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Playing drums Saturday

I am playing the drums with Ropetrick - one of three bands on at the Wheatsheaf pub in Oxford this coming Saturday (31st Jan). We probably should have rehearsed more....

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wait a minute - you're a fellow drummer? All this time, and I never knew that?

Wow. I must be losing my touch. :)

What type of music do you play? Who are your drumming inspirations?

It's like a whole new side of Stephen we can explore...!
Stephen Law said…
Hi Repressed One. Ropetrick is fairly MoR funky stuff, which is not my first choice to be honest. But it's ok and gets me out playing.

Favourite drummer:

Peter Erskine.

Other drummers I like:

Vinnie Calaiuta on Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage and Shut Up 'n Play Your Guitar.

Jack DeJohnette

and loads of other people too... especially if a weird time signature is involved. E.g. early Genesis, The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Hopefully prog rock will make a come back before I die.

I also like jazz stuff (especially Erskine, or anything on ECM label)

I very rarely get to play. But I DID get to do a gig with my friend Tom, a first rate pianist, a while back (has played Ronnie Scotts) and other pro musicians, at the Cafe Royal in London at an evening hosted by Richard O'Brien. And he sang with us, which was very groovy indeed.

He also did the Time Warp. So I can die happy.
Anonymous said…
son of a bitch. why do you have to be so much cooler than me? why, Stephen? Makes us other guys look bad.

eh.. guess I'll go back to playing the drums on Guitar Hero.. someday Stephen. someday.. ;)
Stephen Law said…
Prog rock is not very cool though, is it? One step up from spandex...
Whateverman said…
A philosopher and a drummer? Cheers!

I'm sitting in with an open mic jazz trio this next thursday. I've been playing for a long time, but this will be the first in a few years that I've played in front of a crowd.

---

Ah! You've mentioned some of my favorite drummers. I'm going to pass on two names I've discovered in the last few years:

Benny Greb. Extremely talented but not a show-off; plays what's necessary for the music. He's very relaxed behind the kit, and really creative too. I hope you don't mind a video clip: this is a good example of him being organic.

Finally, there's a young kid by the name of Moritz Mueller that makes me wanna toss my sticks in the wood stove. Check out the ostinato starting just after 0:30. The second part is pretty amazing too.

Sorry for the spam. I enjoyed your comments at Debunking Atheists, and thought I'd try to repay you for it somehow.
Anonymous said…
Stephen! It makes my eyes bleed just a little to see you rank prog rock just a nudge above hair bands! You're talking about the basis of my musical library, here. :)

Fine choices, by the way. Considering your love of prog rock, I'm a little surprised that you didn't mention Neil Peart of Rush or Bill Bruford of Yes. I can't tell you how many hours of my life I've spent either playing along with (or, to ask my wife, the constant air drumming I do while driving, sleeping, eating, etc.) those bands... :)

And of course, Jack DeJohnette hails from right here (or at least close enough) in Chicago, IL, so I'm totally with you.

Some others I like: John Molo (played with Bruce Hornsby for along time), Kenny Aronoff and Stewart Copeland, if for no other reason that he's just, well, weird on the skins. Also, I've recently come back to some of the classic greats, especially Buddy Rich and Joe Morello.

Do you still own a kit? My wonderful wife actually got me a new set - after wandering bereft in the wilderness for about 15 years after selling my original Pearl set to my sister (what can I say? It was in a fit of financial turmoil!) - a year ago Christmas. I still have all my old Zildjians that my dad used 40 years ago, which is good - I went through the tin pie plates that came with the set in about 30 minutes. :)

Of course, you're probably right in the MIDDLE of your gig as I type this, but I hope you have a fantastic time. I would love to hear how it went...!

John
Stephen Law said…
I like all those guys too. I nearly said Peart but actually he was never again as good or interesting as he was on 2112. Maybe also Graham Lear (Santana Moonflower).

Gig went ok, thanks. Weird mix of bands - ambient guitar, us, ambient guitar plus drums, then 80's style rock outfit.

I have couple of kits, one Yamaha and one DW and some paiste cymbals.
Whateverman said…
Any MP3s of your band available? Whether live or demo or whatever, I'd be curious to listen to them.
Stephen Law said…
I'll try and sort some out shortly. We are a bit crap though...
Whateverman said…
Publish them only if you want to, of course. I find that people who balance profession and art seperately can't truly be understood until you've seen (heard? read?) them practicing both. But I can also sympathize with being creative in private.

Cheers either way.
Stephen Law said…
I should say, though, that we WILL be very good indeed with a bit of work! The guys write pretty good material - passes the OGWT.
Stephen Law said…
Whateverman - thanks for the links. I really liked Meuller's solo. Hadn't come across either of them.
Edinburgh Flats said…
Nice blog entry. Thanks for sharing

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