Talking About New Single, Recording, and Gear

Hello Modern Drummer readers! Having been a subscriber since the ninth grade, it’s always an honor to be somewhere within the world of MD. A big thanks to Billy Amendola for all his support since we met so many years ago.

My new hard rock band is Silverthorne, and I’m so excited about it—big riffs, real drums, guitars, vocals, and bass! We recently signed with Golden Robot Records and we released our first single “Tear The Sky Wide Open” this past August. It’s available everywhere and you can follow us and see the video on all social media and YouTube. The EP will be out in a few months and we will release another single prior to it.

I am finishing up a four-month tour in Japan with B’z, Japan’s biggest rock band. Before I left for Japan, Silverthorne filmed a few videos. The photos included are from the video shoot for the single. We filmed it up top of a canyon near where I live. I think it captures the vibe of the song pretty well. Advertisement

I have a studio house where we do the entire recording, engineering, and mixing ourselves. I mic the kit, get the drum tones, and with Pete Shoulder (Silverthorne vocals/ guitarist) engineer the other instruments. We simply mic the kit, blend the close and room mics, EQ it up, and try to capture a cool organic sound. I’ve always loved the art of recording and getting “real” drum sounds. I love records from the ’70s the most, where every band and drummer had their own unique and identifiable sound. Today, it’s too easy to use studio trickery, and lots of drum production ends up sounding similar.

In the video, I used my Paiste 2002s, Remo heads, and my Ludwig Maple kit, sized 26″ (no hole!) /14″/16″/18″. I also used my Leedy 5×14 wood snare from the ’60s I’ve had since fourth grade.

For the recording I used a similar drum setup (sometimes my Ludwig green sparkle kit) including the 14×26 bass drum with no hole. I switch between my Leedy and a 6.5×14 Supraphonic in the studio, as I love the sounds of both snares. I also used all 2002 Paiste, including a 24″ 2002 ride, 18″/19″/20″ 2002 crashes, and 15″ Sound Edge hi-hats. The Remo heads are Coated Ambassadors on bottom, Coated Emperors on top, and an Emperor X on snare. The bass drum is probably an Emperor on reso side, and Ambassador on batter. Advertisement

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you out on tour with Silverthorne somewhere soon!

Watch “Tear The Sky Wide Open” official video below:

For more info and tour dates, visit www.facebook.com/silverthorneband, www.instagram.com/silverthorneband, www.twitter.com/SilverthorneHQ, www.silverthorneband.com, and www.goldenrobotrecords.com.