Tom Tom Magazine Issue 1

issu e o n e / n ov e m b e r 2 0 0 9

J en n i f er L ei gh -Asc h o ff s h o o t i n g F r an k i e R o se for Tom Tom Mag azi ne ph oto by Mi nd y Abovi tz

tom tom maga zin e / issu e o n e / n an ove drm e abearm 2bro 009

Yes! Finally! A magazine dedicated to female drummers. Inside this birthday issue you will find interviews and photos with influential and inspiring women and girls that drum.

Online you can expect the same great coverage plus much more including extra photos, videos, and other goodies. In the future, Tom Tom Magazine will bring you features of women drummers, beat-makers, programmers, and percussionists from around the world, of all ages, across genres, and of varying notoriety.

We aspire to raise awareness about girl and women percussionists and to inspire females of all ages to drum. Tom Tom’s goal is to strengthen and build a community otherwise fragmented female musicians and to create a network of musicians around the world.

Feel free to contact us with any contributions, ideas, or comments about the magazine.

Welcome to Tom Tom Magazine. Glad you made it, hope you’ll stay...

Love, Mindy Abovitz contribu to r s

co n tact

F o u nder/Editor-in -Ch ief

Photogr apher s

W r i t er s

E mai l

Mindy Abovitz

Jee Young Sim, Jennifer Leigh Aschoff, Erin Nicole Brown, Rebecca Smeyne, Piper Ferguson, Aaron Wojack, Andrew Strasser, Martin Basher, Bek Andersen

Cathy Hsiao, Adam Katzman, Sara Magenheimer, Melanie Glover, Alex Carulo, Bianca Russelburg, Adee Roberson, Meg Ryan, Fiona Campbell, STS, Lisa Schonberg, Allie Alvarado, Caryn Havlik, Courtney Gillette

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Harlo Holmes

Copy Editor s

Cathy Hsiao, Teri Duerr

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Tom Tom Magazine c/o Cinders Gallery 103 Havemeyer Street Store #2 Brooklyn, NY 11211

tom tom maga zin e / issu e o n e / a n dr e a a m bro

tom tom maga zin e / issu e o n e / fr a nadr n keie a ammabro de lin e ro se

l e ge n d i n t h e ma k i n g f r a n k i e m a d e l i n e ro s e Inter vi ew b y M i n d y A b o vi t z

Frankie Rose is blazing a trail and leaving no prisoners.

Every band she plays in turns to gold. She is the original drummer and part-time bassist/vocalist of the wildly popular Vivian Girls. In addition to playing drums in her current band Crystal Stilts, Frankie has a single of her own coming out on Slumberland records in the fall.

I met Frankie around 2004 when she was living on the West Coast and touring with Shitstorm, her band at the time. Watching her play then in my living room at The Woodser in Brooklyn was inspirational. Watching her play drums now is jaw dropping. Her drum beats are graceful, poised, innovative, hard-hitting and hard to forget. I caught up with Frankie in Williamsburg, Brooklyn right before she took off for a 40-day European tour with Crystal Stilts.

W hat is t he m os t c ha llen g in g t hin g a b out t he d r um s ?

Having stamina.

W hat ’s y our fav or it e pa rt a b out play in g d r um s ?

I love the physicality of it. w hat d o y ou t hin k t he r ole of t he d r um m er is in a b a n d?

This is a strange question for me because I suppose I don’t really identify as being only a drummer anymore. I often found it difficult to be a drummer in bands where I wrote songs or had a big part in the songwriting process.

It can be tricky to hand over something you have written for someone else to play on the guitar…. A drummer however is a key player, the drummer brings the party, so to speak.

W hat ’s y our s on g w r it in g pr oc es s ? I write all my songs on a

little electric guitar with a practice amp or an acoustic. As of late there is an organ in my house, so I have been playing that a bunch…. I’ll usually record a rough version, then I’ll re-record after everything is worked out.

D o y o u p l ay ot h e r i n st r u m e nt s ? H o w d o e s t h at a f f e ct y our d r um m in g ?

I think drumming has made me a much better songwriter. I think you get a sense of timing for things you wouldn’t necessarily get otherwise.

T om Tom Magazine: W he n d i d you sta rt p laying drums?

Frankie Rose: About five years ago now, maybe.

W hy d i d you sta rt p laying drums?

In my first band no one except the guitarist really knew how to play anything, so I just sat down behind the kit and it was decided that I would be the drummer. Still don’t really know how to play actually.

H o w long did i t take un til you felt like a “ leg i t” d r u mme r ? That’s funny, as far as I

know, I still am not.

W hat’ s you r favor ite kit set-up ? Wh y?

I always prefer a simple kit really, just a kick, a snare, a floor tom, one cymbal, and a high hat.

W hat’ s you r d r ea m kit? Maybe a 64

Slingerland.

D o you r e member h o w we met? It’s a little

fuzzy, but I think it was when I first moved to New York and you were putting on a show at your house… . But maybe Shitstorm and Taigaa played together at The Woodser.

Full na m e

B es t pa rt a b out play in g d r um s ?

Frankie Madeline Rose Nickn a m e Frankie Ag e 30-something Home t o w n San Francisco Lives i n New York City curre nt b a nds Frankie & The Outs, Dum Dum Girls

It’s good exercise.

pas t b a nds

Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, Shitstorm (now Grass Widow) d ay job Bartendress Somet h i ng o ut sta ndi ng abou t yo u I know what I like and

I know what I don’t like.

W ho a r e y our fav or it e d r um m er s ?

Paloma from The Raincoats, Jaki Liebezeit, and Maureen “Moe” Tucker W her e d o y ou s hop for g ea r ?

I almost never do! But I buy drumsticks at Main Drag most of the time.

C r y s ta l Stilt s ha s g ott en a lot of att en t ion . how d oes t hat feel?

It’s really nice to put work into something and have other people appreciate it. What more could you ask for?

W h at ’ s t h e m o st st r e s s f u l t h i n g y o u ’ v e o v e r c o m e at a s h ow a n d h ow d id y ou d o it ? Oh man… maybe being

direct support for TV on the Radio in front of 2,000 people. At the time, that was the biggest crowd I’d ever played to.

W hat wa s i t li k e d rumming fo r Sh itsto rm? It was a beautiful thing… we mostly just laughed a lot. Those people continue to be like my family.

I love them.

B es t piec e of a d v ic e y ou ev er g ot ? Someone once said

W hat style of d r umming wo uld yo u say yo u p lay?

W ho a r e s om e of y our fav or it e la d y d r um m er s r ig ht n o w ?

to me: “Why don’t you try hitting the snare and the crash at the same time?”

I found that helpful.

My favorite drummer of the moment is from a band called Grand Ole Party from San Diego. She sings lead vocals and plays the drums. Brilliant.

Absolutely my own weird style.

A r e you se lf - ta ug ht? Indeed. Very.

Fav or it e b a n d s ? Harlem, Dum Dum Girls, Reading Rainbow,

W hat d o you d o to get bett er at th e drums / Best way t o g et c hops? I almost never practice playing drums. That’s the truth.

Glass Widow, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Sic Alps.

Frankie has a single coming out on Slumberland records October 27th and is working on a full -length record. She’ll be touring with the Dum Dum girls in the fall.

I may never get better.

W hat i s your favorite drum warm up / wh at do yo u d o t o wa r m u p bef or e pl aying? I don’t.

H ave you e x per i e nced setbacks as a female drummer ?

R e a d t h e fu ll a rt icle at www. to m to m m ag. co m

Not as much.

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Excl usi v e T om T om Mag a zi ne P h o t o by: R e be cca S me yne

i.u.d

I.U.D. is made up of Lizzi Bougatsos of Gang Gang Dance and Sadie Laska from Growing. Their droned out double drumming sound is infectious and dance-y. Affected vocal layers and samples are laced throughout the album and there is an overall wild jungle feel to the band. The Proper Sex (their debut full-length) is out on Social Registry.

R e a d t h e fu ll a rt icle at www. to m to m m ag. co m

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koeeahale r tom tom maga zin e / issu e o n e / a li n dr m bro

vivian girls Ali Koehler Inter vi e w B y Mi n d y Ab o v i t z

Ali Koehler went from being someone who enjoyed being a homebody to being on tour constantly with her wildly popular band Vivian Girls. While she wasn’t the band’s drummer when they reached their initial success, she easily slipped in in July of 2008, recorded a fulllength album with the band, and has since been carrying the torch and making waves behind the kit. Find out why Tom Tom Magazine loves Ali Koehler…

W h at d o y o u c o n s i d e r to b e t h e m o st c h a l l e n g i n g t h i n g a b out t he d r um s ? The endurance it requires. Drumming is so physical.

When I see we have three fast songs in a row on a set list I immediately think, “Oh fuck, that’s gonna be rough.”

W hat ’s y our fav or it e pa rt a b out play in g d r um s ? How

mechanical it is. Other instruments are very melodic and require so much creativity and thought, whereas drums are more carnal. I like both aspects of music, but sometimes it’s nice to just beat the hell out of something and forget about who you are.

D o y o u p l ay a n y ot h e r i n st r u m e nt s ? If s o , h ow d o e s t h at

Full na me Alexandria Koehler

A ffec t y our d r um m in g ? I play guitar; I don’t think that affects my

Ni ck na me/pseud onym Ali

drumming so much as my drumming affects it. I’ve been a drummer for a long time but guitar is very new to me, so I can only help but to be a very percussive guitar player.

Ag e 22 hometown New Jersey li ve s i n New Jersey c ur r ent ba nd s Vivian Girls

M os t n ota b le s how y ou ev er play ed ? Most definitely opening

pa st ba nd s Just basement punk bands with my friends,

for Sonic Youth this summer. It will take A LOT to top that day.

nothing anyone would know. d ay job Play drums with Vivian Girls.

W ho a r e y our fav or it e d r um m er s ? Well, Dave Grohl and Bill

Stevenson definitely are drum idols of mine. As for my friends and peers though I’d have to say my top three favorite current drummers are Mikey Erg of the Ergs, Alex Kerns of Lemuria, and Angie (Allison) of Cheeky, Each Other’s Mothers and Dead Dog. That girl is fucking INSANE. I also really love Adam (Elliott) from Times New Viking’s style. He uses a lot of driving kick drum, which I’ve started to incorporate in Vivian Girls’ songs.

Some thi ng outstanding abo ut yo u

Nothing, I’m a pretty un-outstanding person.

T om T om Ma g a z i ne : Wh en did yo u start p laying th e d r um s ?

Ali Koehler: In the school band when I was in fifth grade.

If y o u c o u l d c h a n g e o n e t h i n g a b o ut t h e d r u m s w h at

W hy d i d you sta rt? I started because I wanted to play something that

w ould it b e? I’d somehow make it all come in one piece. Watching your bandmates plug a guitar into an amp while you have upwards of six bags of shit to unload and put together every night is the worst.

other girls in my school didn’t play. I had a couple of copy-cats after starting drums though, which was cool. The drumming section turned into 50/50 boys and girls.

B es t piec e of a d v ic e y ou g ot a s a d r um m er ? It’s all in the wrists.

W hat i s your favorite set-up fo r yo ur kit? Wh y? It really

That drastically increased my stamina.

depends on the band. For Vivian Girls I just use snare, floor tom, kick, and a crash and ride. I just recently started to incorporate a tambourine on the hi-hat since Vivian Girls is very tambourine-oriented, (a percussion piece I’ve really come to appreciate). If I were in a pop punk band, I’d probably have another tom and crash without the tambourine.

W h at wo u l d y o u r e c o m m e n d t o a n ew d r u m m e r sta rti n g off? Start a band, no matter how bad you suck. It will force you to play and

develop a style. Don’t worry about being the next Neil Peart.

W hat wou l d your dream kit co nsist o f? I think Gretsch kits look and sound beautiful. I’d also like to have massive drums like Dave Grohl did.

Drums should be loud as hell. Music in general should be loud as hell.

W hat a r e s om e of y our ot her hob b ies /in t er es t s ?

Video games, reading comic books. I’m the nerd of the band. I wear glasses and I’m allergic to everything too.

W hat d o you d o to get bett er at th e drums? I’m an awful example for what drummers should do. Vivian girls is the first band I’ve drummed for since I was 19. If I cared about improving, I’d play along to my favorite records with headphones on, but I’m lazy and always on tour.

W ho a r e s om e of y our fav or it e la d y d r um m er s r ig ht n o w ?

Angie (see above).

W ho a r e s om e of y our fav or it e b a n d s r ig ht n ow ? PENS, Times New Viking, NODZZZ, Lemuria, Davila 666, Fucked Up, Let’s Wrestle, Betty and the Werewolves.

W hat i s your favorite drum warm up ? Drink a beer.

W hat d o you thi nk th e ro le o f th e drummer is? ( In a b a n d )

The backbone. The drummer keeps everyone together in time. If your drummer sucks there’s no hiding it. It’s painfully obvious when songs are off tempo or you forget how something goes, which is why I’m a really self conscious drummer.

If I have a night where I make a lot of mistakes I immediately think it was the worst show ever, no matter how well we all sang and played.

R e a d t h e fu ll a rt icle at www. to m to m m ag. co m

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tom tom maga zine / issu e o n e / a n drya dr e a aam mbro bro

ta l k n o r m a l andrya ambro Intervi ew By Mindy Abovitz

woman, we are generally smaller creatures than our male counterparts.

Men can play bigger drum sets and still get on top of their instrument.

H ow d o y ou t un e?

I like them warm and dead. Like cardboard boxes with lovely tone à la reggae drum sounds. I use my ears.

H ow d id Ta lk N or m a l for m ?

Andrya Ambro zipped up her gray flight suit before she sat down at her kit at Union Pool in Brooklyn, and then proceeded to hypnotize everyone in the room. She drums hard, fast, and with technical ease, preferring her drums tuned “warm and dead.” Talk Normal just finished recording their debut LP with Nicolas Vernhes and it’s out this fall on Vernhes’ Rare Book Room Records.

Meanwhile, the band will be touring the West Coast at the same time. Their Secret Cog EP was released digitally on Menlo Park Records this June. I caught up with Andrya before Talk Normal left for SXSW. F u l l na me Andrya Elena Ambro N i c k na me Andy, Lenny,

Rad Ambro, Double aa A g e 29 H o m e town Wilmington, DE l i v e s i n Brooklyn C u r r ent Bands

E xcl u siv e T om T om Ma gaz in e Ph o to s b y Je e Y ou n g Sim

TALK NORMAL Pa s t Ba nd s death.pool, Glen Olden, Antonius Block d ay j ob Musician/sound engineer

Tom Tom Magazine: When did you s tart playing the drums? Andrya Ambro: I was 13

when I convinced my mother to get me a drum kit.

You play withou t cymbal s and your ki t sounds real l y flat and lo w. Why did yo u decide to p lay th at way?

I never understood how people played with drums up to their ears. As a (5’5”)

I met Sarah in 1999 at NYU in the Music Technology Department where I worked. It was not until 2006 that we actually played together in the minimal and discordant band Antonius Block.

That band went on hiatus in late ’06.

After AB, we were driven to create a more raw music, stripped down, and basic. Our first show as Talk Normal was September ’07.

I d ea b ehin d y our t r ib a l d r um m in g a n d c ha n t in g ?

Some might attribute both the tribal drum and chant style to my pursuit of African music in my formative years. I very much took to Mahalia Jackson and the black tradition of the rejoiceful shout.

W h at r e g i o n o f t h e w o r l d i n f l u e n c e s y o u r st y l e t h e m os t ? The Black Atlantic is very

powerful to me. To fine tune my coordinates—Ghana and Jamaica.

R ole of t he d r um m er ?

I suppose it is the nature of the drums to be the heartbeat and drive, usually perceived as non-melodic. I want to play the drums as an orchestration

within an arrangement of sounds.

I want extreme dynamics.

Hav e y o u e x p e r i e n c e d a n y s et b a c k s a s a f e m a l e d r um m er ? Yes. I don’t want

to be seen as a dancing dog; in that you’re surprised it’s even done at all.

However, these setbacks seem more in my head than reality. As I grow, I realize these “setbacks” are more like a jewel of bondage – giving me the fire to make something new, to fight to make something my own.

I just want to be free.

Fav or it e d r um m er s ?

Influential: Pat Samson, Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, Brendan Canty, Max Roach, Moondog, Bob Bert, Mac McNeilly, Jaki Liebezeit, Art Blakey, Budgie. Contemporaries I love: Kid Millions, Matt Marlin, Ryan Sawyer, Tim Dewitt, Deantoni Parks. I often try to imitate (on the drums) how these folks would sing or play their particular instrument, more than drummers.

Other in t er es t s ? For gainful

employment, I am a sound engineer.

If I had more time I would practice my clarinet more, take hair braiding classes, fix my sewing machine to make my own clothes—just want to make stuff, be it visual, audible, or dinner.

Fav o r it e f e m a l e d r u m m e r s r ig ht n ow ? Ikue Mori,

Susie Ibarra, Allison Busch. m o r e at www. to m to m m ag. co m

tom tom maga zin e / issu e o n e / a lliso n dr e a n abu msch bro

Awes o m e C o l o r & Re d D awn II Allison

B u sc h

Interview By Mindy Abovitz

Awesome Allison is a badass and kills it on the kit.

As a fellow Brooklynite, I have the privilege of seeing her play whenever I want. She’s a hard-hitter and a spazz with innovative and solid beats. Awesome Color, one of Allison’s bands formed in her home state of Michigan, toured with Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr in 2008.

Awesome Color has two albums and another one out in 2010 on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace. Allison’s other band, Red Dawn II, also has a record debuting on Ecstatic Peace. Get these and play them on repeat.

You won’t be sorry.

Sharon Gear Ag e 28 Hometown Flint, Michigan li ve s i n Brooklyn, NY

& Detroit, Michigan

Mos t challenging th i n g abo ut th e drums?

Not messing up the beat.

Best part abo ut p lay in g drums? Hitting both crash cymbals

at the same time & playing fast rolls around the kit.

Cu r r e nt Ba nd s

Mo st no table sh o w?

Awesome Color & Red Dawn II Pa st Ba nd s Same

At All Tomorrow’s Parties a couple of years ago, Awesome Color got to open up for my favorite bands: Wolf Eyes, Negative Approach, and The Stooges

T om Tom Magazine: When did y o u sta rt pl ayi ng ?

Allison Busch: 16 R e ason? Hyperactivity & incessant

tapping on things H o w long did i t take un til y o u f e lt “l eg i t”? When I joined

a band and we played a show.

H ave you experienced any setbacks as a fem a l e drummer? Hell no.

Favo rite drummers?

Kid Millions, Animal.

If yo u co uld ch ange on e th ing abo ut th e drum s …

Fav or i te set- u p? Low and spread out so you can hit hard and sloppy without splitting your knuckles or breaking sticks.

Front of the stage (just kidding).

Unbreakable cymbals.

D r ea m k i t? Giant crash cymbals,

drums at the Glasslands after school program.

absolutely enormous.

H o w d o you g e t bett er?

Play every day.

Wa r m u ps? Drink coffee and

listen to some killer music to get your blood going.

D r ummer ’ s r ol e? Keep the beat

and keep the band smiling.

P l ay othe r i nstr u m ents?

No, but any time I try another instrument, I play it real percussively.

I’ll just hit the strings on the guitar, not really strum.

Ex cl us ive To m T om Ma gaz in e P h o t o s b y E r in N ic o le B r o w n

Full na me Allison Busch Ni ck na me Awesome Allison,

Do any thing else dru m related? I used to help teach

Where do you shop f o r gear? Anywhere with used cymbals,

Main Drag in Brooklyn.

Best piece of advice y o u go t as a drummer?

“You must play the drum hard and blow the big man’s mind.”

— Big Youth in “Rockers”.

Advice fo r new drum m er s ?

Other in t er es t s ?

Fav or it e b a n d s n ow ?

Skateboarding, pinball, ice hockey, horror movies.

Knyfe Hyts! Tyvek, Bad Party, Infinity People, Gardens, and Druid Perfume.

If I put on a record, it’s usually an old Radio Birdman or Motorhead jam, or some Scandinavian crusty punk.

S o m e o f y o u r fav o r ite f e m a l e d r u m m e r s r i g ht n ow ? Andrya Ambro from Talk

Think about hitting the bass drum; that’s where the beat takes off.

Normal rips.

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m o r e at www. to m to m m ag.c om

lla k e ry tom tom maga zine / issu e o n e / st a nedr e a co a mrbro

a ki w i g e m stella corkery Inter view b y f i o n a c amp b ell

Stella Corkery was the first female drummer I ever saw live, this was in New Zealand where I grew up, and lady drummers were pretty thin on the ground. I’d snuck into the local pub when I was 17 years old, and got to see her play with all female band Fake Purr, who in turn influenced my own journey into music. Stella is a designer, artist, and multi-instrumentalist who has played with people from some of the most influential bands to come out of NZ. She is an inspirational lady indeed. I recently caught up with her in a different time zone.

W om en in m us ic c a n b e b ot h ex t r em el y c om pet it iv e a n d ex t r em el y s upport iv e. W hat ha s b een y our ex per ien c e in NZ w or k in g w it h ot her w om en in m us ic ? I have been involved

with a variety musical scenes since the early 80’s and I have come to the conclusion competitiveness or support is not gender specific.

D o y o u t h i n k f e m a l e d r u m m e r s i n NZ h av e a d i f f e r e nt ex per ien c e t ha n w om en in t he Stat es ? I don’t know enough

about the American experience to compare.

W hen d id y ou s ta rt play in g t he d r um s ? My first kit was at 24.

F u l l na me Stella Corkery H o m etown Tuatapere,

“Real” drumming is perhaps a suffocating term. I am deliberately selftaught; I definitely wanted to make my own path. I listened to other drummers (Robbie Yeats) and music in general, and found inspiration from that.

I very rarely played along with records, usually absorbing what I heard and interpreting it in some way that suited me. I really wasn’t that interested in being “good,” I liked the tension of being “bad.” I was listening to rock drumming constantly, but it was discovering Milford Graves that really opened up my playing. He was the springboard for all my improvised, free/noise drumming. Free drumming is a great way to confound expectations of who a drummer should be.

Southland, NZ. l i v e s i n Auckland, NZ. C u r re nt Ba nd s

White Saucer since 1993, a duo with partner Alan Holt, and solo project, Arrows, since 2008 (previously Sweetcakes in 1994).

T o m to m magazine: What do y o u d o f or a l i vi ng ?

Stella Corkery: For a long while I designed clothing and ran boutiques.

Now I’m studying fine arts and working in a fine arts library.

W h e n a nd why did you s tart t h e P i n k A ir/ Girl A lliance r e c o r d la bel? Pink Air came first

Play any other instruments?

as an experimental label. I called the label Pink Air—if air was psychedelic what colour would it be?! The first lathe 7” was my percussion only release— Pink Drums. I wanted Pink Air to remain representative of what was experimental and psychedelic from Auckland at that time.

I was taught piano as a child so I often play synths, not live but on recordings.

I just bought an old drum machine to incorporate live. We have a lot of instruments at home: guitars, violin, stuff to hit and shake, vintage electronic gadgets…. I feel like branching out and getting away from the kit when playing live. I would like to move around the performance area more, bring that to what I do with White Saucer.

Girl Alliance followed shortly after. It was a purely riot grrl label but this didn’t mean the music wasn’t experimental. When I first heard Kerikeri band Goldifox they really hit me over the head. I immediately realized it was the sound I had been waiting to hear from a group of NZ girls for years: a mixture of The Clean, The Germs and Bikini Kill. I felt they needed to be documented on vinyl.

There was also a purity in their form, teenage girls from a small town in NZ, lo-fi recordings made on a bedroom ghetto blaster. Goldifox had a spin-off band called The Jewl of Bessamoocho, where their Japanese exchange student friend—Eri Miyabayashi—wrote songs and sang. Penny Collins continued to play guitar and Liz Mathews continued to drum. Eri’s mysteriously weird, deep, and accented voice gave these songs a dreamy, but still punk quality. They were the second GA release. The third and final release was The Coolies self-titled 7”. They were the zeitgeist riot grrl band of Auckland and the single captured a vital moment in their history. The whole Auckland RG scene lasted from about 1995-2003.

B es t pa rt a b out play in g d r um s ? I hate practicing, but love playing with the band. I like arranging music, so as a drummer I feel like I’m in a unique position to move things in a direction that I can “hear,” helping to write the song. When you are playing with a group of people and the collective chemistry is working, it’s a really good feeling.

H av e y ou ex per ien c ed a n y s et b a c k s a s a fem a le d r um m er ?

No personal setbacks, I think the boys and the girls probably share that, maybe in different ways. Mean or competitive people don’t discriminate. Perhaps when the RG times were going strong a few people couldn’t understand but from what I remember most everyone was having a really good time.

Fav or it e b a n d s n ow ? Magik Markers, Sun Araw, Stag Hare, X’e,

Bang! Bang! Eche!

R e a d t h e fu ll a rt icle at www. to m to m m ag. co m 9

Pho to gra phs fo r T om To m Ma gaz i ne on lo cati on in A uc k la n d , NZ b y M a rt in B a s h er

H ow lon g d id it ta k e for y ou t o feel “ leg it ” ? I had an epiphany early on that drumming was going to be the thing for me. I loved music and felt it straight away. I was shy, so behind the drum kit seemed like the place to be. Even as an awkward beginner it was challenging but fun.

tom tom maga zine / issu e o n e / afa n dr sh io e anash m bro o ot

Tom To m M a g a z i n e & S o d a f i n e Fashion Shoot Photogr ap h y b y A ar o n Wo j ak

Sodafine is a quaint and trailblazing clothing shop in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn in New York.

The owner, Erin Weckerle, has an eye for fashion and has just started taking drum lessons from Christina Bouza, one of the models.

M o del s /D r u mmer s

Christina Bouza of Boyskout & Chica Vas Hope Bowers of White Diamonds Shirley Braha of Jerry Zeinfeld All clothes provided by Sodafine: 119 Grand Street Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York

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Zhong Qiu of

Carsick Cars

by Rebecca Smeyne

Sara Datlygu of

wet dog

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Technique Paradiddle

by B i a n c a R u sse lb u r g

I want to cover a common rudiment: the paradiddle. Sticking-wise, paradiddles are played Right, Left, Right, Right- then off the left (LRLL).

You can play these as quarter notes, eighth notes, or even triplets, but they’re most commonly seen as sixteenth notes.

2. A good way to start building your paradiddles is to play quarter notes for a measure (4 counts) with alternating sticking (RLRL).

Next play 4 counts of eighth notes, sticking RRLLRRLL. Then play an eighth note with

3. Now you’ve got yourself a snazzy paradiddle-builder, if I may say so myself. Once you master the paradiddle, you can spread the notes across your toms. Paradiddles between the hihat and snare sound pretty rad, too.

two sixteenth notes, sticking R-RR, L-LL, and so on for 4 more counts. This builds the “diddle” part of the paradiddle. Finally, make the last measure complete paradiddle.

f o r mo r e d r u m t ec h n i q u e

1. It’s important to know that when you’re playing 16th note paradiddles, it should sound like you’re playing a roll. Keep your strokes consistent.

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