If you were one of the millions of people who tuned in to watch the ABC TV Australia New Years Eve show live from the steps of the Opera House, you would have seen Brendan Tan absolutely killing it as part of the house band!

Playing with a huge array of artists in an even bigger range of styles, learning over 30 tunes, all live to air is no small feat.

This is Brendans second year playing the New Years Eve gig, and in our chat, I speak with him about exactly what the rehearsal process was like, his personal preparation for the gig and how it all ran down on the day of the show.

Alongside this, Brendan shares some amazing advice for drummers who not only wish to play a show on that level, but also the most useful skills aside from drumming that you should have to excel in that world.

Enjoy!

You can follow Brendan at https://www.instagram.com/rendanbay/ and https://brendantan.com

Alex Flood is fast becoming a trailblazer on the Australian drumming scene.

He's released 3 solo albums, in which he composed and produced, and is now touring nationally and internationally under his own name. In this interview, we discuss Alex's creative process when writing music, how he balances his solo career with freelance work, as well as how the role of social media has influenced and shaped his journey.

Alex also shares some amazing advice for both drummers and other instrumentalists wishing to become solo artists and release their own music in this day and age.

Enjoy!

You can follow Alex at https://www.instagram.com/alexander_flood and https://alexanderfloodmusic.com.au

Kosta Theodosis is known for his incredible energy as a drummer. He has recently returned from a tour with Delta Goodrem all through Europe and Australia.

Prior to this, Kosta has also played with artists such as Conrad Sewell, Robbie Williams, The Kite String Tangle, Amy Meredith and many more.

In this conversation, Kosta shares his experiences of what its like to tour with some of the best pop and rock artists in Australia, his journey of studying jazz performance at the Victorian College of the Arts with aspirations to be a solo drummer and clinician to where he is now, as well as his advice for balancing family life with being a full time touring musician.

Enjoy!

You can follow Kosta at http://www.kostatheodosis.com and https://www.instagram.com/kosta_theodosis/

Emma Ford was born and raised in Australia, studied drums at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, became an active member of the Australian musical theatre community, but is now living, working and playing drums on Broadway.

She has played numerous shows both in Australia and on Broadway, including In The Heights, Moulin Rouge, Pippin, Paradise Square and became the first woman in the world to play the drum chair on Hamilton. She currently holds a full-time chair on the new musical, Shucked.

In this amazing conversation, Emma shares her journey of moving from Australia to New York, what is was like to become established in the theatre scene on Broadway, some of the similarities and differences between Broadway and the Australian theatre scene, and has some incredible advice for anyone who is considering making the move to chase their dream gig.

Enjoy!

Make sure to follow Emma at https://emmaforddrums.com and https://www.instagram.com/emmaford.drums

Touring as a musician, and being paid to do it is one of the greatest privileges you can have as a performer. Not a day goes by where I am not extremely grateful to have a full-time touring job playing drums.

Having said that, being on tour, especially for a long period of time, can be a challenging and difficult environment to be in for many reasons.

In this video, I want to share with you what I have found to be the top 5 challenges that I've experienced being on tour, to not only give you a better understanding of what some of the realities are like, but also to help better prepare you to face these challenges, if you are ever fortunate enough to be heading out on the road.

Enjoy!

Benjamin Northey is one of the most well respected, in demand and versatile conductors in Australia. He has worked with every major symphony orchestra in the country, as well as numerous performances as a guest conductor overseas.

Due to his incredible versatility and background, Benjamin has had the chance to conduct countless orchestral performances that also include drums and rhythm sections.

He has worked with some of the best drummers in Australia in these environments, and has had a vast amount of experience bringing the two worlds of orchestral and contemporary drumming together. In this amazing conversation, Benjamin shares his thoughts on what he thinks are the most important elements that drummers need to be conscious of when performing with an orchestra, as well as what he believes to be the key strengths that drummers need to have to succeed in the orchestral environment.

He also shares some amazing tips for drummers who have had little experience working with a conductor, and what the most important things to be aware of are!

Make sure to follow Benjamin at http://www.benjaminnorthey.com and https://www.instagram.com/maestrobenny/

Any time we play, we always want to aim to be as relaxed as possible.

This can be much easier said than done sometimes, however there is one super common issue that many drummers and musicians have, that can be easily fixed to help them play more relaxed.

The best part is, it takes literally no practice to execute it at all!!

Gerry Pantazis is someone who I would consider to be the quintessential "all-rounder". He's worked in pretty much every conceivable musical situation, with an amazing array of artists from Bachelor Girl to Tommy Emmanuel to Larry Carlton just to name a few.

He's also performed on countless TV shows, and recorded a huge variety of albums and soundtracks both commercially and from his home studio.

In this interview I speak with Gerry about how he has been able to establish himself as the amazing all-rounder that he is, his advice on how to best operate in high pressure gigs and some tips for other drummers who want to be able to play a wide variety of musical situations on a professional level.

Enjoy!

Make sure to follow Gerry at https://www.instagram.com/gerrypantazis and https://www.youtube.com/@gerrypantazis2518