THE B

LACK

PAGE

DECEMBER 2008

Godfathers Of Drumming

LEGENDS EDITION 3

Liberty DeVitto

WORKING DRUMMER’S

BOOTCAMPTHE BLACK PAGEDecember 2008

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Sean Mitchell PublisherJill Schettler Editor in ChiefJayson Brinkworth WriterRyan Carver WriterMarlys Mitchell Contributing Editor

Featuring chris sutherland

Designed to get every drum-mer in shape to face any freelancing challenge, the Bootcamp is a complete run through of almost anything you might encounter in the music business: live skills, studio skills, networking skills and getting every pos-sible aspect of your drum-ming ready for anything. It’s a tough business, learn how a pro stays impossibly busy.

Kim Mitchell, Squeek, Deric Ruttan, Saga, Doc Walker, Amanda Falk

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Feature Interview:Liberty DeVitto

Diversity is Longevityby Jayson Brinkworth

Profile: Ricardo Melendez

Guerrilla Drum Making

Holiday Grooves:by Ryan Carver

The Final Word

W hen I think about my introduction to drum-ming, there are two very vivid memories. The Buddy Rich vs Animal drum battle and

the Glass Houses album. If Buddy and Animal intro-duced me to drums, Liberty DeVitto introduced me to music.

When I was a kid, my dad used to crank up his Hi-Fi and throw on the old Glass Houses album. (Yeah, this was the 80’s) Who didn’t love that al-bum? Front to back a musical masterpiece. And be-hind it all, relentlessly pushing that groove as if to drive the band forward, is Liberty. The man in the driver’s seat. I would listen to that record for hours and emulate Liberty’s playing, even though I didn’t have any lessons yet. But it didn’t matter; the music felt so damn good. The best that my coordination could handle at the time was to nail the 2 and 4. I would try and stay up at night when my folks threw a party and hope to heck dad would throw on that record. I loved the pulse of “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me.” And the groove on “You May Be Right”? Fuggetaboutit!

When I was offered a chance to interview Liberty DeVitto I was extremely nervous. Here was the guy who made me want to play drums. Hands down the first drummer to influence me. And in meeting Lib-erty I was not disappointed. That man can play, pe-riod. What a musician, never mind drummer. Here is a guy who can lay it down so hard that, as we watched him play, all three rows in the theatre were blinking on his 2 and 4. The power he has is inhu-

man, but he exudes musicality. For Liberty, there is no greater gift than the gift he gives to the song, and that is so evident in his playing. Even if he has to lay back and play the brushes, Liberty is in for the long haul.

As a drummer interviewing a legend, I wanted to blurt out, “Dude, I freaking play drums because of you!” But instead of freaking the guy out, I main-tained my composure, did the interview, and had the greatest 25 minutes of my life. As an added bo-nus, Liberty was interviewed by a camera crew right after our interview, and the host happened to ask about the old Billy Joel albums. I sat and listened as Liberty described the songs and the soundtrack of my life as an eight-year-old kid.

In listening to that interview and the one he and I shared, I realize that Liberty has taught me so much more than the huge 2 and 4. He has taught me that it’s not the sticks you choose but what you choose to do with them that makes you who you are as a player. That it doesn’t matter what you bring to a tune as long as you remember that it is always about the tune. It’s the song that is your mark on history, not how well you played a buzz roll.

In his selfless career Liberty has and continues to give so much to the music industry, so much so that when my children are eight years old, I too can play Glass Houses and create new memories of our own. In doing something Liberty loved--playing drums--and by giving to the music, he actually gave so much more. Thanks, Liberty.

by Sean Mitchell

Photo: www.scottmoorephoto.com

Liberty DeVitto

Liberty, you’re working on a really interesting book with Jules Follett about New York City drummers. Tell us about that.

Jules loves drummers, first of all. She’s been pho-tographing groups and stuff like that for years, and she says that it’s the hardest to take a picture of the drummer. The drummer is always up on a riser, so when you’re standing in front of the stage, he’s high up. There’s so much stuff in front of the drummer like cymbals and drums, you can’t see his whole body… you barely see his face, you know. So she decided to do a coffee table book on drummers be-cause a band is only as good as the drummer. The drummer drives the whole thing, and he doesn’t get the recognition that he should. I mean, I feel we’re kind of like the bottom feeders of the music world (laughing) because we don’t have any melody and we can’t copyright anything. So she’s giving us all this recognition of being the middle of the band, the whole centre of the band. She’s actually gone around getting guys in a studio or in casual situations, just sitting in chairs. She went to Shawn Pelton’s apart-ment where he practices and took pictures of him there. She went to a Letterman rehearsal and took pictures of Anton Fig there. Stuff like that.

Tell me about your NY project The NYC Hit Squad.

We play once a month or something like that be-cause the guys in the band are all from other bands. There’s me and Ricky Bird (Ricky Bird played with Joan Jett and The Black Hearts). We started this [project]. We were playing somewhere once and he started to play this little funky R&B song and I said,” You know, why don’t we start a band in New York?” So we put this thing together and we’ve had Will Lee come through and play bass. We’ve had Hugh McDonald from Bon Jovi’s band play bass, but then he went out with Bon Jovi. Now we’ve got Muddy Shews who plays with Southside Johnny and a bunch of guys like that. And Christine Ohl-

man who sings on Saturday Night Live, so if we get a Saturday night gig, Christine can’t do it (laughing). It’s that kind of band.

Where did you learn to play?

I’m self taught. I tried to take lessons, but I wanted to learn how to play like Ringo and it was 1964. The jazz guys were the ones that were teaching then and they hated the way Ringo played. When I was a kid, I wanted to play drums when I saw Ringo on TV. Actually, I tried to play drums when I was in the sixth grade, which would have been… I was 12 years old… it was ’62, but I couldn’t do the buzz roll for the “Star Spangled Banner,” and the music teacher said, “Put down the sticks, you’ll never do anything with the drums.” So it was like, how was he to know that I was going to be a bad drummer if I just couldn t do that buzz roll? He was actually a bad teacher for saying that to me. So when the Beatles came out, it was then I said, “I want to do that,” and it wasn`t to play the buzz roll, it was to be in a band if it made girls fall over. So that`s how I started, playing 2 and 4. Everybody loved it. I don`t really care if other drummers like me – the way I play. I want guitar players and bass players and keyboard players and singers to like the way I play because I found out a long time ago the odds of me going into a recording studio with another drummer are really small.

Give me your take on the “schooled versus non-schooled” topic?

Let me start by saying this, I don’t think a drummer should take lessons at least for the first 5 years be-cause you have to learn groove and feel; you have to listen more than read. When you buy a book and you learn notes off a book, it’s stiff; it’s just whatev-er’s written down there. You’re just playing it with no feel, no nothing. I do a thing in the clinic where I’ll show them how I learned to play and I’ll show them what I used to do when I was home and I was a kid and I would take “Hide Your Love Away” by the Beatles, and I’d play to that. Because I’m playing to the timing of John’s voice, the way he sang ‘cause that’s where that emotion is—in his voice rather than just notes on a page. Then later, learn paradiddles and stuff like that because nobody really uses those things except in drum festivals.

“Two and four, man. That’s where it’s at.”

You were with Billy Joel for over 30 years. How have you branched off and redefined Liberty DeVitto?

I’ve been doing a lot of clinics. The thing is when I was a kid and I saw Buddy Rich, I felt very inse-cure in my playing. The first clinic I ever saw—and I saw Dom Famularo play—I was very insecure in my playing even though I had gold albums on the wall and everything because I don’t play like that. So my clinic is to tell kids, “Look, you don’t have to play like that. If you can’t play like that, that’s fine. Two and four, two and four, man. That’s where it’s at.”

Any plans for a new book?

I am writing a book. It’s a basic book because I’ve noticed that a lot of drummers today are listening to Dave Weckl and stuff like that, and they’re go-ing into stores and they’re buying their videos, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, I think in rock ‘n roll, the basic beats that you play you take with you for the rest of your life. Those are the beats that you play. The difference between a young kid learn-ing just a basic 2 and 4—and hearing that same 2 and 4 on an AC/DC record—is just the way the guy’s playing it. I mean, he’s playing the same thing that the kid first learned. It’s time for them to get back to basics again; it’s time for kids to learn from the beginning again. I feel fortunate that I grew up when the Beatles were out. Ringo played a song. He was a song writer’s drummer; he played songs. I like music better than I like drums. I love the drums but I like music better.

How did the Billy Joel band line-up come to be?

I was in a band called Topper at the time. There was me, Russell Javors, Doug Stegmeyer and Howie Emerson. That was Topper, and Doug got called to play bass on the Streetlife Serenader Tour. Billy al-ready had out Piano Man and Streetlife Serenader. [Billy] was living in LA. Doug gets called to do that tour. On the tour, Billy tells Doug, “I’m thinking about getting rid of the band that we tour with now and moving back to New York because I want the same musicians that play in the studio to play with me on the road.” (At the time, Billy was using studio musi-cians and then taking different guys on the road).

So Doug said, “Well, I know a drummer.” And I had known Billy since I was 16 years old. We played in the same club but in different bands. [Billy] said, “I remember Liberty.“ So I went out and auditioned for him. It was great and everything like that, so we went in to record Turnstiles, which is Billy’s fourth album—just me, Doug and Billy. Then when Billy said, “Well, we need guitar on this,” me and Doug said, “Well, we know guitar players.” We brought in Howie and Russell. We added Richie Cannata on saxophone, so Topper became Billy’s band with Richie Cannata.

If you could put together the Liberty DeVitto All-Star Band, who would be in the line-up?

On bass would probably be my friend David Santos. He plays with John Fogerty and people like that. I did an all-star band with him a while ago. We were the Northwest Airlines All-Star Band. It was me, Billy Preston, Mark Farner, Steve Cropper, and Fe-lix Cavaliere. David Santos is probably my favorite bass player. Then on keys and vocals I would want Steve Winwood because I’ve always admired his voice. I think he’s fantastic. Who would I want to play guitar? Let’s see, I have a friend George Marinelli who lives in Nashville—played with Bonnie Raitt for a long time. He’s fantastic. Guys like that.

What has parenthood taught you?

I’ve got three daughters, so parenthood has taught me that when you’ve got a son you worry about one penis; when you have a daughter, you worry about all penises. (laughing) My daughter is actually doing

very well. I have three daughters. One is 27. She mixes sound on Long Island, in clubs on Long Is-land, and she was a tour manager for a group call Antigone Rising—they were an all female group out of New York. The middle one is the actress. She just finished season five on One Tree Hill, and I just went to see a movie that she made in the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. It made it to the festival, so she’s doing good. She lives out in LA. The little one, she’s 19. She is licensed to cut hair in Michi-gan, and she just graduated from theatrical make-up school in Orlando.

How did you balance being a dad and a high profile rock drummer?

It’s hard to do that you know because it’s almost a selfish thing to be walking out your front door and have these little girls grabbing your legs and say-ing, “Daddy, don’t go!” And you look down and say, “Don’t worry. Dad will be back in eighteen months,” and expect them to go, “Oh, okay,” and just go play with their coloring books and stuff like that. But that’s why, when I talk to kids in clinics, I say you have to be dedicated to what you’re doing because there’s going to be times that even your wife will not real-ize and not understand that she will never be first. She’ll be second, a close second, but never first. I mean, my drums have been there for everything. You think about me and my drums as a great thing, like it was fantastic—play Madison Square Garden, play everything around the world and stuff like that. I also know them as I got divorced. But when I sit behind the drums and play with the band I feel bet-ter; it’s ok. They’re always there.

Click here to visit Liberty online

Click here to visit Little Kids Rock

Click here to visit Topper online

Click here to visit Camp JamPhoto: www.scottmoorephoto.com

What is it about Little Kids Rock that makes you want to be part of the program?

The fact that they give free lessons to inner city kids. It’s a great thing because these kids have nothing to do today. They took all the music programs out of the schools. What are the kids going to do? What if you’re not into sports? What if you don’t like them? What if you can’t play them? What’s your option? Go hang out in the mall? Go hang out on a street corner? So, this guy Dave Wish, who started Lit-tle Kids Rock, he was a teacher and he saw these kids hanging out and said, “Look, I’ll give you guitar lessons for free.” When he got the manufacturers involved, he got the guitars donated to Little Kids Rock. The kid takes the guitar, and if he keeps tak-ing the lessons for a year he keeps the guitar. So it’s a great thing for these kids. Pro Mark is a part of it. They give me drumsticks to bring into the kids. You hand them out; these kids freak out. They think you’re Santa Claus. Then they see you play, and it’s like, “I wanna do that.”

You also support Camp Jam, what is that?

It’s a camp in the United States, started in Atlanta by a friend of mine Dan Lipson and another friend of mine Jeff Carlisi, who is a founding member of 38 Special. It started in Atlanta 5 years ago and now it’s in 14 cities. It’s for kids from 11 to 17 (actually, there’s one for the little kids too). We call them the Bedroom Players; they practice in their bedroom. But like I said before, the reason why my friends and I took up instruments, and the reason why most kids take up an instrument, is because they saw something on MTV or they heard something on the radio and said, “I wanna do that.” And it wasn’t a paradiddle that they saw, it was a band. They want to be in a band. So Camp Jam puts them in a band with players that are equal to their ability and for a week they rehearse 2 or 3 songs. They play AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Beatles… whatever they wanna play. It’s funny, young kids playing that classic rock. And then by the end of the week, they do a full on con-cert, on a big stage with the PA and the monitors

and everything, in front of their parents and all the other students and their friends. And they feel like rock stars. It’s actually a team-building thing. They say sports is a team-building effort, but in baseball the ball is hit, it gets hit to the outfielder, he catches it on one bounce, he throws it to the second base-man, they tag the guy out. Two guys on the team are playing in that play. In music, the drummer counts to four, and everybody’s in the game.

Let’s turn to your influences for a bit. Why has the music of The Beatles transcended multi-generations?

All of them were great songwriters. Even “Octopus’s Garden.” You gotta say, Ringo wrote a great song there. It’s good. But their melodies are wonderful and they played as a band like a little orchestra. An orchestra has its parts: the strings don’t play over when the oboes are playing, they don’t walk over them. Like Ringo. That’s why he was such a great drummer—because he made up parts. If you have a great song, like the Beatles do, or like I had with “Just the Way You Are” with Billy Joel... Billy could come in, play it on the piano, and you could hear it, just him and the piano, and go, “That’s a great song.” Now I’m gonna put drums on it. My job is to make it better, not to walk all over it. And anything Ringo played on a Beatles’ song he made better. He created sounds in the studio that were never created before, that were never done before. His licks like in “A Little Help From My Friends,” try put-ting a different fill there. Doesn’t work. So it’s like he played the perfect fills. I mean, his stuff was well thought out. Billy Preston told me when he was in the studio with them, he said it was cool when one or two of them were in there, but when all four of them were in there, it was actually scary. It was so much creativity in that room that it was magical. I mean, they were great. They were really good. And

they grew, they progressed. A lot of bands from the 60’s that came out with them, didn’t progress—the way the Beatles wore those suits and they had the floppy hair—[these bands] stayed there. The Bea-tles all of a sudden decided, “We don’t want to be that anymore. Let’s move on. It’s time to move on.” And when they did Sergeant Pepper, or even Re-volver and Rubber Soul; it was different. So all their stuff, they just kept evolving.

Have you had a chance to work with any of The Beatles?

I’ve actually worked with Paul. There’s a CD out in England called Beautiful Night and actually Ringo plays on the album, but he had done demos of it over the years. I was in the studio with him and did it once. So on this thing, Paul’s explaining this song “Beautiful Night,” and how he started to play it on the piano, wrote it on the piano, and it eventually goes into me playing with him, and then, it goes into Ringo playing with him—the one that went on the album. And the great part about it is that you read the credits and it says: bass and vocal, Paul Mc-Cartney; drums, Ringo Starr. And then you read un-derneath: bass and vocal, Paul McCartney; drums, Liberty DeVitto. (laughing) It was really cool! I met Ringo twice. I actually got to play with him. I played “A Little Help From My Friends” with him while he sang it. That was cool. But the first time that I met him, I said, “Ringo, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing now.” And he said, “Well, at least you’re not blaming me for it.” (laughing)

Who is your favorite Beatle?

Ringo’s my favorite Beatle. I loved the way Paul sang, and I really in later years have learned to appreciate John and George as songwriters. But Ringo is the reason why I’m doing what I’m doing now.

Here I am writing my 20th article for The Black Page. It seems like only yesterday when Sean Mitchell asked if I might be interested. As I

thought about this month’s article, it seemed fitting to write about diversity and how it can help us have a long and rewarding career in the music business.

Where I live (on the Canadian prairies) isn’t the most logical place to be to make a living playing music. I always get people asking what my “day job” is, as it is hard to imagine someone making a living playing drums here in agriculture country. Well, I don’t have a “day job” other than music, even though I do have an education in electronics. Years ago I would get quite defensive about this question,

but now I find it kind of amusing and am very se-cure—and proud—to tell them that I do in fact make a living playing, teaching, recording and writing mu-sic.

I feel the reason I have been able to do this—and I am definitely not the only one on the prairies who has—is because of my open-minded approach and diversity. This industry is full of ups and downs, promises and lies, hopes and dreams and on and on, so if we have any aspirations of having a career in the music business, we need to have an open mind. One other important element of this is to be open to the different opportunities that come our way involving music.

by Jayson Brinkworth

Diversity Is Longevity

WHERE TO START?Let me begin by saying that, first and foremost, in my career I am a player and an educator. I also want to state that I have realized the more information I know, the more valuable I can become to a situa-tion.

Case in point: I was only 14 years old when I got a chance to work with a band at the place I took lessons. The instructor running the band, Ray Bell (who ironically is my partner in our music school now) had all of the pieces he needed for this band. He had two guitar players, a bass player and a key-board player, but no singer. Well this wasn’t working as we were doing a lot of songs that required lead vocals. For some strange reason, one that will prob-ably go unanswered forever, I volunteered to be the lead singer in the band! I have never sang in public let alone while playing drums. What was I thinking? Was I thinking? Like I always say, there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and I teeter back and forth all of the time.

Well, low and behold, I was able to do it. It didn’t happen without some practice, but perseverance pays off, right? By no means do I put myself in a class with “real” singers, but my pitch isn’t bad, I can hear melody and harmony and I am willing to accept and work on my short comings. I will never be Phil Collins, but I do get a lot of work because I am able to provide vocals where needed.

Example 2: In the 80’s, technology was becoming a huge part of music, so I had to embrace the drum machine era. I had read that this “machine” was tak-ing work away from drummers, and a lot of them had turned their back on learning about the tech-nology. I remember going out and buying an Alesis HR-16 drum machine and sitting for hours program-ming patterns and sounds. I had also purchased an Alesis D4, Drumkat, and pedals, so I had a whole rig to work with. Having this knowledge led to some sessions and a great gig with a fantastic band in town in the early 90’s. We had no acoustic instru-ments so volume wasn’t an issue. We also spent a lot of time programming sounds to fit the cover tunes we were playing. We worked every weekend of the year, never traveled more than 30 minutes away, and could setup in 20 minutes and be torn down in 10.

These are just two examples of being open mind-

ed, a little crazy, and also expanding my knowledge, but they all involve performing. There are so many opportunities in this industry that can allow us to work within our passion. Before I go into a list of these, I just want to state (and not sound too much like a parent), that having an education is so im-portant. The music industry needs business people, marketing people, accountants, lawyers and many other job-related tasks. Many of the people working in artist relations at big drum companies have de-grees in business and marketing, as well as being players themselves. Again, the more information we know, the more valuable we are.

if you spend more time online looking up drumming

information than you do at your job,

you might be a drumgeek.

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE OUT THERE?

The first logical spot to start is in retail. I have a few students who work at music stores and they love it. Retail is not for everyone, but if you have the right personality and knowledge of equipment and indus-try trends, this can be a rewarding experience. You always know about the newest products, you are around music all day at work, and the networking in a position like this can be huge—just ask Nickle-back’s Daniel Adair.

The second spot is teaching. Now I am the first to defend the art of teaching, and to point out that there is a difference between being a player and being a teacher. When I am teaching, it is a whole different mind set and my focus is the student more than anything. Again, if you have the right attitude and personality, this can be very rewarding and beneficial for your own playing. Teaching requires us to examine the basics of technique, sound, body movement and breathing all of the time. It is also so rewarding when a student reaches their goals and feels a sense of accomplishment. I do keep my eyes open for students who would be good teach-ers and definitely mentor them in that direction.

Another option might be to do live sound or light-ing. I am by no means a sound or lighting tech, but I have filled in for friends and can get by. In my own

playing, I am always very curious as to how the dif-ferent soundmen perceive the mix of the band. I am not afraid to ask why they do something a certain way, or about micing technique, monitoring or any-thing else that I might be able to use at some point. I have found it has really helped my live sound in getting the most out of my instrument.

Lighting is also a great artistic outlet and can be a lot of fun. Understanding placement, color schemes, fading and the fog machine are key. You will soon realize how well a great lighting technician knows the band and songs he is working with. The cues, shots and imaging can really set the tone for the performance.

You could also explore the possibilities of getting into production and engineering. A friend of mine Kevin Churko is a great example of this. He is a fan-tastic drummer and singer (well he is actually quite a multi-instrumentalist). Kevin had played for years around Canada, but really got into the program Pro-tools in its early stages. Kevin still plays, but most of his time is consumed with producing, mixing and engineering world class projects. His work includes Ozzy’s latest “Black Rain,” Shania Twains last three albums, Britney Spears and is currently working with Black Sabbath. Not bad for a guy from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. By the way, his brother Cory played with Shania Twain and is currently in Reba McIntire’s and Kelly Clarkson’s bands.

The production side can be very involved, and your knowledge needs to go way beyond just the drums. Drummers do make great producers; check

Click here to visit www.drummerconnection.com

The most complete online drum community.

out Steve Jordan, Harry Stinson or James Stroud to find out. Our knowledge of music software, hard-ware, song structure, frequencies, compression and songwriting are absolutely necessary. We also will need special people skills to get the best perfor-mance from an artist or musician every time.

The engineering side can be quite an experience as well. We need to know about different types of microphones and how they function, where instru-ment might sound best in a certain room, and music software and hardware to keep a session flowing smoothly. Great engineers are responsible for great sounding records. All of the best players love work-ing with the best engineers.

The last option on my list is probably the least ex-plored, but most important (I believe) for drummers: songwriting. It is pretty hard to write songs on an instrument with very limited melodic and harmonic nature. The first thing we will need to do is to learn a bit about piano or guitar, as well as some music theory. The next thing to do is to listen to all kinds of music and get inside the lyrics, melody, and struc-ture of a song. You can start with one that I talked about in a past article, “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor. This is as good as it gets. Try writing lyr-ics. We all have life experiences that we can draw from for this. Songwriting is definitely a craft and the great writers work at it daily, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t give it a shot.

BUT WHAT IF I ONLY WANT TO DRUM?

What if you are reading this and are thinking, “I don’t want to do anything but drum“? Most drum-mers would love to attain this goal as we have spent countless hours working on our craft. Sean Mitch-ell is a great player, and has diversified his career by starting up this magazine, as well as other op-portunities he continues to make for himself. Billy Ward does clinics, writes articles and does produc-tion and engineering work. Dave Weckl loves the aspect of recording and engineering his records. Gil Moore of Triumph owns Metal Works studio, which has been successful for years. These are just a few examples, but the more we expand our knowledge, the more opportunities we can create for ourselves. Don’t be afraid to expand.

It is one thing to be a great player, but that has to be backed up with desire, passion, hard work and fearlessness at times. We also have to recognize when opportunity knocks and be willing to follow through. You never know where it might lead you in your music career.

JAYSON BRINKWORTH IS AN ACCOMPLISHED DRUMMER, PERCUSSIONIST, VOCALIST,EDUCATOR & WRITER.

CLICK ON HIS IMAGE TO LINK TO HIS WEBSITE.

Check out the newest drum community on the net.Click here to visit www.thedrumfill.com

Ricardo, tell me about Dearestazazel. How did you end up with the throne?

D.A. is progressive pop band. We are the bastard child of The Cure, Queen, Judas Priest, and 80’s Nintendo music. It all started three years ago in Atlanta, Georgia. Peter (vocalist/keyboard) knew Jesse, and I was drummer #50. The combination was perfect, I got the spot right at my audition.

Talk to me about your latest CD Be Mine. Have you guys evolved since your first effort Come Closer?

Yes, I would say we have evolved. Be Mine is like our ultimate idea as to how we wanted to sound. Our first CD Come Closer was a cluster fwwk. We had so much going on at once that you really couldn’t tell what we were about. There was no di-rection. Our second effort, our EP Touch Me, was a lot cleaner and you could hear what we were try-ing to do, what we were about. We had direction. Be Mine is the epitome of all we are.

What was it like as a young drummer grow-ing up in Puerto Rico? Is there a music scene there? How did you get started?

Growing up being—and wanting to be—a drum-mer in Puerto Rico was hard. Religion command-ed my surroundings and tried to manipulate my fate. I started playing drums thanks to my incor-rigible bad behavior. My father (RIP) got me my first drum kit when I was 8. I played every single

Ricardo Melendez is the in-tense passion behind the groove of Dearestazazel. Currently in the midst of an American tour, Ricardo took time to talk with us about his journey from Puerto Rico many years ago, to the reali-ties of life on the road with an independent rock act.

By Sean Mitchell

Ricardo Melendez

day. I overcame the challenges and 20 years later I am still playing my drums. There is a music scene in Puerto Rico, geat bands like Sol d’ Menta, La Mosca, La Secta Allstar and Puya among others. The long lasting scene is the Latin Jazz scene. I was part of both. Caribbean music is amazing and the majority of the artists that make the Caribbean’s music scene are of the most talented and humble artists known.

You credit your father as a very important influ-ence in your life. How did he impact your music career?

I have many heroes and idols, but all them make up a third of what my father was in my eyes. He is my ultimate hero and idol. He bought me my first drum kit, got me my first gig, went to every show and then got me my first professional drum kit. This drum kit is the one I have used on all of DA’s CD recordings and tours. My father taught me many things. The one I live off is “chasing my dreams until I can dream no longer.” The sky’s the limit. He always wanted to be remembered young, so I tattooed a portrait of him when he was 28, my same age. You guys are out there touring and making it happen. What is life like for an aspiring band these days? How’s road life treating you?

It’s really hard for any aspiring band. It takes a lot out of you. You sacrifice all; you lose all for the one dream. Whether you make it or not shouldn’t matter. The fact that you gave it all and then some should be enough for you to feel like you actually made it. Life on the road is great. The driving is horrendous. I mean the first 100 miles is great because of the scenery around you, but then you feel trapped in a van. I hate the driving, I’d rather fly. Playing a show and meeting and greeting the fans is the best part of touring. The stories, the gifts, they make me forget of how overrated it is to be in a van.

If you could, pass on your words of wisdom and share with our readers some of the Latin influ-ences they may not have heard of. Who are the drummers that best define the music of Puerto Rico? There are so many of them. Listen to any old school

salsa artists like Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades, La Lupe, Tito Puente, Willie Colon, Ruben Blades, El Gran Combo, etc. There is also great Latin pop art-ists like Robi Draco Rosa, old school Ricky Martin, old school Shakira, Mana, Molotov, Ricardo Arjona, Glenn Monroig, etc. All of their drummers are amaz-ing Latin drummers!

Reflecting on leaving Puerto Rico, it must have been very hard to come to the USA and start getting gigs. What were your challenges?

Everything was a challenge! I cheated though…my best friend’s parents lived in Georgia and they were cool on lodging us for free for a couple of months. We made a band called Fallein Wisdom (Century Media). One day we were hanging out at a local comic book shop when I saw a book called Musi-cian’s Atlas, I bought it immediately. I contacted all the local bars/pubs/clubs, started playing and have not stopped since. That was back in 2002.

What would you say have been your biggest lessons in music since becoming a working drummer?

Being on the road changes you. This is where you separate the amateurs from the professionals, as well as your enemies and allies. The music busi-ness is all about money, so there are tons of politics involved. That’s when it becomes a job for me.

What do you guys have coming up in 2009, and where can readers buy a copy of Be Mine?

We just finished a one-month tour supporting Mind-less Self Indulgence (MSI). We also toured with In-ner Party System and UK’s Die So Fluid. It was a full U.S. Tour. We will be out again in January 2009, covering the same states, plus some extra ones. We keep our Myspace page up to date, so please make sure you visit.

Click here to visit Ricardo and Dearestazazel on the webwww.myspace.com/dearestazazel

Perhaps you, like many other drum-mers, have found that the pinch of custom drum prices can be down-right painful at times. While we re-ally can’t fault our brothers and sis-ters who toil over maple shells and lacquer all day (often not turning a huge profit), the ultimate drum kit may actually lie in the palm of your hands, quite literally.Enter John Dutra, drum maker, drummer and entrepreneur. John has come up with a DVD entitled Guerrilla Drum Making, the very first custom drum making video ever. With it’s recent release, cus-tom drum making has now entered a new arena, one that could be in your back yard.

John you have obviously used this system yourself. How long can a person expect to see a finished result from start to finish?

It’s really hard to say. It depends on the finish type and the amount of detail that’s put into the drums. I’ve built entire drum kits that take a day to complete, but I’ve also built kits that take a month to finish.

How and why did you come up with this DVD?

There were two reasons why the DVD needed to be made. The first was that there were barely any visual explanations of drum making techniques and tactics. Mostly everything was step-by-step drum making procedures with pictures. For such a de-tailed craft, that seemed crazy to me. There are too many realistic steps that get left out when docu-menting something with pictures and it seems truly

unrealistic. People need to see someone doing it, seamlessly and in action, so they can watch it and say, “Ok, got it. I can do that. No problem.”The second reason is that the online explanations and small selection of pictures was completely cen-tered around specialized equipment that only pro-fessionals can afford and operate. I mean, I worked at a custom drum shop for years, and we had all those tools—they are not easy to use for the one-off drum builder! So I sat back and asked myself, “For all the people wanting to take a leap into drum making, how many of them are scared right off the bat strictly by the tools that are being used?” Appar-ently, the answer I presumed was correct.

How much money can a person expect to save with the Guerrilla System?

That’s another question that is really hard to answer.

By Sean Mitchell

I tell people all the time that they should make their own drums because they want to make their own drums. Saving money is just a bonus. I mean, in theory, someone could spend a ton of money on their own custom kit, spending more than the cost of buying a custom drum kit from some of the big boy custom companies. And then again, someone could spend nothing on something that looks and sounds better than kits that some of the custom drum companies offer.

What are some of the benefits of making your own kit?

It’s completely customized. The builder’s imagi-nation and patience is the limit. Nothing is lost in translation. There are no telephone calls with cus-tom companies saying, “I want this, this and that...and make sure to have half the lugs in the stripe and the other half outside the stripe,” and so on. It never turns out the way you initially imagined it, and then you force yourself to compromise and settle. I say don’t settle. You’ve got a vision, make it hap-pen yourself. I’m finding also that it’s somewhat of a rebellion against some of the custom drum com-panies that are out there endorsing anyone, just to build a roster and sell kits. They end up with this brand defined by their endorsees, defined by a style of music, etc. In that sense, Guerrilla Drum Making is a manual that says, “Avoid the branding. Think for yourself. Make your own kit and your own company. Endorse yourself!”

Are there safety issues that need to be ad-dressed when dealing with the painting pro-cess?

Yeah, there are pretty much safety issues with ev-erything. I tell people to carefully read the directions on aerosol cans and finish products; always wear a respirator mask and work in well ventilated areas etc.

What is the resale value on these kits, should the average player decide to unload some old gear down the line?

Good question. I always say, “poor products yield poor results.” I’d say that transfers over to your question. A poorly made drum with bad products

won’t sell for anything.

Do you need a lot of space to set up a Guerrilla drum making shop?

Space is not a problem. My first idea for the video was to make a drum in every different situation pos-sible: apartments, cars, outside areas, garages, sheds, bedrooms, kitchens. I turned against it be-cause it may have been cheesy and I wanted multi-ple camera angles and great camera shots. But I’ve drilled drums in my kitchen before, ya know. And if you’re spraying lacquers and aerosol fades, I’d say that “space” isn’t as important as a “well-ventilated area.”

Any reaction from the big companies so far?

I’ve gotten one e-mail from a small company that I won’t say. It was pretty funny actually. But for the most part, not much. I’ve heard a few things about some of the big guys “hearing about it.”

Any feedback or samples on how these kits sound?

Some of the Guerrilla Drum Makers have bought brand new shells and say they sound awesome. And some people just buy garage sale kits, or re-vamp an old kit, and say they sound great and feel good to play because they look great.

Click here to visit John’s website

Happy Holidays from THE BLACK PAGEThanks to my family: Mom and Dad, Misty, Corey, and Denny for your constant support and encouragement. And Heather for putting up with the rack-ett and a home full of drums.Sean Mitchell and everyone at The Black Page, Vic Firth & Team, and Scott at Beatnik for

having faith and giving me a chance. Thank you so much. To all my students for your support and dedi-cation. I learn so much from you guys too. Thanks to Dom Famularo, Neil Garthly, John Favicchia, and Joe Bergamini for looking out for me and giving me the encouragement to get to the next level.

Thank you to my beautiful wife Laura and my children Tyson and Jayla for putting up with my schedule, support-ing my passion, making me laugh and realizing how lucky I am every day to have you in my life. My Mom and Dad for buying me that first Westbury

set, not complaining about the noise and supporting me through life’s challenges. I will never be able to repay you for all you have done, I love you. My in-laws the Roddicks, the love and support is beyond words. You really understand the passion for music and life. I love you all so much. The companies, it is an honor to use your gear and to be treated so well. Terry Ryan and everyone at Sabian Cymbals, Sean Browne and everyone at Yamaha Drums, Eric An-derson and everyone at Trueline Drumsticks, Ryan Goldin and everyone at Mountain Rhythm Percus-sion, Daniel East and everyone at Future Sonics Ear Monitors, Brian and everyone at Flix Products, Rob Eriksen and everyone at Impact Cases, Suzanne Simon and everyone at D’addario Canada, Steve Lobmeier at Evans Drumheads, Colin Funk and John Meydam at Kaman and Ed Peck at Epek Per-cussion. Aaron Pritchett, Lisa Bokop, Aaron Lines and all of the other artists and writers who have trusted me with their music, I always appreciate the calls. My students and fellow teachers, you inspire me more than you will ever know. And finally, Sean

Mitchell and The Black Page. This opportunity is a gift, and I enjoy every moment of it. You are a true musician and your passion runs very deep, thanks for trusting me with the words for your project.

First and foremost, thank you to those of you who subscribe and find something to read every month between these pages. I am eternally humbled that you read our magazine. To the love of my life Jill. It has been an incredible seven years since fortune smiled

upon me and brought you into my life. Thank you for sharing this great journey with me. Your talent and dedication continues to inspire me. To my family, I miss you very much. Thank you for your support. To my interviewees, thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience. What a great honor it is to know you. To the guys in my band, thanks for making it so fulfilling to be a drummer. To the agents and venues who have consistently ignored my emails and calls over the past year in my quest for gigs. Without you there would be no reason to remain even more per-sistent and brazen. Success favors the bold, see you in 2009! And finally, to Jayson and Ryan, with-out whom this magazine does not exist. I am awed by the immense talent you both possess and very proud to call you friends.

A big thank you goes out to those of you across the globe who have found that special “something” in my articles each month. I’m honored that I could share insight with you on our musical journeys. Sean Mitchell, my soul mate and friend, thanks for taking a

chance on a university girl a few years back. With-out you, I never would have experienced life in its fullest. I love you. A writer can not succeed without the support of a great team; thanks to you Jayson and Ryan for keeping me on my toes. Last but not least, I’d like to extend a big hug to my family who nurtured and encouraged me. Happy holidays!

by Ryan Carver

Ryan Carver is a member of the Academy of Drums faculty, the Vic Firth education team and PASIC. Click either link below to visit him on the web or to email Ryan your questions and groove requests.

www.carverdrums.com www.myspace.com/ryancarver

HOLIDAY GROOVES

Listening to music is a key part of making music. It is important to listen to grooves from other drummers and all styles. Groove school is a collection of some great grooves from various artists. Each groove can inspire you, and open up different ideas and possibilities. This month has some solid grooves. It’s all in how these great drummers play the groove that makes it happen. Listen to the feel that each one generates. Listen to the drum sounds, the way they hit the hi-hat, and the bass lines.

THE FINAL WORD

“It was very interesting to work with someone who would give you that ulti-mate freedom that seemed to have whatever time existed in your head.”

Mitch MitchellJuly 9, 1947 - November 12, 2008