July 2018 Issue – Volume 42 • Number 7
Articles in July 2018
The Boys Are Back in Town!
Hi, everyone. It feels as though I was just wishing you a happy New Year and we were all freezing in the cold—especially here in the northeast—and now I’m saying, “Happy summer!” Since we last spoke, I’ve been finishing up…
Kris Myers of Umphrey's McGee
Toasting its twentieth anniversary this year, Umphrey’s McGee is at the height of its powers, delighting fans with new music, raging shows, and an innovative approach to online outreach. That goes double for its ever-evolving drummer, who brings big beats…
Drum Wisdom: Susie Ibarra
The highly regarded player/educator, who as usual has a number of fascinating new projects coming to fruition, shares her priorities on and off the bandstand.
A Perfect Circle’s Jeff Friedl
Watching and listening to Jeff Friedl play drums is like studying a veteran chess grandmaster. All the moves are deliberate, nothing is about speed or rushing to execute ideas, and there’s a thought-out intelligence to every decision. As the drummer…
La Luz’s Marian Li-Pino
At the time of this interview, Marian Li-Pino of L.A.-based-via-Seattle psych-surf band La Luz had just returned from finishing their new album, Floating Features, at Dan Auerbach’s Nashville-based Easy Eye Studio. Li-Pino was riding high and excited about the creative…
Ben Koller on the Armed’s Only Love
The constantly engaged metal-drumming madman gets conned into recording one of the year’s most brutally raw albums— with a few surprises.
Must-Know Grooves - The Blues Shuffle
Although the blues is considered an American art form, it’s a genre of music that resonates around the world. With that in mind, if you’re a drummer trying to connect with new musicians, there’s no better opportunity to do so…
Drumset Ergonomics - Part 1: An Introduction
Hello, Modern Drummer readers. My name is Brandon Green, and I’m the owner of a muscle system health and fitness studio in Newmarket, Ontario, called Strata Internal Performance. I’m also a drummer. My mission is to help people move better…
Symrna - Neoclassic and Araf Series Cymbals
Modern-sounding yet traditionally handcrafted Turkish instruments.
Tempest - 8x14 Bell Bronze Snare
A massive German-made beast with a big, beefy voice to match.
Soundbrenner - Pulse Metronome
A wearable, vibrating device designed to eliminate the distractions of an audible click.
Seether’s John Humphrey
To translate the heavy, hard-hitting drum sounds on modern-rock band Seether’s seventh studio album, Poison the Parish, to the stage, longtime drummer John Humphrey has returned to the brand that he started with as a child. “My first drumset was…
New Drum Gear from DW Drums, Paiste, Los Cabos Drumsticks, Spaun, Auralex and More!
Los Cabos Drumsticks Pro Series Line The new Pro Series drumstick line features two artist models. The red hickory David McGraw stick measures .680"x16". The white hickory Lee Stanton stick is .613"x16" and is said to offer more power at…
What’s Your Favorite Simon Phillips Performance?
This month we check in with Simon Phillips, the U.K. jazz, fusion, and rock monster and former Toto drummer, who’s on the road in support of his latest solo project, Protocol 4. To find out which performances from the versatile…
John McEntire on the Sea and Cake’s Any Day
The multi-instrumentalist and Tortoise drummer ably anchors this Chicago indie-rock group’s outstanding new release.
Adam Levin with X Ambassadors
The group’s founding drummer embraces hybrid roles in the studio and on the road with the alternative pop/rock stars.
Jeff Hamilton live date, Gavin Harrison with Gleb Kolyadin, Kevin Haskins' Bauhaus coffee-table book, and more
RECORDINGS Photo by John Dankwardt Dan Pugach Nonet Plus One Playful throwback jazz nudged beyond nostalgia by its drummer/leader. The primary factor that seems to separate the Dan Pugach Nonet (“nonet” in this context refers to a nine-piece collective) from…
Legendary Blues Drummer Sam Lay Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and More
Sam Lay This past May 9, the Blues Foundation, a Memphis-based nonprofit organization that preserves and celebrates blues heritage, inducted their thirty-ninth class of Blues Hall of Fame members at the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education in Memphis,…
Leon “Ndugu” Chancler: 1952-2018
Veteran MD contributor Robin Tolleson remembers the drummer, who made enormous musical contributions across multiple genres and coached scores of players in their own pursuit of greatness.
Home Studio Drum Recording with Blair Sinta at ProMixAcademy.com
If you want a dose of reality, answer this question: When was the last time you recorded in a big-time studio with a generous budget and the freedom to experiment with drum sounds to your heart’s desire? The sad truth…
Four-Foot Fiend
Mike Eaton, the drummer for the Colorado-based Christian rock band Renewed, assembled this month’s featured set with the goal of minimizing his touring kit’s overall footprint onstage. “I’d always imagined mounting several cymbals and drums using a very minimal amount…