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Jason “Malletman” Taylor
2010-02-05

Hello, MD readers! My name is Jason “Malletman” Taylor. I’m a vibraphonist and protégé of the late, legendary Lionel Hampton. “Hamp” taught me how to swing my thing on vibes!

As we begin 2010, I’m feeling reflective and want to share an experience that was definitely one of the highlights of 2009 for me. I’m really serious about my mission of keeping real music alive. Part of this is the responsibility I accept when it comes to teaching and mentoring others. In addition to the keyboard percussion clinics I conduct at various schools and churches, my concern about the way music programs are being eliminated or under-funded at schools throughout the country gave me an idea. I wanted to create an event where kids, teens, and young adults interested in percussion could be taught by leading professionals for a day. That’s how I started the Slammin’ Percussion Symposiums.

The Slammin’ ’09 Percussion Symposium was held on September 26 in Wayne, New Jersey. My guests, Chester Thompson (Phil Collins, Genesis, Frank Zappa) and Bernard “Pretty” Purdie (known as “the world’s most recorded drummer”), joined me to teach clinics. Man, those cats are both from Baltimore and are masters at what they do. Maryland knows how to produce some drummers! I will never forget how it felt to watch Bernard and Chester blow everyone away with their teaching and playing. The most memorable part of the day for me was when I played with both of them after Chester’s clinic. I’ll never forget that! I’m sure you have all experienced a gig like that, where you wanted to just keep playing and playing.

The room was filled with people of all ages. I mean, all the generations were represented. The drummers’ ages ranged from four to seventy. That’s right, we had a four-year-old kid there who can play. So now I can’t wait to see what happens this year. I’m not sure if anything can top that, but if it does, I’m ready!

For more on the Slammin’ Percussion Symposium and Jason Taylor, go to www.malletsplace.com.

Rob Chianelli of We Are The In
Crowd
2010-02-03

What’s up, Modern Drummer readers? My name is Rob Chianelli, and I’m twenty-two years old and play drums in a pop/rock band called We Are The In Crowd. I decided to try playing drums when I was a sophomore in high school because the band I was in was having a hard time finding a dedicated drummer. Being a guitar player at the time, I thought, There are plenty of kids in school that play guitar. Why don’t I try playing drums? So I gave it a shot. My dad was generous enough to buy me a Pearl Export series kit, and I taught myself how to play by watching other drummers and by practicing every day. I’m pretty much an addict, but I never thought “giving it a shot” would lead me to writing a blog for Modern Drummer.

It’s funny how things work out. I moved to Poughkeepsie, New York, from East Lyme, Connecticut, when I was thirteen years old, and I met Jordan Eckes in math class. Jordan and I became inseparable friends pretty much after the first day of hanging out at his house. He turned on “Hit Or Miss” by New Found Glory and asked if I could play it. I think that was the turning moment in my life where I knew Jordan and I would be playing music together for a long, long time.

When I first switched from guitar to drums, we shared a few years of “my first band” syndrome, but we quickly learned each other’s styles and progressed rapidly. Recording and playing shows became a weekly routine for us. We spent a few years of trial and error with a bunch of different bands. Finally, Jordan and I share the stage with Mike Ferri, Taylor Jardine, and Cameron Hurley in We Are The In Crowd, and we recently signed on to the Hopeless Records family.

If I have any advice for first-time drummers, it would be to find a way to record the songs you write as often as possible. The best way to get tight is to play to a metronome or even play along to your favorite songs on your iPod. Once you master staying on time with the click, you will be one step ahead of everyone else. For me, watching my favorite drummers has helped me learn a lot of new things. Every drummer has his or her own style, so it’s always good to see how someone else does it. A few drummers that I have been inspired by lately are Joe Greenetz from Sherwood and Ryan Pope of the Get Up Kids. Their particular styles are unique, and I play along to all their albums to practice. I personally think that jamming with a guitarist or bassist as often as possible helps you understand how drums can match up with the music and become the backbone of the song.

I don’t usually practice alone, because I enjoy having the bass matching up perfectly with my bass drum. It gives playing drums a more powerful, solid feeling. When I do practice alone, it’s usually just me getting my iPod and jamming out a few of my favorite songs.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! Keep jamming, play with confidence, and always be committed to your drum playing, because you never know where it can take you.

For more on We Are The In Crowd, visit www.myspace.com/wearetheincrowd.

Alesana’s Jeremy Bryan
2010-01-29

Hey, y’all! Thanks for taking the time to read this. I’ve been playing drums for about eleven years and have been in many bands. For the last few years I’ve played with Alesana, a screamo/hardcore band that combines pop essentials with a lush metal and screamo dynamic. I’ve toured the world and played thousands of shows to thousands of fans and sold a fair share of records in the process. But it wasn’t always like this, and everyone’s got to start somewhere.

Drumming has been in my blood since before I can remember. Born to two musicians and raised around music, I had a favorite song (“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” by the Beatles) and sat behind a drumset before I could fully pronounce words. Growing up, music was something that we just had in our household. We’d listen to records every night while we cooked and ate dinner together. Everything from U2, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin to Aretha Franklin, Robert Johnson, and Captain Beefheart to Jeff Buckley, Morphine, John Coltrane...the list is as long as it is varied, and between this and watching my parents’ band practice in the living room and going to their gigs when I was old enough, music was all around me.

When I finally got a drumset I took lessons for about three years and practiced every day out of books and to records. Over the next few years I played in a handful of bands and at open-mic nights with the blues and rock heavy hitters in town. Playing on stage with older cats who, in most cases, have been playing longer than I’ve been alive really taught me a lot. Learning how to follow cues, play through changes, and improvise on stage has been invaluable to me in every situation I’ve played in. 

I went on tour for the first time when I was sixteen, sometimes sneaking into clubs I wasn’t allowed into and spending all the money I’d saved up to get to the next city. These weeklong jaunts turned into a full-time job when I joined Alesana, two weeks before the first record was recorded. I learned twenty-something songs in just over two weeks, played two shows, and recorded the first record in about a month’s time. When I left to tour after that, I didn’t come home for eighteen months. All that hard work paid off, and now we’re on our third record (The Emptiness, released on January 26) and about to embark on another round of world touring. And there are no signs that we’re slowing down anytime soon. But I still think back to the days when I was banging on shoe boxes in my bedroom from time to time, and I still listen to some of those records that shaped my musical brain. I’m proud to have come this far, be part of this amazing band, and have such great fans who support us.

The gear I use is amazing, and I’d like to thank Truth Custom Drums, Zildjian, Vic Firth, and Evans for making such great products and making touring life easier. And thank you all for reading!

For more on the band, visit www.myspace.com/alesana.

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