Hello Modern Drummer readers! My name is Ronen Evron and I am the drummer of Spirit Animal. Originally hailing from Rishon Le Zion, a city on the coastline of Israel, I began drumming under the auspices of the finest drum teachers there, including David Rich (who also taught Nir Z and Yuval Lion), Sam Vider, and Yossi Buzin. Between being a drummer and a professional skateboarder at the time, I made a decision to devote myself solely to drumming. It was a big decision back then, but I am still a skateboarder at heart.

After playing with the country’s top musicians, performing in festivals, and also teaching, I decided to relocate to the US and pursue my degree in music. Propelled by a scholarship I received from Berklee College of Music in 2003, I graduated in 2007 with a degree in professional music. During my years at Berklee, I studied with my idols and musicians I grew up listening to: Dave Dicenso, Rod Morganstein, Mike Mangini, Kenwood Dennard, Casey Scheuerell, and the late Kim Plainfiled, to name a few. I was always and will always be a student of the drums as a musician and a teacher.

My dream was always to be in a band. I joined Spirit Animal in 2013, when Steve Cooper, SA’s lead singer, approached me after receiving my number through a mutual friend in Los Angeles. And the rest is history. As a band member along with Cal Stamp (lead guitar) and Paul Michael (bass), we have had quite a journey, and like any family, we have many stories that would make a helluva book one day. Advertisement

We have been touring for the better part of 2018/19 and are currently on tour as direct support for the band Theory of a Deadman. The tour will promote our album Reborn Yesterday, which was released on September 20. It is a deluxe edition of our most recent album Born Yesterday and features three new unreleased songs.

Gear wise in the studio I use what works best for the song, and it varies. For live shows with SA this is my current setup.

Drums: Yamaha Rock Tour, 8×12 tom, 15×16 floor tom, 17×22 bass drum, and 6.5×14 Ludwig Supraphonic 404s

Cymbals: Zildjian 14″ New Beat hi-hats, 9″ Oriental Trash splash, 10″ K splash on top of 10″ Oriental China Trash/Stack, 18″ and 19″ K Dark Thin crashes, 18″ Oriental China Trash, and 21″ A Zildjian Sweet ride

Sticks: Vater 5B

Drumheads: Remo PowerStroke 3 bass drum, P77 snare, and Clear Emperors on tom and floor tom

Hardware: Yamaha

Electronics: Roland SPD/SX drum pad, and triggers on bass drum and snare drum

Thank you for reading, drop by and say hello via socials or in person if I am around your area during our up and coming tour. Many thanks to Modern Drummer for giving me the opportunity to be featured in this segment of “On The Beat.” Advertisement

Watch Spirit Animal “Yeah!” here: 

 

For updates and more, visit: https://www.spiritanimalmusic.com.

Photo Credit: Jamie Geysbeek