Aaron Stechauner – Drummers I Like Podcast #24

Summary: Welcome back to another, Drummers I Like podcast. Today we have Aaron Stechauner from Rings of Saturn with us!<br> 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!<br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 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.<br> <br> 45:00 - Rapid Singles<br> <br> 1. What was holding you back from becoming the successful drummer? – Joining Abiotic and the initial first experiences on big tours.<br> 2. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? – K.I.S.S. - Keep it simple stupid. <br> 3. What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – Not letting jealous and envy get to you. <br> 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.<br> 5. Recommend just one book. what would it be and why? – <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Can-Say-Living-Large-Cheating/dp/0062319426">Travis Barkers Autobiography - Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums</a><br> <br> 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.