Drummers I Like Podcast

Welcome to the First episode of 2017, and we are super excited to have Joey "Bones" Parasole on the show! Better known as "Joey Bones" this fine gent has seen it all, traveled the world, conquered the odds, and the way he tells it all is entertaining and enlightening, to say the least. Join us as we gain a little insight from Joey Bones as to how he makes it all happen with style. Intro – 1:30 Joey Parasole plays for the Morgan Freemasons, and is endorsed my Zion Cymbals. Joey is a very talented drummer and has some great stories to share about it all. 1:30-10:00 We dive right into this one, exploring the in-depth and diverse past of Joey Bones. Joey was raised in Brooklyn and after many different attempts at other instruments ranging from the Cielo to the Violin, Joey realized that the drummers for him was where it was at, and at age ten there was no looking back. In 2001 Joey found college didn’t work and the manager for Pennywise, picked him up and brought him to California where he got a taste of the touring lifestyle. From there Joey made it back to New York to play with the band Fair-Weather who was with equal vision records. 10:00 – 15:00 Since his wild ride, Joey has since married and had children but the time away from the kit wasn’t cutting it for Joey so about a year ago, he started back up with his Instagram account which has taken off. Joey expands on the craziness by saying that although it has grown exponentially for joey its really about the sharing, and the community. Richard and Kevin agree and expand by saying the something about the drumming community is really based about just that a community of drummers sharing ideas and experiences with each other. 15:00 -19:30 Richard asks Joey to break down how he gets such clear sound and high video quality. For Joey, it’s simple, a GoPro Hero4 silver and his drum kit. Joey plans to acquire more audio equipment, but for the time being Joey is focusing more on his playing and his family until the right time. 20:00 -29:00 Joey Bones now breaks us down the Love Custom drum kit he uses. Love being one of the first custom companies he found on Instagram and his endorsers providing him with his four-pieces 7-ply maple kit. Joey also can’t resist collecting many snares from his Love custom snare made of aged steel and trick throw off. Joey also has other custom drums ranging from pork pie little squealer to an older Spawn acrylic snare, too many others Joey is addicted to snares. And the addiction doesn’t stop there, Joey also announces his recent custom snare made by Predator Percussion, who really knows how to make an amazing snare with an incredible hands-on experience. 29:00 – 38:00 Not only does Joey release his own drumming content for others to enjoy, he also manages an Instagram page known as Groove Share, where he hand selects drum videos daily of known and up and coming drummers to share with the drumming community. To Joey helping other drummers who have the talent but not the time to share videos is what makes it enjoyable for him, and why he created Groove Share. Joey also mentions how he is working towards creating some loops that he hopes to be released soon. RAPID SINGLES! (Lightning Round) 1. What was holding you back from becoming a successful drummer? Getting over the hurdle of time. 2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? Jona Vola told Joey never stop, smile threw your mistakes. 3. what's a personal habit that contributes to your success? Punctuality 4. share a resource or tool that helps you survive as a drummer. Zion Cymbals 5. recommend just one book. what would it be and why? George Lawrence-Stick Control, Joey says it’s the foundation for drummers! 6.imagine you woke up tomorrow in a world exactly like ours, you still had all the same knowledge and talent that you have as a dru...

Welcome back drummers to Episode 30, today we are sitting down with Tosh Peterson, better known as Tosh The Drummer. Tosh is a very diverse independent drummer who plays with a multitude of bands and even at a young age has a strong following via his Instagram channel (@toshthedrummer). Tosh has developed a lot of his chops on his own but has been very fortunate to receive lessons from some of the best drummers in the industry. Tosh is endorsed by Thump Drums, Destroy A Drum Clothes, Fusion Bags, GoPro Cameras, Kbrakes, Kick Strap, Knockout Beaters, Vic Firth Drum Sticks. 6:00-15:00 Tosh takes us to where it all began, being influenced by his dad, who was a drummer himself and who also gave him his first drum kit at a very early age. From then on Tosh played anything he could on drums even recordings of drum machines. Tosh started to practice gospel chops and tried to play some Thomas Pridgen fills during his journey. Kevin mentions that by reaching out and posting a video on Instagram, Tosh was able to meet and take his first lesson with Thomas that would ignite a strong connection through drumming. 15:00-21:00 Tosh now goes a little more into how he developed his own voice. It all came from just wanting to be a better drummer himself, and not be good at playing what someone else already has. Tosh mentions that at the end of the day his voice hasn’t come from trying to play what he heard, but more from playing what he wants to hear. This has really made Tosh stand out and apart of standing out is releasing good quality videos, Tosh explains how he has cut down to recording about 3 minutes a day as opposed to recording his whole practice sessions, then searching for the perfect clip. Richard and Tosh speak on how this helps not only improve the quality, but it allows for more videos being uploaded, and more time to practice. 21:00 – 27:00 Tosh gets asked the important question, what kind of practice routines is he doing? For Tosh, since he found his arms and legs hurting in the past, he has developed his own warm up routine to deflect the pain and get his arms and legs ready. Most of his practice time is spent trying to learn something he didn’t do the day before, and always with the metronome on. From there, his practice consists of learning any music he has for upcoming shows or trying new ways to incorporate licks into grooves. 27:00- 38:00 Tosh breaks down for us what kit he plays on. Tosh keeps it simple yet unique with four-piece custom made Thump Drum kit. Although not many drums in the kit, it’s the sizes that really make these drop one of a kind, and with a plethora of snares to switch from it makes finding the perfect sound for the gig effortless. Tosh likes to keep the cymbals consistent with Zildjian Cymbals all around his kit while using low volume cymbals to create some interesting stacks to add effects to the entire set-up. 38:00 -51:00 RAPID SINGLES! 1. What was holding you back from being a successful drummer? Tosh said not having a smartphone to post videos 2. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another drummer? “Don’t care, just play!” One of the first couple things Thomas Pridgen told him in a lesson 3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? Tosh says being competitive against himself, he always wants to be better than he was the day before. 4. What is a tool you need to survive as a drummer? Socks and his Vic Firth Metal End drumsticks! 5. If you could recommend one (drumming) book what would it be?

Welcome back to another episode of the Drummers I Like Podcast! This week we are bringing you our end of the year 2016 update show and filling you in on everything going on at the Drummers I Like camp! It has seriously been one of the biggest years in Drummers I Like history and the amount of things we have done are almost too much to fit into a single podcast, but we are absolutely stoked about what's been happening and what's about to go down for the year 2017 and can’t wait to bring you all this new!! Richard and Kevin kick off this week's episode by recapping the week and talking the holidays with the family. 10:30 - 12:40: We start off this episode by looking back to April 20th when our first show was aired and how we have grown as a company and as individuals. The constantly increasing number of downloads and subscribers have all been the direct result of our dedication to providing something to our listeners we would want to hear ourselves, as drummers. 12:45 - 15:25: Now we recap the amazing artists we have had on the show * Sam Applebaum of Veil of Maya * Matt Halpern of Periphery * Freddy Charles * Benjamin Benzel Cowan of Parliament Funk * Steve Carey of The Color Morale * Anthony Martone * Jovan Dawkins producer for Jamie Foxx * Jesse Shelley of Sleep Wave * Travis Orbin of Darkest Hour * Jared Easterling of Fit For A King * Jay Postones of Tesseract * Mike Levine * Pablo Viveros of Chelsea Grin * Amir Oosman * Alex Camerena from Silent Plant * Charlie Engen up and coming * Josh Manuel of Issues * Jared Folk Founder/owner of Drumeo * Richie Martinez IG up and comer * Jessica Bureaux IG up and comer * Aaron Stechauner of Rings of Saturn * Jamie Gamble of Beyonce * Craig Pilo of Frankie Vallie * Samus Menihane of Vanna * Tito Felix Of Upon a Burning Body 15:25 - 32:00: Now we break down how we have expanded on social media and all the exciting news for 2017. Starting on YouTube where we now have 2k followers. And getting close to 10K followers on Instagram! Social media is what has launched Drummers I Like and it couldn't be what it is without our amazing followers. Something like 3,000 plus #Drummersilike hashtags is using on Instagram. The amazing feedback from our 2017 brand rep search. We have a lot of exciting interviews, artists, and even a Drummers I like app in the store for next year. Drummer takeovers live shows, gear reviews, and of course new shows every week with some very exciting drummers! 32:00- 37:00: Lastly we just would like to say thank you to our fans most importantly, for tuning each week for, following our social media pages. Of course thanks to the artists for taking the time to allow us to interview them. And thank you for your continued support into the next year we couldn't be happier to bring as much drumming awesomeness to you guys in 2017 as we can. - Well, that wraps it up for this episode of the Drummers I like Podcast 2016 update and for this year in general! Once again, we can’t thank our listeners enough for giving us a reason to do this show every week and consistently showing us love via social media! Make sure you catch next week's first episode of 2017 featuring Tosh The Drummer!!! Until next time! - Rich - with contributions from Josh Bonner Do you enjoy the Drummers I like Podcast? Leave an Itunes review here, let us know how you feel, and help us become your favorite drummer’s podcast!  Subscribe to the Newsletter for early access to content, contests, and offers! First Name 

Hello Drummers, glad to be back with another show for you! Today our guest is Tito Felix from Upon A Burning Body. We're really honored to have Tito on the show today. His playing prowess is awesome. We also are big fans of Tito's band. If you're a metal head like us we know you keep up with those guys. Tito's playing with the group is really phenomenal so we couldn't wait to talk with him to get into some details of his playing, his background in brazil music, his journey on the drums, and a little about his setup preferences. Don't forget to listen for Rapid Singles today as well. It's always a lot of fun and worth the wait! So let's get to it! 13:00 - 30:40: In our first segment of the show we get into Tito's history with the drums. He takes us through first finding the drums when living in Brasil. Then we dig into that a bit as well as some of his recommendations for some samba artists to check out. Then Tito tells us how he moved to the states and really grew up behind the drums and promoting himself with social media. There are a lot of great topics that are discussed throughout this segment so listen closely. 30:40 - 36:00: Now we dig into how Tito got involved with Upon A Burning Body. He attracted attention through his YouTube videos and was contacted by the group to join up. Tito gets into more detail about how it all worked out. As we've said previously, we love this group and really enjoy what Tito brings into the band. 36:00 - 43:00: Here Tito talks about what's up and coming for Upon A Burning Body. We know a lot of you listeners enjoy these guys as much as we do so check out what Tito has to say here and keep checking back for updates on when you can check them out the next time their near your hometown! Toward the end of this segment, we have some fun off-topic conversation so that was fun too. 43:00 - 50:00: Next Tito breaks down his current setup. We talk about his long love affair with DW/Pacific drums and what shells he's currently using. As well as getting into detail about his TRX cymbals. He uses mainly their Icon and BRT lines. We've been keeping and eye on TRX lately ourselves and have been very impressed. Our intern Brendan is on their roster and he has had nothing but great things to say about them. 50:00 - Rapid Singles  1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? – His lack of confidence early in his career.  2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? – "Don't worry what other people think"  3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – Making time to work on his craft and always seeking knowledge and furthering his education behind the drums.  4. Share a resource or tool that helps you survive as a drummer? – Listening to lots of music. We can always find inspiration just by listening.  5. Recommend just one book. what would it be and why? – This was a different one for us here. Tito recommends a book on spirituality called Serpent of Light by Drunvalo Melchizedek 6. Imagine you woke up tomorrow in a world exactly like ours, you still had all the same knowledge and talent that you have as a drummer but you know no one. All you have is $500, a smartphone, and small portable drum set. What would you do first? – If Tito went back and did things again he would use the smartphone to get back on social media and maybe try play some small places to focus on really digging into music. As well as using his spending cash to maybe buy some lessons with some heavy hitters.  We finish today with some random topics out of Rapid Singles so check that before we sign off. I apologize for having to leave the end of the show to Rich but the time was of the essence for me so thanks for your patience.

Drummers and friends, boy are we glad to be back! We can't wait to bring you today's guest Seamus Menihane. Seamus is currently playing full time with Vanna. As well as staying very busy with a number of other artists that we talk a bit about on today's show as well. Seamus is a very knowledgeable drummer and we really can't wait to get into our talk. In the beginning of today's show, we had a fair amount to talk about. I got to express my excitement that Dave Lombardo formally of Slayer will be featured on Late Night with Seth Meyers on December 12-15 at 12:35pm EST. So set your dials and enjoy some Dave Lombardo! Rich then gets into a new social media app that he fell in love with. It's definitely something you'll want to listen for if you manage several social media sites. But enough with all that noise. Let's get on with the show! 14:00 - 17:00: We start things off as we like to do. Getting into how Seamus found drumming and how it all started. It's important to mention what Seamus was in Vienna Austria when he was on the show with us and it was after midnight. He was standing outside of the venue he played that night because it was the only place he could get wifi. So a big shout out for staying up late to go on the show with us. 17:00 - 20:00: Now Seamus talks about some of his early days on the drums. As well as his early influences. From listening to his parents records at an early age. To starting to find a more modern rock in his early teens. As well as his road through drum lessons and drum education. "All of the drummers that I liked, like Travis Barker. I was like, man I don't need to be taking lessons to play like that...But little did I know, I did have to be taking lessons." 20:00 - 25:00: Here we start to dig into Seamus's early bands and how he started playing with other musicians. From starting with cover bands to progressing to creating his own music. Then of course how that ended up leading into the metal and hardcore genres. Seamus hails from the Boston area which is known for its great hardcore scene so he had a great chance to experience some great shows. 25:00 - 29:00: Now Seamus shares how he got into professional drumming. From his early days of booking his first tours. To knowing when he really wanted to pursue drumming as a career. That leads into his playing with VATTNET to how he ended up joining Vanna. 29:00 - 31:00: Vanna had cut quite a few records before Seamus joined with them. So in this segment, we unpack a little about ways to dig into a band's large catalog of music when you are taking over the drum seat. It can be overwhelming to have a lot of songs to learn. Especially if it's in a short amount of time so this can really help a lot of drummers out there that might be in a similar situation. 31:00 - 36:00: Next we dig into where Seamus is now. Playing with Vanna and living the life of a professional touring and studio drummer. He talks about his current European tour with Vanna and some cool stuff he's got to experience on the road.  As well as the logistics of having a drumset to play when over in Europe. 36:00 - 41:00: Seamus plays a pretty simplified kit these days. In this segment, you get to hear him break down how and why he likes that setup. We really like hearing Seamus talk about his acrylic SJC kit. A perfect material for the type of music Seamus plays. As well as his 16" hi-hats put together from crash cymbals. "Broken cymbals make us sad!" 41:00 - 49:00: That morphs into a talk about how we as metal drummers sometimes get enough of an adrenaline rush while playing live. That sometimes it's easy to black out and forget good technique when you're in the moment. As well as a fun chat about the late great Keith Moon! 49:00 - 55:00: Now we talk about some of Seamus's tuning techniques on his acrylic kit.

Welcome back to another episode of the Drummers I Like podcast! Today we are honored to have Craig Pilo of Frankie Valli on the show with us! Craig has played with Frankie Valli for the past 11 years, and also with many other acts. Craig is the consummate professional, as well as a great guy to have a drumming conversation with. He also studied drums at the University of North Texas with greats like Ed Soph and as usual, there is a ton of drumming knowledge in this episode. So enough of my banter. Let's get on with the show. 13:00 - 17:00: As always we get into how Craig found the drums and music in general. For Craig, it was really Buddy Rich that started the obsession. From there he soaked up as much music as he could get his hands on and wore out his dad's big band records. He touches on his early influences and his first real taste of the drums. 17:00 - 22:00: Here Craig mentions being influenced my Maynard Ferguson the renowned trumpet player. Craig went on to play a tour with Maynard. He recalls some of those experiences which were some of his first as a touring drummer. 22:00 - 24:00: Now Craig talks about his journey leaving his hometown in Connecticut, studying with greats like Ed Soph at the University of North Texas, and how he got to Los Angeles. In this segment, we also learn that Craig and Rich live 5 minutes from each other. So look out for some Drummers I Like content featuring Craig sometime soon. 24:00 - 30:00: Craig gets into his long-time work with music legend Frankie Valli. He's been on the gig for the past 11 years. That's a long time to hold a single gig and that is a lot of Frankie Valli songs to learn so it was cool to hear some of his experiences with touring and playing with Frankie. 30:00 - 33:00: Here Rich gets into some of Craig's practice routines and what materials he likes to practice. Practice time is pretty scarce for Craig. He is always either out playing with other musicians, performing in sessions, or working on writing and producing music for film and T.V. Craig says one of the most important things he does to keep up with drumming is to check out some of the hot upcoming drummers. We also chat a bit about metal in this spot so that's fun too! 33:00 - 37:00: The last conversation runs into the next and we talk a bit about how important it is to be an open minded and diverse drummer throughout different styles of music. Also how important it is to be able to comfortably play in many different styles. 37:00 - 40:00:  Now we start to get into some drum gear related chats, starting with a little about Craig's approach to tuning. His toms sound awesome and we really wanted to hear about his tuning technique. He also talks a little about his Yamaha maple drums. 40:00 - 41:00:  Here we get into some of Craig's drum teaching.  He teaches lightly at the California College of Music with a few students. He hopes to build that a bit once his home studio gets finished up. But because of his very busy playing schedule, it's pretty hard for him to take on a lot of students. 41:00  - 49:00: Then we get into a talk about Craig's composing skills and how he built them. As we've mentioned he created scores for film and T.V. After playing a lot of drumming gigs for T.V. he found it was pretty easy to create that type of music that was needed for these shows so he decided to take some advice and get into it. 49:00 - 54:00: That whole conversation turns into a talk about diversifying as a drummer to be able to keep your career going. But Craig stresses that no one should only do something in music just for the money. It's important to keep passionate about everything we do. As well as again talking about the importance of not being close minded. This is a great chat that goes's through several topics that include some good experiences from his studies with Ed ...

Welcome to the Drummers I Like Podcast. Today we have a great drummer, and good friend Jamie Gamble! We are very excited to have Jamie on today's show. Rich and Jamie have been spending quite a bit of time together working on several projects and we knew he would be a great guy to have a chat with here on our podcast. Jamie is a very inspiring drummer who has worked with artists like Destiny's Child, P Diddy, and Jamie Foxx. As well as many others. There is a lot to learn Jamie's experience as a working drummer. From playing to professionalism. Listen closely as we chat with one of the best. Start - 5:00: In the usual Drummers I Like fashion, we get things started by introducing Jamie and getting into his backstory and how he found the drums. He came into drumming at a very young age and honed his skills in church. Jamie talks about his early influences and lists some of the younger guys now that continue to influence his playing. 5:00 - 7:00: Here Rich asks Jamie to dig into his early years a bit more and he talks about getting his first serious kit and how his self-taught drumming started to form. 7:00 - 13:00: In our next spot we talk about how he made the leap into professional drumming. He gets into really playing a lot in church and "paying his dues" which helped open doors to get into a career of drumming. As well as playing with musicals which helped build his skills. Those experiences also helped pave the way for his first big gig with Montell Jordan. 13:00 - 19:00: From there we start digging into some of Jamie's work after his time with Montell Jordan. He gets into his work with pop star Brandy and filming a Disney musical with Ray J. 19:00 - 21:00: Then Rich gets into Jamie's work with the comedy legend and pop icon Jamie Foxx. It becomes a common theme in Jamie's story that these gigs all start him getting referred from friends from church. Making those early connections really helped keep him busy. 21:00 - 32:00:  Now we step back a bit and talk about the acts that followed his work with Brandy. Jamie got another call from a good friend to play a date with P Diddy. That moved into playing with Destiny's Child. As well as many gigs in between. We really touch on a lot in all these early sections. So make sure to listen closely. 32:00 - 40:00:  Now we talk a bit about demystifying "gospel chops" and get Jamie's take on what i sometimes like to refer to as the latest drumming buzz word. That leads to a talk about how he was influenced and about the entertainment side of the craft. But we bring it back to the fact that we all need to be opened minded as a drummer and practice lots of different styles. 40:00 - 47:00: Then Rich gets into his fist shedding session and how those sessions, as well as some recent jams with Jovan Dawkins and Jamie, has really helped his playing. That moves into a conversation about how we take influence and how we use it to help our drumming. 47:00 - 1:00:00: This is our time to get into Jamie's setup. He speaks highly of his DW kits and go's through his preferred sizes these days.  Then he breaks down his Impact cymbal selection. Jamie works very closely with Impact and we love what those guys are doing over there! He also touches on his selection of Remo drumheads and Vater drumsticks. 1:00:00 - Rapid Singles 1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? – Just having the experience of playing. But we also talk about the importance of attitude as well.  2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? – "When you got the people bobbing their heads. You got em." 3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – Staying relevant.  4. Share a resource or tool that helps you survive as a drummer? – His good ole drum key. He also talks about investing in yourself.

Welcome back to another, Drummers I Like podcast. Today we have Aaron Stechauner from Rings of Saturn with us! We're excited to be back with another show for our listeners today. As most of you know Rich and Kevin are metal heads. So it was cool to talk with a metal drummer again. Aaron's band Rings of Saturn are definitely in the extreme metal genre so we were excited to dig into such a physically demanding style and really get into some fun conversations today. So let's get on with the show! 4:00 - 9:00: We start things off with a fun chat about the rent prices in southern California. Then that gets into our usual introduction section where we get to hear Aaron tell us a little about how he found the drums and his story up to today. Aaron really gets into his early influences. He talks about his experiences coming up through his school's music program and how that led to his early gigs. 9:00 - 14:00: Here Aaron digs into his love of playing jazz from a pretty young age. It's pretty cool to hear a guy who currently plays extreme metal talking about how he loved playing swing jazz. It's a great section to listen out for. As well as how he progressed into finding metal and extreme metal. There is a lot packed into this section so make sure to listen out. 14:00 - 19:00: Aaron continues to talk about his progression through getting into the hardcore scene and how that ultimately led into joining up with the guys from Rings of Saturn. He talks about his first experience in a full-time touring band when he joined Abiotic. Which gets into some good detail about how he broke into the scene as a full-time drummer and some of the trials and tribulations that come along with it. 19:00 - 32:00: Now we get into some of what Aaron does to keep up his extreme metal chops and some of the tricks he uses in that style of drumming. He even gets into some "cheat codes" for extreme drumming so make sure to listen for that! His connection gets a little rough in this section but its worth it to listen closely to hear what he had to tell us. We even get into a quick chat about triggering acoustic drums here. 32:00 - 35:00: Here the conversation starts to morph into a talk about what it takes to be a professional working drummer and some of the tools we should all have at our disposal. As well as the attitude that professional drummers should have to be successful. Also a little about what his real personal preferences are as far as drumming is concerned. 35:00 - 45:00: Now this is a good time to get into Aaron's setup. Rich starts things out asking about his cymbal setup to his right side. Aaron likes to keep things simple and in this talk, he mentions some of the ergonomic choices he's made in his setup to help with extreme drumming. 45:00 - Rapid Singles 1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? – Joining Abiotic and the initial first experiences on big tours. 2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? – K.I.S.S. - Keep it simple stupid.  3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – Not letting jealous and envy get to you.  4. Share a resource or tool that helps you survive as a drummer? – Music that you like to listen to while playing with a metronome. 5. Recommend just one book. what would it be and why? – Travis Barkers Autobiography - Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums 6. Imagine you woke up tomorrow in a world exactly like ours, you still had all the same knowledge and talent that you have as a drummer but you know no one. All you have is $500, a smartphone, and small portable drum set. What would you do first? – Create Viral videos and anything that could create a hype spike.

Welcome to the Drummers I Like podcast. On today's show, we have Jessica Burdeaux! Thanks for checking out the Drummers I Like podcast! Whether you're new to the show or one of our regular listeners. Today we have the pleasure of bringing you another one of Instagram's finest drummers Ms. Jessica Burdeaux! We have been infatuated with her playing for quite a while so we were really stoked to get her on the show with us today! So let's get this thing started! 9:00 - 12:00: As we always like to do, we start things off with Jessica telling us a bit how she found music and the drums and a little about her journey playing the drums up to the present day. She talks about how it all got started with a kit that was bought for her brother and really breaks down about her experience with learning the drums through school all the way through college and beyond. 12:00 - 15:00: Here Rich talks a bit about Jessica's long-time teacher Earl Talbot and how she's been able to take his teachings and really make them her own. She also mentions a lot of her musical influences and how that has shaped her playing as well. 15:00 - 22:00: Jessica has amazing hand technique. In this section, she breaks down and answers some good questions about her approach to her hands and how she has developed that amazing technique over time. 22:00 - 31:00: Now we really dive into Jessica's long-time teacher Earl Talbot and how he has helped her playing and what he has brought to the table to help elevate her drumming to the next level. By the time we finish up this part of the show we all want to head to the Chicago area to book a lesson with Earl! 31:00 - 42:00: Here we get into Jessica's drums and her setup. She likes to keep things simple but her drums look so ergonomic and comfortable. It's great to hear her cymbal selection, (Meinl). As well as a great breakdown of her shells. That breaks into a great talk about changing our setups and how that can sometimes help our creativity. 42:00 - 52:00: Kevin brings up the topic on double bass drumming. Jessica recently got her first double pedal so we wanted to see how things were progressing in that department. Then we fall into a good chat about the importance of counting with the left foot on the hi-hat. 52:00 - 55:00: Now we chat a bit about how Jessica makes her excellent quality videos for social media. It's always good to hear how drummers achieve their look and sound. Jessica's setup is especially good to hear about due to the fact that it's so simple yet so effective. 55:00 - Rapid Singles 1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? – Fear of the unknown.  2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? – "Invision yourself doing well."  3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? –  The ability to not let negative practice or jam sessions get into her head.   4. Share a resource or tool that helps you survive as a drummer? – A camera to record practice sessions, not just for social media content. But for a practice tool to see yourself from a different angle.  5. Recommend just one book. what would it be and why? – African Rhythms for Drumset by Christian Bourdon 6. Imagine you woke up tomorrow in a world exactly like ours, you still had all the same knowledge and talent that you have as a drummer but you know no one. All you have is $500, a smartphone, and small portable drum set. What would you do first? – As a different approach, she would use the money to relocate to a musical city and start attending open mic nights and take that opportunity to meet and jam with other musicians. Then use the smartphones to document her journey through that experience to help build a social media presence.

Welcome back to another Drummers I Like podcast. We're excited today to bring you our guest, Richie Martinez! Welcome back to all of our regular listeners, and welcome to our new ones. We are so excited to bring Richie on the show today. From watching and following his great Instagram page we have really enjoyed hearing his awesome grooves and amazing chops. He has a great sense of humor and we know you will all enjoy the fun and relaxed feel of the show. So let's get to it! 5:00 - 9:00: As usual we start things off by introducing Richie and getting to know how he found drumming and a little about his journey up to today! As with many of our guests, Richie comes from a very musical family that really nurtured his desire to play. He talks about his journey through learning the drums in school, with both drums and from the music theory side as well. 9:00 -15:00: Here Kevin gets into the details of Richie living in Nashville and living as a working drummer. We all know it's one of the most competitive cities for musicians. Which really brings up a discussion about challenging yourself and pushing to reach your goals. Then we fall into Richie's take on Nashville and what he specifically did to prepare for that challenge. 15:00 - 17:00: Here Rich and Richie talk a little about mental practice and finding time no matter what you're doing to practice something. Just like Richie is working on his left foot at a coffee shop while he's talking with us. So that moves into his practice and teaching methods and how he approaches teaching. 17:00 - 23:00: From there Richie starts talking about a Ted-Ed video that he was watching that was about the neurological effects that music has on the brain. You'll have to listen as we all get into a deep conversation about having drums on the brain. Among other things. 23:00 - 35:00: In our next segment Richie breaks down his personal drum setup for us. He gets into his Mapex shells as well as his Mapex Wraith snare drum which is Matt Halpern's signature snare and man does it sound sweet! He also breaks down his cymbal setup. Richie is using Meinl cymbals and just after we recorded this podcast he made the announcement that he in now endorsing Meinl. 35:00 - 42:00: Now Rich starts to get into Richie's Instagram page and some details on how he built up his following and how he comes up with his content. He really digs into this section and lets us know how he looks at social media and how he puts himself out there. We also chat about the business and get into how social media is part of our brand as drummers and how important it is to look at drumming from that point of view if you plan on being a professional drummer. 42:00 - 46:00: This is a great section that talks a little how important attitude can  help you get gigs. We often heard drummers talk about being easy to personable and professional. It can be the biggest factor on whether or not you get hired for a gig. This also still ties into helping your brand overall! Richie also gets into a little about how being a hard worker can help you with endorsements as well as how throwing yourself into a city with competitive musicians can push you, even more, to work hard. 46:00 - 49:00: Next we talk about how to fit practice in with a busy schedule. Richie goes into detail about consolidation to make the most out of your time and how that can be applied to drumming and to life. 49:00 - 53:00: Here Rich points out how drummers can use the tools we have to find creative ways to make revenue in creative ways highlighting your skills and knowledge as a drummer. Also how important it can be to be active in a media rich world to help make an impact on people. You never know who you could be influencing and how it could be helping other people. That alone can be the sign of great success.

Welcome back to the Drummers I Like podcast. Today we have a very special guest! Jared Falk owner and founder of Drumeo! Today's show is a real treat both for us as hosts and for all you listeners as well. Jared has had quite an effect on all of us here at Drummers I Like and we couldn't be happier to have Jared on the show! It's really cool to get into topics such as his background with drumming, how he founded Drumeo, and his personal preferences on gear and setup. As always make sure to check out our last part of the show, Rapid Singles-- always good for some awesome off the cuff answers. So let's get on with the show! 4:00 - 10:00: In the usual Drummers I Like fashion, we kick things off with our introduction and hearing a little about how Jared found music and how he gravitated toward the drums. It's great to hear his early story here and how hockey was truly his first love. "Like any good Canadian boy." He talks about his very first kit and it has some cool history. He also touches on his first lessons and how that helped set his foundation and a little about the learning curve for beginner drummers. Then after only a little over a year of drumming, he started to teach lessons. So you can see Jared's love of drumming education started almost along with his love for playing drums! 10:00 -12:00: As we move along, Jared talks about a local church event that was held every week that gave him the chance to play in a large scale live setting every week. That definitely helped him develop his great chops and build great drumming knowledge and experience. He also gets into his early touring career and how that came to a halt and starts to talk about when he dove back into more technique on the drums. 12:00 - 14:00: Now Jared talks about how his teaching career really kicked off. Then, of course, the early stages of his experimentation with online drum education. He also touches a bit on his personal tastes in music. 14:00 - 27:00:  This next segment is really a lot of fun to listen to. Here you'll hear Jared break down the history of Drumeo, from his humble beginnings of starting to tap into the online drum education field, all the way to where Drumeo is today! It's cool to hear about the process of building up to where he and his company is today and equally valuable to hear about some of the hardships that he's had to endure as well. 27:00 - 29:00: Here we all touch a bit on the state of the music industry and how we feel musicians now may have some of the best opportunities that have been around for quite a while. As long as you can be disciplined. Rich also touches on having a backup plan as a musician to be ready for the possibility of not having a steady paying gig. 29:00 - 38:00: In our next spot, Rich digs into exactly when Jared went full time with drum education. Then Kevin brings up how Jared finds time to practice his personal drumming with everything that he has going on. Then we talk about what type of stuff he is practicing specifically these days-- things like independence, working on material for clinics and soloing. 38:00 - 48:00: Now Rich brings up the P4 practice pad and we get into some of the details of Drumeo's premier practice tool. Rich ordered his while we were on this chat so I'm sure he'll be telling us all about it soon, on an upcoming podcast. 48:00 - 53:00: Here Jared breaks down his kit and his personal gear preferences. Gear talks are always fun and this was no exception. Make sure to listen for him to break down his personal Yamaha kit and his Paiste cymbal selection. 53:00 - Rapid Singles 1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? – How he budgeted his time. In this, he talks about trying to design your life in a way you can achieve your goals as a drummer.   2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever receiv...

Welcome back to the Drummers I Like podcast. Today we have the honor of having Josh Manuel on the show. As you all know Josh has been displaying some high-quality drumming for quite some time now. Whether you know him from some of his early YouTube videos or playing with his band Issues, it's agreed that he has some great skill behind the kit! We couldn't wait to catch up with him-- so let's get to it! 6:00 - 13:00: As usual, we get our show started with Josh giving us a breakdown of his history with the drums. Growing up playing in the church he started young and was encouraged by his parents to play. He received a lot of good advice through different players through the church that really helped shape his foundation. He also gets into his early days of drum lessons and how he progressed through learning the drums, and some of his early influences. He takes us through his time with the drumline and continues to walk us through his journey on the drums with him getting into local bands. 13:00 - 17:00: Here, Josh digs in a bit more on his history with local Atlanta based bands and gets into his experience playing studio drums in a spot built by him and a good friend, which ultimately led to Josh meeting the guys from Issues. It was really cool to hear that Josh played over one of the Issues tunes that were cut in the studio and then presented to the band-- It wasn't long after that when he was called to join the band! 17:00 - 21:00:  Then Rich and Josh talk a bit about touring and how sometimes that really makes you appreciate your hometown a bit more. We also all chat about that local Atlanta venue the Masquerade which also had ties to the Tampa, Florida Masquerade so Josh, Kevin and Rich touch a bit on that. 22:00 - 31:00:  Now Rich starts a conversation about Josh's studio experience. With a little fun interruption from Rich's son Everett! (Cute kid!) which turns into a bit of a chat about family and kids. Then Rich starts to unpack Josh's work with creating drum samples. He gets into his work with Lane Johnson of Hewlett Studios and some of the details of creating his drum samples with a legend like Lane. 31:00 - 39:00: So now we get to talk a bit about Josh's personal drum and cymbal setup. Josh is endorsed by Zildjian so here he talks us through what cymbals he likes to use on the regular. We'll just say he loves his K's! Rich jumps back to a quick question and discussion about Josh's samples and loading them up with his setup. Then we get back to Josh's gear. He plays SJC Drums and they always put out amazing kits. Josh's are no exception! He goes through both his drum kits. Plus his snare selection. Including his sick Calvin and Hobbs snare! 39:00 - 43:00: So before we get into our Rapid Singles round with Josh, Rich gets into what he has up and coming with Issues! He talks a bit about the album that was released in May called Headspace, playing Warped Tour last summer and then a bit about their upcoming date in Japan for Knotfest in the beginning of November! Then Josh hints at some things that are yet to be announced from Issues that should be starting around the beginning of next year. So keep a look out for that! 43:00 - Rapid Singles 1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? – Overcoming self-doubt 2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? – "Great men do things before their ready." 3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – Jamming to music that you personally enjoy 4. Share a resource or tool that helps you survive as a drummer? – His practice pad kit. Which has now transitioned into his v-kit.  5. Recommend just one book. what would it be and why? – Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone 6. Imagine you woke up tomorrow in a world exactly like ours,

Welcome back to another episode of the Drummers I Like podcast! Today we have Charlie Engen on the show with us! Drummers I Like absolutely loves Charlie's work both in Ideology and as a social media video monster. His technique is so clean and he has tons of creativity. We have been looking forward to this show for a long time. So here it is! 7:00 - 10:00: We start our chat off in usual Drummers I Like fashion, by talking about how Charlie started on the drums! He definitely got his start young and had some hair metal rocker parents to thank for exposing him to music both live and recorded through some formative years. Playing wise he started in the mid-ninety grunge era. From there it just snowballed into heavier and heavier music. Then came the prog influence. It's a great section to hear a timeline of Charlie's influences. 11:00 - 14:00: In our next spot we talk about Charlie playing in school. He started with the drumline in his sophomore year of high school and played both snare and tenor drums. He continues to talk about how he progressed into his first taste of college. There is a lot of value here for you young drummers that dream of doing this full-time so you'll definitely want to pay attention to this section. He talks about some of his bands he did at that time and talks about going back to college and getting his masters in music performance for percussion. Which he finished up last December! 14:00 - 19:00: From there Charlie, Rich, and myself chat about Charlie's well-rounded skills and get into his practice routine. We also talk a little more about his reading skills and breaking down difficult songs. More great knowledge for all drummers out there through this section. 19:00 - 22:00: Here we talk about how Charlie got started with his band, Ideology, how they formed and a quick review of how they got to where they are today. 22:00 - 31:00: Now, Rich gets into how Charlie finds time between all he does to nurture a thriving social media presence. It was interesting to hear that he started his social media videos more as a time capsule to gauge his improvement as a player. Over just trying to get his drumming noticed by the masses. He also touches on how he films and records his drums. So all you drummers making videos here's some good insight into how one of the best does it. 31:00 - 35:00: Keeping on the subject of drum videos. We talk about staying fresh when trying to post content every day and how to keep from getting into ruts. Charlie and Rich talk a lot about strategy on creating the content and keeping things fresh and how making these videos can help you keep playing drums to help overall. 35:00 - 37:00: Here I bring up the topic of Charlie's videos that have drum notation at the bottom of the screen. I personally love that he adds that touch mainly because I like reading drum notation. But it's cool to hear what he uses to add those into his videos for those of us who like to break things down by reading them. 37:00 - 55:00: Rapid Singles 1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? - Committing material to recording and finishing work. G.T.D. "Get things done." 2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? - "Let the click play you." Sometimes playing to a click can be like target practice so this advice will help with a more natural feel when playing with a metronome.  3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? - Attention to detail. Make sure to listen as Charlie gets more in depth with this question.  4. Share a resource or tool that helps you survive as a drummer? - Online media in general. Both for promoting himself as well as finding inspiration from other drummers out there.  5. Recommend just one book. what would it be and why? - Mastering the Tables of Time by David Stanoch.

Welcome back to another episode of the Drummers I Like Podcast! Today we chat with Alex Camarena of Silent Planet! I have personally been waiting weeks and weeks to do this episode because as of recently, I have become a big fan of Silent Planet and the amazing playing and writing that Alex is capable of doing. On today's episode, Alex Camarena gives us a break-down of his journey into playing the drums and how he's reached the success he has today. We start early, learning about his days growing up playing and being the " church guy " to ultimately realizing his true passion of wanting to tour full time! We chat in depth with Alex about his upbringing in music, joining Silent Planet, his ability to speak fluent Australian, him ruling the world in Kan Jam and more! So stay tuned for another great episode of the podcast!  00:00-03:00 - Show Intro 03:00-07:00 - We talk about his current tour and getting to be on a package with August Burns Red and hang out with Farmer Dad Matt Greiner. 07:00-11:00 - We get into his roots tracing back to the start of Alex's career learning how to play drums with his dad who was a touring church musician. We talk about being known as the church drummer playing at the Crossroads church in Southern California eventually leading to a slew of Mega Church gigs. 11:00-14:00 - Just as he decided to wind down and take a break from playing music full time he was invited out to a For Today show he wouldn't forget. After meeting his now long time merch buddy, Mark, that night, he was introduced to the group that would change his future. 14:00-17:00 - We talk about his first practice gig with Silent Planet and not knowing how to play drums (listen in for a cool way to build your own double bass pedal haha). With minimal practice, Alex was a regular Tomas Haake defying his dads wants to keep the house a quiet place. 17:00-23:00 - We talk about relationship needs being on point when Silent Planet couldn't lock down a solid drummer and Alex couldn't find a dedicated group of musicians. 1 foot forward and some real hard work and they were signed to Solid State Records. 23:00-26:00 - We talk about Alex's past bands-- or lack thereof. Alex breaks down his urge for wanting to play for a metal band so bad that he found himself using metal licks in his Ska band. 26:00-30:00 - Alex gets into his involvement with the writing process in Silent Planet and breaks down some of his choices when it comes to playing. Kevin touches on his ghost note abilities as we get into his influence in the realm of playing with grace. Kevin touches on the emergence of players writing physical ghost notes into their parts rather than just using feel. 30:00-35:00 - As we get off our rant on playing ghost notes, Alex starts to get into giving lessons and how it's just not his area of expertise. We get into the fundamentals of learning how to play drums with feel versus learning the theoretical side. 35:00-40:00 - YouTube drum videos become a focal point as we get into the vast amount of material you can get for free using YouTube closing out our conversation regarding giving lessons. 40:00-42:00 - Alex breaks down his drum setup and his choices for drum sizes, cymbals and layout. We get into church rig vs touring. 42:00-50:00 - Alex talks with us about his Anchor drum set, the relationship he has with the company and the awesome snare that led him to want to get involved with the company himself. He talks about throwing Shawn the wheel and letting him choose some of the key materials and sizes for his kit. We also get into the durability of the drum set and how well they have held up over touring. His build is as follows.  Snare drum - Black Brass 14X8

Hey, everyone! Welcome to another episode of the Drummers I Like Podcast! Today we have the joy of chatting with creative mastermind and renaissance man Amir Oosman! Amir is an L.A. Native and after a handful of attempts to meet up, the forces aligned and we finally got the call in for the show. Amir is the epitome of what all creative drummers should be striving, to be quickly rising up in the social media ranks as a quality content producing machine. In a world with so many voices, it is harder to stand out, more than ever, so stay tuned as we pick apart the mind of Amir Oosman and break down what it takes to really stand out! From basically walking into the Blue Devils ( killed his audition ) to playing drums in the car, Amir is an encyclopedia of information.  0:00-9:00 - Show Intro 9:00-17:00 - Amir breaks down his journey in music leading up to now touching on how drum lessons didn't really work for him in the beginning. It wasn't until age 13 when he saw the blue devils play at his school driving him to audition on quads only a year later. He talks about these core periods being a part of his technique and approach today. " there is not one right way to play drumset, there is not one right technique, there's a lot " 17:00-22:00 - Amir talks about his time at Berklee summer music college and how it played a big role in driving him to take his craft more serious than ever. Rich and Amir touch on local musicians and the awesome community built around Los Angeles Musicians. 22:00-30:00 - We talk deeply on social media playing an essential part in his growth with his online community. Rich and Amir point out the lack of posting from some of the bigger players in the industry. Amir breaks down the steps it took for him to reach his current popularity and the daily work he is putting in. We talk about his mentor, Jack Jacobson, teaching him some of the core functions of having a good attitude. We also get into what it took to break through to the next level. 30:00-36:00 - We get into what it takes to tour with new artists, working with different personalities and how to fit in with everyone. Amir talks about how time-consuming building his brand and creating all his materials has become when you are the one editing your videos, mixing your audio and doing your marketing. " I thought I needed expensive mics, but instead I just went with the basics, that way, if you learn to do a lot with a little, you can do a lot more down the road. " 36:00-43:00 - We talk about his intro into the Motown world and how he got his foot in the door. He mentions how a performance reel on his Google Drive account leading to him landing a gig. Amir preaches being prepared heavily and uses this experience as the prime example. 43:00-53:00 - Amir and Rich get into the topic of playing drums in the car and how much of a role it plays in his practice regimen. He touches base on the car being his favorite place to mentally practice because he is consistently learning music. We also touch on diversity and how he didn't want to be known as " that guy who drums in his car ". 53:00-1:00:00 - We touch on focusing on doing the things you love and not " forcing it " as many musicians do just to get the gig. We talk about learning things you want from the drummers who do it best and taking the time to break things down. " if you like Steve Gadd listen to what he played on " 1:00:00-1:05:00 - Amir gets into discipline and the eye-opening moments during his time with Randy Gloss at Cal-arts learning to really take his time learning Table and breaking things down on drumset to build a serious mental strength. Richard and Amir touch on Chris Coleman and Rich's obsession with Chris when he first learned of him. 1:05:00-1:13:00 - Amir talks about what he has going on now and what is to come with him as an artist.