When LA’s Audio Karate chose punk drumming legend Bill Stevenson to produce their new album, Lady Melody, it was “pretty much a dream come true” for drummer Gabriel Camacho. “The first punk band I listened to was The Descendents,” says Camacho. “Bill’s style was so different from anything I’d heard. He was the first drummer I ever heard play a fill through four counts or even a whole verse. I thought that was amazing.

“I always loved the drum sounds on Descendents’ records,” Gabe continues. “So when Bill asked me what kind of drum sound I wanted to go for, I told him about things he’d played that have influenced me. For example, I really liked the attack of the drums on Pummel. But for my snare sound, I wanted to use something like he got on Everything Sucks. Since he did all of those albums, he was able to show me what I wanted to learn. It was fun to go back to albums that have contained the anthems of my life, and to be able to establish my drum sound from the man who actually played on those records.”