My Split Drumming Personality

I have always had a split personality as a drummer. What I mean is that I’ve always loved both the very simple groove drummers and the busy over the top drummers.

The groove drummers prove that being hypnotized by the groove is where it’s at. They make the music feel so good with just “1” and “3” on the bass drum and “2” and “4” on the snare. For me, JR Robinson, Steve Ferrone, Robbie McIntosh, Gary Mallaber and Ringo Starr are great examples of this type of “pocket” drummer.

When I was a teen, on the one hand, I would listen to “Pick Up The Pieces” over and over again and try to understand what made the pocket feel so good. Robbie McIntosh was the drummer. Playing along with this song and trying to replicate the feel were an obsession.

On the other hand, I also loved the drummers who were over the top. For me, those were guys like Steve Gadd (on pretty much any Chick Corea album he played on), and Tony Williams (on almost anything he’s on….in particular the Blue Note recordings that he made as a solo artist).

So, drumming is about simplicity, taste and groove. But it’s also sometimes about seemingly reckless abandon. The simplicity makes you close your eyes and bob your head. The reckless abandon can make people scream. Literally, if you play the right over the top idea in the right place, people will scream. I’ve always loved this about drumming. The power of the instrument that can make someone scream in delight or simply just tap their foot…..wow….that makes it for me.

So I covet technique. I covet the showmanship and drum solos. But I covet that simple beat that never strays from the pocket; nary a fill anywhere, except perhaps a ghost note here or there or an opening and closing of the hi-hat.

In MANCIE, most of my playing is just laying it down. My new band will have both. LEVEL5 is sort of a fusion band, but I’ve begun to think that fusion is a dirty word. When I say fusion, people tune out. LEVEL5 is just going to be a combination of my two personalities…..the simple and the complex, but always at the right time. It looks like the first rehearsal is going to be in about one month. The first 8 songs are complete and have been written by someone whose bands I’ve been going to see for years here in NYC. I’ve been excited by the reaction I get from people when I tell them who the composer is. I’m going to keep it under my hat until I have some music to release……

Until then, embrace your split personality. I am definitely embracing mine.