Drumgab Podcast

“We are making music for the people. For everyone.” Sput and Nate have been sharing the bandstand together for 15 years. They both played together for the world-renowned band Snarky Puppy but eventually they decided that it was time to develop their own thing and that thing was called Ghost-Note. A wonderful collection of diverse musicians all working together to bring, as Nate had said, “peace, love, harmony and unity to the entire world.”   You Will Hear About…. The trip to the Drumeo Festival. How did Ghost-Note develop into what it is now? Their intentions with their music. What they represent is what they attract. Mailbox money, incentives, and culture within the band.   Why Should You Listen? Ghost-Note is everywhere, especially within the drumming community. Vic Firth’s VFJams, Zildjian Live, essentially you are listening to Ghost-Note. You will get to hear a lot about how the band operates and what their intentions and aspirations are. It is all for the love of music and creating a movement. So, if

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   This week we are discussing our favorite drumming instructional DVDs and VHS tapes.   Opening funk groove performed by Brian "Brain" Mantia from the video "Shredding Repis on the Gnar Gnar Rad" (my favorite drumming education video.)   We have two beats. The first submission is by Jacob Randall and the second one is by Tomas Hoces.   The other two beats are performed by me. I want to start tracking my progress by ending episodes with a groove to Tim Baltes' Drumless tracks.    

“How much good can you have before the bad comes around?” Harry Miree is a dude. Actually, let me rephrase. He IS dude. Harry is a touring and session musician who currently lives in Nashville, TN but is originally from Alabama. He also has his own YouTube channel which is fantastic and I strongly recommend that you check it out. Overall, Harry has forged a good career for himself so far and spreads his dudely vibes wherever possible. The most common response to anyone that knew about this interview was, “oh man, that is going to be so funny!” and I am not sure if this will come as a disappointment or not but this interview is not really funny at all. It is actually the heaviest interview I have ever released. In fact, I think we were both a little disoriented after this chat. It went to some dark places and as it turns out, Harry and I share a lot of parallels in our life experiences.  I had wondered why Harry had chosen humour as his method of delivering content. It just seemed to me that everything he crea

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   This week we have a listener story submitted by Gene Gonzalez. Check out his drumstick holders here :)   Here is the TED Talk video Reuben Spyker was talking about.   Beat submissions were provided by Lucas Farran and Vinny Werneck   Today we are talking about our first drum set. I read comments, I share my own first drum set story, a Harry Miree podcast teaser clip and we have a lot of laughs too.

“When you know you’re well prepared and you have the passion. No one can stop you.” Aquiles Priester is a national treasure to Brazil. Without question, he is one of the best and most well-known heavy metal drummers alive today. His career spans over thirty-years and features credits such as playing drums for W.A.S.P., Tony McAlpine, Angra, Hanger, and up until this Covid pandemic, he was gearing up to perform with DragonForce. Of course, his list of artists that he has worked with is much longer than what I listed here. Aquiles’ career is an incredible story of perseverance and passion. It took him many years to reach the level of success that he enjoys today. He gave up on his dreams for music being his full-time career to work for Dana Incorporated and dedicated himself to that job. He actually made a good career for himself by working up the ranks. However, his passion for music took over, once again, and this time for good. It took many years but since the year 2000, Aquiles has found his success in the

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Huge shoutout to Austin Koziol (groovi_drums) for his voice memo this week. I always had hoped that at some point the podcast would provide a strong positive influence on our drumming community. For everyone who has ever reached out to inform me of your love of this podcast; thank you! It means a lot to me that drummers from all over the world look forward to future episodes and that it is part of your weekly routine. You will have content to enjoy for years to come and I hope that you will continue to pop by and say hello.   We have two beats this week. Tim Buell and Bucket & Sticks   The music collab was with Donald Waugh and me.

“We only own now.” Dom Famularo is probably the happiest guy that you will ever meet in your life. He maintains a high degree of optimism all of the time and is simply infectious. It is no wonder why he is known as the “Global Drumming Ambassador”. He has traveled all over the world to present his masterclasses and clinics and was also the first western drum educator to perform clinics in China. Dom has been one of the most sought after drum teachers for over forty years and to this day maintains a student list of 2500 students. He has also authored two books, “It’s Your Move” and “The Cycle of Self-Empowerment”. The list of accolades and achievements are immense with Dom and he shows zero signs of slowing down. Besides the educational side and the public speaking, Dom is an incredible drummer as well. His solos tend to have dramatic peaks and valleys dynamically. Dom really sucks you in with his storytelling. I always hear a stealthy army approaching the enemy quietly creeping in and then a battle ensues! An

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Today's episode deals with our drumming influences. I take a deep dive into my top 10 drumming influences, comment reads, and other ramblings.   The beat featured today comes from Austin Koziol.

“I allow it to be what it is.” Steve Smith is a treasure to drumming culture. He was inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, he’s been awarded many times over in the industry including the Modern Drummer readers poll where he was voted “Best All-Around Drummer” five years in a row. The list goes on and on and you will always find him on the top 100 drummers of all time lists as well. There is no question that Steve Smith is one of the finest drummers in history. He is probably best known to most people as the drummer for Journey. He would end up recording six albums, including Journey’s most popular album “Escape”, during his tenure with them. However, regardless of his massive success with Journey, Steve is a jazz drummer at heart. He has been the bandleader of his group Vital Information since the early seventies and of course, in between has been a sideman for artists such as Jean-Luc Ponty, Steps Ahead, Dweezil Zappa, Bryan Adams, Savage Garden and many others. What I find personally fascinating a

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com   In this episode, we talk about the prospect of taking on big projects.   Joshua Green - Instagram Joshua Green's video from a defunct nuclear turbine (this is amazing and you should watch it.) Kenton Bell - Instagram

“I play because I need to play. For me.” Havana, Cuba native, Horacio “el Negro” Hernandez, has been said to be one of the most innovative and skilled percussionists in the world. He has had a very rich musical life growing up in Havana and then many years later when he left home to become an internationally acclaimed musician. It did not come easily but as Horacio describes in this interview, it has always been his passion in life and he has never considered doing anything else.  Horacio has had the pleasure of working with so many incredible artists throughout his career including Carlos Santana, Zucchero, Steve Winwood, McCoy Tyner, Michel Camilo, and the Tropi-Jazz All Stars of the late Tito Puente. Horacio is also a Grammy award winning artist, which he received in 1997. I have personally been in love with Horacio’s playing for 20 years. Back when it was new, the Modern Drummer 2000 DVD featured Horacio. I remember watching his clips, along with Vinnie, Dave Lombardo, Billy Ward and Hilary Jones over and

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Today's episode is themed around two different story types. The first one is about drummers who started playing drums later into their adulthood. The other is about drummers who used to play when they were in their youth and then retired the sticks only to rediscover their passion for drumming years later.   The submissions for this week came from Ed Koop, Bill Granville, Robert Daughtridge, and Jorge Bazo.   I also read a bunch of comments from last week's question on my Instagram   "Who started playing drums later in life, or picked up the sticks after a long hiatus?"   We received over 70 comments, so I read a few of them. I also share my own experience with a long hiatus from drums that took place during my twenties.   To top it all off I have included a teaser of the upcoming interview with Horacio "el Negro" Hernandez. Enjoy and stay safe :)  

"My pain is my sound" Chris Coleman’s story will give a lot of hope to drummers out there who are trying their absolute best to become who they want to become. He is a fighter, a survivor and has been put through hell to get where he is today. He has been considered, in the public’s eye, a fantastic drummer for many years. His win back in 2001 for the Guitar Center DrumOff was such a huge affirmation to Chris that he was indeed on the right path. But it always wasn’t so clear. In this interview, you are going to hear about the pain and struggle that was necessary to get to the place that he has arrived. Chris has such a long and meandering path of little victories and big setbacks. At a certain point, he tried to kill his passion for drumming that he had inside of him. It is incredible how he persevered and once he moved to LA things started to work in his favor and he was well on his way to his well-earned destination. When we watch Chris perform we can sit back and enjoy the product. And really, we should.

Sign up for only $5 (all proceeds go to the Covid Solidarity Response Fund) to enroll in the Drumeo Learn Songs Faster Masterclass. This is for a limited time only. (Closes April 10th at Midnight)   VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Update on Ian - Ian and his wife Joanna have returned home to Toronto safe and sound. Yay!!   Lou Santiago Jr. talks about his experience working in the ER in NYC during the Covid pandemic.   Here is the link to the podcast where the astronaut Scott Kelly provides advice for people in isolation.   Here is the link to Austin's new podcast.

Sign up for only $5 (all proceeds go to the Covid Solidarity Response Fund) to enroll in the Drumeo Learn Songs Faster Masterclass. This is for a limited time only.   “Something changed. It was a heavy time.” Anika Nilles has built quite an impressive career for herself over the last six years or so. Her profile blossomed into international status almost overnight with the release of “Wild Boy” on YouTube. From there, she has gained considerable exposure and has been in high demand for clinics and other educational platforms, such as Drumeo. It could be argued that Anika was one of the main influencers on the popularity of quintuplet phrasings but also disguised them well to make these odd-phrasing ideas approachable and musical. This was the second interview opportunity that I have had with Anika. The first was over two years ago where we spoke over Skype while she was home on a quick break. It was amazing to have her on the podcast but also quite disappointing to me personally due to the outcome of the audi

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   Ned's Facebook Live interview that I talked about. https://umatter.ca/2020/03/28/embracing-kindness/   Rich Stitzel's DrumMantra podcast where I was interviewed live. https://player.fm/series/the-drummantra-podcast

“Technique is just legwork. It’s not a paradigm shift for the most part.” This interview with Jojo was the last interview that I recorded during the Drumeo Festival in 2020. The night prior to this interview was when NERVE closed the festival with a tremendous performance that blew the minds of the audience in attendance. I have been listening to NERVE since early on, in fact, it was the Prohibited Beats album where I discovered them with the incredible tune “Far”.  Prohibited Beats was the first NERVE album release but there were also major parties that Jojo hosted in NYC that he called “Prohibited Beatz”. At the Drumeo VIP dinner he shared that entire story of how he was no longer allowed to host these parties, as people well into the thousands would attend. Look up what the “Cabaret Law” is for some nice casual reading. It was that among other contributing factors that forced Jojo to stop the Prohibited Beatz parties.  Jojo Mayer is a very creative and ingenuitive musician. It has been commented on many ti

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com.   This episode was a massive collaborative effort by listeners, past guests/friends. This was created to bring more strength, hope, and perspective to people. It is not just for drummers. It is instead, from drummers FOR people. I am very proud to present this MEGA episode to you all. Many thanks for your support and PLEASE SHARE THIS CONTENT WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES!!   Contributors were Colin Boyd Tommy Igoe Ray Carega Greyson Nekrutman Curt “KIRKEE-B” Bisquera David Frank Shawn Lafferty Raghav Mehrotra Mark Tuure Pederson Estepario Siberiano Sugar Percussion Sharon Ransom David Cola Ash Soan Greg Hersey Ned Burwell - UMatter Website Earl Talbot Ryan Van Poederooyen Chris Smith Scott Pellegrom Ian Maciak Mike Michalkow Tim Baltes

“Try to think ahead of what you really want. The end goal. Where you really wanna be.” Nick D’Virgilio is a name that if you are tuning into YouTube and other social media platforms likely recognize due to his presence at Sweetwater. That is certainly Nick’s main gig these days but he has had a very rich musical career leading up to Sweetwater. He has worked with Genesis, Tears for Fears, Cirque Du Soleil, Spock’s Beard, Big Big Train and more. Can you imagine actually recording on the final Genesis album? In that studio that produced some of the most important prog-rock in history? Or touring with Tears for Fears? But leading up to the time where he met Kevin Gilbert randomly at a ski resort was a long grind of sameness, very little momentum and in Nick’s words, “what am I doing with my life kinda stuff.” Nick’s story is one of perseverance. He just wouldn’t accept an alternative even though he wasn’t going where he wanted to be for years. He found his break with Kevin and had the desire and abilities to mak

VIP is created in part by YOU, the audience. Submit your media to Seamus@drumeo.com   In this episode you'll hear: - A word of encouragement, concerns about social distancing and coronavirus. - An update from a friend of the show, Heather Thomas. - Ray Byrne from Byrne Cymbals on endorsements. - Comment reads. The question was "Do you want an endorsement and why? Commenters who I read in this episode were @Karlgrohmanndrums, @freddycharles, @thefitdrummer, @mattcordier, and @davidraouf. - Instagram clip shoutouts. I asked IG who their favorite Up and Coming Drummer was. The drummers were randomly selected after being voted in the comments. They were @vinnywrk, @joelturcotte, @nathshinglerdrums, @lioncamp, @7tomi8, @dimitrifantini, @zackaustindrums and @oliverlab. - A small clip from Nick D'Virgilio's episode about endorsements and whether we invest in gear that is brand-specific as a potential investment for down the road. - A small clip from the upcoming Chris Coleman episode. - I share a story about when I