Canadian Musician - November/December 2018 | Page 56

your career. What is it that instilled this
constant curiosity and willingness to learn?
Traditional doumdoums
Vaudou Custom Standing Drum Kit
Various Pearl, Meinl & LP accessories
CM: You’ve performed with a very diverse
array of artists throughout your career, and
even in just the past 12 months alone. Tell
me about your process of preparing for a
new gig, regardless of genre or style, to
ensure you’re fully comfortable with the
material.
ML: Preparation is a part of new projects I really
love. I always listen to the music I’ll be playing
with the charts and write down every idea I
have for each section of each piece so I can try
them all during rehearsal to finally choose what
best fits the song and/or the project. I also make
sure I’m delivering the vibe, the part, and the
instrumentation that fits my employer’s mind,
whether they are an artist, a musical producer,
a film or TV director, etc. I especially love to de-
code what someone who doesn’t “speak” music
exactly wants from me.
CM: You’ve studied a myriad of different
musical and percussion styles throughout
ML: I did my first study trip at the age of 18
with Kosa Cuba and it made me realize how
important it was to study traditional music
and rhythms where they were created. When
it comes to world music, culture is a part of the
everyday life. In other words, to really under-
stand what I played and “speak” it properly with
the right codes, I had to immerse myself locally
in the different drumming cultures I already
liked so much: Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal,
Indonesia, Japan, Spain, Turkey, Cuba… Today,
my playing reflects these different trips around
the world, always searching for new keys of
musical and cultural understanding.
CM: I know you also do a fair amount of
teaching. Why is sharing knowledge and
helping other people along their musical
path so important to you? Does it have
benefits for your own playing?
ML: I’m actually not teaching right now, but it
is true that I love to give back all that I received
from my generous masters here in Montreal
SHANE MATTHEWSON
KEN mode
Tama Starclassic Performer Birch
Drums
13 x 11-in. Rack Tom
16 x 16-in. Floor Tom
22 x 16-in. Kick Drum
GodCity Music 14 x 7.5-in.
Titanium Snare
DW 5000 Series Double Kick
Pedal
Roland SPD-FX Sample Pad
Zildjian K Series 14-in. Hybrid
Hi-Hats
Sabian AA Series 19-in.
Holy China
Zildjian A Series 20-in. Crash Ride
Zildjian A Series 21-in. Sweet Ride
•
•
•
CM: What’s the most recent
piece of gear you’ve added
to your set-up and how did it
earn the spot?
SM: Other than my usual cymbal
turnover, the newest would be
the [Roland] SPD-FX sample pad. We had toured with the band Circle Takes
the Square in Europe back in 2012, and their drummer, Caleb [Collins], used
an SPD-FX pad. I was really impressed by its functionality and picked one
up to trigger samples in between songs in our set. We’ve since added parts
from our records that we aren’t able to pull off live as a three-piece without
the help of a sampler – saxophone, cello, guest vocals, etc.
CM: Your latest album, Loved, offers a distillation of many of KEN
mode’s signature sonic components from over the years. From
your perspective behind the kit, are there any new influences or
56 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
and around the world. What really inspires me is
a student who always wants to go deeper in the
culture or specific technique I’m sharing with
her or him, challenging me to search for an-
swers and making me learn even more myself.
And since percussions are made to be played
in a group, I specifically love teaching groups.
I once brought my advanced African percus-
sions group to Senegal for three weeks to learn
and play there – an experience of a lifetime for
everyone involved.
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?
ML: I was part of a great project called Ryth-
mopolis [in the fall], in which almost all the
classical percussionists from Montreal were
playing – 50 musicians to perform nine pieces
of contemporary music only for percussions.
There were a lot of odd time signatures as well
as odd time groupings – five, seven, nine, 11 –
which I then realized were a little bit far from
me. That’s what I am working on these days.
musical ideas that have crept into your playing on this one that
haven’t been there before, or at least not to this degree?
SM: There are a few tracks on Loved that have industrial components to
them, which was a bit of a new direction for me drumming-wise. The last
track on the album, “No Gentle Art,” in particular, utilizes both acoustic and
drum machine tracks, which we’ve now included in our live sets using the
SPD-FX pad. It’s been fun playing to a pre-recorded drum track and click
track live to really lock into that industrial feel.
CM: You guys have a knack for successfully blending key compo-
nents of several different genres into your output. Do you find
yourself exploring and/or playing genres outside of the “heavy”
sphere these days, and if so, how does it influence your playing
with KEN mode?
SM: “Do I lie and say I play other genres of music like Latin or funk in this
one? No, but I think that’s what they’re looking for…” Seriously, though, I
enjoy all kinds of music, but playing drums has always been about play-
ing like a maniac. No funk influences for now…
CM: You’ve had the opportunity to tour alongside a pretty diverse
list of other artists and drummers over the years. Has that had any
notable effect on your development and growth as a player?
SM: I’ve picked up techniques from many of the drummers we’ve toured
with. Nothing “game-changing,” but a lot of little things that do add up to
have a significant impact!
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?
SM: Because the band’s music has always been so heavy, I’m always
trying to concentrate on playing with better technique, and not always
“muscling” through our songs. Getting that Moeller stroke whipping and
concentrating on actually breathing while I’m playing have been on my
drumming “to-do list” for the past few years.