track metronome in one of my ear buds, and
[WM] What are your own practice disciplines?
I can start the song at the exact same tempo
This whole thing, like with doctors, “Well I went
to college, and when I went to college they
every night.” He said, “I love it! I hate counting [Gregg] I take lessons still, I want to grow. weren’t talking about this new technique…”,
out tempos. With the Beatles, Paul used to I’m going to be 60 years old in a couple weeks well yeah, you’ve got to keep learning. They
count off the tempos to the songs”. and when I’m a hundred I want to take lessons. call it “practicing” medicine. You’re always
practicing, you’re always trying new stuff.
You’ve got the FDA and the AMA and all of
these pharmaceutical companies wanting to
prescribe drugs, so these doctors better keep
learning. And drummers and musicians better
keep learning or they’re going to become
dinosaurs and they’re not going to get gigs.
Nobody is going to want them in their band, let
alone their worship band.
[WM] Tell us about your Dixon drum set and
why did you select them as a brand?
[Gregg] I love great sounding maple thin
shelled drums, and that’s exactly what Dixon
makes. Dixon’s parent company is one of the
largest music manufacturers in the world and
Dixon is their brand. I am very honored to
be a global ambassador for Dixon. I believe
strongly in music education and so does
everyone at Dixon. My college degree was
in Music Education... The drums are called
Artisan Ultra Maple and they are 4mm shells.
I believe in Dixon. I go all around the world.
telling drummers why I think these are the best
drums for me and why they sound so great.
Our drum tech with Ringo, Jeff Chonis (who is
also my drum tech) loves the way they sound.
They don’t make just great Maple drums, they
make great drums in all types of woods and
in all types of configurations and all types of
price points. They’re an amazing drum and
hardware company
[WM] How big of a kit are you playing now?
[Gregg] Depends on the gig. With Ringo, he
plays a four piece - a bass drum, a tom tom on
the bass drum, a floor tom and a snare, that’s
what we call a four piece. That’s what I play
because Ringo is my hero. He’s the guy who
taught me how to play pop rock songs. But
with certain bands, like with David Lee Roth,
I had two big huge double-sized kick drums,
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June 2019
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