a bass player in terms of learning to read, even and he said, “I’ve been playing too long to the biggest impact by doing the least amount.
if on the average Sunday morning you don’t suck.” Which is so true, when you get thrown That’s way more impressive to me when you
need to? into this setting you’ve just got to trust and rely can just do as little as possible and it sounds
on your experience. You have to trust that you the absolute best. I think that’s Paul’s MO, even
can do it, don’t tell yourself that you can’t. with his company, it’s about getting the drums
[David] Like you just said, you don’t need
sheet music until you do. For the most part,
even when I’m looking at the sheet music in
to sound good. He’s not trying to show you all
[WM] What does that bring out in you?
the set, I’m really just looking at it as a guide
of these technical fills, it’s about how it sounds
and how it feels. That’s how you become
so that when I do need a chord I already know [David] It’s really helped me to not over play. a professional musician, and we’ve kind of
exactly where I am on the page. Maybe you’re My best time in a band is when I can make carried that mindset in the band. It just needs to
playing a set and you need a chord so you start
looking at the sheet music, but you haven’t
been following along so you don’t know where
you are, and now a couple seconds have gone
by and you don’t even know where you’re at
and now you’re just off the rails. My eyes kind of
glide along with the page just so I know where
we are in the sheet music, just so I can always
jump to it with my eye. I’m not trying to make it
a crutch for me, it’s more just a guide and that’s
the balance. I only look at it when I need it.
[WM] In our last interview, you mentioned that
you focus on the vocal or instrument without
which the song or arrangement will collapse.
What are your thoughts and suggestions on
how to balance focus on that with reading the
chart, grooving with the drums, and making it
all sound and feel musical?
[David] I’ve learned that if I’m doing my job
correctly then Lauren will sing better. Because
we are literally here to support her, we are the
band and her vocals are just the color over
everything. So, it’s this tandem thing, if we’re
doing our job then by default she will too. I’m
less worried about if she’s doing fine, I know if
I’m giving my best then it is going to feed off of
everyone else. It’s like being able to multitask,
but being able to focus on just one thing. It’s
that synergy. If I’m playing the song the best
that I can, then I know someone else is hearing
that and they’re just focusing on them doing
that, and then it becomes a group effort.
[WM] Paul Mabry is no slouch, is he?
[David] No, he’s not. He said today, somebody
asked him how long he’s been playing drums,
December 2018
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