Drummers on Drumming

By Ben HilzingerMusic Music Commentary Music Interviews

Drummers on Drumming episodes

January 15, 2025 Big Fat Five: Jared Shavelson (Joyce Manor, Seal, Mariachi el Bronx, Ways Away, The Hope Conspiracy, Boysetsfire, Paint It Black, Chuck Ragan)
Today, we’ve got another segment of the podcast called Big Fat Five. This is where I invite my favorite drummers on the show to break down the five records that helped shape their approach to the instrument. This format also inspired my book, Drummers on Drumming, which is available now as a paperback or ebook on Amazon.
Today’s guest is Jared Shavelson. I met Jared through a mutual buddy and Big Fat Five alum, Mike Robinson. Jared is the real deal. He studied jazz in college but left early to kickstart his career—and it’s safe to say that decision paid off. Over the years, he’s played with Seal, The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx, Joyce Manor, The Hope Conspiracy, Paint It Black, The Aquabats, and so many others.
I just saw him perform with Mariachi El Bronx on New Year’s Eve, opening for Morrissey at The Palladium. He was playing a cocktail kit, and the Afro-Cuban rhythms he was laying down were absolutely insane—I was completely blown away.
Now, we were supposed to record this a few days ago, but life in LA had other plans. Between the fires and travel chaos, it was hard to pin down a time. Jared ended up flying out of Los Angeles Thursday night, only to get stuck in Atlanta during a snowstorm when his flight was canceled. After being stranded at the airport for 18 hours, he decided to help pass the time by hopping on the mic with me. That’s why the audio in this episode might be a little rough—picture Jared huddled in the corner of a busy terminal while we recorded.
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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.

JARED'S BIG FAT FIVE:
Album - Led Zeppelin 1
Artist - Led Zeppelin
Release Year - 1969
Key Track(s) - Good times bad times / How Many More Times
Drummer - John Bonham
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Album - Time Out
Artist - Dave Brubeck
Release Year - 1959
Key Track(s) - Take Five / Kathy’s Waltz
Drummer - Joe Morello
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Album - Alice In Chains Unplugged
Artist - Alive in Chains
Release Year - 1996
Key Track(s) - Nutshell / No Excuses / Down in a Hole
Drummer - Sean Kinney
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Album - Out of Step
Artist - Minor threat
Release Year - 1984
Key Track(s) - Betray
Drummer - Jeff Nelson
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Album - The Egg
Artist - Shiner
Release Year - 2001
Key Track(s) - The Egg / Surgery / Andalusia
Drummer - Jason Gerken

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

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38 min
January 08, 2025The Drum Panel: 2024's Biggest Wins, Unexpected Lessons, and the Stack Debate
Episode 9 of The Drum Panel
Welcome to The Drum Panel—a show where a rotating group of professional drummers engages in roundtable discussions pertaining to all things DRUM.
For today's panel, we have my co-host Eric Urrea and special guest, Kris Mazzarisi (owner/founder of Big Fat Snare Drum & drummer for Winnetka Bowling League).
Today we discuss:
What was the most game-changing moment in your drumming or musical journey this year?
Which performance, session, or project from this year holds a special place in your heart—and what made it so meaningful?
What’s one surprising thing you discovered about yourself as a musician this year?
Did any piece of gear or tool unexpectedly transform your playing this year? Share your story!
Hot take: Is spending more than $100 on a stack just plain unnecessary?
Time to settle the debate—Is Buddy Rich a legend or just overhyped?
Let’s get it out there: What are some of your biggest drumming pet peeve?

Listen to 500 Anõs by La Armada HERE
Check out Kris' cute little digital recorder HERE
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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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
43 min
January 01, 2025 Excerpts from My Book: Drummers on Drumming, Part 2
Ok, I promise I won’t be promoting my book forever—but give me at least a few weeks to talk about it (I’m proud of it!). And hey, the sooner you grab a copy, the sooner you’ll stop feeling guilty... and, well, left out.
In this episode, I read a few excerpts from my new book, Drummers on Drumming. You’ll hear stories and song choices from incredible drummers like Joe Bagale, David Raouf (rdavidr), Joe Seiders, Ilan Rubin and Jesse Kongos. These highlights give you a taste of the insights and inspiration you’ll find in the book. I hope you enjoy these glimpses into the creative minds of today's top players.
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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.
31 min
December 25, 2024 Excerpts from My Book: Drummers on Drumming, Part 1
Ok, I promise I won’t be promoting my book forever—but give me at least a few weeks to talk about it (I’m proud of it!). And hey, the sooner you grab a copy, the sooner you’ll stop feeling guilty... and, well, left out.
In this episode, I read a few excerpts from my new book, Drummers on Drumming. You’ll hear stories and song choices from incredible drummers like Jason McGerr, Madden Klass, Jojo Mayer, Noa Kahn, Andrew Marshall, Michael Benjamin Lerner, and Brendan Buckley. These highlights give you a taste of the insights and inspiration you’ll find in the book. I hope you enjoy these glimpses into the creative minds of today's top players.
---
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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
35 min
December 18, 2024The Drum Panel: Our Guilty Pleasures, Drum Trolls, and the IG Cheating Debate
Episode 8 of The Drum Panel
This week, Eric (@ericsurrea) is back!...alongside our newest bestie George Martinez (@skinnygeorge).
In this episode, we dive into:
Are ghost notes the modern-day equivalent of skinny jeans—cool now but overdone?
How do you strike the right balance between technical precision and feel in your playing?
Are dynamics the single most important factor in making a drummer sound great?
Why is it so challenging to produce a high-quality drum part on the spot?
Are tambourines and shakers actually more essential than toms?
What are the guilty-pleasure drum songs we secretly love to play but would never admit to?
Is a rubber practice pad less effective than a gel pad or pillow for improving your playing?
Are self-taught drummers at a disadvantage in the long run?
What’s the best way to handle trolls in the drumming community?
Is quantizing your Instagram drum videos considered cheating?
---
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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1 hr 4 min
December 11, 2024 The Drum Panel: Audition Advice, Anecdotes, and Staying Hired—Thriving in the Touring Industry with Elias Mallin & Stacy Jones
Episode 7 of The Drum Panel
This week, we're joined by Stacy Jones (Miley Cyrus, Letters to Cleo, American Hi-Fi) and Elias Mallin (Kesha, Noah Cyrus, Filter)—two seasoned veterans of the touring music industry and influential figures in shaping the competitive LA music scene.
This episode steps away from our usual bullet-point list of hot takes and dives into a bigger-picture conversation about what it really takes to build and sustain a career in live music. We cover everything from technique tips and tuning tricks to staying mentally sharp during performances, audition dos and don’ts, and plenty of honest stories about the ups and downs of auditions and live shows.
Special thanks to Patches Sound for hosting us!
---
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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1 hr 10 min
December 04, 2024 Big Fat Five: Sterling Laws (NIKI, Natasha Bedingfield, Matt Berninger) Shares His Top 5 Influential Records
Welcome back to Big Fat Five—a segment of Drummers on Drumming brought to you by Big Fat Snare Drum, where I chat with my favorite drummers about the stories and records that shaped their sound. I’m your host, Ben Hilzinger, and this week’s guest is the incredible Sterling Laws.
Sterling is a fellow Pacific Northwest native now based in Los Angeles, but more importantly, he’s a Grammy-nominated drummer whose resume is as impressive as it gets. He’s worked with artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Kim Gordon, Chappell Roan, NIKI, Matt Berninger, Liz Phair, The War on Drugs, Linda Perry, Aly & AJ, Lo Moon, Dave Stewart, and many more.
Sterling is out there doing the thing and still manages to bring a unique perspective to the kit while working with such a diverse roster of artists—a quality that’s both rare and inspiring. It’s exactly why I was so excited to talk to him.
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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.

STERLING'S BIG FAT FIVE:
Album - Badmotorfinger
Artist - Soundgarden
Release Year - 1991
Key Track(s) - Rusty Cage, Searching With My Good Eye Closed, Jesus Christ Pose
Drummer - Matt Cameron
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Album - In Rainbows
Artist - Radiohead
Release Year - 2007
Key Track(s) - 15 Steps, Bodysnatchers, Weird Fishes, Reckoner
Drummer - Philip Selway
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Album - Future Self
Artist - The Globes
Release Year - 2011
Key Track(s) Pigeon, Stay Awake, A Stitch Couldn't Save The World
Drummer - Marcus Ourada
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Album - Boxer
Artist - The National
Release Year - 2007
Key Track(s) - Mistaken For Strangers, Brainy, Apartment Story
Drummer - Bryan Devendorf
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Album - Live From The Ryman And More
Artist - Sheryl Crow
Release Year - 2019
Key Track(s) - A Change Would Do You Good, Everything Is Broken, Maybe Angels, If It Makes You Happy
Drummer - Fred Eltringham
For more information on Big Fat Snare Drum, check out www.bigfatsnaredrum.com and follow us on Instagram.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
37 min
November 27, 2024 Ilan Rubin (Nine Inch Nails, Danny Elfman, Angels & Airwaves): Start Somewhere To Go Somewhere
Welcome back to Drummers on Drumming!
Today, I’m thrilled to share a conversation with a true force in modern drumming—Ilan Rubin. You’ve heard his incredible work behind the kit with artists like Nine Inch Nails, Danny Elfman, Angels & Airwaves, Paramore and so many more. But Ilan is not just an outstanding drummer; he’s also a passionate educator, and his latest project proves just that.
He’s recently released his instructional book, Start Somewhere to Go Somewhere, and trust me, it’s not just another drum method book.
In this episode, we certainly discuss the book, but we dive deep into Ilan’s philosophy on practice and technique in a way that I personally haven’t heard him talk about before … and why he felt compelled to share his unique perspective in an already crowded field of drum education. I have the book and ive been able to spend some more time with it since recording this episode and I can say first hand, it’s worth it. So without further ado…here is my chat with the youngest rock n roll hall of fame inductee, Ilan Rubin.
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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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
43 min
November 20, 2024The Drum Panel: The Ultimate Compliment, Jazz Study—Essential or Overrated?, and Is the Band Drummer Era Over?
Episode 6 of The Drum Panel
This week's guests are two of my favorite drummers and people, Sarab Singh (MUNA) and Adam Christgau (Tegan and Sara).
In this episode, we dive into:
What’s the greatest compliment a drummer can get, and does it truly matter?
How do others really describe your playing style—are you sure you'd agree?
Should every drummer dive into jazz, or is it a skill only some truly need?
Has the golden era of iconic bands come to an end, or is it just evolving?
Are music schools churning out technical robots at the cost of creative souls?
Is practicing on pillows with heavy sticks a hidden secret or just a myth?
Are quintuplets and sextuplets essential or a complete waste of practice time?
---
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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
49 min
November 13, 2024 Big Fat Five: Lucy Ritter (Chappell Roan, Suki Waterhouse) Share Her Top 5 Influential Records
We’ve got another installment of Big Fat Five: a segment where I talk to drummers about the stories and records that shaped their sound.
Today’s guest is Lucy Ritter, a New York/New Jersey native who picked up the drums at just 9 years old and was already landing professional gigs by 14. After three years at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, she made the bold decision to leave and join her first major tour: the Broadway musical An Officer and a Gentleman. That gig opened doors, eventually leading to her being offered the drum chair for the Grammy Award-winning musical Jagged Little Pill.
These days, Lucy has stepped away from the Broadway scene and taken on an exciting new role as the drummer for one of today’s fastest-rising pop acts, Chappell Roan. We dig into how she landed that gig and explore the five records that have profoundly influenced her drumming style. This episode has been a long time coming, so let’s dive in. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the incredibly talented Lucy Ritter... 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.

LUCY'S BIG FAT FIVE:
Album - A Love Supreme
Artist - John Coltrane
Release Year - 1965
Key Track(s) - Pt. II - Resolution & Pt. III - Pursuance
Drummer - Elvin Jones
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Album - Earfood
Artist - Roy Hargrove
Release Year - 2008
Key Track(s) - Strasbourg / St. Denis, The Stinger, Mr.Clean
Drummer - Motez Coleman
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Album - Grow
Artist - Chon
Release Year - 2015
Key Track(s) - But / all of them
Drummer - Nathan Camarena, Brian Evans, Matt Garstka
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Album - Live at Velfarre
Artist - Earth, Wind & Fire
Release Year - 1996
Key Track(s) - In The Stone, September, Let Your Feelings Show, Let’s Groove
Drummer - Sonny Emory
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Album - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
Artist - Blink-182
Release Year - 2001
Key Track(s) - 3
Drummer - Travis Barker

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

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

About Drummers on Drumming

From the publisher's feed

A podcast for drummers who think too much. Ben Hilzinger talks to the greats about creativity, identity, staying sane, and finding purpose behind the kit.