Hi, everyone! When I was nine years old I found a really small drumset made for little kids in the storage shed behind our house. It was my brother’s old set. I thought it was so freaking cool. My dad started jamming with me on guitar, and that’s how I learned to play—just jamming. Then I joined marching band in school and worked for my dad to get a drumset. On my fourteenth birthday, my parents bought me a Tama Superstar set.

I like to use really large bass drums: 24″ and 26″. I like my bass drum to be very deep and loud. I use a dark 22″ crash-ride, 20″ rock crash, and dark 14″ Sabian hi-hats. The reason I like using darker cymbals is because I beat the crap out of them. Brighter cymbals cut through the mix way too much. I only have two toms because I like to keep it simple.

Dave Grohl is one of my favorite drummers because he is a heavy hitter and does the perfect amount of fills. He’s so solid, and that’s how I drum. I really like hip-hop beats, and I try to mix that together with a rock style—kind of like how the drummer for Incubus does it. Advertisement

My only advice for playing drums is to play for the song. Showing off how many fills you can play can ruin a show or a song. Also, play hard with your heart, and hold the freaking beat down. Nothing drives me crazier than a drummer that plays softly doing a bunch of off-tempo crap. I started out playing bass for my band, but switched to drums because no one would play like that.

Thanks for reading!

Watch videos of Hanna and the band below:

“Thirteen”

“Wallflower”

“Leche Loco”

Photo Credit: Roger Ho/Do512