only people in the world able to keep a near-perfect internal ‘ Tala ’ or ‘ Meter .’
Humphrey : It has , and always will be , Larnell Lewis . I ’ ve seen him play in multiple settings . I think he understands playing from the heart a lot differently than most drummers . I ’ ve learned more about playing drums in a five-minute conversation with him than I have taking eight lessons with a jazz drummer that will remain unnamed .
Lander : I think I could learn the most from Neil Peart . He ’ d be my number one choice . The second would be John Bonham , because he was one of the most crushingly amazing drummers and changed rock drumming in my opinion . Honourable mentions include Alex Van Halen , Bev Bevan , Mick Tucker , Ginger Baker , and Gene Krupa .
Lewis : It ’ s going to have to be what I feel today about who I ’ d love to study with . A couple of names come to mind , but I think ( just studying music and life ), Stevie Wonder . I ’ d just want to sit with him and hear him move around a set of chord changes , manipulate or interpret a rhythm , and just hear him speak about different time periods in his life . He was in the industry at such a young age and experienced so much more than a lot of people , and he ’ s still around today , thankfully . He ’ s influenced so many people and he ’ s one of those people that are just timeless in my opinion . He spans so many generations , so many movements , and experienced so much .
Menow : Tough question , but I ’ d have to choose Neil Peart . Travis Barker is my favourite drummer , but Neil Peart had wicked chops , an insanely beautiful drum kit , was just an amazing storyteller on his kit and such a great songwriter . And Neil and I shared the same birthdate . Rock in peace , Neil .
CM : How important has digging into unfamiliar music been to your musical development , and what types of music or specific artists have had an influence on you in the past and / or present ?
Burrows : Listening to a variety of music has always been an influence on both my drumming and the band . In earlier days , listening to bands like Dead Can Dance , This Mortal Coil , and The Cocteau Twins really drove my desire to be as musical and melodic as possible behind the kit . I don ’ t think I ’ ve ever been happy performing four on the floor , especially within the band setting of a three-piece . More often lately , I find myself going back to music I listened to in high school – The Cure , Echo and the Bunnymen , and The Psychedelic Furs – not only for nostalgic reasons , but because of the way in which the “ modern ” technology ( of the time ) was transforming rock music .
D ’ Oliveira : Doing exactly that has been the focus of how I learn as an artist . I make a point to constantly be learning new approaches and traditions and never settling within one aspect or mindset . Also , there ’ s more than just listening – travelling and spending time in the places and with the people where the music comes from for even a short period can speed up your learning process and also give you context for your expression as an artist .
A great example of this is when I went to Mexico to research pre-Hispanic music while composing for Shadow of the Tomb Raider . There I found a treasure trove of instruments and rhythms that I didn ’ t know even existed . But more importantly , I learned the approach of creating musical sound and rhythms as an expression of nature and the universe in a ritualistic sense . You can hear the results in tracks such as “ Death of the Sun ” and “ Return to Paititi ,” which were created purely live on the spot without any planning , and multi-tracked using a variety of polyrhythms and percussion textures in the same manner .
Humphrey : Knowledge of unfamiliar music will always be important to the development of any and every artist . If you can see the beauty in something , you ’ ll be able to pull a reference from it , whether it be a feeling or an acquired skill . I can ’ t point to just one artist for impact in recent times . I listen to far too much music to do that , but country , blues , and roots has taught me a lot about pacing through a song – something I don ’ t normally get from rock or rap ... Even within the context of jazz , the pacing is still much different .
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