Howdy!
How's evathang?
Well, I guess this is where I'm s'posed to satisfy my inner only child and talk about ME for a minute.
Here goes...
I guess I'm an obsessive, dysfunctional musician.
Back in 1969, I thought it'd be another opportunity to be an obnoxious 5 year-old bastid if I got a drumkit for Christmas. !SUCCESS! was achieved, both in getting the kit and in being an obnoxious li'l bastid.
Surprisingly to myself, the subsequent years spent endulging in that activity would lead to a lot of curiosities and fascinations involving not just drumming, but the science of recording, playing other instruments, and just music in general. So much to learn!
After all the years, the curiosity and wonderment continues. Many lessons learned, yet so very many more to come (hopefully).As time and evolution have progressed, I've been fortunate to have been given opportunities to play and grow in a broadly diverse group of situations.
Examples such as:
- Columbus Youth Symphony in my high school days
- Canton Bluecoats drum and bugle corps
- Numerous R&B, rock'n'roll, blues, and even a coupla country bands, including:
- Recording and touring Europe with American Dog
- Touring and recording with McGuffey Lane
- over 100 other album projects, along with jingles, television such as music for ABC World News Now, movie soundtracks (not only drumming but also programming, sampling, and on guitar, bass, and keyboards.)
BIG FUN!
One particular benefit of having been given all of this experience is the chance to find out, in detail, exactly the best tools for my job (if you can call it a job):
I have no doubt that drums made the way that Sonor makes them are absolutely optimal for what I need a drumkit to do. They respond to tuning over a really broad range which makes them extremely versatile. Sonor also make the only drumkits that I've ever used, in almost 40 years, where I don't have to worry about a part exploding in the middle of the gig! They also have their own distinctive look (very european, to my mind) that I find really appealing. Nobody's drums look like Sonors.
I was also lucky enough to find out about Sabian cymbals early in their existence. Any cymbal sound that exists in my head, I can get with something from Sabian. They have everything that I want sonically and nothing that I don't want. Plus, they hold up on the road. Some of my Sabians are 20+ years old and have been played on pretty damn hard all that time!
I was also really fortunate to have been exposed to Regal Tip drumsticks at a very young age and I've always found them to be the standard to which all the other sticks should be compared. If no other stick than the Regal Tip 2B existed, you'd hear no complaint from me whatsoever. They're also the only sticks that I can reliably hold onto when I go into my sweaty italian alter ego.
Please note: I happen to endorse these companies but I don't use them because I endorse them--I endorse them because they're what I use! Check 'em out.
Paris, 2005 courtesy of Bad Reputation Records
Killer Komanski, my brilliant french bud.
