The Downbeat

It's me. It's a Q+A. Same old.

My guest this week is Andy Williams, guitarist of Every Time I Die and LITERAL pro wrestler. We talk about COVID-19's effect on his two jobs which obviously involve close contact, how he got started with wrestling in the first place, how he is staying healthy and working out but still maintaining his competition weight whilst self isolating, and much more. He's a great dude, I had a great time talking with him. Stay safe!

Back by popular demand and live from COVID-19 lockdown: diarreah enthusiast and tattoo artist Will Thomson. We talk about his plans to become Susan Boyle's toyboy and the troubles associated with having a ginormous pecker. It's very rude. Soz. Stay safe everyone.

My guest this week is Alex Rudinger, back for a second episode. Last time we spoke Rudi was somewhat without a gig and in a dark place. Now he is behind the kit with Whitechapel and although a lot is going on with the world, he’s in a better headspace so we talk about that a lot. We barely talked about drums, we basically caught up and discussed the crazy stuff going on in the world, how it affects his touring plans and generally just hung out for a few hours. Be safe everyone!

CONTENT FOR YOUR SELF ISOLATION.

My guest this week is Caleb Shomo, singer/songwriter of Beartooth. I caught up with Caleb in Nottingham on their sold out tour with The Amity Affliction. We (of course) talked about St Anger, as well as his time in Attack Attack, how he started touring at 14 years old, recording/producing bands and how that led to his initial solo project which would become Beartooth. Great chat, great dude. Peace!

My guest this week is Blake Richardson, drummer of Between The Buried And Me. Blake is without a doubt one of the best drummers doing it right now in progressive music. The band has massively evolved over time and so has Blake's drumming so we talk a lot about that as well as influences, practice routines etc but also about health and fitness. We also delve into the realm of perfect post-show food, and the time my dad spiked me with morphine at Christmas dinner.

My guest this week is Andrew Tkaczyk, drummer of The Ghost Inside. On November 19th 2015 TGI and their crew were involved in a horrific tourbus crash which resulted in Andrew losing his right leg above the knee. Against all odds, Andrew (with a little bit of help from his father's ingenuity) is back RIPPING the drums. We obviously talk about the crash, but also his father's invention that allowed him to relearn the drums, his solo project One Decade, and his unlikely friendship with Travis Barker. Andrew is an amazingly positive soul and I had a great time talking to him. I only nearly cried like once.

My guest this week is Aric Improta of Night Verses / The Fever. Aric is a true artist, everything he does exudes creativity and he's definitely one of, if not THE most original drummer out there. We first met at Meinl Drum Fest in 2017 where he play one 40 minute drum solo without breaks. The guy is a freak. We talk about art, music, touring weird places and what it was like to work with multiple Grammy award-winning producer Ross Robinson.

My guest this week is Eddy Thrower, a session drummer from the UK who currently plays with Busted, and was formerly a member of Lower Than Atlantis. Eddy has had his fair share of session work as well but has now found himself a home in the online education world with his website and hugely popular instagram account. One of the 'real' ones, he's a great sport and we share a lot of the same views on social media and 'performance' in general. We talk about finding your space in the online drumming world, the good old days of touring in vans and plenty more...