House of Drumming.com

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:48 am**

is Mars Volta some sort of new genre where the drums blow over the tune? It's about time.

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:10 am**

Awesome playing Dave! The energy level is nuts!

Posted: **Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:15 pm**

Incredible Playing and Incredible power!! My god man I hope that was the last song of that Mars Volta set....I also enjoy watching the youtube shed flicks..esp you and Bruner..You kill the four pc kit.

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:48 am**

Jesus, Dave. I don't think I have seen anyone hit that hard!

How do you not destroy heads and cymbals? Like your playing a lot, but makes me wonder... Do you ACTUALLY hit as hard as it looks, or is it more of a showmanship stage kinda thing where it just LOOKS a certain way?

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:24 am**

Thanks a lot for all the kind words guys! That clip of Goliath in Sydney was pretty brutal because it was also damn near 120 degrees and 100% humidity! The sets w Volta were usually 2.5 hours, but since that was a festival show, it was only an hour set, so at least I had that in my favor! haha!

Jeremy - I do tend to hit really hard when I'm playing heavier music. ( Ask Steve!

) There's parts of that vid where I'm hitting as hard as I physically can. I think that the drums ( NOT cymbals!) sound better, the harder that you hit them - especially the snare drum. I'm using a DW cast steel snare in that vid and those can really take a thrashing. It's really my left hand that's doing most of the "bashing" - my right hand is much softer on the cymbals. I obviously don't play like that all the time - mostly just in a live setting with heavier rock bands. I also do it because i like watching drummers who really put on a show when they play live. ( Morgan Rose, Shannon Larkin, Tommy Aldridge, Dino Campanella) A show is supposed to be visually entertaining as well as sonically, so I take that into consideration for sure. If nothing else- it's a good way to check out some Moeller in action!

Cheers guys!

D

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:28 am**

Nice to have you onboard Dave!

Are you still playing with the guys from TMV?
What´s the most challenging thing about that particular gig?

Posted: **Thu Apr 07, 2011 1:22 pm**

Cool. Thanks for the insight!

I used to hit really hard about 12 years ago, but between studying with Mangini and watching the Peart/Gruber stuff about playing off the drum and not through it, I have all but abandoned that. Certainly entertaining for the kids in audience, though!

Cheers! Best wishes.

Posted: **Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:32 pm**

Hey Julian -

I'm no longer playing w The Mars Volta. Deantoni Parks is playing with them again - he's amazing and I wish them the best of luck....The hardest thing for me about that gig was probably all the improvising because it had been so long since I'd been in a situation that called for that. I was also very conscious of not over playing and making everything gel as much as possible....

Cheers

D