Feature Stories
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Carl Palmer: Asia, Alpha & Astra = Phoenix
(September 2008 Issue) by Ken Micallef “Asia isn’t about showing the expertise of the bandmembers. With The Carl Palmer Band, it’s different; I want to show every firecracker I’ve got.” As if channeling the cosmic power encompassed in the prophetic…
Thomas Pridgen: Turning Bedlam Into Beats
by Ken Micallef “I want to play stuff that hasn’t been played before, stuff that will make people wig out.” Twenty-four-year-old Thomas Pridgen unleashes the most rabid drumming in recent memory on The Mars Volta’s The Bedlam In Goliath. Of…
Zac Farro of Paramore
After several months of constant road work, eighteen-year-old Paramore drummer Zac Farro is finally back at home relaxing. And it’s a little strange for him. “I haven’t felt like a normal kid in two years,” he admits. “It’s so weird;…
Adam Deitch
by Michael Parillo When MD spoke to Adam Deitch about Lettuce’s new LP, Rage!, and other aspects of his funky career, we had so much good stuff left over that we now offer this exclusive addendum to the August…
Rodney Howard on Tour
Touring extensively with Gavin DeGraw, Regina Spektor, and most recently Avril Lavigne, drummer Rodney Howard plays a lot of TV gigs. “What’s different about playing a TV show is that you have three minutes to put across the beginning, middle,…
The "Odessey" Continues for the Zombies' Hugh Grundy
The Zombies marked the thirtieth anniversary of their gilded pop masterpiece Odessey & Oracle in 1998 with a CD reissue that struck a chord with a whole new generation of melody merchants, from lo-fi purists like Apples In Stereo to…
Julian Dorio of The Whigs
“Unlike a guitarist or singer, I don’t get the opportunity to play in the van. We get a soundcheck and that’s it, so lots of times I have to wait until I hit the stage to really start playing.” So…
John Dolmayan of System Of A Down
When System Of A Down went on a self-imposed hiatus two years ago, many knew that it wouldn’t be the last time the world would hear from these metallic talents. Soon thereafter, two different projects cropped up from within the…
Deen Castronovo: The Journey Of A Decade, The Career Of A Lifetime
by Mike Haid During the heyday of metal music in the ’80s, an underground subgenre known as “shred metal” emerged. The shred style focused mainly on high-energy, neo-classical instrumental rock, which required a drummer to be fast, powerful, and technically…
Gene Hoglan
Drummer Gene Hoglan didn’t have much downtime after guitarist Devin Townsend put Strapping Young Lad on hiatus in early 2007. Fairly quickly, Gene got a call from Brendon Small, creator of the animated series Metalocalypse, featuring the fictional death metal…
Ed Toth on Tour with The Doobie Brothers
5/28/08 Hello, everyone, Ed Toth here, with the inside scoop on The Doobie Brothers' tour with Chicago. It's very exciting in that, for the encore, both bands will be on stage together playing each other's songs. I'm looking forward to…
An Interview with Brian Reitzell
by Adam Budofsky Though Brian Reitzell is known in some circles as a drummer first, he maintains a “second” career as a film music producer, choosing and in many cases composing and recording soundtrack music to many of the most…
Chad Szeliga
Making grooves “pop” is Chad Szeliga’s purpose. The drummer joined Breaking Benjamin for 2006’s Phobia, and his experimentation with jazz, bebop, and fusion helped him pepper a huge modern rock record with incredibly tasty nuances. “Listen to Vinnie Paul,” says…
Rexsell Hardy Jr. Growing up in Chicago
Rexsell Hardy Jr. came up in Chicago’s Gospel scene and started out playing drums in his grandfather’s church when he was just five years old. By age six he was playing around Chicago with his father’s Gospel group, The Hardy…
