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| Modern Drummer Blogs |  |
Spock’s Beard’s Jimmy Keegan
2010-03-18 
Hey, kids, Jimmy Keegan here. So it was a little over ten years ago that I received a call for a session. The writer/producers were frustrated because they were trying to track some songs for a legendary artist and so far the rhythm sections were proving to be a little generic. Great players, but nobody was taking any chances. So along with the great Mike Porcaro and percussion legend Luis Conte, I took a stab at these songs. We asked all the right questions, and after making a few little changes the songs took shape and the writer/producers were extremely happy. When the artist received the demos, he was so pleased he decided to keep all the demo tracks for the album. The album would go on to win nine Grammys and sell over twenty-five million copies. The artist was Carlos Santana and the album was Supernatural. This year marks the tenth anniversary of this historic recording.
The Supernatural Legacy Edition includes the original CD remastered (and it actually does sound better) plus a second CD of some of the unreleased material from the original sessions. I play on “Primavera” from the original CD and “One Fine Morning” on the second disc. Mike and Luis play brilliantly on both songs and were, as usual, an honor and a pleasure to work with.
This year will also see the release of the tenth Spock’s Beard studio CD. For those of you who don’t know, I’m usually the band’s touring drummer. Nick D’Virgilio plays on all the studio stuff, but for the last three CDs Nick has also been the singer (not to mention doing guitar and keyboard work as well). When Nick took over the vocalist spot, I was asked to join them on drums for the live shows. This new studio album will have a slight change. I was asked to help out on some vocals. The songs sound great and I’m sure this will be their best release so far. A tour is in the works, and I have my work cut out for me. Nick has played some ridiculous stuff and now I’ll get to play it live.
2010 is also special as it marks my twenty-fifth year with both Tama drums and Paiste cymbals, and I couldn’t be happier. The drums Tama is producing are simply the finest on the market today, and Paiste has the strongest lineup, hands down. From the Signature and Dark Energy lines to the Alpha series, every cymbal sounds fantastic. The entry-level products from both companies are professional quality. I’m proud to be a Tama and Paiste artist.
Lastly, look for new releases from Rahsaan Paterson and new artist Steve Bonino to hit soon. I’m producing and mixing this one as well. If you’d like, go to www.aquariandrumheads.com and click on my artist page for some audio and video stuff. And keep watching www.tama.com for a full feature including an interview and some playing. That should be up sometime this month.
For future updates, check back with Modern Drummer or go to my Web site www.jimmykeegan.com. You can also check out the usual www.myspace.com/jimmykeegan. I have some audio and video there as well. Thanks!
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Chris Johnson
2010-03-16
Yo, what up, MD? This is ya boy Chris Johnson from Los Angeles, California. Like many others in this field, I started playing in church—my dad’s church, to be exact. So I was always there to play, practice, and everything. Needless to say, I was born in the church. Due to the lack of musicians in a small church, I had to play something, and I think I made the right choice!
A little about me: I attended Bellflower High School in Bellflower, California, where I played in the jazz and marching bands. I also sang in the school ensemble. Singing is what I credit my musicality at the drums to. I learned to listen to the other parts and approached the music as such. While growing up in a church background I was only allowed to listen to gospel music—John P. Kee, Hawkins Family, Fred Hammond, and drummers like Mike Nueble, Marvin McQuitty, Joel Smith, and Calvin Napper. It wasn’t until I got older and out on my own that I learned about bands and musicians like Tower of Power, Led Zeppelin, Sting, Steely Dan, and Phil Collins and drummers like Vinny Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Dave Weckl, and John “JR” Robinson. I love having this great balance of inspiration. At the end of it all I play drums with all these influences but always from my heart.
With God’s help I have been blessed to play and tour with Seal, Mya, Patti LaBelle, Anastacia, Fantasia, Beverly Crawford, Norman Hutchins, Stevie Wonder, and Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly. I am currently touring with Rihanna.
I hope this blog has touched, inspired, or blessed someone. I truly love what I do and know that I wouldn’t be me without the love and support of friends, family, and my peers in this drum business. “Keep sticking,” and God bless.
For more on Chris go to www.myspace.com/cjdrumdotcom.
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Seven Antonopoulos of Leaves’
Eyes
2010-03-15
Hello, all. I would like to start by thanking everyone at MD for the invite to blog a bit about what I’ve been up to. So after recovering from the NAMM show (that’s a long story in and of itself), I had a few weeks off at home in Stockholm, just rehearsing by myself and working on some tracks I’ll be incorporating into upcoming clinics. Always good to stay in shape.
Following that I was in Stuttgart with my band Leaves’ Eyes. I tracked drums and percussion on a couple tunes that will be included on the digi-pack version of our latest CD, Njord. One track is a typical LEs balls-out rocker. On the other tune, an acoustic version of “Irish Rain,” I played cajon with some shakers and tambos. I really love the cajon. I used it quite a lot on the last Atrocity record.
We recently hired a new guitar player, Zander Van der Meer from the Dutch band Cypher. Super cool guy, and an amazing player. I’m stoked to have him. Luckily we had a couple days to run through the sets before his first show. He had a ton of material to learn because the Moscow show had Leaves’ Eyes and Atrocity on the bill. (Same musicians in both bands, different singers.)
That brings us to the travel and performance aspects of the show. It started off like most one off shows, dealing with the promoter, venue manager, endorsers, tour manager, techs, etc. I have to say, as much as I love snow and cold weather, it sometimes throws a monkey wrench into touring this time of year. My flight to Germany was delayed twice, but it just comes with the territory and I don’t get surprised anymore. (LOL)
My bass player, Alla, is Russian and was born in Moscow. So you can imagine how much we were looking forward to this show. We made it to Moscow with no problems, and I ended up having a couple beers with the crew guys at the hotel bar, pretty mellow. The next day started early with a noon lobby call. Got to the venue, had lunch, and got most of the press out of the way. I feel fortunate that we have Tom Tom, our drum tech and monitor engineer. Although the kit that was provided was killer (DW custom with maple finish), Tom Tom was in hell dealing with six in-ear packs that were receiving Russian radio weather reports! (LOL) On a side note to younger players, when touring internationally it’s important to be aware of the fact that power voltage and wireless frequencies differ from each other in different parts of the world. It’s pretty easy to blow up that drum machine or in-ear unit you just paid through the teeth for. Needless to say, the in-ear issue was resolved and it was business as usual.
Next thing ya know, it’s dinner (huge chunks of steak in a bowl of au gratin potatoes!) and the pre-show meet & greet. I really dig this part of the day on tour. It’s always great to see how our music affects people. The multiple bottles of vodka I received as gifts are a testament to the warmth and generosity of the Russian fans! Our singer Alex actually got a gold watch. Liv received enough roses to accommodate any wedding! (LOL) Good times.
The Atrocity set list consisted of material from the Werk 80 I and II records. (Those records feature ’80s covers done in a heavy, industrial way.) The vibe onstage was good, and we all thought Zander did a hell of a job for his first show. For me it’s kind of different playing the Werk 80 tunes. I feel like there’s less self-imposed pressure when playing tunes that aren’t your own. It’s always fun for us, as well as the fans playing and singing classics we all grew up with.
After a twenty-minute break, we take the stage again around 11:00. The Leaves’ Eyes set list included the older singles “Farewell Proud Men” and “Elegy,” as well as some of my faves from the new record, “My Destiny,” “Ragnarok,” and the opener, “Njord.” Again, I can’t tell ya how cool it was to see and hear the crowd sing every word of the set. Killer crowd for sure!
After a quick shower, it was about time for us to participate in a very special Russian tradition—vodka! (LOL) Which I did. Ha ha! In all seriousness, after the show we had a great time hanging out and spending some time with the fans. I had a blast. Thanks to the promoters, Sergey and Eugene, for making it all happen!
As usual, I wish I could of seen more than the airport, hotel, and venue, but that’s how it is on these kinds of fly dates. So now we come to Sunday morning at the airport, when we come to find out that all Lufthansa pilots are beginning a strike/walk-out for the following day, which meant the cancellation of most flights departing that day. Again, these are the kinds of things that are part of touring. Luckily we were all re-routed and made it home that day.
I think I can speak for the whole band when I say that all in all we had a really good time, and we look forward to playing there again!
Thanks, y’all!
Seven Antonopoulos
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