Early Access - John Riley

The last lengthy conversation I had with John Riley before this interview was probably when I was still a college student. That’s why it was super rewarding to catch up with one of drum teaching’s deepest thinkers, and pick his brain about a great many things I’ve experienced and thought about in the intervening years.

John and I begin by discussing nature-vs-nurture, when I ask him about a passage in his first book. That kicks off a thread about John’s own musical journey, whether he ever thought twice about drumming, and what really happened during what I’ve come to think of his “magical summer”, between his freshman and sophomore years at UNT, after which he won a seat in the prestigious One O’Clock Lab Band, and a teaching position at the end of the year.

John also holds forth on the importance of curiosity to guide practice, and why at a certain level of experience, it can be good to practice abstractions even if they don’t directly affect your day-to-day playing.

Finally we speak about how students have changed in the 20 years since I was his student (I feel ancient writing that), and how his approach to teaching has changed. (Of course I can’t avoid bringing up Whiplash.)

Like many of my guests, John was extremely generous with his time, and didn’t hold back on his thoughts. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this conversation.

And if you haven’t caught my weekly youtube video, about a “drum battle” with the talented Dom Palombi, you can watch that below.

Enjoy!

Early Access - Dan Weiss

It’s been a few years since I’ve spoken to Dan Weiss, who I’ve known since we were both in the vicinity of our music school in the early 2000s. Dan was, on various occasions, a teacher - such as when he’d sub for John Riley, or when I sought him out for a the odd lesson later on.

But mostly Dan was the hard-to-categorize drummer who was blowing everybody’s mind. First on early gigs with people like Tigran Hamasyan, then later with Dave Binney at the 55 Bar, and throughout with people like Thomas Morgan, Miles Okazaki, and Jacob Sachs.

Since then, Dan’s gotten a lot of well-deserved recognition, and influenced a generation of drummers.

When Dan and I (digitally) sat down, I wanted to reach back to some of my first recollections of hearing him play, and also dig into how he became what he is.

Hope you enjoy this conversation - there are a lot of nuggets.

And if you haven’t caught my video on the 5 weirdest drum setup trends of 2023, that’s below.

Enjoy!

Early Access - Stanton Moore

When I got Stanton on the line, I was expecting we’d talk all about his core passion and expertise - New Orleans music. And we did get there.

But it turns out Stanton is also fascinated with the world of online drumming and content creation. I hadn’t realized this, but he’s taken the transition to the “influencer economy” very seriously, and even assembled a production team that helps him produce high quality courses and constant YouTube content.

As such we “nerded out” about content creation for a good 25 minutes. If you came to hear Stanton talk Johnny V and Tipitina’s, you can skip over the “online” stuff, but there are gems in there.

Eventually we do get to New Orleans music, and Stanton gives a masterclass in how rhythms that sound like clave ended up in a riff his organist Robert Walter played for him in 2010 - hint: because there is clave in New Orleans music.

And of course Stanton responds to my playing on his most famous tune, Pie Eyed Manc. If you’d like to see the entire video of my journey to learn that, that’s below.

Finally, if you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to study with me live, and it just-so-happens you want to work on your improvisation and making complete musical sentences on the drums without stumbling over your “words”, my live group coaching program is only open for a few more days. Way more info about that here, if you’re interested.

Bye for now!

Early Access - Dana Hawkins

Anyone who came up listening to drum youtube in the 20-teens is familiar with Dana Hawkins. His collabs with Evan Marien started appearing in 2010. Every few months, there would be a new one, and it was pure drum-fusion crack.

I actually met Dana in person before I discovered those videos, however. He was playing with two of my friends on a live gig on the Lower East Side.

In any event, I had zero idea how this conversation would go, because I’ve never before spoke to Dana at length. I’m happy to say it went to territory I never anticipated. Dana’s takes on things like the word “jazz”, the music industry, and “kids these days” are deep, surprising, funny, and at-time firey.

I’m going to have Dana’s thoughts and this conversation on the brain for some time to come, and I hope you do too.

Enjoy!

N