Episodes
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Patty Danao is without a doubt one of Australia's best up and coming drummers. Currently he's holding the drum chair on 2 amazing gigs, Jessica Mauboy and with the jazz legend, James Morrison.
In this chat, I speak with Patty not only about how those gigs came about for him, but just how he goes about changing his approach between the 2 extremely contrasting, yet equally challenging gigs.
He also shares some great advice for anyone interested in both touring with big name pop artists, as well as the fundamentals of drumming that he thinks are the most important to have a handle on to best succeed.
Enjoy!
You can follow Patty at https://www.instagram.com/pattyonthedrums and https://www.patrickdanao.com
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No one has influenced me more not only a drummer, but also as a person, as my Dad Steve Todd.
He has had an extremely successful career as a professional drummer for over 40 years, and in that time has seen so much change and development in the music industry and drumming in general.
In this conversation we chat about a wide range of topics, from his time as a full time session musician in Adelaide, to the changes he has seen in touring and recording here in Australia, as well as some incredible insights into what he thinks has been valuable to him in having such a long and successful career as a drummer.
Enjoy!
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Missing episodes?
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Memorising a piece of music can be challenging, but memorising an entire show requires a different level of learning.
Over the years, I have needed to memorise a wide variety of shows, and be able to recall and execute the intricate details at times under a lot of pressure.
In this video, I share with you my approach to memorising a shows worth of music as I currently go through the process of learning a new show myself.
Enjoy!
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Sydney based Jack Robert is absolutely killing it on the Australian festival touring scene.
Having played with a super impressive list of artists already, his most recent gigs have been with Tkay Maidza and Thundamentals.
In this conversation, I speak with Jack about some of the “ins-and-outs” of playing on major festivals, how he adapts his playing depending on the gig and size of venue, his approach to being a musical director, as well as hearing Jacks advice for anyone hoping to be playing on major festivals one day.
Enjoy!
You can follow Jack at https://www.instagram.com/jackjrobert and https://www.jack-robert.com
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If you know anything about Cirque du Soleil, and more specifically the drums and percussion within it, you'll know that Kit Chatham is an absolute legend in that world! He has been a part of 4 different creations for Cirque du Soleil shows, as well as playing and touring in more than that again. Apart from being an incredibly versatile and adaptable drummer and percussionist, Kit has had so much experience as a professional touring musician, and as an educator. In this conversation, we talk about a wide variety of things, from his experience of working with Cirque and how he got to be involved in the first place, to his educational history and development as a musician, as well as hearing some amazing advice and insight along the way to drummers and percussionists who wish to be playing in a professional touring production. Enjoy! You can follow Kit at https://www.instagram.com/kitchatham/ and https://www.kitchatham.com/Home.html
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If you were one of the millions of people who tuned in to watch the ABC TV Australia New Years Eve show live from the steps of the Opera House, you would have seen Brendan Tan absolutely killing it as part of the house band!
Playing with a huge array of artists in an even bigger range of styles, learning over 30 tunes, all live to air is no small feat.
This is Brendans second year playing the New Years Eve gig, and in our chat, I speak with him about exactly what the rehearsal process was like, his personal preparation for the gig and how it all ran down on the day of the show.
Alongside this, Brendan shares some amazing advice for drummers who not only wish to play a show on that level, but also the most useful skills aside from drumming that you should have to excel in that world.
Enjoy!
You can follow Brendan at https://www.instagram.com/rendanbay/ and https://brendantan.com
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Alex Flood is fast becoming a trailblazer on the Australian drumming scene.
He's released 3 solo albums, in which he composed and produced, and is now touring nationally and internationally under his own name. In this interview, we discuss Alex's creative process when writing music, how he balances his solo career with freelance work, as well as how the role of social media has influenced and shaped his journey.
Alex also shares some amazing advice for both drummers and other instrumentalists wishing to become solo artists and release their own music in this day and age.
Enjoy!
You can follow Alex at https://www.instagram.com/alexander_flood and https://alexanderfloodmusic.com.au
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Kosta Theodosis is known for his incredible energy as a drummer. He has recently returned from a tour with Delta Goodrem all through Europe and Australia.
Prior to this, Kosta has also played with artists such as Conrad Sewell, Robbie Williams, The Kite String Tangle, Amy Meredith and many more.
In this conversation, Kosta shares his experiences of what its like to tour with some of the best pop and rock artists in Australia, his journey of studying jazz performance at the Victorian College of the Arts with aspirations to be a solo drummer and clinician to where he is now, as well as his advice for balancing family life with being a full time touring musician.
Enjoy!
You can follow Kosta at http://www.kostatheodosis.com and https://www.instagram.com/kosta_theodosis/
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Emma Ford was born and raised in Australia, studied drums at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, became an active member of the Australian musical theatre community, but is now living, working and playing drums on Broadway.
She has played numerous shows both in Australia and on Broadway, including In The Heights, Moulin Rouge, Pippin, Paradise Square and became the first woman in the world to play the drum chair on Hamilton. She currently holds a full-time chair on the new musical, Shucked.
In this amazing conversation, Emma shares her journey of moving from Australia to New York, what is was like to become established in the theatre scene on Broadway, some of the similarities and differences between Broadway and the Australian theatre scene, and has some incredible advice for anyone who is considering making the move to chase their dream gig.
Enjoy!
Make sure to follow Emma at https://emmaforddrums.com and https://www.instagram.com/emmaford.drums
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Touring as a musician, and being paid to do it is one of the greatest privileges you can have as a performer. Not a day goes by where I am not extremely grateful to have a full-time touring job playing drums.
Having said that, being on tour, especially for a long period of time, can be a challenging and difficult environment to be in for many reasons.
In this video, I want to share with you what I have found to be the top 5 challenges that I've experienced being on tour, to not only give you a better understanding of what some of the realities are like, but also to help better prepare you to face these challenges, if you are ever fortunate enough to be heading out on the road.
Enjoy!
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Benjamin Northey is one of the most well respected, in demand and versatile conductors in Australia. He has worked with every major symphony orchestra in the country, as well as numerous performances as a guest conductor overseas.
Due to his incredible versatility and background, Benjamin has had the chance to conduct countless orchestral performances that also include drums and rhythm sections.
He has worked with some of the best drummers in Australia in these environments, and has had a vast amount of experience bringing the two worlds of orchestral and contemporary drumming together. In this amazing conversation, Benjamin shares his thoughts on what he thinks are the most important elements that drummers need to be conscious of when performing with an orchestra, as well as what he believes to be the key strengths that drummers need to have to succeed in the orchestral environment.
He also shares some amazing tips for drummers who have had little experience working with a conductor, and what the most important things to be aware of are!
Make sure to follow Benjamin at http://www.benjaminnorthey.com and https://www.instagram.com/maestrobenny/
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Any time we play, we always want to aim to be as relaxed as possible.
This can be much easier said than done sometimes, however there is one super common issue that many drummers and musicians have, that can be easily fixed to help them play more relaxed.
The best part is, it takes literally no practice to execute it at all!!
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Gerry Pantazis is someone who I would consider to be the quintessential "all-rounder". He's worked in pretty much every conceivable musical situation, with an amazing array of artists from Bachelor Girl to Tommy Emmanuel to Larry Carlton just to name a few.
He's also performed on countless TV shows, and recorded a huge variety of albums and soundtracks both commercially and from his home studio.
In this interview I speak with Gerry about how he has been able to establish himself as the amazing all-rounder that he is, his advice on how to best operate in high pressure gigs and some tips for other drummers who want to be able to play a wide variety of musical situations on a professional level.
Enjoy!
Make sure to follow Gerry at https://www.instagram.com/gerrypantazis and https://www.youtube.com/@gerrypantazis2518
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Finding time to practice can sometimes be a real challenge.
Say you do find yourself with a spare 10, 15 or 20 minutes to practice, how do you make sure that you get the absolute most out of that time, without wasting minutes fumbling around and trying to think of things to work on?
In this weeks video I share with you my top 3 tips to help you get the most out of your practice when you only have minimal time available!
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Chong Lim's list of credits is astounding. Not only has he been the long time musical director and keyboard player for the legendary John Farnham, Chong has served as an MD and producer for some of Australia's biggest events, including the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and the AFL Grand Final to name just a few. He has also been the musical director and keyboard player for multiple TV series, including Dancing with the Stars and the Logie Awards. In his extremely successful and varied career, Chong has worked with the who's who of Australian drummers. In this interview, I speak with Chong about what he thinks are some of the most important skills that a drummer needs to possess to succeed in high pressure events and situations, such as live TV and awards shows, the key traits that his favourite drummers share and what it takes to be a great leader in todays music scene. Enjoy!
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Books are of course a limitless resource of information for us to learn, be inspired and change the way we think. The 5 books that I discuss in this video have not only changed the way I think about drums and music, but in many ways about life in general. No matter where you are in your drumming journey, I know that at least one, if not all of these books will be able to help your development in some way.
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Darryn Farrugia is an absolute legend of the Australian drumming scene. In his long and extremely varied career as a musician, he has played with artists such as Tom Jones, Tina Arena, Lou Rawls, The Commodores, Curtis Steigers, Trisha Yearwood, Ruby Turner, Larry Adler, Joe Cocker, Michael Feinstein, Ray Davies (the Kinks), Ernie Watts, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Randy Crawford, Eartha Kitt, Justin Robinson, Buddy Greco, Gloria Loring, Roger Daltry, Barry Manilow, Jackson Browne, John Tesh, Martin Taylor, Rene Geyer, Thelma Houston, Petula Clarke, Tommy Emmanuel, Keb-Mo, and Olivia Newton John to name a few. He was also the long-standing house drummer for the hit TV show "Hey Hey It's Saturday" in Australia, as well as recently subbing with "The Cat Empire" on their European tour. In this chat, I speak with Darryn about how he has been able to establish himself as the incredibly versatile player that he is, his experience subbing with a major Australian touring band as well as his journey and approach to starting his amazing YouTube channel, "Darryn's Drum Room". Make sure to follow Darryn at https://www.youtube.com/@darrynfarrugia9904 and https://www.darrynfarrugia.com
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Gareth Thomson, originally from Melbourne, Australia started his musical journey as a drummer, playing with bands like on Toast, Kylie Auldist and Seth Sentry, but has now transitioned more into the world of mixing and producing.
He represents so much of what I love to showcase on Drummer's Perspective, and that is drummers and percussionists using their drumming knowledge as a foundation to succeed in another area of the music industry.
Gareth has worked on some incredible releases as a mixer and producer, as is continuing to do so from his new home in Saigon, Vietnam. In this interview, I speak with Gareth about how he first became interested in mixing and producing, how exactly he acquired the skills he has as a mixer whilst also continuing to develop as a drummer, as well as his advice for like minded drummers who wish to get more into the world of mixing and production. He also shares some great practice exercises for drummers to work on that from a producers point of view can be super beneficial to have a handle on when recording drums.
Make sure to follow Gareth at https://www.gareththomson.net and https://www.instagram.com/garethlthomson/
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