Interview:Aron Sanchez & Arone Dyer of Buke and Gass
From their homemade instruments to their screen-printed posters, Buke and Gass embody the DIY ethic. Both veteran musicians, they’ve carved out a fascinating niche with this latest project by multi-tasking to the max. While Arone weaves a tapestry of treble with her modified ukelele, jingle shoe, and brave alto, Aron shreds it apart with his jigsaw guitar-bass and jagged bass drum stabs. It is methodical madness. Seeing them live is a treat, then. Where the recording might wear you out with its relentless rhythmic polygamy, the concert will absorb you as you watch this small band make a big, big sound with every available limb. Without that visual reference, you might dismiss them as trying too hard. But that’s not possible after you take into account the fact that they basically make all of their own gear. Nor is it possible after you see their lighthearted demeanor on stage. Arone is bike mechanic. Aron builds instruments for Blue Man Group. These are natural born engineers. They are tinkering with rhythm, showing us how to hotrod a waltz into a rollicking 12/8, or realign a wonky melody by simply bypassing the downbeat. These aren’t ivory-tower-theory heads. This is blue-collar Genesis. It’s the sound of the Avett Brothers getting run through a Deerhoof-grinder. It might help you think of ways you can reengineer your own faltering creative...
Interview:Francis White of White Mystery
TheBestDrummerInTheWorld.com learns about the elusive “Yin and Yang” that is the magic behind sister/brother duo White Mystery. Francis White supplies the head-rattling primal beat to their garage rock. We caught up with him before a sweaty show at Crown Liquors in...
Interview: Kurt Dahle of The New Pornographers
Is it just me, or do The New Pornographers set an impossible standard for anyone who aspires to be in a band? If I could list the elements which would comprise the ideal band it would include the following: 1. Top quality Beatlesque catchy pop songs you cant get out of your head. 2. Keith Moon is the drummer. 3. There is no 3 if the above 2 points exist. Thank god for The New Pornographers. And thank TheGhostOf DrumGodsPast for Kurt Dahle! Its one thing to have a band who wear its influences on its sleeve. Its quite another to have a drummer who can drop the most classic drum grooves of all time into the context of a perfectly crafted pop song. This skill is unique to Kurt Dahle. Recently TheBestDrummerInTheWorld.com sat down with Kurt Dahle while the New Pornographers were in Oakland touring behind their new album Together out on Matador Records. Here Kurt gives some insight into the writing process of the band and where to look for cool drum parts to...
“Perfecting Process” with Mike Belitsky of The Sadies
The Sadies are crossing the country right now in support of their fantastic new record, Darker Circles. Here in Chicago they’ll be playing Schubas on Friday, August 20. The last time I saw them there they blew the lid off the place with an explosive 90-minute set of musical TNT packed with original and traditional material. The show is not to be missed. The Sadies are an example of a band that keeps on getting better and better with each album. Mike Belitsky, their drummer, gives insight into their remarkable musical progress. ————————————————————————————- Mike Belitsky holds the drummer’s throne for one of the hardest working bands in the world, The Sadies. In 12 years, they have covered a dizzying amount of terrain – physically and musically. Taking an opposite trajectory than most bands—i.e.: burst onto the scene and then fizzle out—they keep popping up with more cohesive albums and surprising collaborations. Dip into their catalog at any point, and you will sense a confluence of styles, particularly in the rhythm section. Nowhere is this more apparent than on “Ten More Songs,” the epic final cut on their latest album, Darker Circles. Cymbal rolls swell into an airy 6/8 waltz, which washes out and then back into turbulent drum fills that finally crash into a galloping tom roll. The Sadies Live at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California from The Wooden Lens on Vimeo. Belitsky’s musical adaptability is more impressive in concert. He makes hairpin turns from driving straight-ahead rock to swinging country waltz. What could tie all these loose ends together? These shows all drip with punk sweat. Punk intensity is at the core of Belitsky’s beat. “I was inspired mostly by punk rock. I played along to all the Ramones records.” When he was 16, one of his sister’s friends came back from England with a suitcase full of punk records and punk fashion. That sparked a group of kids in his neighborhood to start a band. They drafted him to play their garage-sale kit and the gigs immediately started rolling in. Nevermind that he’d barely held a set of drumsticks. “I told them, ‘I’ve only been playing for a couple of days.’ They said, ‘It doesn’t matter, its punk rock. Just show up.’” He did show up, and he’s been showing up ever since, with greater success each time. He jobbed and toured around the Eastern Seaboard for a few years with Jale and Pernice Brothers. He also had a band with Andrew Scott, who also played in a number of groups, including the Sadies. In 1998, Scott left to commit to Sloan full-time. ...
Interview: Kelley Stoltz of Sonny and The Sunsets @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sonny & the Sunsets had a fantastic vibe at Pitchfork. In fact, its hard to think of an adjective besides, “sunny.” Clever arrangements, and each person in the band had moments to shine during the set. Kelley Stoltz holds the drum chair for this group, as well as his own solo project, which he describes as “4/4 blues-based rock.” Kelley enlightened me with his non-nonsense approach, celebrating classic influences but with the benefit of a post-pop lens. TheBestDrummerInTheWorld interviews Kelley Stoltz of Sonny & The Sunsets at Pitchfork Music...
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