New Drummer Appreciation

southshoreconor · #1 05-08-2008, 07:46 PM

about a month ago our drummer told us he wasn't really having fun and knew the amount of touring we have coming up this year is gonna be too much for him. we're recording a CD at the end of this month and he said "i'll still play on the record, but after that i'm probably going to quit". he's a really good guy and we knew he meant well, but doing that would put us in a position where we'd have to finish the album and have about two weeks to get our **** together with a new, unfamiliar drummer and leave for ten weeks on the road. so we talked about it and decided to tell him to quit now, hire a fill in for the record, and then audition drummers for the tour and possibly join permanently.

the first person we asked was a friend and former band mate of my singer and i. he's an amazing drummer and we knew that we'd get a good sounding foundation for the album with him on the drums. so we jammed with him a few times and got most of our songs down. the reason we never asked him to actually join was because he was in a band already. but the other day after practice he told us he was fed up with his current band (their singer just up and left to guitar-tech for another band on tour for a few weeks without telling anyone) and just wants to go out on the road. that was pretty much all we needed to hear.

the past few practices we have had to teach him all our old songs, plus what we're recording for our full-length. he's breathing new life into our old material and is really focused on adding his own flavor to our new songs as well. our manager told him about an endorsement with a custom drum company he was working on with our old drummer, and he's super excited about that and is working his ass off to make the most of it. and as i said, he's a former band mate of mine so being able to lock into a beat with each other just comes naturally. it's so awesome to finally have a drummer we're all comfortable with and who is as committed to the band as everyone else.

sorry for the rant, but i think bassists, of all people, know the importance of a solid drummer.

crazyguy832 · #2 05-08-2008, 07:52 PM

Let the original guy play on the album (unless the new guy learns stuff REALLY fast), no need to pay for a hired gun. Other than that, you seem to have the right idea (imo).

southshoreconor · #3 05-08-2008, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyguy832

Let the original guy play on the album (unless the new guy learns stuff REALLY fast), no need to pay for a hired gun. Other than that, you seem to have the right idea (imo).

the new drummer has everything down already and it's been like 4 practices. we had demo's of like 8 out of the 12 songs that we could show him and he just took it and improved on them. i can honestly say he is the most talented drummer i've played in a band with and maybe the 3rd best drummer i've ever seen/heard. for our type of music he's exactly what we need.

edit
also, he didn't really WANT to play drums on the album, he just thought it would be easier on us if he did.

crazyguy832 · #4 05-08-2008, 08:29 PM

Ah, okay.

Well, hey, ummm, so long as the old drummer's cool with it, hey.

Getting an awesome drummer is... well... awesome. It's always worked the other way for me.

skeptikal · #5 05-09-2008, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southshoreconor

sorry for the rant, but i think bassists, of all people, know the importance of a solid drummer.

Amen, my drummer is my right-hand man. congrats on finding one like that.

southshoreconor · #6 05-09-2008, 11:23 AM

our first show with him is tonight. we're playing with another band we are label mates and friends with who actually has two drummer's who i really respect (one plays bass in this band). i'm hoping to get their seal of approval on the new guy.