Drumgab Podcast

“I went so deep into the rabbit hole that I got lost.” Andy Prado Jr. is an LA-based musician with some of the meanest chops around. He isn’t all chops though. Andy possesses a mixture of explosive creativity, dynamics, groove, and abstract rhythmic phrases within a large range of musical styles. He has his own progressive instrumental trio called Coevality while also being hired for a variety of other acts such as Sabrina Claudio. Andy is a true devotee to the art of drumming and music. He has played for nearly his entire life and has sacrificed a lot over the course of his career to become the musician he is today. He considers his checkpoints in his journey to have come a bit late but he never lost hope. In this podcast, we discuss the costs involved to get to where he is today.   You Will Hear About…. Adapting to the times as a musician and what Andy is specifically doing about that Andy’s thoughts on sacrifice to the craft in order to obtain a balance with life Why we need to enjoy the process Setbacks

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com   Today we are celebrating 200 episodes of DrumeoGab podcast. I love you :)   I featured a beat by Jules Stewart who was performing to a drum loop created by Tim Baltes.

“If we can address the deepest issues in our life at home and build that foundation, then everything else above us can’t really hurt us.” Matt Greiner’s story is one that a movie script could be written about. He is a small-town farmer who assembled his high-school friends at the farm to form a band. I heard a story once where Matt was in the farm field kicking around rocks daydreaming about what music could be for him and his friends. His dreams came true. They got signed with Solid State Records and August Burns Red became one of the major metal-core groups in the world. Since the time that people had discovered that Matt and I were having a conversation for the podcast, I have heard the same thing from everyone. That Matt is one of the nicest people they have met or that they believe he is a nice guy from all the content they have seen with him featured. I can certainly confirm that Matt is an incredibly nice guy but also that he is a very deep thinker and spiritually connected in his life.  Matt and Tim A

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com   Today we are talking about balance. Are you an all or nothing person? Did your dreams of becoming a household name slip away? I read comments, play three voice memos, and read one email that was all sent by listeners. This one is gonna be interesting...   Today's beat is by Carson Gant aka OneUpDrumVids   Voice Memo's: @muxmike @christiannardelladrums @alanvaudagna   Email sent by: Johnny Katchisin

“Ya gotta learn how to control your instrument.” Aaron Comess moved to New York over thirty years ago and began his amazing journey of music. The New School kicked it off where he met the musicians Chris Barron, Eric Schenkman,  and Mark White to make what would be the classic Spin Doctors lineup. Who knew that they were creating what would be a multi-platinum rock band? I would imagine that those days were a great time to come up as a musician. We definitely had to talk about that stuff. Aaron talked to me before this interview on a phone call about how he is a heavy practicer. He is constantly honing his craft. It is no wonder how he has carved out such a great career with sessions, producing, touring, and of course, being with Spin Doctors since 1989. He has a really positive attitude towards the music industry and doesn’t get hung up on “the good old days” and remains busy to this day.   You Will Hear About…. Does Aaron think live music will ever change? Stepping away from the drum set during the quarant

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Today we are talking about motivation. And it isn't what you are likely expecting to hear.   Today's featured drummer is James Burgess. Follow him on Instagram here and also check out his profile on Spotify!

“I am totally ignorant. I don’t look for joy on a goal. I look for joy on my path.” El Estepario Siberiano is an online drummer from Valencia, Spain who has been blowing up these last few months. He is creating covers, lessons, and other social media content for YouTube and Instagram but does not currently perform with artists.  This is the first time where he is being featured on a podcast, so while I don’t usually interview up and coming drummers anymore I thought it would be great to be the first podcast to feature him because there is no one, to my knowledge, who is growing faster online than him.    You Will Hear About…. How El Estepario doesn’t completely understand why his channel is growing so fast. What drives his work ethic. Why you need to just be yourself within your online content. A bit on El Estepario’s background. What does he think he will do with the fanbase he is creating? Some listener questions.   Why Should You Listen? The biggest takeaway, in my opinion, is the concept of having no go

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com   Today we are talking about your dreams. Not the ones you have at night but the ones that you think about consciously during the day.   The groove today is by Dimitri Fantini performing a song called "Sirocco". You can check out his website here and his Instagram page here.

“Out of pure necessity he started to produce cymbals in his basement on his own.” Norbert Saemann is a name that I have heard for nearly three years now. He is the AR Rep for Meinl Headquarters in Germany. He has been employed by Meinl since the age of 18 and has been there for 30 years now. He has seen the many evolutions the company has made since 1990 and essentially how Meinl has become one of the leaders in creating cymbals and percussion instruments. This interview is going to be quite appealing to fans of Meinl mainly due to the fact that up until now there has not really been much content about the actual company. There is, of course, plenty of entertaining content surrounding their artists, cymbal models, and performance videos but there is very little about the actual company and their history. To my knowledge, this is the first time where this is actually being discussed in some form of media.   You Will Hear About…. How COVID-19 has been affecting Meinl. An extensive look at Meinl’s history. Some

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Today we are talking a bit about the male ego and my own struggle with my ability to be a "man's man" and whether I chose music because I didn't feel like I had a skill that I could access to prove my worth.   Today's musical clip was by @currencyaudio It was @ianhitsdrums who recommended today's clip to me and I suggest that you follow them both!

“New decade. New year. New Goals. New Energy.” Brian Frasier-Moore is one of the GOATS in the pop music scene. He has been a major player in the business for nearly three decades and has worked with some of the biggest names in pop. Another aspect of Brian that is quite exceptional is his ability to continue adapting and also innovate within the industry. I am not kidding when I say that BFM World will soon have VR capabilities for students. You will hear more about it in this episode. I interviewed Brian at the Victoria Drum Festival all the way back on episode 118. It was my first time meeting him and the interview went great. We had a really nice time breaking bread and having some drinks together at the dinner table with our friends after the interview. It was an incredible moment that I won’t soon forget. The theme of that interview was something that I felt was unique and Brian said that he had not experienced an interview quite like it before. I took some of Brian's “gems” and we got talking about some

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Today we are talking about lessons learned. I read a bunch of comments, tell a couple of personal stories about lessons I have learned and we have some great news from a fellow listener Mark Pederson.   The beat featured is by Joe Lyle

“Don’t be afraid to sing in your own voice.” Stephen Taylor is a drummer and drum set educator living in Nashville, TN. He is the founder of StephensDrumShed.com and also the creator of the Drum Better Daily system. While Stephen has been utilizing the internet and social media to create an online drum education business for quite a while now, he started off playing a lot in clubs on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. He eventually left that scene to further his education by attending University of Southern Mississippi and obtained his jazz studies degree under the instruction of Dr. John Wooten. Stephen did have a professional career as a touring musician with the band, Lovers and Liars and was signed to Universal Republic Records but in other interviews I have heard Stephen talk about how this situation was as amazing as people may think. It was time for him to take control of the wheel and do something that was his own. Since this time, Stephen has poured his energy into Stephen’s Drum Shed. He has a close rel

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com   Today's episode is a solo episode where I improvised late at night last Thursday. I began talking into my phone to record some ideas and realized that I was actually making something. I expressed some concerns about the financial burdens of living in an amortized world that I feel prevents people from experiencing more freedom. Also, the heightened stress of living outside of your means when something like COVID hits the world. I also mention some stuff regarding virtue-signaling online and how social media infiltrates our lives and I do talk a bit about BLM and how I am learning a lot but also that I am discovering in the process how complex institutionalized racism really is. Each day I am looking into this stuff further and further and my mind is getting blown each time I dig. And finally, I talk about the preciousness of human life and why we need to be in touch with what is going on and how there is no guarantee for any

“Find the benefits it has, draw it out and use it to your ability. It doesn’t have to be a roadblock it can actually be a leg up.”   Gregory Storey has a very compelling story. He has been featured on many BBC documentaries regarding his life with Tourette Syndrome. In these documentaries you will see just how severe his tics were during his childhood and into adulthood. Interestingly enough, drumming seems to be his relief from this awful neurodevelopmental disorder.   Once he began playing the drums the tics went away. He experienced such an overwhelming feeling from this relief that it brought him to tears. An entire childhood of having no control over his tourette’s and now suddenly the big red guy with a megaphone has been silenced.    Gregory is now a full-time streamer on the platform Twitch. He has hosted a handful of streams where he performs on the drums for over 10 hours to raise money for certain charities concerning Tourette's. For a person to overcome so much in his life and continue to shine po

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Today we are talking about our favorite albums. Take notes and maybe you will find something new to listen to.

“I want you to do it because you love it and because you want to create something cool and see what happens.”   Casey Cooper is a very well known YouTuber who has established his online presence by providing content that encourages beginner to intermediate drummers to have fun playing drums. He has created content for YouTube officially since 2011 and has since then become the largest YouTube drumming account in the world.   However, these claims of major success online through views and subscribers appeal very little to Casey. His major focus is communication between his audience and creating a strong positive message to drummers who need encouragement and reminding them that having fun needs to exist within drumming.   In this episode, we go over his humble beginnings, the purpose of his content, and the realities of being a YouTuber. You Will Hear About….   Casey talks about being a “bridge” for drummers. What do Casey’s fans say to him in emails? There are different points of where we are with our jour

#blacklivesmatter #GeorgeFloyd

“Social media is what we make of it.” Tommy Igoe is an intensely passionate guy. He is a world-class performer, educator, and speaker as a result of a lifetime of hard work. His educational materials, “Great Hands For A Lifetime” and “Groove Essentials" Vol.1 and 2 are iconic and used by an incredibly vast amount of drummers all over the world.  If you have been following Tommy’s career for any length of time, it is fair to say that excellence and the pursuit of it is a leading priority in Tommy’s life. And again, if you have been following Tommy for a little while, you already know that he is very direct and vocal, especially when it concerns conduct on social media. I think the friction that occurred back in 2019 had so much positive effect to cut through the noise online. I mean, at one point or another, someone in the world was probably talking about the trolling stuff this time last year. People love drama and this was the best soap going in the drumming community.  It was a moment where his audience wou

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Today we are talking about practice! I have reached out to several friends to contribute their thoughts about practice. Each of these artists has services available. Click the links below if you wish to learn more about these amazing musicians/educators.   Todd Sucherman Stephen Taylor Jared Falk Dan Weiss Dave Atkinson Bruce Becker Yoni Madar Riccardo Merlini