfy your own creativity and quality standards first. Another maj

“Just lay it down. And if that happens, you work until you get sick of playing.”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Billy Cobham is a name that echoes throughout the history of drumming. Known for his power, finesse, dynamics, speed, musicality, metric modulation, and well just about every attribute that we drummers admire, it is impossible not to recognize the impact Billy had on music. Whether it was his work on several of Miles Davis’ records including Bitches Brew, Mahavishnu Orchestra’s early recordings, several Stanley Clarke records, Billy always brought a certain energy and sound that could be identified rather quickly. While he worked on many important early fusion recordings and beyond, he also led bands that produced important works, in particular the 1973 record Spectrum.   Billy has also been quite involved with drum education as well. In fact, he was performing educational drum clinics back in the early ’80s. He has also hosted drum retreats and masterclasses as well. Currently, he is hosti

“That’s the fun thing about practicing. That it actually does something. It actually changes you!”   Try Drumeo Edge for free for 7 days   Benny Greb recently released his book Effective Practicing For Musicians: The Ultimate Guide For How To Become Better At Your Instrument. In part one of our three-part series, we discussed how to become more effective during your practice. Today, we are focusing, mostly, on the benefits of recording yourself.    This also marks two months of work within my three-month EPM cycle. So, you will hear my journaling and thoughts about the process so far.   I consider this book an essential resource for drummers who are committed to becoming the drummer they wish to become. You can get it right here.   You Will Hear About….   The different types of recordings and how to use them. What you show social media vs what is really going on. Defining the word discipline. Going deeper with what you know.   Why Should You Listen?   If you heard the first episode and thought that it was