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

Dave Elitch first gained notoriety touring with the American progressive rock band The Mars Volta in 2009-2010. Since then he has lent his talents to Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, M83, The 1975, Juliette Lewis, Big Black Delta, and many others. An established LA session player, Dave has performed on various records, syncs, and film scores for major motion pictures, including “Trolls" and “Logan." He also conducts masterclass lectures worldwide and keeps a busy private teaching practice in Los Angeles. Dave has developed a reputation as the technique/body mechanic specialist and has helped many of the industry's top players and educators expand their vocabulary, overcome physical/mental barriers and get out of their own way. In this episode, Dave talks about: What's new in the latest additions to his online course What The Alexander Technique is and how he has incorporated it into his approach How the physical and the psychological can work with each other or against each other How to be mindful without being obsessive How diet plays into how your body works, both in the immediate and over time

16 Dec 20211h 32min

Joe Gilder is a musician, songwriter, and producer living in the Nashville area with his wife Pam and 3 kids.  Joe started Home Studio Corner back in 2009. Over the years, he's created thousands of pieces of content — videos, podcasts, articles, training courses, and more — all with the goal of helping home studio folks make better music. In addition to Home Studio Corner, Joe's worked for Sweetwater and Presonus, as well as leading worship for a few churches in the Nashville area. Looking for free help? Check out his YouTube channel as well as these free resources. Looking to dive deeper? Check out my courses here. In this episode, Joe talks about:    How “Home Studio Corner” got started and what it is    Advice for content creators    Get It Right At The Source - G.I.R.A.T.S.    What Joe loves about working with drummer Tim Horsley (WDP ep 025)    Advice when recording drums    Ideas for growing your home studio clientele

9 Dec 20211h 35min

Frank Zummo is currently the drummer of the rock band SUM 41, EDM Artist Kayzo, and has recently begun releasing music and doing live performances under his own name. His schooling started with Dom Famularo and continued at the Drummer's Collective in Manhattan. In 2004, Zummo co-founded the award-winning drum ensemble Street Drum Corps, which became his biggest project to date, resulting in countless world tours, Vegas residencies and performances onstage with Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars, Chris Cornell (Soundgarden); and has now expanded into a nationwide franchise with several theme park residencies. Other projects Zummo has in his pocket include: Motley Crue (filled in for Tommy Lee during a hand injury), Krewella, Gary Numan, Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots' late singer), Julien-K, Dead By Sunrise, Orianthi, the Start, Dhani Harrison, and many more. In this episode, Frank talks about: What he learned from DJs about how to put on a live EDM show How drummers like Tommy Lee and Chad Smith inspired his approach to live shows What he does (and doesn't do) to manage the physical challenges of his playing style How Dom Famularo set him on a positive path Assembling and managing his business team

2 Dec 20211h 3min

Tommy Harden has been in Nashville since the early 90's. The first gig he landed was 4 months after moving to town with the Grammy award winning Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers. He then went on to tour with Ricky Skaggs, playing drums in the coveted Kentucky Thunder band as well as touring with Reba McEntire for 14 years. Tommy has played on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, David Letterman, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Oprah, The View, Regis and Kelly, and many others. He has performed at the White House, the Kennedy Center, and the Capitol for the 4th of July, and has played in every state in the nation, in arenas and amphitheaters all over the country. Since getting off the road full time in the mid 90’s, Tommy pursued studio work, where he became a top call, ‘A' list studio drummer. He played on hundreds of recordings for artists such as Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Big and Rich, Waylon Jennings, Jessica Simpson, and has been on number one hits for Justin Moore, Dustin Lynch, and James Otto. Since 1997, he has played on an estimated 5,000-7,000 sessions. Tommy was featured playing drums in the movie ‘Muscle Shoals', playing for Rick Hall and Candi Staton. He fronts his own band, Lost Hollow with his wife Lorrie. He currently tours with the legendary country band Alabama. Tommy has a studio at his house called Tommy's Dungeon, where he does drum tracks for clients all over the world, produces, and writes songs.  In this episode, Tommy talks about:    His home studio and the build of his drum room    Recording and performing hacks    His duo: Lost Hollow    Playing for the song    A look behind the scenes when recording couple #1 hits    Changes in the industry that lead to his work with Reba McEntire    Touring with Alabama

18 Nov 20211h 43min

Mike Jackson is a multi-talented musician, composer and overall creative with over 30 years of experience in the fields of music, commercial composition as well as video and audio production. He has composed music for a diverse range of clients and formats like CD-ROM game titles such as Spy Kids® and Totally Spies®, WGN's Footnote and CMT.    While serving as staff composer at one of the nations largest production facilities, Mills James Productions, Mike composed music for Victoria's Secret, Toyota, the critically acclaimed "Light Tunnel" at the Detroit International Airport, The Ohio Lottery, for which he received an Emmy® award, and many other fortune 500 companies.    Mike also composed the music for the International Academy of Web Television nominated show Aidan 5, A sci-fi, film-noir, detective drama. Mike is currently the visual and digital experience designer for the company Sedgwick. In this episode, Mike talks about:    Deciding on plug-ins for your DAW based on experience    G.A.S. - Gear Acquisition Syndrom    Mike’s journey to understanding the technical side of music    Composing commercial music    Reviewing and defining standard recording terms like compression, phasing, etc

11 Nov 20211h 42min

Megan Coleman was born in the heart of Detroit. She grew up in church, learning from the rich culture that is Detroit Gospel, Jazz and RnB music. She always had a passion for music and had the chance to start exploring that both in church and in school when she started playing drums in Jr. High. She continued to grow in love and passion for music, but wanted instead, to pursue Medicine. In the midst of these studies, she moved to Nashville to try her hand at pursuing music full-time. Megan has since had the opportunity to grow and flourish both in Nashville and in the industry as a whole. As a drummer and percussionist, she has shared the stage with a wide variety of artists such as Jackie Greene, Foy Vance, and Ron Pope-to name a few. Most recently, she can be found touring with Yola. When she is not on the road, Megan spends her time in sessions around town, teaching lessons, or volunteering in mentorship programs. In this episode, Megan talks about:    Her journey from Detroit, TX, the middle east and Nashville    Learning music and drumming from a non-traditional place    Living in Jordan    Working as a DJ    Embracing fear and anxiety    Working with Grammy nominated artist Yola

4 Nov 20211h 32min

Chad Melchert is one of Canada’s most pre-eminent live and session drummers who is also an acclaimed drum teacher. This native Canadian calls Edmonton (Morinville), Alberta, home but despite his Canadian residence Melchert has toured all over the world and played with artists from all types genres including Gord Bamford, Brett Kissel, Adam Gregory, Aaron Goodvin, Duane Steele, Hemingway Corner, Gil Grand, Jake Mathews, Dallas Smith, Beverley Mahood, Michelle Wright, Bobby Wills, Mikaila Cooper, Corb Lund, Charlie Major, Tyler Connoly (Theory Of A Deadman), Rose Maddox (Grand Ole Opry legend), Jean Shepard (Grand Ole Opry legend), Ian Tyson, FOXX Worthee, Drew Gregory, Deric Ruttan, Jason Blaine, Chad Brownlee, Aaron Pritchett, Lindsay Ell, Patricia Conroy, Tenille Alee, Lindi Ortega, Charlie James, Shawn Oates, The Lovelocks, Eric Ethridge, Jeremy Dallas, Chris Henderson, Trinity Bradshaw, Michela Sheedy, Katie Love Hess, Amber Bauer, Amber Stoby, Hastie and The Alibi, Freedom’s Note, Thin Line Sid, Jordan Lee,, The Dungarees, James Murdoch, Deon Blyan, Jay Sparrow, Mike Nash, Dan Davidson, Codie Prevost, Alex Runions, Craig Moritz, and Joal Kamps, to name a few. Melchert has also earned repeated recognition as the CCMA (Canadian Country Music Association) Drummer Of The Year (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and, 2019) and in fact, Melchert was the first drummer to enter the CCMA Hall Of Honor. Melchert endorses, Gretsch drums, Canopus Snares, Remo Drum Heads, Beier Drums Snares, Paiste Cymbals, Porter & Davies Monitoring System, Vic Firth Drumsticks, Protection Racket Cases and, Rhythm Tech Percussion. In this episode, Chad talks about:    Maintaining and growing his home studio    Home studio hacks    Playing a supportive role in a studio environment    Supporting Canadian artists    Being “studio ready”

28 Okt 20211h 36min

Jake Sommers attended The University of the Arts in Philadelphia (UArts) as a music performance major. He was fortunate to study under Marc Dicciani, Jimmy Paxson (Ben Harper, Stevie Nicks, and Natalie Maine), Gerry Brown (Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross), Marcus Baylor (Yellowjackets), as well as Erik Johnson. He graduated from University of the Arts in May 2013 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Music Performance. He was awarded the prestigious Paul D. Patterson Drum Set Award. Jake also studied under Dom Famularo and John Favicchia. Jake relocated from his hometown in New York to Nashville, TN to pursue playing drums. Jake started drumming at the honky tonk scene on Broadway in downtown Nashville. Shortly after, he met singer-songwriter /artist by the name of Luke Combs. Jake became Luke Combs touring drummer in 2015. Over the course of Jake’s time touring with Luke Combs, Jake has made appearances on Saturday Night Live, The Today Show and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. In addition to touring Jake teaches lessons and plays on recording sessions. In this episode, Jake talks about:    Building a home studio client base    How he got the Luke Combs gig    Networking in a new town    His responsibilities in the Luke gig    The value of charting skills    Studying at The University of the Arts Philadelphia

21 Okt 20211h 29min