114 – Angela Lese: Drumming for The Dead Deads, Cultivating a Strong Fan Base, From “Regular Job” to Touring Musician

Mona Tavakoli is a Los Angeles-based drummer, singer and performer bets known for recording and touring with Jason Mraz. While Mona is equally comfortable performing as a drummer and a percussionist, she is especially known for adapting the cajón to unexpected genres such as rock and pop. Mona and Mraz have been collaborating for nearly a decade. She toured worldwide on Mraz’s 2012 album, Love is a Four Letter Word, and they performed together as a duo on programs such as The Today Show, The David Letterman Show, Ellen, Dancing with the Stars, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. She is a co-founder and co-director of the Rock n’ Roll Camp For Girls Los Angeles, a nonprofit that encourages girls to find their voices through music during an intensive, weeklong summer day camp. Mona also promotes music education by hosting rhythm workshops at elementary schools and colleges around the country. Mona has been featured in DRUM!, Tom Tom Magazine, judged and hosted the Hit Like A Girl drum contest and awards show and is the recipient of the 2016 She Rocks awards “Inspire Award” for her work with the Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls. In this episode, Mona talks about: The new album she recently tracked with Jason and Raining Jane Her hybrid setup and her history with the Cajon Her unlikely combination of influences from Neil Peart to Jay Belerose Her background in economics and how that informs her music career Her #1 piece of financial advice for musicians Her role with the Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls

1 Dec 20221h 13min

John Dittrich is the well known drummer, singer and founding member of the band Restless Heart who had numerous hits in the country and pop genres. John is originally from Syracuse, New York and moved to Nashville Tennessee in 1981. By 1984, Restless Heart released it’s first recording and continued to record and tour for over thirty years.    After a successful and extensive career, John now enjoys retirement.  In this episode, John talks about:    Stories with John’s longtime friend & co-host with George Lawrence    Studying with Ed Shaughnessy    Working in Nashville in the 1990’s    Singing on stage with Toto    John’s country train sticking rlRl rrLr rlRl rrLr    The origins of Restless Heart    Retirement

17 Nov 20221h 57min

NYC based drummer, educator, and product inventor, Pat Petrillo has been a leader in the drum industry for years. He has backed a wide array of artists from many genres, including Patti LaBelle, Gloria Gaynor, Glen Burtnik, Oz Noy, and numerous Broadway shows. His popular video lessons on Drumeo.com and numerous others have inspired millions of drummers over the years. He now leads his own group, the NYC Big Rhythm Band, which has just released a new record called The Power Station Sessions. Pat also has man product designs to his credit, including the very popular 21" K Custom Organic Ride, and the new Drumeo P4 Practice Pad. In this episode, Pat talks about The drumming styles and tones on the new record His earliest influences - Ringo and Jabo Studying with Peter Erskine at the Drummer's Collective His unusual audition for Patti LaBelle His experience on Broadway The evolution of the P4 practice pad

10 Nov 20221h 21min

Shawn Pelton has recorded with a wide range of artists and has been a first call player since moving to New York in the late 1980s. Shawn has recorded with artists such as Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, Natalie Merchant, Ingrid Michaelson, Billy Joel, Van Morrison, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Pink, Shakira, Kelly Clarkson, Five For Fighting, Michelle Branch, Regina Spektor, Tears for Fears, Citizen Cope, Matisyahu, Jonatha Brooke, David Byrne, Edie Brickell, Marc Cohn, Richie Havens, Joan Osborne, Hall and Oates, Odetta, Pavarotti, Phillip Phillips, George Michael, Carly Simon, Dixie Chicks, Chris Botti and Buddy Guy, and has played on several Grammy winning albums for artists including Ray Charles, The Brecker Brothers, Shakira, Shawn Colvin, Les Paul and the Hank Williams tribute album with Bob Dylan. Shawn is also the longtime drummer in the house band for Saturday Night Live. Since 2007, Pelton has been regularly appearing as the drummer on Daryl Hall's internet concert series Live from Daryl's House. Pelton also served periodically as the substitute drummer in the CBS Orchestra on Late Show with David Letterman during regular drummer Anton Fig's absences. Pelton is also a founding member of the NYC-based band The Cringe. In this episode, Shawn talks about:    Powerful insights from his teachers    Utilizing multiple styles in his day to day    Shawn’s chart writing tips    Reading the room and acting accordingly    Managing the back and forth with remote tracking    When to employ your unique voice and sound    Shawn’s physical presence behind the kit    Attitude over chops

3 Nov 20221h 23min

Willy Rodriguez is a Latin GRAMMY-winning drummer, percussionist and bandleader. He was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and began playing drums at age thirteen. He received his musical start playing throughout Puerto Rico in rock and pop bands. When Willy was twenty-one he started working as the Musical Director and drummer for Latin American Idol’s touring group. Following his experience at Idol, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in 2007. His reputation as a skilled musician spread quickly in the Boston area and he began playing extensively with musicians such as Jason Palmer and Andre Heyward. At Berklee, Willy studied with a host of famed teachers such as Terri-Lyne Carrington, Yoron Israel, Ralph Peterson and Greg Osby. In 2014, Willy graduated from New England Conservatory with a Master’s degree in Jazz Drum Performance. At NEC, he studied with Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, Miguel Zenon, Jerry Bergonzi and Bob Moses, among others. He has performed alongside some of the premier musicians in jazz and Latin jazz including Jason Palmer, Papo Vasquez and Dave Liebman, with whom he has recorded and played with extensively. In addition to his work in jazz, he has performed and/or recorded with an extensive list of genre-spanning artists including Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Mon Laferte, Domino Saints, and more. In 2019, he won a Latin GRAMMY for his work on Mon Laferte's 'Norma'. Willy recorded the self-titled seventh album by The Mars Volta, released in 2022 after a ten-year hiatus.  In this episode, Willy talks about How he got into The Mars Volta's circle, and how his style fit the more intimate feel of the new record Wanting to make his own name as an artist, as opposed to becoming known as "so-and-so's drummer" His experience as an older student at Berklee Understanding the American pocket and shedding his "Puerto-Rican-ness" in pursuit of it How he got into jazz through metal and math rock

27 Okt 20221h 10min

Gary Husband is one of a rare breed of musicians in that his expression is divided equally in his capacity as a drummer and a pianist and keyboardist of international repute. His classical roots, his quest and development in the improvisational, jazz and jazz/fusion areas – not to mention his tenure in the pop, rock, funk and blues circuits – are all evident inside Gary’s distinct and far-reaching musical personality. His solo album and DVD output has also reinforced his status as a critically acclaimed writer and arranger in the contemporary music world. For close to four decades Gary has worked alongside a vast and eclectic range of celebrated musicians including John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce (Cream), Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy), British pop/funk band Level 42, Billy Cobham, Al Jarreau, Mike Stern (Miles Davis), John Wetton (King Crimson), Chris Squire (Yes), Andy Summers (The Police), Steve Hackett (Genesis), Robin Trower (Procol Harum), and with producers Sir George Martin (Beatles), Trevor Horn (Grace Jones & Art of Noise), Quincy Jones (Michael Jackson), Jerry Hey and James Guthrie (Pink Floyd). Further associations and performing/recording credits include his work with Randy Brecker, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, fusion/jam band Gongzilla, Germany’s NDR Bigband, Soft Machine, Maria Schneider, Christian McBride, Eddie Van Halen, Dean Brown, Bob Berg, Nguyên Lê, Joe Lovano, Charles Tolliver, Bireli Lagrène, Peter Erskine, Ron Sexsmith, drum n’ bass protagonists Lemon ‘D’ and Dillinja. As an internationally established drum clinician he has performed alongside Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, Terry Bozzio, Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips, Omar Hakim, Ricky Lawson, Todd Sucherman, Paul Wertico, Denny Seiwell and Bernard Purdie, and most recently has been developing a series of motivational videocasts in drumming. In this episode, Gary talks about:    An early influence: John Von Ohlen    Knowing how to relax and slow down to benefit the performance    Videocast lessons on Gary’s website    The early days of working with Allan Holdsworth    His newest recording with The Trackers: Vaudeville 8:45

20 Okt 20221h 3min

To date, Clint has played on over 1,000 recording sessions and over 75 tours with artists including The Blues Brothers Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chuck Loeb, Art Garfunkel, The New York Voices, Mitch Forman, Cornell Dupree, and Edgar Winter. On television, Clint has appeared with the Saturday Night Live Band, and has performed with various artists on David Letterman, MTV, Bravo, Good Morning America, & The Today Show. He also played on the soundtrack for Stephen Spielberg's West Side Story. For seven years, Clint played drums with Hiram Bullock's band, a power trio that featured the singing and playing of Hiram, legendary bassist Will Lee. The band made 5 recordings, and toured no less than 25 times. On Broadway, Clint has played for 13 shows, creating the drum books for four of them, including the Grammy Award winning Hairspray. In this episode, Clint talks about: The romanticization of session work Creating a career out of patchwork, and the fragmentation of the record industry How theatre work is a fusion of a live approach with a studio approach Getting experience in a given genre on "regular gigs" before playing that genre as part of a musical Playing with Paul Shaffer, and the unique position of playing drums with a symphony orchestra

13 Okt 20221h 14min

John Geiger began his love for music and drumming at an early age and spent his early band years playing 80’s rock on the Sunset Strip and later moved on to country and classic rock. John pursued his music passion by creating a multi-decade career in the music product industry. John has spend over 30 years working in this industry with iconic brands such as Yamaha, D’Addario, KORG USA and Zildjian. John currently plays in the Scotty Mac Band who’s regional success led to opening slots for national touring acts like Brett Young, Tyler Farr, Phil Vassar, Lee Brice and Chase Rice. The band performs at festivals around the country including Night in the Country, Country Fan Fest, Oregon Jamboree, Country Thunder, Coastal Country Jam among others. In 2016 McLaughlin released his first EP Messin’ Around which was followed in 2018 with a sophomore album Starts With A Girl, both recorded in Nashville. The band won California Country Association’s Entertainer of the Year in 2017. Today, fans can see the band playing in Nashville at bars such as Tin Roof, Winners and Ole' Red. In this episode, John talks about:    Major changes in the retail industry over the last 40 years    His job title and responsibilities at Zildjian / Vic Firth    John’s history in the music product industry     The communal nature of drummers    The business of endorsements    News about supply chain issues

6 Okt 20221h 41min