drummers-from-the-united-states

"The warrant said narcotics and kidnapping The warrant said narcotics and kidnapping Are you kidding? I make my money rapping Why does the warrant say narcotics — well, I know narcotics. But why kidnapping?"

"I was gonna clean my room, until I got high I was gonna get up and find the broom, but then I got high My room is still messed up, and I know why: 'Cause I got high, because I got high, because I got high."

"A famous jazz musician walks into a studio while the engineers are listening back to a recent recording. The musician is awe struck by the drumming and asks, "Who's playing drums?!" The engineer responds, "It's Elvin Jones," to which the musician then asks, "Then who's playing the cymbals?" This corny jazz parable sums it up. Elvin's drumming is an avalanche of sound that is at times incomprehensible, yet mind-blowingly musical. Power and grace. Listen to John Coltrane's "Sunship" and have your face melted."

"Vinny is amazing. His style is very much like Bonham, and he has the coolest fills."

"You listen and think, "That guy sure plays some crashing and unpredictable things behind Miles," but then you listen closely and every note of his ride cymbal is somehow the exact same volume, like a typewriter."

"At only the age of 15, Louie Bellson asked a question that would change jazz music forever: What if one bass drum just isn't enough? After pioneering the technique of playing two bass drums at the same time, Bellson became ingrained with the most influential big bands of the '40s, including those around Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Harry James, and Duke Ellington. Consistently blending genres in his work, Bellson also wrote a Broadway musical, Portofino."

"Tool’s Danny Carey has long been revered as one of the world’s great drummers, but with the prog-metal titans’ 2019 comeback triumph Fear Inoculum and the psychedelic live shows that have followed, he’s made a case for being the group’s true frontman and, certainly, the rightful heir to the mighty Neil Peart’s throne. In his hands, percussion isn’t just a musical undertaking — it’s a vehicle for opening the doors of perception."

"What can I say about Joey that hasn’t already been said? He reinvented metal drumming for the modern era and brought with him an energy that I have yet to see anyone match, ever. Like someone threw a drum set down a stairwell and it magically sounded good as fuck. His style was so unique, you just know exactly when you are listening to him play. Nothing makes me wanna run through some drywall more than Joey’s drumming. RIP to another goat."

"Dave Lombardo is my biggest influence, of course. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. He's the king of thrash, double bass and all that, so as a teenager, hearing him play in the mid-'80s, obviously I wasn't playing at that point yet — I [was] just starting out — so that really solidified me wanting to play the way I play today, what he was doing and still is doing."

"At age 17, he had a radical conception of the drums that rocked the world then and sounds as fresh today. You can tell he’s hearing the music in slow motion. He could see the forest, so to speak."

"Dale had a super underrated drum sound, whether that was live or recorded — he was second to none."

"Alex made me want to play rock 'n’ roll and was the first “rock star” drummer that I idolized when I was in elementary school. Hell, I dressed up as “Alex Van Halen” two years in a row for Halloween in grades 3 and 4! Alex has always been underrated and that’s always bothered me. He has a fantastic feel and is a unique drummer in the rock 'n’ roll world that should get more credit than he gets. Ask Jim Keltner… he’ll tell you!"

"Really, we could just refer you to the drum fill in Slayer’s “Angel of Death” and rest the case at that. But the so-called “Godfather of Double Bass” has so much more to offer. Endlessly innovative and tirelessly prolific, the Cuban-American virtuoso has played with everyone from Suicidal Tendencies, Testament and the Misfits to more avant-leaning rock bands such as Fantômas and Mr. Bungle — which doesn’t even cover his totally left-field collaborations with classical musician Lorenzo Arruga and fine artist Matthew Barney. Lombardo is the master and your clear pick as No. 1."

"Jam bands live or die by the drummer, and Kreutzmann established the archetype. He did a lot more than provide the structure for those long Grateful Dead grooves; he subtly shifted tempo and volume, transforming the listening experience so that an open field could feel as intimate as a block box or as vast as outer space. With apologies to Mickey Hart, who was more of a percussionist, Kreutzmann's drumming brought the Grateful Dead to life and established a blueprint for every jam percussionist that followed."

"Ironically, I never saw Josh with The Vandals; my first time seeing him perform was A Perfect Circle's CD release party for Mer de Noms. He's just one of the best drummers of all time. He's so smooth, solid, and effortless. I've since seen him play with a few other acts and he's always a standout, love watching him play. There's a reason he's the No. 1 studio drummer — hell, I could be in a band with him! He's also a super mellow dude, great hang.."

"When it’s time to turn up the volume, Black Sabbath’s Vinny Appice is your man. Appice has developed a reputation as a hard-hitter who has contributed to some of the most noteworthy songs in the metal genre through his work in both Black Sabbath along with his time in Dio. His sound is instantly recognizable and contagious."

"He sings, he writes songs, but above all Brann Dailor fucking drums. Like a many-limbed and many-brained beast, he drums."

"Buddy Rich named Karen as his favorite pop drummer, and Buddy famously did not give out compliments. As an egomaniac, he might have bestowed this compliment because her style and technique is very much like his: monster chops, flash, and musicality. Oh, and she sings at the same time! Because she was such an amazing singer (coupled with a healthy dose of sexism), she was muscled off her instrument of choice and into the role of singer and frontwoman for The Carpenters. The hits followed and so did her tragic demise. First and foremost, Karen was a wildly talented drummer, and sadly she was never afforded the accolades she deserved, or revered for the drumming talent that she was."

"Without a doubt the best metal drummer on the planet! His speed and footwork completely set him apart from all other drummers from early Slayer to present day. I’ve been lucky to witness him playing close up, and nobody else comes close to his drumming. In my opinion, he is the kingpin of the way metal drummers play today."

"One of my philosophies about playing drums is if you really break it down, there's probably only about 10 or 12 percent of the people in this world that are actually musicians that understand what goes into making a song. The other people are just listeners and they feel the groove and they feel the beat and that's what makes them move and that's what makes them go, 'That's a fuckin' kick-ass song.' As a drummer, I always approach things as, 'I want to play just enough to keep other drummers interested, but not enough to go over the average listener's head.' That's where I think a lot of these guys today are just, 'I'm the drummer, man. Check it out. Here's my lick. I just learned this new drum lick. I'm just gonna blast all over the place.' It's like, 'Man, you've got to let the song breathe.'"

"The late, great Vinnie Paul was the man who put the groove in Pantera’s crushing, captivating “power groove” brand of swaggering heavy metal. As hard as the Texan firebrands’ music hits, it always has swing, and Paul’s unique talent behind the kit was one of the group’s great secrets. That he was also a big part of their songwriting and record production only adds to his bona fides."

"Ben Koller is an absolute unit. Remember the first time you heard “Dark Horse”? The “holy shit” moment still resonates on every subsequent listen, as the quickfire drumming kicks off perhaps the strongest A-side of Converge’s career thus far."

"Burning from the inside out Bloody foam spews from your mouth Smell the putrid stench of flesh As it burns you to your death [...] The rancid smell of burning hair Screaming in excruciating pain Blood boils over, warping veins Burnt skull collapses onto melting brains Spontaneous death, up in flames Twisting and writhing as life burns away Until nothing is left but charred remains"

"Here I sit surrounded by white My arms wrapped around my back real tight What did I do that was so wrong that I had to pay I don't think anyone's gonna miss her anyway I just couldn't take any more shit So with the swing of my knife her stomach was split Putrid guts and bile all over the floor Couldn't help but laugh at this vision of gore Severed flesh began to expel blood Stench of defecation as I cut Shoved my hand into the gaping slice As you tried to emit gurgling cries Intenstines on the ground Guts removed Disembowel Twitching violently Dying in agony Blood comes flowing forth Eyes no longer see"

"It may sound crazy now, but at the time we couldn't find band members around here to save our lives. The quest for at least a bass player turned up blanks. I guess you can say we didn't fit in with what the Bay Area was churning out, being a total death metal band in a strictly thrash environment. Fuck it, we couldn't let that stop us, so we didn't."

"I was in heaven I was in Hell Believe in neither But fear them as well."

"I didn't move to the city The city moved to me And I want out desperately."

"Brock has a knack for spinning the bleakness of late-stage capitalism into postmodern poetry, finding romance in trailer parks and truck stop bathrooms."

"It seems that Malkmus tinkered with words constantly, and that the final versions are those sung on the take that wound up in the can. [...] It's the way words sound and the way Malkmus sings them that gives his songs meaning."

"From the top of the ocean From the bottom of the sky Well, I get claustrophobic"

"I spent many Saturday nights in grade school and high school watching MTV's Headbanger's Ball. I was very fortunate that my parents had one of those old, massive, ugly giant satellite dishes that took up half our front yard and also made a great bird's nest and lightning rod. Because we had MTV and also Canada's Much Music channel since the early 1980s, I was able to discover many of my favorite bands through these TV channels, including Death. I remember the first time I saw the video for "Lack of Comprehension" and I was completely blown away. This song was the perfect mix of brutality and melody. Sean Reinert's drumming also blew my mind. As a drummer, I was fascinated by his playing and I immediately wanted to learn more about Death. I also couldn't believe that this song had brutal, guttural vocals, but was also very melodic and catchy — to me it sounded like the perfect mix of a band like Iron Maiden, and a band like Possessed. I immediately tried to learn the drum parts for this song and I have to humbly say that it took me about three years to do so. Almost every day from the time I purchased the Human album in 1992 until I joined Death in 1997, I practiced drums to the Human album because I loved the music and drumming so much. Fortunately, when I auditioned for Death in July of 1997 I knew the Human album like the back of my hand and the first song Chuck Schuldiner and I played together was "Lack of Comprehension." Chuck was very impressed that I knew the whole Human album and many other Death songs and this led to me joining my favorite band in the world and making friends with the most talented musician I've ever met and one of my heroes, Chuck Schuldiner. I miss Chuck so much and think of him every day and pretty much still listen to Death every day. When fans ask what drumming performance of mine that I'm most proud of, I always say The Sound of Perseverance album by Death. It is the highest honor as a metal fan and a dear friend of Chuck's Schuldiner's to say that I got to be in Death, my favorite band in the world."

"I was dressed for success But success, it never comes"

"Grindcore is the bridge between thrash and death metal mixed with brutally fast hardcore. You take it and throw it all in a blender, hit puree and stand back."

"The whole point of Satanic music is to blaspheme against the Church. [...] I don't believe in or worship a devil. Life is short enough without having to waste it doing this whole organized praying, hoping, wishing-type thing on some superior being."

"We were just kind of writing the record, and we were going over the songs. Me and Glen, we were, like, 'We wanna redo the songs.' It's like we had completed them — about nine or twelve, whatever how many songs. They were all right, but we weren't really psyched about them. So we decided to rewrite them. And Jack didn't really like it. And he kind of left one day and just never came back. So that was that. He's not on [the new album]. I haven't talked to the guy in almost a year."

"I use drum triggers on the kicks, but not on the other drums–otherwise you just sound unnatural, like a machine. [...] For the blast beats, timing is all important. Practice slowly and build up to full speed so you can insert fills and rolls. Keep your lower extremities loose, too. Kick back, breathe properly, and let the sticks do the work."

""Hacksaw Decapitation," ' (1999) as quoted by Jon Wiederhorn of"

"I was always a metal head. [...] My influences back then were Clive Burr with Iron Maiden and Tommy Aldridge, who did amazing things with Ozzy Osbourne. And then when music started getting a little more extreme, I enjoyed Dan Beehler of Exciter, Gene Hoglan of Dark Angel, and, of course, Dave Lombardo of Slayer."

"Stuff [in the world] is just amazing. Whether somebody created it, I just don't know, maybe somebody did. Maybe it just worked out that way. Even if there is a God he don't give a shit. People think he's keeping track of everyone's individual lives but that's ridiculous. People have ideas implanted into their f---ing brains so early that, of course, they say, 'Oh, it's a lake of fire, it's eternal pain, it's being up to your neck in piss.' I personally think that when you're dead you're just moss in the ground. It's a sad reality but you're just a corpse and you're going to turn to dust."

"If anything, moving your limbs as a drummer keeps them lubricated. Look at Buddy Rich: He was whaling the hell out of his drums until he was an old man. Although it wasn’t metal music, he was doing blasts on the snare–he was a blastmaster!"

"I remember on the 'adorable little riff tape' that Chuck (Schuldiner) sent me, this tune was pretty much ready to go. It didn't require any transposing on my part to make it any heavier."

"Again, there was no reviewing of anything before tracking the DVD, so on that filmed take, I'm actually surprised that this tune is not ending like, two bars after where the album's fade happens. Hence, me going way off the riff, 'cause with no click, there's really nothing to follow except for Chuck's random two-note progression. Ah well, warts and all is how I likes to brings it to ya. And don't forget, with zero prep either. Jeez Hoglan, get it together next time, will ya?""

"The neato thing about this version is that I didn't even know that there was an extra two minutes of jam at the end until I'm getting filmed playing it! Apparently we played it that long on the original, but I definitely don't remember it. Hell, I'm too busy remembering Overactive Vaginas, Donald Tardy's and hi-hat chokings to remember long extendo-jams."

"Gene Hoglan’s resume is that of an ever evolving, world class, prime mover of the heavy metal genre. Talk to most of the top metal drummers today, and the large percentage will cite Gene Hoglan as a major influence in their development."

"Hey, remember when I said that I'm up for challenges? Apparently that runs to the 'self-inflicted' as well."

"Now, this instance is possibly captured on the DVD, but as you may notice in the verses, I don't catch the hi-hat conventionally with my foot, I use my hands to catch it. I wanted to have the kick land under the snare yet still have the choked hi-hat on the same beat, and at that time, that kick drum would have been my left, which would obviously be my hi-hat choking foot. So, my only alternative was to do a hi-hat choke manually with my left hand. And you know what? In the long run, it probably didn't make a damn bit of difference. The hand chokes are not all that 'chokey', and the kick under the whole shebang doesn't really make it any more powerful."

"This was a story of a guy meeting a chick in a club. At that time, that was a cool saying. If you listen to the lyrics, 'She sits alone, waiting for suggestions, he's so nervous...' it's the feelings of what was going on in a dance club. The guy sees a chick he digs, she's nervous and he's nervous and she's alone and doesn't know what's going on, then they end up at his place, Fuck, and then she's gone."

"To the extreme, I rock a mic like a vandal."

"All right, stop, collaborate and listen."

"Anything less than the best is a felony."