What's up, everybody! Welcome to Episode 22 of The Up & Coming Drummer Podcast. This week I'm joined on the show by Touring Drummer, Dan Macon.

I've been having a funny connection with my guests as of late. It's something that I'm sure has always been there but may just be more evident as I'm becoming more comfortable as an interviewer. It's as if I've known them for years and we are just catching up after a few years of not seeing each other. Kind of strange how this has been happening, but I'm not at all complaining. I love the fact that I continually speak to drummers who are extremely down to earth. The same goes for my guest this week, Dan Macon.

Dan and I hoped on our Skype call and immediately started kicking it like we were high school pals! In reality, I don't know much at all about Dan beside for what I've learned about him through my research. So after a quick check-in, I ask him about how he got started playing drums. He explains what sparked his interest and about growing up in the state of Maryland. like a lot of drummers, finding neighbors who are willing to deal with noise is always a challenge. Sometimes more so than learning how to play the drums altogether.

Dan has a youtube channel where he posts different kinds of videos ranging from covers to vlog style videos. After watching many of his videos, I quickly learned that Dan plays many different styles of music. We talk a bit about some of the different bands he's covered in his videos and get into a great conversation about our biggest influences. We discuss some of the bands that we enjoy and draw inspiration from, and also some of our favorite drummers.

Prior to every interview, I have my guest answer some brief questions about the bands they have played or play with. Dan sent me over a list of the different artists he has worked with. Myself being a drummer who has played with dozens of bands, I always enjoy talking with other drummers about their experiences. Especially when you see that they cross several different genres. I think it's also a great opportunity for the young up and comers that listen to this show to hear some advice on how to land themselves a gig.

Dan gives us some great tips and then we dive into the bands he's toured and recorded with. He's played with Average American, Burdened Hearts, Like Friday, and Take Care just to name a few. I had Dan give us a bit of background on each band including their style, achievements, and albums recorded. He had the opportunity to play the Vans Warped Tour back in 2015. We talk about that experience and how the Law of Attraction worked for him in this case.

In our next segment, Dan and I get into gear. I noticed on his Instagram page that he recently began playing bass guitar. Since I play a little bass myself, I wanted to know how it has been going for him. I find it very useful when teaching students. I try and teach them how to lock in with a bass player right off the bat. Once we finish up our bass chat, we move on to his Drums. Dan has an unbelievably nice kit made by our good friends over at Dark Horse Percussion. Dan is a proud endorser of Dark Horse and tells us a bit about how he developed his relationship with the company. He even gave his kit a name, Sasha!

As always, I like to focus a portion of the interview on the use of the internet. We start by talking about content creation. I feel it is very valuable for beginners to hear how each of my guests go about micing, recording and mixing their drums. And of course, creating video. Video rules right now and I imagine it will as time goes on. So how do we get ourselves out there? Well, a good start would be places like Youtube and Instagram. As I mentioned earlier, Dan's youtube channel is a great place to check out a wide variety of Drum Covers and even some tips and tricks. On his Instagram page,