Getting to know your drum heros

[Vdrummer]

I teach at the biggest drum shop in the country, and we do about a dozen clinics a year. I don't want to name names, but on many occasions the guys we idolize here have proven themselves to be partial or complete dicks. I've seen one extremely well known drummer be a jerk on 3 different occasions. I've only seen the guy 3 times!

Being "human" doesn't excuse arrogance, rudeness or anything else. Odds are that if you've witnessed it, it's not an anomaly, it's a part of who they are. It's certainly disappointing to discover that kind of behavior in someone who's playing you admire.

Most of the drummers we've had in clinic have shown themselves to be gracious, caring and generous to their fans. They are into more than just themselves. Those are the one's who have are likely to have better careers and lives. They like to laugh, share and enjoy the success they've achieved. The others are simply good at playing the drums.

Brad

[matricks]

The only time i saw Tony, he gave off a very bad vibe before he even sat down... it was a clinic and the way he answered people's questions, f*ck Tony... i don't care how good he is. He ain't curing cancer or anything, he is a drummer for God's sake. The only person he was nice to was, you guessed it, a black guy... hey, don't like white people, to each their own. I call a white racist an asshole, and i call a black racist an asshole, and f*ck you Tony, you are an asshole.

Lenny White on the other hand, class-act. Wonderful guy, wonderful.

Joel Rosenblatt... amazing guy. 100% real guy. Took lessons with Joel, the guy even went through and showed me things that he couldn't play to prove that he isn't 'all that'... THAT is a cool thing to do, VERY humble.

Chapin... what can you say... he is a legend and acts like your best buddy, gets excited like a kid when you play something that he digs.

Smitty... very kind... soft-spoken.

Horacio... i told him how much i liked his drumming and the guy gave me a bear hug and told me how much he appreciated it. Then he hung out and chatted.

Virgil... very quiet but gracious.

Marco... very funny, hangs like a 'normal' guy, joking, laughing, sat down and just kicked it with us, had a drink.

Thomas... funny dude, cordial person.

The list goes on... the only person i have anything negative to say about is Tony. I love his playing, but if he did that to ME in an alley, he would have been lucky to walk after that, let alone play drums.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ January 12, 2005 12:20 AM: Message edited by: matricks ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 12, 2005 12:36 AM: Message edited by: matricks ]</font>

[drumaddict]

That story is indeed true although who knows what led up to it. He may have had something personal going on that day and just wigged out on an innocent person. Either way you shouldn't treat an admiring fan that way. Buddy Rich was a classic tirante as well but when I met him he was very personable. I've met some drummers like - Louie Bellson, Porcaro, Erskine, Bissonette, Acuna, Conte, Lawson, and Chambers who were more than cool. These guys just made me feel like they cared about talking to me as a person and not a subordinate human. In fact even Tony was cool when I briefly spoke to him one year at Namm. On the other hand, guys like Steve Smith, and Weckl came across as pre-madonnas and to good to entertain a conversation. Both those guys did drum clinics for me at a store I managed and just wanted to get it done and go home even after the crew and I crew spent weeks preparing for the events. Just classless....
I'm sure there are drummers out there that have had the opposite experiences with all these guys. It's true that we all have our moments of thoughtlessness and I do realize that we shouldn't expect any person to be perfect all the time.
What is hard is to listen to and enjoy a drummer without bias after having a negative meeting with them. Don't even get me started on Hilary Jones....

[FuseU1]

Vinnie. Twice. Much time had passed bewtween the 2 encounters. Very sweet & considerate guy, these days.

Weck's friendly, albeit in a low-key, 'even-keel' kind of way. [Try not to expect too much from these guys if running into them, anyway. The experience for them isn't quite the same as it is for you. [img]wink.gif[/img] ] They run into peeps that "want a piece of them" enough, I'm sure. And they're busy guys anyway.

Virg is a friendly guy, too. Although sometimes it looks like he's staring into the far distant future, or burning a hole past some folks [prob thinking of a new twisted fusion groove]. Understandable.

Boomer, when I met him after a Jazz Is Dead show, was very nice & considerate.

Ersk was laid-back, soft-spoken, & a very nice guy. Similarly, Chad W. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Gregg is very cool, & also very zany. [Vinnie used to be a little zany like this, too.]

Rodney Holmes - great guy. Very friendly.

I have heard [uh-oh, watch the goss] from a reliable source that SCopeland, BRich, & Chambers weren't having their best day when he met them, shall we say.

I guess it can all depend upon what moment you run into them, which is natural to everyone. But I also agree w Brad's comments about it.

I saw Moyes Lucas [sp?] in the drum chair w pop star George Michael back around '87/8 or so...took my GF ATT to see GM. Incredible show, BION. Awesome band. He [ML] is a great player. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 12, 2005 12:59 AM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

[matricks]

Oh, please do get started on Hilary Jones, i wanna hear about it! [img]wink.gif[/img]

[drumaddict]

VDrummer,
I couldn't agree more...

[drumaddict]

Hilary is just to much to get into. I try to forget about her negative energy...

[FuseU1]

[It's in the name...] [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]redface.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] J/K

[Groovemeister]

I'm lucky to have met and become friends with a lot of my drum heros. I never got a chance to meet Jeff which was so sad, but I've heard great things about the cat...

The ONLY one guy I've ever seen be downright rude was Dennis Chambers. Maybe Steve Smith wasn't as friendly as I'd have hoped but he wasn't rude...

I'm nobody's drum hero, but when I chat to people about drums, I'm as humble and polite as can be. That's not false modesty or anything. That was my parents teaching me how to be a good human being!!!

MP

[cjbdrm]

The personality coming through in one's playing is a fascinating topic to me...I agree with it one hundred percent...

I can understand why some of these 'artists' have attitudes...I mean, it must be an incredible burden to be so respected and admired and have people fawning over you at all times...poor guys/gals...

[img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]