Canadian Musician - November/December 2018 | Page 53

about your process of preparing for a new
gig, regardless of genre or style, to ensure
you’re fully comfortable with the material
and demands.
BF: I’ve always prided myself on being some-
what of a chameleon. I’ve had to be many types
of drummers and yet still be me! I don’t take my
own license and just play whatever suits me,
but instead I make sure I completely study the
original drum parts, and basically make it my
intention to add some of that drummer’s style
to my own. I always write my own little charts
of songs, but rarely use them on a live gig. I
hate feeling that the audience is watching me
looking into a music stand rather than towards
the other musicians and audience. I usually
get calls for gigs because I can also sing, read
music, play to a click – very important. The fact
that I also play melodic instruments – piano,
bass, guitar, etc. – is a huge asset to my musical
vocabulary.
One thing I’ve learned that I find really
important is being aware of dynamics while
playing with other musicians, and knowing
where to put tempos of songs so everyone
that you’re performing with locks in together.
And obviously, watching live footage of people
you’re working with and watching other drum-
mers’ approaches to tempos, dynamics, etc. is
[helpful in preparing for a gig].
when playing live and on recordings. We’ve
had most of the artists we’ve covered tell us
how they can’t believe how respectful we were
to re-inventing their songs and giving them a
brand new life, updated sonic excitement, and
overall renewed spirit. Some have even said
that our version is better, but that’s not the goal
or purpose at all; we are just honouring them
by covering the song, and thanking them for
their great influence on our careers.
CM: Is there anything technical you’ve
been working on lately, or that you’d like
to start working on in order to further
improve your playing?
BF: I really need to get better at double kick.
That’s a priority. I never had two bass drums or
a double pedal growing up. I’ve been faking
my way through it, and I lead with my left foot,
which is all backwards, but I continue to work
on it. I further improve by constantly seeing
other great musicians perform live. I never want
to stop being inspired to be a better musician.
If you stop practicing mentally and physically,
you lose fluidity in the vocabulary of playing an
instrument and creating music.
CM: In a lot of your projects, from Toque
to your work with Slash and Gene Sim-
mons, you’re performing widely-known
material. Is it important for you to stick to
the original parts/arrangements in those
situations, or do you find yourself taking
some creative liberties to “freshen up” the
material in some cases?
BF: Yeah, sometimes “freshen up” means just
giving new contemporary spirit to something
already great. With Gene Simmons, he didn’t ask
me to play anything like the original record-
ings that Peter Criss, Eric Carr, and Eric Singer
drummed on. In fact, he may have suggested
I don’t need to worry about being true to the
original – just make it my own. But, as a huge
KISS fan, those songs are the soundtrack to my
life. I felt I could represent the songs better if
I actually put myself in the shoes of all three
drummers, depending on the song, but again,
still make it feel like me. And if I was in the
audience watching the band, I would likely be
impressed if I saw the drummer being really
respectful and really knowing the songs with
fine detail.
Same with working with Slash. I like to be
respectful of Steve Adler and Matt Sorum’s
styles. And when writing new music with
Slash – now three records’ worth – I certainly
find common ground in being myself but also
infusing the spirit of the other great drummers
Slash has had previous success with.
With Toque, we take it to a whole other lev-
el. We want to make it the ultimate challenge
to get every nuance of the songs into our DNA
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