Drummers on Drumming

Today’s guest is Dan Mayo. Dan is an Israeli drummer with one of the most distinct sounds of any player today…partly thanks to his A&F drum set, but mostly do to his personality behind the kit and background in a wide range of musical genres. His main project is the power trio, TATRAN, but Dan is also a prolific solo artist in addition to working with many other legends such as Ester Rada & Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. We chatted for quite awhile and so I split our conversation into two parts. Part 1 starts off with me playing a bunch of song from Dan’s career followed by a discussion on each. We then get into some listener questions and eventually dive into a more general list of the top 5 influences that shaped him into the drummer he is today. Part 2 is the 5 specific records that shaped the way he tunes his drums and approaches writing in general. Not only is Dan a very generous human being, he’s funny and humble and I really hope these episodes turn you into a dan fan. Enjoy part 1 Cheers :) 

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

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This week’s episode is payback for the boys from the podcast Working Drummer forcing me to take time out of MY damn day a few weeks ago to bump up THEIR podcast numbers. Now I’m totally using them. 

All kidding aside, I absolutely love Matt and Zack. Their podcast (Working Drummer) highlights real stories of the every day “working drummer” and features guests, sometimes with a less recognizable name, but always with an impressive and distinct body of work. These conversations can help us all feel a little better about our own “path”. Please check it out. In this joint episode, I chatted with the boys about the top 5 influences that shaped their playing style. Aside from being amazing podcast hosts, Zack and Matt are incredibly accomplished drummers and VERY different players than me. I learned a s*$t ton in this episode and I know you will too. 

Also...I created a Spotify playlist for all the songs played and/or mentioned in this episode. Just search for 'Big Fat Five Podcast - Working Drummer'

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s guest is Ash Soan.

I don’t even know where to begin; he’s a complete badass and unless you’ve gone OUT OF YOUR WAY to avoid him, you certainly know who he is. Ash has been one of the most in-demand session and live drummers in the UK for decades, but with his growing popularity on social media and the finishing of his Windmill Studio behind his home in Norfolk, England, he’s gone global with remote sessions. His resume includes live performances and/or recordings with Adele, Seal, James Morrison, Cee Lo Green, Robbie Williams, Stewart Copeland, Ronan Keating, The Trevon Horn Band, Cher, Billy Idol, Del Amitri and soooo many more. In this episode, we start of by dissecting a few clips from his career…curated by yours truly and unbeknownst to Ash beforehand…..then answer some listener questions and eventually jump into the top 5 influences that shaped Mr. Ash Soan. Getting to chat with him was such a pleasure and I hope you guys enjoy as I try to hold back my excitement and not interrupt him TOO much. I’ve created a Spotify playlist containing all the songs discussed and played in this show, just search for 'Big Fat Five Podcast - Ash Soan'. Also, go check out his new EP, titled 66991. Cheers.

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s episode is a premiere / takeover of a new podcast by our very good friend...Sarah Hagan. Sarah worked for many years as the Head of Zildjian Artist Relations Worldwide, but now runs her own media and consulting business for the music industry as a whole. Through the years, Sarah has mastered the art of creating, developing and maintaining genuine relationships with the world's greatest drummers. With her new podcast, titled Sarah Hagen Backstage, Sarah is able to pull something a little different from her guests because they aren’t talking to any old podcast host, they’re talking to their friend. This obviously gives her an advantage and I’m extremely jealous! That being said, we have some really exciting yet-to-be-announced...um...announcements involving Sarah, myself and a few people you just may know...but more on that later :) I hope you enjoy this week’s takeover episode of Sarah Hagan Backstage with her first guest Gavin Harrison. We’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. Be sure to subscribe to her feed wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers!

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's guest is Atom Willard. Atom played with some of my favorite bands growing up including Rocket From the Crypt, The Offspring, Social Distortion, and Angels and Airwaves, but he is the current drummer for Against Me! and Laura Jane Grace and The Devouring Mothers. As I often do in the days leading up to these chats, I went down a rabbit hole of Atom's drumming and I was blown away by how much of my OWN playing can be attributed to Mr. Willard...like...it's actually embarrassing. This one meant a lot to me and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Atom Willard as he dissects his biggest musical influences that made him into the drummer he is today. Cheers ya’ll.

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s guest is the ever-energetic Nate Morton, drummer for NBC’s The Voice. His career spans multiple decades and performances with some pretty damn good artists such as Paul Stanley, Madonna, Chaka Kan, Natalie Cole, Vanessa Carlton, Miley Cyrus, Poe and many, many more. Nate is a monster player who knows exactly how to match the playing-for-the-song element with his own unique and powerful creative voice...no pun intended. This was such a fun conversation and we talked for HOURS so this is a very condensed version for the sake of focus, but I guarantee you will be hearing more of our chats in future episodes. Enjoy my hang with the one of my favorite humans…Nate Morton.

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we have the returning champion Madden Klass on the show to discuss the Top 5 drumming influences that shaped her playing style. Currently a student at Berklee, Madden also plays with Raavi and the Houseplants, Space Junk is Forever, Mike Doughty, Wheatus, a newer band called Mæges and many more. She was one of the last guests before we switched over this newer format and I’ve wanted to get her back on ever since. Her first episode was a very interesting deep dive into her theories on technique and practicing…so go check that out. It’s chalk full of great advice from both Madden herself and teachers that have helped her along the way. She really is one of my favorite drummers and I can’t wait to see what her career becomes. I’m seriously having such a good time with these interviews and discovering drummers that have really started changing my own playing. Thank you for coming on this journey with me and enjoy my fruitful conversation with the great Madden Klass.

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Liberty DeVitto…the rhythmic powerhouse behind 22 of Billy Joel's 23 top 40 hits and all six of his Grammy Award-winning recordings. His ability to seamlessly switch between mature session musician and bombastic live showman should be a guiding light for a lot of players you and old (me) alike. I had a blast talking with Liberty as we broke down the top five influences that shaped his drumming style. Also…go buy his damn book…which we talk about throughout. Cheers!

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is Curt Bisquera…or as most people know him “Kirkee B”. He’s played with so many great artists such as Elton John, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Sarah Mclaughlin, Lana Del Ray, Johnny Cash and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. His pocket is deep and his stories are endless. I brought him on the show to break down the top 5 moments in his career that best represent his legacy as a player. From moving to LA to pursue a career in drumming at MI as a young kid who couldn’t read music to eventually playing the biggest stages in the world…Kirkee B is a man who takes opportunities and smashes them out of the park. His mixture of being at the right place at the right time (WITH the right information to stand out) is a common theme. Do your homework, play to the song, know the technology of the day and be more like Kirkee B. There…now you don’t even have to listen. But please do.

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This could be the most important episode I’ve had the pleasure to record. Levon Helm of The Band was one of the greatest to ever do it. Thusly, everything I’ve typed / erased / retyped / and so on for this intro feels utterly contrived or underwhelming when trying to describe a musician of this magnitude. As Rolling Stone Magazine once wrote, “Levon Helm is the only drummer that can make you cry.”. He changed the game in so many ways and, to be honest, DOESN’T GET THE DAMN CREDIT HE DESERVES.

I invited one of my new favorite people (and fellow Levon enthusiast), Steve from Junkdrummer TV, on the show to dissect the top 5 recordings that best represent Levon’s legacy as a player. I couldn’t have been happier with how this came out and I hope this episode introduces a bunch of people to their new favorite drummer.

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Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today!

🎯 Click here to order now!

Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top influences, it’s packed with candid interviews and personal insights. Whether you’re just starting out or have been playing for years, this book is here to inspire you to sharpen your skills and find your own voice behind the kit.

For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices