Before he took over the drum throne for Sinomatic, Matt Lawrence got some of his biggest drumming kicks as a teacher. “A kid comes in, not knowing how to play, and a year later he can do quads and triplets on the set,” Lawrence says. “It’s also funny when a mom says, ‘My kid wants to bleach his hair like yours,’ and the next week the kid comes in with his hair blonde with a dark streak down the middle.”

These days Lawrence has to recruit other teachers to help lighten his teaching load. Having reached a full schedule of thirty-five lessons a week, the drummer has scaled back to make room for an aggressive touring schedule with Sinomatic, who just released their self-titled debut on Atlantic Records.

“One Life,” “Bloom,” and “Feel Alive” are among the Sinomatic songs that Lawrence is grooving on these days. “‘One Life’ is such a power rock tune,” he says. “It’s straight-ahead, mid-tempo. I knew this song needed 16th notes on the hi-hat, 1 and 3 on the kick, and 2 and 4 on the snare. It’s just crushing high testosterone rock ‘n’ roll with no frills.” Advertisement