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

Harry Miree is a drummer currently based in Nashville, TN and is the drummer for Ryan Follese of Hot Chelle Rae. Harry will touring the summer of 2018 with Warner Brothers artist Troy Cartwright and indie rock band, Sons Of Bill. Harry has built a very entertaining YouTube channel where he covers many topics like The True Life of a Side Musician, Open Handed Techniques, alternatives to playing a Cajon and many other useful videos. Currently, Harry has close to 60,000 subscribers. Harry was a founding member of the rock band Boom City, which used the internet as a platform for music and videos. Boom City signed with a major rock label, toured arenas with Panic! at the Disco, and then disbanded. Miree graduated Berklee College of Music and moved to Nashville, securing the spot as touring drummer for recording artist Whitney Wolanin. In 2015 he toured with then-Capitol Records artist Joey Hyde, and in 2016 toured with Big Machine artist Levi Hummon. In 2017, Miree toured with LoCash (known for hit songs I Love This Lifeand I Know Somebody), and Clare Bowen, singer/actress known for her role as Scarlett O’Connor on the television show Nashville. In this episode, Harry talks about: What goes into making YouTube videos that resonate  Finding your own creative outlet Building an audience on your YouTube channel Speaking your truth Making lifestyle choices to afford a life in music Early influences Coming through the other side of an attempted suicide  Trying to separate ones sense of self worth from the gig that you have  The lessons and strength gained from failures  Finding the joy and inspiration in music by listening to music! Harry endorses: Vic Firth Sticks, Meinle Cymbals, Pearl Drums This episode is sponsored by Session Ace

14 Juni 20181h 46min

Drummer/percussionist Adam Bowman has been a mainstay in both the Canadian and international music scenes for nearly two decades. As a touring musician, Adam has been heard on stages across five continents with artists such as Juno-award winners Kellylee Evans and Carlos Morgan, Canadian independent music trail blazer Ember Swift, improvising guru VINX and country-folk songstress Dawn Langstroth, among many others. In the studio, Adam has become the drummer of choice for producers and songwriters on dozens of recordings. 2015 saw Juno-nominations for Eccodek’s Singing in Tongues and Alysha Brilla’s Womyn albums. In 2018 Alysha’s Rooted album received another nod. Currently, Adam can be heard playing with Elise LeGrow, Alysha Brilla, Jeff Eager and Jason Raso as well as providing accompaniment for modern and contemporary dance classes with IMAGEO artworks, Dancetheatre David Earle and Guelph Dance. In this podcast, Adam talks about: How saying yes to a seemingly insignificant offer determined the course of his professional and personal life Dance concepts that translate to other art forms, and how modern dance principles have made him rethink his drumming approach Cultivating long musical relationships with the same people and the same songs, and going deeper into each Using the feeling of making music you believe in with people you love as a reference to recreate that emotion in situations where everything is less familiar Accessing emotions in music, and letting them inform your musical decisions The Toronto scene, and why he lives just outside the city How easy it is to get “too comfortable” on a scene Adam Bowman endorses Headhunters sticks and Murat Diril cymbals. This episode is sponsored by Session Ace.

7 Juni 20181h 14min

Billy Ward is a Grammy awarded drummer, music educator, recording engineer and producer. Just a few of the people Billy’s Recorded and/or toured with include B. B. King, Robbie Robertson, Carly Simon, Richard Marx, The Knack, Yoko Ono, Joan Osborne, Ace Frehley, Glen Cambell, Art Garfunkel, David Crosby & Jimmy Webb just to name a few.                                                                                 Billy has recorded on more than 50 sound tracks for feature films including a musician’s favorite – That Thing You Do! , where Billy taught actor Tom Everett Scott to play the drums and was on the set as a consultant. Two records have been released under Billy’s name. Two Hands Clapping, and The Billy Ward Trio – Out The Door. Billy has been engineering in his private studio, DrumPike, since 1990. Billy has produced numerous drum tracks for famous and not yet famous artists out of DrumPike. As an educator, his two instructional DVDs, Big Time ( a Modern Drummers Readers Poll Award winner) and Voices In My Head have won raves from critics as well as fellow drummers. Billy occasionally travels anywhere in the world to play but he LOVES the close contact with students when performing Drum Clinics and Master Classes.                                                                                                             His book, “Inside Out – The Mental Aspects of Drumming”, further demonstrates Billy’s ability to clearly explain the difficult challenges that working musicians face.  In this episode, Billy talks about:  Money, the arts, and the divide  The state of the music industry  His short time and experience in Nashville  Creating and nurturing your own voice  Billy’s book: Inside Out His lesson with Elvin Jones at 17 Being concerned with how you are at your worst  “Practice Playing” Giving back to the drumming community  His DVD’s: Big Time, Voices in My Head & Modern Drummer fest – 2000 & 2008 Learning to judge yourself harshly  Recording drums for movie sound tracks Billy endorses: Zildjian Cymbals, DW Drums, ProMark sticks, Gator cases This episode is sponsored by Session Ace

31 Maj 20181h 25min

Brandon Goodwin has lived and worked in Montreal for 12 years. His group, B’s Bees, for which he serves triple duty as drummer, bandleader, and composer, recently released two albums: Dear Charlie, a tribute to the great jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and Kanata, a musical exploration of the history and identity of their home country of Canada. The group is currently touring Canada and the U.S. on the back of these releases. Brandon grew up in Armstrong, CA, and chose Montreal as the base of operations for his music career because of its vibrant, art-loving culture, and because its cost of living is actually lower than Vancouver, Toronto, and many comparable American cities. From early in his career, he had a drive to write, perform, and record original music. Drumming is just one aspect of his musical life, as he is usually spending as much if not more time developing himself as a composer and doing the administrative legwork it takes to get an original jazz group in the studio and on the road. In this podcast, Brandon talks about: What Charlie Haden means to him and the jazz world in general The drummers Haden was most associated with, especially Paul Motian, and the influence they had on Brandon The subject matter of Kanata Traveling to New Orleans to meet with Delfeayo Marsalis and workshop the compositions and recording/producing techniques for the record Montreal culture His early drumming influences, from Grohl to Bonham to Blakey His experience at Concordia University in Montreal His thoughts on accessibility vs. expression, as a drummer and composer This episode is sponsored by Session Ace.

24 Maj 20181h 4min

Originally from Dallas, Texas, Aaron Comess is an extremely versatile drummer with a wide range of influences and playing experiences including his ongoing work as a founding member of the Grammy-nominated funk-rock band Spin Doctors with a total of 10 million albums sold and over 1500 live shows under their belt and all four original members intact. 2018 marked their 30th year. Aaron has also spent a decade-plus in the touring band of Joan Osborne. In 2017, Aaron appeared on new releases by Joan Osborne, Rachael Yamagata, James Maddock, Willie Nile, Garland Jeffreys, Chris Bergson and German platinum-selling artist Marius Westerhagen to name a few. He has also worked with Bilal, Edie Bickell, Chris Whitley, Mark Cohen, Roswell Rudd, Ivan Nevil and a host of others. Aaron has been active as a band leader since his 2006 debut recording “Catskills Cry”. This was followed up with “Beautiful Mistake”, “Blues for Use”, “Aaron Comess Quintet”, “Live 2016” and most recently “Sculptures”. In this episode, Aaron talks about:  The current nature of touring and recording The power of positive attitudes  Curating a career that fits your vision Drumming for Joan Osborne Learning through experience how to create a sonic landscape in the studio His solo projects as well as his new record, “Sculptures”  The Spin Doctors Learning to say “no” to some gigs What to practice  Staying relaxed  Aaron endorses: Yamaha Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Remo Drumheads  This episode is sponsored by Session Ace

17 Maj 20181h 33min

From Santa Clara, Cuba, Dafnis Prieto’s revolutionary drumming techniques and compositions have had a powerful impact on the Latin and Jazz music scene, nationally and internationally. He is the leader of several groups including the Dafnis Prieto Sextet, The Proverb Trio, Si O Si Quartet, and the Dafnis Prieto Big Band, which just released an album of Prieto’s compositions entitled Back to the Sunset. He is also the author of the book A World of Rhythmic Possibilities. Various awards include a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship, Up & Coming Musician of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, a GRAMMY nomination for Absolute Quintet as Best Latin Jazz Album, and a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist in 2007. Also a gifted educator, Prieto has conducted master classes, clinics, and workshops throughout the world. He was a faculty member of Jazz Studies at NYU from 2005 to 2014, and in 2015 became a faculty member at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. In this podcast, Dafnis talks about: The courses he teaches at The University of Miami Frost School of Music Letting rhyhmic content and interpretation dictate pulse, not the other way around like we usually do Fully exploring and exploiting your existing skills and knowledge to develop musical vocabulary His upbringing and early musical education in Cuba His experience working his way into the New York scene as a 25-year-old in the 1999 The gradual switch from gigs he had to play to gigs he wanted to play Figuring out your “why” Dafnis Prieto endorses Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Latin Percussion, Evans Drumheads, and Vic Firth Sticks. This episode is sponsored by Session Ace.

10 Maj 20181h 8min

Christian Paschall is a drummer, producer, engineer and mixer originally from Atlanta, GA, now based in Nashville, TN. With over 14 years of professional experience Christian has shared the stage and studio with such artists as Maren Morris, Kristian Bush (of Sugarland), Kelsea Ballerini, Alicia Keys, Amos Lee and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chris Tomlin, and David Crowder among many others. Today Christian tours full time with Maren Morris as her drummer and musical director in addition to playing on sessions both locally and remotely. Be it on stage in front of thousands of people, television, or an intimate recording session, Christian strives to bring fresh creativity and feel into everything he does. In this episode, Christian talks about:  His shared studio Playing what fits the song and not just doing what’s trendy  Moving from Crowder to Maren Morris Honoring the original tracks of the artist your working for  Playing a one off with Amos Lee Following your own path Christian’s history with drums Breaking down the wall between your creativity and your hands Christian’s other skill of mixing  Taking calculated risks  Christian endorses Tama Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, and Vater Drumsticks This episode is sponsored by Session Ace

3 Maj 20181h 43min

Bob Knight lives in London where he commands somewhat of a dual career, both as an in-demand drummer and a music agent or “fixer,” matching musicians with bands or artists who need backing. He graduated from the jazz program at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London and has gone on to work with some of the biggest names in pop music including Sting, Cee-Lo Green, Charlotte Church, and Jennifer Hudson. His company, BEK Music, has provided musicians for a huge variety of acts from Andrea Bocelli to Eminem. In this podcast, Bob talks about: How to tailor your sound to different types of performance spaces using instrumentation and amplification. The difference between a beat and a groove What he’s practicing, now that he has the time and space His experience at the Royal Academy of Music, and its unique audition process What jazz training taught him that translates to any other genre, and the one skill it all comes down to How his early ambition was based on simply being able to support himself Why he started his own booking agency What he values in musicians as a fixer Bob Knight endorses Yamaha drums, Vic Firth sticks, Remo heads, Zildjian cymbals, Protection Racket cases, and Porter & Davies thrones. This episode is sponsored by Session Ace.

26 Apr 20181h 11min