180 Drums Podcast | Pro Drummers On: New Gear, Getting Gigs, Full-time Musician Lifestyle, Tips And Tricks

Some lessons are learned quickly. Others take a lifetime to learn. Brian shares some lessons that it’s taken him 26 years of professional drumming to learn.

The only thing that being a three-time CCMA Drummer of the year means is that you’re willing to work hard, you’ve been blessed with great mentors, and learned some important lessons along the way. Ben just finished the most extensive tour in Canadian history with Brett Kissel, and shares about what the ups and downs look like.

Kevin’s known to have some strong, but well-warranted opinions about drumming, the state of the biz, getting paid, and how social media has affected the quality of drummers. We felt like a podcast was the best place to expand on those.

Kevin’s known to have some strong, but well-warranted opinions about drumming, the state of the biz, getting paid, and how social media has affected the quality of drummers. We felt like a podcast was the best place to expand on those. In Part 1, we focus on the music industry, styles, and his unique approach to teaching.

Jeremy plays with many artists. He may leave for a month long tour and have to sub out on some shows, but many artists choose to put him back in once he’s back. Artist’s can’t seem to replace him, so we talk about why this might be.

Alex has been touring from a young age, and has been the ‘new guy” enough times to know how to react and grow quickly to fill the shoes.

Moving between Montreal, Toronto, and Paris to pursue music hasn’t been easy for French-Canadian drummer Elie Bertrand, but it’s given her diverse set of experiences to draw from. Aside from playing in many “normal” bands, Elie’s also spent time on the road as a drummer on a comedy tour. Ya, a comedy tour.

How is it that a drum company charging more than almost any other brand, is expanding, growing, and thriving? Ramy, founder of A&F Drum Co explains the key decisions he’s made to grow his company. Good thing for anyone listening, building a drum company is a lot like building a career as a drummer.

Max’s purposefully made sure that the first time he played Miranda Lambert’s songs were at his audition to play with her. Max intentionally steers clear from promoting many of his career highlights on the internet. At first glance, some of Max’s advice might seem to come out of left field, but trust me, he ain’t crazy.

Max’s purposefully made sure that the first time he played Miranda Lambert’s songs were at his audition to play with her. Max intentionally steers clear from promoting many of his career highlights on the internet. At first glance, some of Max’s advice might seem to come out of left field, but trust me, he ain’t crazy.

Paul spent his first day at Zildjian sweeping floors. Over 30 years later, he’s the one designing the cymbals many of us use and love. If you’ve ever wondered how they make your favourite cymbal sound dark, gritty, earthy, sandy, washy(or whatever other adjectives you use to describe your cymbals), listen on.

As NF’s drummer, Rhett’s watched their career 10X over the last couple of years. It’s the type of growth we all want to see and be a part of, but in addition to the upsides of being in that situation, it comes with some downsides that can’t be ignored.

Aside from being an accomplished tin whistler, he plays drums in his spare time with artists like James Bay, and Niall Horan. He shares his thoughts on properly composing drums for a song, and why it’s important to really get to know the artist well.

After getting a degree in Jazz Saxophone, Robbie’s spent years hopping between drums, bass, and keys for Matt Mays, Deertick, Midland, and many more. As someone who’s spent a lot of time on stage playing along with other drummers, he has a unique perspective on how to approach the drums in a band setting.

Since being a member of Beyonce’s all female touring band, Nikki started her own band called the Nth Power. if she’s not out playing with them, she’s with Dumpstaphunk or Maceo Parker. She talks about how touring has changed her, and what motivates her to continue making music.

Sahir owns and runs two drum companies, Masters of Maple Drums, and Ghost Tech Touring. if he’s not sourcing trees or building drums, he drum teching or staffing tours with tech personnel. He shares some of his experiences in running multiple companies in the music biz.

Drumming in the same band for the last twenty years is a unique situation that most of us drummers haven’t found ourselves in. Many of us started playing in bands with our friends, but have moved on to playing with different artists. Riley and his bandmates in Thrice have found out how to keep four original members happy and working as a team to make music they all love.

Kenny’s tech’d for many of the world’s top drummers, and has developed some essential tuning tricks that will make your life a lot simpler. He shares about what his job as a tech looks like, and some of the most important details in being a great tech.

Before touring with Julia Michaels, brooks spent time not he road with many other great artists like Adam Lambert, Demi Lovato, Skyler Grey, and many more. Understanding your role on each gig, and how it can change from artist to artist is extremely important. Brook tells us how he susses out the feel of an artist, and how to approach the music.

Dylan specializes in drumming in recording real drums for hip-hop, pop, and anything that needs really specific sounds. He walks us through why it took over 2 days to find the perfect sounds for a 6 note loop for Girl On Fire, by Alicia Keys.