Rhythm 255 (Sampler) by Future PLC

the magazine for drummers june 2016 | 255

Become a YouTube

the genius of

Cozy powell

megastar!

Luke Holland’s top video tips

How one man personified classic rock drumming

WIN!

A set of Roland Power Ply heads Worth £389!

New gear from roland, paiste & tama reviewed > practise double-kick triplet beats > learn eddie bo's ‘Hook And Sling’ > master metrically modulated grooves

azz

cymbals youneed to try!

adele's beatmaster Derrick Wright on

backing a pop icon

AAA rig tour Paul Jones of Sigma's

tech-packed hybrid kit plus

Fay Milton Savages Steve Barney Anastacia Sean Moore Manic Street Preachers

Hello! I hate goodbyes...

Chris Barnes, Editor

Chris.Barnes@futurenet.com

As the saying goes all good things must come to an end and, after 12 happy years (and 154 issues) as part of the Rhythm team, this will be my last issue as Editor before I move onto new pastures. First I want to thank you, the Rhythm readers, for your contributions, feedback and continued support of the magazine. You’re the reason we do this and I hope we’ve helped make you all better drummers in the process. I’ve certainly learned a thing or two! It’s been an absolute privilege doing a job that I love in the best industry in the world and I’ll be taking some great friends and fantastic memories into the next phase of my career (though I’ll be happy to leave the deadlines and late nights behind!). Whether it’s the opportunities I’ve had to watch up-close and learn from the world’s greatest drummers, meeting personal heroes like Dave Grohl, Stewart Copeland, Vinnie, Dave Lombardo and so many more, or the many drum factory visits, festivals, gigs and drum clinics I have attended around the world, it’s all been in pursuit of the best content possible for you to read in the pages of Rhythm. What we achieve with the magazine every month (and for the past 30 years) wouldn’t happen without an amazing team of expert drum writers, tutors and photographers around the world, as well as a fantastic team in the office, so I want to thank everyone for being so awesome to work with. I’m leaving the mag in the very capable hands of current Deputy Editor Chris Burke who I playlist know is going to rock it. I can’t wait to sort my Rhythm Pumping on subscription so I can keep up to date with everything in our stereo... drum-land and watch the magazine flourish. Over and out! Rainbow

Twitter @RhythmMagazine

Rising This month’s cover feature marks the 40th anniversary of this album, Cozy’s first with Rainbow. ‘Stargazer’ is as exciting now as it was the first time we heard it.

Facebook /RhythmMagazine

Architects

This month’s experts David West

A drummer for more than 30 years, David is one of Rhythm’s top writers. This month he put his talent to work celebrating the life of one of rock’s most colourful and enduring drum legends, Cozy Powell. Read Cozy’s story from page 24! David also rounds up the best new bands and drummers on page 18!

www.musicradar.com/rhythm

Geoff Nicholls

Rhythm’s gear guru has had a busy month as usual casting his expert eyes, ears and hands over high-end jazz cymbals in our Buyer’s Guide, as well as new cymbals from Paiste and a beautiful Slingerland Radio King kit in our Vintage gear pages. Then he’s on hand to give advice in his Ask Geoff column (p95).

Pete Riley

Rhythm’s Lessons CD editor Pete oversees the magazine’s fantastic tuition content every month, and breaks down our chosen playalong video tracks (print and iPad only). This month he shows you how to play cover star Cozy Powell’s hit ‘Dance With The Devil’, as well as Manic Street Preachers’ ‘Australia’.

All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us After 2014’s almighty Lost Forever // Lost Together we didn’t think it would be possible for Dan Searle to push himself any harder, but we were mistaken…

Babymetal

Metal Resistance The Japanese tweenies are taking over the world, one sheepish metaller at a time, but we reckon they’d be nothing without double-kick demon Hideki Aoyama behind the kit.

june 2016 |

Contents 46

derrick wright Adele

Issue 255 June 2016

cozy powell 24 Rock drumming’s superstar

Regulars 06 beat

All the latest news and hot gear, plus tips, classic sounds and more

introducing

New bands and drummers you need to have on your radar this month

reviews

New stuff from Weezer, Aaron Comess, Hatebreed, Craig Blundell and more

ask geoff

Your kit conundrums solved by our resident gear guru

sean moore On 30 years with the Manic Street Preachers

buyer’s guide The 10 best high-end jazz cymbals

Paul Jones Sigma

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Become a Rhythm subscriber and pay just £54 for a year’s subscription. Head to page 36 now for more details. www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk 4

| june 2016

lessons

gear reviews

www.musicradar.com/rhythm

Highlights

People | Music | Gear

9Seventies welcome back session legend Russ Kunkel returns

10 toolkit Improve your time with stepped hi-hat grooves

Matt Helders with (clockwise) Dean Fertita, Iggy Pop and Josh Homme

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www.musicradar.com/rhythm

18 introducing New drummers and bands you need to know about

Helders: “It was important to have a live feel so we tried to record live takes. That’s the only way I’ve ever really recorded”

Hard Rock Perfection

Matt Helders joins up with rock A-listers Iggy and Josh ■■Josh Homme has worked with enough A-list musicians to fill a phone directory, so when the Queens Of The Stone Age man was asked by Iggy Pop to put a band together for the latter’s latest solo release, he was spoilt for choice.

When it came to choosing a sticksman, Homme, himself an accomplished drummer, really did have an embarrassment of riches, having worked with Dave Grohl, Joey Castillo, Brant Bjork and plenty more. Matt Helders was the man to get the call, and the Arctic Monkeys drummer was on board in a flash. “Josh said he wanted me to play drums on it, he didn’t know when or where but he wanted to know if I was interested,” Helders tells Rhythm. “Of course I was, I was over the moon. My first thought was that he has a high standard because of the great drummers that Josh has worked with down the years.” The pair, joined by Queens Of The Stone Age multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita, headed to Homme’s Joshua Tree studio to work up material that would ultimately become Post Pop Depression, rock icon Pop’s 17th studio album. By the time Iggy rocked up the band was ready to go. “We tracked mostly live,” says Helders of the recording process. “Iggy would do a

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vocal, he’d do a scratch vocal but sometimes we’d keep that because it was such a good performance. He’d be doing a scratch vocal like it was the real thing. It was a three-piece and then a singer in the studio so it was really important to have a live feel so we tried to record live takes. That’s the only way that I’ve ever really recorded.” The record saw Helders jump on the studio’s Pearl Masters Maple kit, preferring to go with gear that had been tried and tested in that environment rather than bringing in his own gear. “It wasn’t a big kit by any means, it was a little thing that was fun to play,” he explains. “It had a floor tom for a bass drum and Josh really enjoyed getting a big kick drum sound out of that. Mark Rankin the engineer is the king of drum sounds. He’ll get the same effect as using EQ or something by just moving the microphones around.” The combination worked, as Post Pop Depression is packed full of neat drum touches from the Arctic Monkeys sticksman. So much so that Helders struggles to pin down his favourite. “I love playing ‘German Days’. It’s got this tom rhythm that is a lot of fun to play. But then I like ‘Gardenia’ as well because I get to do this nice groove a little bit. When we were in the studio writing that song that felt like a great achievement as well. The end of ‘Paraguay’ was insane to record, that was all done live. The Iggy rant was done live, that was it, there was no other attempt because it was so real. So I guess what I’m saying is, no, I can’t pick a favourite!”

More Monkeys? We couldn’t let Matt go without asking him about the future of the Arctic Monkeys. “With Monkeys it’s a case of that when we’ve all finished having affairs with other bands we can sit down and think about a new record, but there is no set plan for that just yet.”

june 2016 |

Beat! People | Music | Gear

Pat Wilson (left) returns with Weezer

Let There Be White Pat Wilson on Weezer’s glorious return

■■“It’s cool to be able to be around for as long as we’ve been around and still be making records that people get excited about,” Pat Wilson tells Rhythm a week or so on from the release of Weezer’s 10th album. “That really is quite a blessing and I feel great about it.” To say that people are excited about the White Album is a tad of an understatement. The album has been rapturously received, with many proclaiming it to be the band’s strongest effort since their opening salvo of Blue, Pinkerton and Green. Not that Pat has noticed. “Sometimes I’ll look at some of the

| june 2016

reviews if I’m feeling a little bit curious, but for the most part I just care about what I think and the reviews don’t matter.” Despite whether Pat gives a hoot or not, reviews of White have been superb across the board, and indeed the record features not just some of Weezer’s strongest songwriting of this century but also some of Wilson’s finest kit sounds as his Ludwig Keystone kit sings from start to finish. Pat reveals that he had a secret weapon from the vaults to help him nail the record’s organic tone. “We had this killer Black Beauty snare and we used that on the whole record except for one song that we tracked at [producer] Jake [Sinclair’s] house.” Pat explains that the producer helped draw the band further away from mixed results they had achieved during the experimental phase of their career that had seen albums like Red, Raditude and Hurley dabble with electronics and a more polished sound. It’s certainly no accident that White sonically has more in common with

Catch of the Day

Who says drummers can’t multi-task? We’re happy to take any opportunity to share this clip of Pat catching a frisbee thrown from the crowd mid-song at a Weezer show without dropping a beat. Superb. http://bit.ly/ PatFrisbee

Pinkerton than that trio of records. Pat says: “Jake is a big Weezer fan from back in the day, and he was like, ‘You guys should sound like Weezer.’” It’s a vibe that fits 2016 Weezer like a glove, with tracks like ‘Thank God For Girls’ allowing Pat to get his rock chops out, while the hip-hop-ish beat of ‘Jacked Up’ provides a dash of shade to an album that is bathed in light. When asked to pick out a favourite track, Pat has absolutely no hesitation. “I really like ‘Summer Elaine And Drunk Dori’,” he says before we’ve even had time to finish our question. “I think that is the best song on the record – it has such a cool vibe. Musically that is a very interesting song and drum part.” But, what’s next for Weezer, a return to their experimental ways? Not according to Pat, who suggests the band has plenty left in the tank, and the plan is to keep on making records in the vein of the White Album. That’s music to our ears. www.musicradar.com/rhythm

Russ Kunkel

Russ Kunkel made his name as part of ‘The Section’ group of legendary sesssion musicians

Judith Owen

Session legend heads back into the studio Where did you record Somebody’s Child, the new Judith Owen record? “I played on four or five tracks on the album, maybe more than that. The sessions I was involved with were recorded in a private studio in Los Angeles. It’s a home studio owned by a friend of a friend of Judith. It’s up in the Hollywood Hills and it was lovely. It was a treat to work there.”

How did working with Judith come about? “I think this band came out of her idea for the last album, Ebb And Flow, which was to do a tip of the hat to the Laurel Canyon scene of the ’70s, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and all of that stuff. She wanted to see if she could get some of the players that played on those records, so guys like Leland [Sklar] and I played on that record. When it was time for touring she put as many of us together as she could. It worked out that last year we did quite a bit of touring with her. We did two or three tours. That all came out of the

concept for the Ebb And Flow album. Working with Judith is always amazing because she is such a great musician to start with. She’s an amazing piano player and what she brings to any recording session is a tremendous amount of confidence and also fun. She’s whimsical but she knows what she wants.”

How did the Somebody’s Child sessions play out? “Judith knows what she wants and how she wants to play on the songs so it is all pre-determined. I was in the studio for maybe three or four days. She was recording a couple of projects at that time, this album and a Christmas thing and she was also recording some songs with her husband Harry [Shearer]. Musicians were floating in and out, I would leave and they would start on another project.”

Out now

What drum kit did you use on Somebody’s Child?

Somebody’s Child by Judith Owen is out 20 May

“I used my Yamaha PHX kit. It’s a 20"

Final Call For Freddie course

bass drum with 10" and 12" toms, 14" floor tom and a simple Paiste Signature set-up with 20" ride, 16", 17", 18" crashes and 14" hi-hats. All pretty standard for me. Sometimes I use a 22" kick but I have been liking the 20", it’s very punchy. The workmanship in the Yamaha PHX kits is incredible, it’s a remarkable-sounding drum kit. Those kits truly are at the top of the pyramid.”

Ian Matthews is among the talent on this year’s Freddie Gee Drum Academy course

Gee-whizz what a line-up this is ■■If a week full of drumming sounds like heaven (of course it does) then act quickly as the final places on the 2016 Freddie Gee Drum Academy course are still available. The event is held at Sparsholt College in Winchester, Hampshire between 25-29 July and features some A-list drumming talent among its teaching staff. We’re talking prog god Craig Blundell of Frost and Steven Wilson fame, electronic wizard Andy Gangadeen (Chase & Status) and pop sessioneer for the stars Ash Soan (The Voice, Adele, Robbie Williams). Sign up for the course and you will also experience the knowledge and wisdom of Kasabian’s Ian Matthews and big band hero Pete Cater. Still need convincing? The whole thing is hosted by A-Grade legend Steve White and features appearances from renowned bassist Damon Minchella and Graveltones drummer Mikey Sorbello. The course is geared for drummers of all abilities, except for absolute beginners, and is available on a residential or nonresidential basis. All attendees will be supplied with Natal drums and Zildjian cymbals to use for the entire course. For more information, including full prices and booking information, contact drumacademy@hotmail.co.uk.

www.musicradar.com/rhythm

june 2016 |

Beat! People | Music | Gear

Drummer’s tool Kit

Stepped hi-hat grooves

Incorporating the stepped hi-hat sound into your time playing

T Your tutor Pete Riley

p.riley@mac.com

his issue’s Drummer’s Toolkit looks at grooves that utilise the stepped hi-hat. It’s a sound pioneered by drummers such ■ as Steve Gadd and David Garibaldi and ■ which creates a subtly different sound to playing all of the notes with the right hand. A pattern worth developing prior to attempting these grooves is right, left, ■ foot played between the hi-hat and snare. Ideally here the right hand will be accented

while the left is ghosted and with a little practise it can be played with a flowing rolling triplet feel. The examples presented here are all linear in nature – and as a result can tend ■ to sound a little jagged and awkward if attention isn’t paid to the underlying 16th-note rate. And be sure to keep all ■ of the left-hand ghost notes really quiet in order to contrast with the accented backbeats.

Rhythm - 2 5 5

Pete's Drummers' Toolkit Here you can see the three-note right, left, foot movement between the hi-hat and snare between beats 2 and 4. Rhythm - 2 5 5 Pete's Drummers' Toolkit Ex 1

> > ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ >¿œ œ ¿ œ œ ÷ 44 œ¿ œ œ ¿ >œ ¿ œ ¿ ¿ œ ¿ >¿œ œ ¿ œ ¿ 4 > œ œ ÷4 œ œ ¿ œ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ 4 with œ theœ left foot>œon beat 3 alongœwith the left hand œ playing >œ theœ last 16thœnote on the hats. ÷ 4 falling 02 Watch out for the bass drum œ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ >œ ¿ ¿ œ ¿ œ >¿œ œ ¿ ¿ ÷ 44 ¿œ œ ¿ >œ ¿ ¿ œ œ¿ ¿ œ ¿ >¿œ œ ¿ ¿ ÷ 44 œ œ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ > > ÷4 œ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ ¿ ¿ >œ¿ backbeat. ¿ a syncopated ¿œkick and > This is a challenging pattern featuring snare groove with a displaced 4 œ œ 03 ÷4 œ ¿ œ ¿ >¿œ œ œ¿ œ¿ œ œ¿ ¿ >œ ¿ ¿ œ œ ÷ 44 œ¿ œ œ œ œ œ Rhythm - 2 5 5

Ex 1

Pete's Drummers' Toolkit

Ex 1

Ex 2 Ex 2 Ex 2

Ex 3 Ex 3

Ex 3

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ œ œ œ œ œ ÷ 44 œ œ ¿ œ¿ œ œ¿ ¿ ¿

Mighty Whitey Drum icon hits the clinic trail

■■The unstoppable drumming force that is Steve White is getting back on the road this month as part of an eight-date Yamaha ■ clinic tour. The Paul Weller, Style Council and Family Silver drummer is heading to drum stores all over the UK between 22 May and 15 June. The jaunt kicks off at the Glasgow Drum Show, on a bill also featuring Keith Carlock, Eddy Thrower, Karl Brazil, Adam Marko and Darrin Mooney. Steve then heads out for a series of ■ solo shows at Manchester Drum Centre, ■ PMT Leeds, Washington’s Drum Shop, PMT Birmingham, PMT Romford, PMT Cardiff ■

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and Andertons in Guilford. Drummers heading along to one of the shows can expect an awe-inspiring performance from Steve as well as the opportunity to soak up some drumming wisdom from the man himself. Yamaha’s Drum Product Marketing Manager Gavin Thomas comments, “It has been fantastic working with Steve and to see at first hand his passion and drive for the UK drumming community. Without doubt these sessions will be great fun, informative and importantly should leave you inspired.” For more details head over to www.uk. yamaha.com or call the individual venues.

www.musicradar.com/rhythm

Steve White begins a UK clinic tour in May

‘New Noise’ Refused

DavidSandstromlooks back ona career-definingpunkclassic What are your memories of writing and recording ‘New Noise’?

“We did it twice, first for a local compilation and then for Shape Of Punk To Come. We didn’t want a very ‘live’-sounding drum style, hip-hop was the ideal, and since we’d recorded it before it had low priority – sounds crazy I know. I played the different parts and transitions to a click track to get that feeling of a looped, almost mechanical hip-hop beat, like a Mobb Deep song or something, then we assembled it in an afternoon. It was painless.”

What kind of kit sound were you going for on the album?

“Me and Kristofer [Steen, guitar] made decisions as we went along, based on each song and what we wanted it to be. We only knew what we wanted it to sound like, as we heard it, not so much how to actually do it. It was hard work for Eskil Löwström who engineered. Great guy.”

NEW

The band split shortly after releasing the record, what was the feeling within the band during those recording sessions? “We were working hard, not necessarily sorting s**t out. We were obsessed with making something great. Everything else, including the health of the band as a unity, was less important.”

Album: The Shape of Punk To Come Year: 1998

“We only knew what we wanted the track to sound like, as we heard it, not so much how to actually do it” What do you think of the track when you listen back to it now? “It’s the song of my life I suppose. It’s good. Weird arrangement. Good riff – Kristofer Steen. He can’t parallel park but give him a Gibson and he will park a riff in your head forever.”

Do you still play it the same way live today as when it was recorded? “Yes. Small adjustments, things you didn’t understand at 22. Always the psychotic highlight of our shows. Sometimes it’s almost frightening what people do during that song. Bones are broken, faces completely destroyed.”

The entire Shape Of Punk To Come album has had a huge impact since release. Did you have any idea what an important album it was? “It was very important to us. Which is always the most important thing in art. Why else do it?”

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Beat! People | Music | Gear

“Being friendly and easy to get along with goes a long way,” advises Filter’s Chris Reeve

Roland demonstrator Michael Schack will be appearing at the Manchester Drum Show

MDS Returns

Drum show is back and bigger than ever ■■The Manchester Drum Show is back for 2016. The annual drum feast returns to the city on Sunday 4 September, and this year the Sugden Sports Centre hosts the show, which is now ■ in its third year. The show will see a day packed full of star clinics and performances. The first drummers to be announced are Michael Schack and Frankie Tontoh. Schack is a renowned Roland global demonstrator, while Tontoh has worked with the likes of Gary Barlow, Amy Winehouse and Level 42. But that’s not all, there will also be hordes of ace drum companies lining the venue, with wares on show from the likes ■ of Amedia Cymbals, the British Drum Company, Roland, Cosmic Ears, Guru Drums, Vic Firth, North Custom Drums, Forecast Drums, AD Drums, Pellwood Sticks, Black Cat Distribution, ■ Dream Cymbals, VK Drums, HighWood Drums and CODE Drumheads. Tickets will set you back £10 for adults and £5 for under-16s. Family tickets for two adults and two under-16s are available ■ for £20. All prices include booking fees. For more information visit http://manchesterdrumshow. weebly.com.

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my top 5 tips on…

Auditions By Chris Reeve (Filter) Be professional 1 “I pretty much put my life on hold for a week just for the Filter audition. They didn’t ask for anything in particular, but I thought to myself, ‘I should play one of their songs, note for note to show them exactly what they’d be getting and that I can learn fast.”

Prepare, prepare, 2 prepare

“Be over-prepared. The act needs to feel that they can trust you to get the job done. Instead of just learning what they ask of you, go above and beyond to learn as much of the catalogue as possible. If they keep throwing tunes at you and you keep nailing them to the best of your ability, it gets them excited and shows that you’re professional, and assures them that you can handle the pressure. Being friendly and easy to get along with goes a long way as well.”

Use the right gear

3 “I think it’s important to arrive at an

audition with the right gear. The songs and the artist’s image can tell you a lot about what they’re looking for. If you’re auditioning for an acoustic singer/songwriter, arriving

with a 20-piece drum kit on a rack might seem egotistical. Alternatively, if you’re auditioning for a band that has a lot of double bass-drum parts, find out if you need to provide your own double pedal. Image can be a big factor as well. If the act is hard rock, get out your black clothes and studs. If they’re straight-up bluegrass, maybe some cool boots.”

be 4 Don’t intimidated

“Don’t arrive with a bad attitude! But don’t let yourself be intimidated by the situation. Everyone in the room will be feeling a little awkward or nervous in one way or another, so try to imagine that right now you are all equals. Just be yourself and perform to the best of your ability.”

Ability, reliability 5 and likeability

“I was once told that there are three main areas people look at when hiring for a job – ability, reliability, and likeability. The bottom line is that if you can be yourself and balance those three points to the best of your ability you’ve given yourself the best chance of landing the gig.”