Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Howie Diamond of Low Vs. Diamond
Hey there, Modern Drummer readers. As I'm writing, I'm somewhere between Salt Lake City and Denver in some weird, unknown mountain range on tour with my band Low Vs. Diamond. At 3:00 a.m., it's dark and cold, and I'm sitting…
Sean Davidson from Blacklist Union
This coming July 22, my band, Blacklist Union, are set to release our new album, Breakin Bread With The Devil, produced by Chris Johnson (Evanescence, Josh Todd) and Anthony Valli of Crazy Town. Our record release party will be on…
Rodney Howard on Tour
Touring extensively with Gavin DeGraw, Regina Spektor, and most recently Avril Lavigne, drummer Rodney Howard plays a lot of TV gigs. “What’s different about playing a TV show is that you have three minutes to put across the beginning, middle,…
Ricardo Meléndez
I was introduced to drumming as a source of self-discipline at the age of eight. That's when I got a five-piece drumkit, fell in love with rhythm, and became obsessed. It became the center of my life. Along with the…
Serj Tankian's Troy Zeigler
It never ceases to amaze me the ways in which sideman status can permeate my everyday life. I often find it very comforting, because it solidifies my feelings of dedication to what I am doing musically. I know, in a…
Pat Petrillo: Smooth, Groovin'-And Proud Of It
What's Up, MD! Just returned from a clinic tour of the UK, my second in four months, and it went real well. I like to fly Virgin Atlantic when going to the UK, because they have great service, especially in…
Southside Johnny's Joe Bellia
First off, thanks to Modern Drummer for opportunity to write this blog. I've been a big fan of the magazine since its inception. I'm a drummer/percussionist in the NJ/NY area and a member of New Jersey's Southside Johnny & The…
The "Odessey" Continues for the Zombies' Hugh Grundy
The Zombies marked the thirtieth anniversary of their gilded pop masterpiece Odessey & Oracle in 1998 with a CD reissue that struck a chord with a whole new generation of melody merchants, from lo-fi purists like Apples In Stereo to…
Julian Dorio of The Whigs
“Unlike a guitarist or singer, I don’t get the opportunity to play in the van. We get a soundcheck and that’s it, so lots of times I have to wait until I hit the stage to really start playing.” So…
Matthew Apostol of Dear Life
My name is Matthew Apostol, and I'm the drummer of Dear Life, which I helped start almost five years ago. I began drumming at the age of eleven. I'm now eighteen and will be turning nineteen in a few months.…
Aaron Pritchett's Jayson Brinkworth
Hey everyone, Jayson Brinkworth here writing from Canada. Thanks to Mike Dawson at Modern Drummer for including myself in The Blogs. If this magazine doesn't get you fired up about playing drums, you must not have a pulse! I've been…
John Dolmayan of System Of A Down
When System Of A Down went on a self-imposed hiatus two years ago, many knew that it wouldn’t be the last time the world would hear from these metallic talents. Soon thereafter, two different projects cropped up from within the…
Deen Castronovo: The Journey Of A Decade, The Career Of A Lifetime
by Mike Haid During the heyday of metal music in the ’80s, an underground subgenre known as “shred metal” emerged. The shred style focused mainly on high-energy, neo-classical instrumental rock, which required a drummer to be fast, powerful, and technically…
Gene Hoglan
Drummer Gene Hoglan didn’t have much downtime after guitarist Devin Townsend put Strapping Young Lad on hiatus in early 2007. Fairly quickly, Gene got a call from Brendon Small, creator of the animated series Metalocalypse, featuring the fictional death metal…
