Hello. I’m Tim Turcott of The Exit Strategy, based out of Buffalo, NY/NYC/Philadelphia. I’m also involved in a yet-to-be-named project here in Philadelphia. Our influences come from many different bands and styles of music. We all have a wide variety of musical interests and influences. Many of our favorite bands and influences have come from the Washington D.C. and San Diego punk scenes.

For this blog I would like to talk about some of my favorite drum intros. Number-one for me has to be “Chinese Fork Tie” by Jawbox. Zack Barocas is just an amazing drummer. He’s been one of the biggest influences on my playing over the last eleven years. The bass drum line he does in this song is sick. The time signatures he uses blow me away. His snare and bass drum placements are perfect. Even the sparseness of the hi-hat is great. For being so off-time, it all just flows. His style is one of a kind to me. Even my kit setup has been influenced by Zach. I was fortunate enough to play with Jawbox. Seeing Zach live was eye-opening.

Another one of my favorites has to be “Good Luck In Jail” by Drive Like Jehu, from San Diego. Drummer Mark Trombino is now a highly regarded and sought-after producer and engineer. But before that he was the drummer for one the most influential indie bands of the ’90s. The intro is just a simple, straight-forward beat–nothing special, just a few accents here and there–but it builds up so perfectly when the guitar kicks in. Very powerful. Most Drive Like Jehu songs were very chaotic, especially the guitar lines and the drum lines. Advertisement

I also like Darren Zentek of Channels and formerly of Kerosene 454. He is a pro at tom fills and everything else. Many drummers could learn a lot of things from Darren. He has perfect placement, regardless of time signature or playing style. Almost every song he plays on has a drum intro. Darren is definitely a standout in any project he is involved with.

I’m also a huge fan of Brendan Canty of Fugazi and Stewart Copeland of The Police. I really admire drummers who are not afraid try new things and branch out into new territory–adding different elements to styles where you would think they do’nt belong. I try to model my playing in the same way. I like to try things and see what happens, meld different things together. I bring my influences together, and that gives me my own style, which is what I think most drummers strive for.