DRUMS

JAKE NAJOR / THE REDWOODS MUSIC

Jake Najor: Birdy Bardot / Taurus Authority / The Midnight Pine / Rebecca Jade & The Cold Fact / Cardinal Moon / The Redwoods Music / Instagram / Twitter / Website

1. Tell me about your current rig:  It’s a 1967 Ludwig classic 20”, 12” and 14”. I bought them in 2007 for $650 bucks. I love old drums and specifically Ludwig. So many classic recordings that I dig are Ludwig, from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin. I like the sound of old drums; they fit the vibe of most of the music that I play. Not a huge fan of modern-sounding drums. They just don’t do it for me. Vintage drums have a nice, warm sound – and sound great live and when recording.

2. If money were no object, what’s your “holy grail” gear?  The Ludwig Black Beauty snare. They sound great and are super versatile and have been used on so many records over the years.

3. What song of yours (or any that you’ve worked on) would you say represents you and your style the best?  “Lowdown Stank” by Breakestra. I played one-handed 16th notes on the hi-hats, with ghost notes on the snare – pretty much one of my favorite types of beats to play. I’m a huge fan of Clyde Stubblefield, the drummer from James Brown, who is most well-known for the “Funky Drummer” break. I’ve practiced the groove for years trying to get it just right.

4. What was your first kit ever? My first kit was a Pearl Export. It’s an entry-level kit; not the greatest, but it made do at the time. If I could go back, I would buy a vintage drumset (Ludwig, Gretsch, Rogers and Camco). They sound great and go up in value.

5. Do you still have it? Sold it about 20 years ago.

6. What’s coming up next for you?  The Redwood Revue is April 1st at The Music Box with Dani Bell & The Tarantist, Birdy Bardot, The Midnight Pine, and Rebecca Jade & The Cold Fact [INFO]. Just laid down drums for the new Midnight Pine record a few weeks ago. Also working on a record of my own, with some friends helping out.

[Extra credit: Read Jen Van Tieghem’s (my better half) recent review of the Dani Bell & The Tarantist record, Dark West, here]

DAVID MEAD / DITCHES

Ditches: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp

1. Tell me about your current rig: These drums are Astros made in Japan in the late ’60s early ’70s. They sound old, beautiful, and perfect, both live and in the studio. I’ve been in the studio and at venues with other drums that I used to have, and it became standard to hit the drums and then wait while the engineer would trim out all the unwanted frequencies. These drums it’s like, “Check the kick”: BOOM. “Check the high tom”: BOOM. “Check the floor tom”: BOOM. “Check the snare”: CRACK. “OK, we’re done.” Afterward, the sound engineer always comes up and asks about them.

2. What is your favorite piece of gear and why? I got them in kind of an interesting way. I bought an 8-track reel-to-reel and a bunch of tapes off of Craigslist for I think $50, and then I brought it home and realized I wasn’t really going to use it. I put it back up on Craigslist and I mentioned that I would trade for something drum-related. My friend Gary Hankins from Scarlet Symphony/a billion other bands wrote me and said, “Hey I want to buy your reel-to-reel.” I saw it was him in the email and I was like, “Gary come over and grab this thing.” We hung out for a little while, I gave him the reel-to-reel, smacked him on the butt and he went on his way. Then I went upstairs and checked my email, and I had an email from an old man in all caps that read like it was the first time he had ever written an email. It was like, “HI I HAVE A SET OF ASTRO DRUMS I GOT NEW WHEN I WAS 13 THEIRR IN MY GAROGE I WANT YOUR TAPE MACHIN I CAN MEET TOMORROW LET ME KNOW MY NAME IS HAROLD GOD BLESS.” I was like “HOLY SHIT HAROLD GIVE ME THOSE DRUMS!!!!” So I wrote him and I was like “Hey Harold, I just sold the tape machine, is there anything else you need?” He said “WELL I COULD RELY USE A MIXER.” I had an old Mackie mixer and I dug it up. So we arrange for him to meet me at my old band’s practice space. Giving him directions there on the phone was a complete nightmare, and he pulls up in a PT Cruiser that seriously looked like he had driven over his own fence 1,000 times. Then he opened the lift gate, and they were in there glowing like when John Travolta opens that steel briefcase in Pulp Fiction. They had the original heads on them from the factory; they had almost never been played. Then Harold was like, “So do we have a deal?” I was like “Yeah, man!” The drums aren’t worth very much, maybe like $300 bucks, but I’d rather play them than pretty much any other set. I put on new heads and that was that – loves of my life.

3. What song of yours do you feel is the best portrayal of your particular style? We recorded our EP ourselves with these drums. We had some really good and pro stuff, and I really like it. I’ve been in big studios with a ton of mics on the drums, but I realized recording with these Astros that the more you like the sound of the actual drums, the less you have to search for tones in the studio. I really like how the song “Sucker” came out. My drumming used to be busier, but in Ditches I like playing more simple.

4. What’s the one “holy grail” piece of equipment (or kit) you’d buy if money was no object? I pretty much have everything I want. Maybe a set of ‘60s Round Badge Gretsch drums, but then if they’re too nice or valuable then you worry about them and can’t play them out and enjoy them. Actually, one day I would really like a set of Camco drums. When you play a set of Camco drums, it’s like putting on a pair of pants that used to belong to David Bowie. It’s definitely something special.

5. What do you have coming up that we should know about? We’re going to play with one of my favorite bands, Chastity Belt on 3/1 at the Continental Room in OC, and have some good prospects coming up. We’re in the midst of recording our follow-up EP right now. Super pumped for it to come out!

NATHAN HUBBARD

Nathan Hubbard: Website / Instagram / Bandcamp

Passengers: Website

The Scorpion Decides: Website / Bandcamp

toques: Bandcamp

Ogd_S(11) Translation Has Failed: Website / Bandcamp / YouTube

1. Tell me about your current rig: I don’t have a current rig, I use different equipment for different gigs. In general, I like oversized cymbals and older drums, and usually default towards simple setups. The musical situation will determine what size bass drum I use, if I need tom toms, what kind of snare I think will work, etc. I also build and modify instruments, so if the situation warrants it, I love finding something that will give the song or piece a stand out, whether its a shaker stick, a weird lo-fi snare, or an extended sound like a garbage can or hubcap. My collection has been years in the making; I try and be honest about if I am using a piece enough to warrant owning it, and sell things that I don’t use or doesn’t work with what I am hearing in my head. The best parts are the stuff that doesn’t require much upkeep and doesn’t break on gigs. The worst part is the fragile stuff (gourds, ceramic instruments) that break every time you move them.

2. What song of yours do you feel is the best portrayal of your particular style? Not sure I have a “style,” I’ve always tried to fit into the musical space while still retaining my own identity. Two recent pieces I have particularly enjoyed would be the toques track “1_0,” which has a fairly lo-fi drum sound with me playing in and out of a homemade loop, and the Hexa track “Chloe,” which has a super dead drum sound and a nice lilt to it.

3. If money was no object, what’s the holy grail piece of gear you’d buy? I spent most of my time in college playing classical marimba, which is hilarious because I don’t even own one these days. At some point it would be great to have a Marimba One low C marimba, but honestly we don’t have the room for it.

4. What’s the worst or weirdest piece of gear you’ve ever bought or used? A few years ago I picked up a Quijada, which is literally the jawbone of a mule, it’s a Peruvian instrument that you hit with the palm of your hand to make the teeth rattle. The vibraslap is the modern equivalent. It’s definitely not for vegans or anybody that is squeamish.

5. What do you have coming up that we should know about? New toques recording out now, and a new Skeleton Key Orchestra double CD will be out in May, just in time for a huge (24+ musicians) 40th birthday concert for myself at Bread and Salt on May 21st. A Thousand Butterflies is at Dizzys on Saturday, March 19th.

LETY BEERS / THE SCHIZOPHONICS

The Schizophonics: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / SoundCloud / Website

1. Tell me about your current kit:  It’s an early-’70s sparkle red Ludwig. 14″ rack, 16″ floor and 22″ kick drum. You can tell the year because it has these super pointy badges that they rounded later on ’cause they’d always get snagged on things. My floor tom’s badge is a bit crinkly from getting snagged on my clothes a lot. It’s got a bigger rack tom than most kits have that I really like. Gives it a lower tone on my fills.

On my heads, I always use vintage coated drum heads. They have a a warmer tone than any other heads I’ve ever played on. It adds a subtle mute without doing too much to it. I always cut as much ring out of the toms without getting too muffled with Moongels. I like the gel better than tape cause it’s not a permanent thing and wont get too messy if you take it off. If I’m doing a show where everything is mic’d, I’ll dampen with more gels to help cut high frequencies that cause crazy feedback. When I play venues where nothing but vocals are mic’d, I let the drum tones resonate more to carry the drums through the room.

My snare is a ’60s Ludwig that I got from Baba from The Zeros. The built in muter doesn’t stay up well so I use the coated emperors on that with ONE Moongel. If it’s naked, it has a ring I don’t like. Too many gels, you lose your tone. I always make sure to tune it up high enough as to where the snare frequency will pierce through the song when you hit it. You don’t want to have your most powerful tool getting buried in the other instruments’ frequencies. You’ll lose your drive.

2. What song of yours do you feel is the best portrayal of your particular sound/style?  “Red Planet” I think represents my style best. It has the the Lety-Stomp that a few friends have imitated when doing a Schizo-influenced song. I always strive to play something that I would want to dance to and this one has that energy that I like in other music. It’s super fun to play; really let loose on it.

3. If money was no object, what’s the ‘holy grail’ equipment you’d buy?  I am not difficult to please, but I would probably want a really high-end set of cymbals. That is always where I have to compromise and buy based on price versus quality. It’s my toughest category of drum gear where I have the hardest time picking and choosing. In the past, I’ve just played what falls into my lap. Having the financial resources to really dive into my options here would be nice.

4. Who is the musician you admire the most sound/gear-wise?  Locally, I appreciate the heck out of Jon Bonser. He’s taught me so much about the nitty gritty of drums. When we first started playing out, he very politely offered to show me about tuning and basic drum care after seeing my old mutant kit. If a head fit the drum and didn’t have any holes in it, I was good! I didn’t use bottom heads, and used to put a piñata in the kick drum just to fill the space. It’s funny now, but I really had no idea what I was doing past trying to learn to play songs. Jon’s been a good friend and really opened my eyes to the world of drums. He’s my gear guru!

5. What do you have coming up that we should know about?  Our next show is the DoSd launch party on Wednesday at The Casbah. Exciting news is we’re going to be a part of the All Tomorrow’s Parties coming up in April – the festival in north Wales that Drive Like Jehu is curating. We’ll be out there with The Schizophonics and backing El Vez as his Punk Rock Review band. We’re also a few songs shy of FINALLY finishing up a full-length album. We’ve been working at Earthling Studios with Mike Kamoo and his new 1″ 8-track tape machine that, legend has it, might’ve been the same one from Sunset Sound back in the day. Whatever it is, we’re loving it.

See The Schizophonics at the DoSD launch party on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at The Casbah with The Palace Ballroom, Mrs. Magician and Birdy Bardot. The show is free with your online RSVP here.