Hello all! This is Evan Diprima here from Royal Thunder. Our new full-length record, Crooked Doors, is coming on April 7. This video (below) documents some of the journey through the recording process with our good friend/producer and Aria Recording Studio owner, Joey Jones.

We only used vintage kits on the record. The majority of the record was recorded with my 1977 Slingerland kit. We also used a few toms from my early ’80s Yamaha 8000 Series kit here and there. I’m a big fan of the vintage tone, and it’s exactly what this record called for. Joey Jones is also a master of capturing big, warm, organic drum sounds. He really digs deep until he captures the true sound of a band.

I’ve always been a pocket player. Think space and time—less is always more to me. Josh came up with so many great guitar melodies on this album, and I really wanted to write grooves that would play around what he was doing to complement each song. He really speaks through his guitar; I wanted to join him in the conversation without raising my voice. Mel is also such a killer vocalist and bass player. Her range is incredible, and I wanted to make sure I left plenty of room for her to have the freedom to do her thing when it came time for the vocal tracking. Advertisement

The dynamic range is so vast on Crooked Doors, so it was very important to me to express this rhythmically. For example, I used brushes on the track “The Bear I” to capture that dynamic element. I wanted to give it that feel of swaying back and forth, like a ship sailing through the ocean. The song is so heavy, emotionally, I also wanted the drum track to almost sound delicate, like it could shatter into a million pieces any second.

In a band, you are a team, and everyone works together and plays off of each other to write one single story. As a drummer, it’s very important to me to lay down what each song calls for and not get into anyone’s way. If a tune only calls for finger cymbals, so be it—I love finger cymbals. I respect all of my band members like family, and I feel it’s important to respect the artistic vision that they each set out to deliver. We all grew together during the making of this record, and I believe it really shows while listening back to it. It was an incredible experience.

I hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at our new record, Crooked Doors. And thanks so much for the support. We hope to see you out on the road this year. We each put our heart and soul into this record, and we can’t wait to share it with you all live. Advertisement

Check out our video interview below:

For more on Evan Diprima and Royal Thunder, visit facebook.com/RoyalThunderMusic?fref=ts.

Photo by Eneko Garcia Ureta (www.rockinfocus.com)