PODCAST

The 8020 Drummer Podcast

Nate Smith

Asking Great Drummers The Questions You"ve Always Wished Somebody Would Ask Them

music music interviews

All Episodes

54:46

Stan Bicknell on Creating A Life Around The Drums

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/09/03

It’s fitting that two weeks after hearing from Chris Turner, a man with one of the most whimsical, intuitive approaches to drums I’ve ever encountered, we encounter one Stan Bicknell, who’s built a brand around a mindful, deliberate, disciplined approach to the drums, and to architecting a life around it. Stan wowed audiences with his appearance on Drumeo 5 years ago. Around this time, his touring career was taking off. But after the birth of his child, Stan made the decision to put his life

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52:22

Chris Turner on Falling in Love With The Drums Every Day

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/08/19

Chris Turner is kind of the undisputed modern “double kick king”. Which, if that was all he was, might be of less interest to my audience. Luckily he’s also one of the most musical and creative drummers, and one of the most interesting and inspiring humans I’ve met recently. One of the underrated benefits of getting to speak to great drummers is seeing the variety of different ways they’ve achieved, well, greatness. And you learn there are really very different archetypes, from the “acerbic

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01:04:06

Rob Brown on The Importance of Gigs, Whether Feel Can...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/08/12

Throughout the years, I’ve had a running mental catalogue on the go-to videos for certain subjects. Jazz swing, building a solo on the drums, tuning, timing, etc. And when I look back, in a surprising number of categories, the “best resource” comes from Rob “Beatdown” Brown. Rob was among the “OGs” on Drumeo, with a great video about Stewart Copeland, and consistently drops authentic takes on his channel. That’s why I’ve been meaning to have a conversation with Rob for some time. I finally caught up

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53:38

Ofri Nehemya on Flow States, Lessons From The Greats,...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/07/22

Ofri Nehemaya is barely in his ‘30s, but has already played and toured with Shai Maestro, Aaron Goldberg, Avishai (Bass) Cohen (the same drum chair where Mark Guiliana got his first big break), and Gilad Hekselman. He’s also no stranger to bandleading, releasing a viral, self-produced, straight-to-YouTube single called Just Sayin at age…I think it was 19;) Ofri has been on my radar since then, and I was excited to ask him about how he practices, how he channels flow, how he approaches moving to a

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43:31

Joshua Crawford on Pocket, Influences, Efficiency in...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/07/01

` Two years ago, I did a virtual drum shed with former podcast guest Raghav Mehrotra, the always-entertaining David Cola, and this week’s guest, Josh Crawford. Josh, who rose to fame doing reaction videos to jaw-dropping drummers, is himself an elite player, and in this conversation I wanted to hear his opinions on both sides: becoming the player he is, and also influencer lyfe. Josh is one of the most efficient players I’ve seen - he plays the most intricate stuff while expending a level of energy

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57:56

Gordy Knudtson - The Hand Whisperer

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/07/01

When Gordy Knudtson was gigging in the late 70s, he was using almost exclusively traditional grip, and suffered an injury he says caused doctors to doubt he’d be able to continue playing. Desperate to “work around” his tension, Gordy switched to matched and did one of the great deep-dives on hand technique. You could say he “John Dahaner’ed” drumstick mechanics, but it’s more accurate to say John “Gordy’d” jiujitsu. One of the points I bring up with Gordy is that just as before and after Danaher,

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46:29

Benny Greb - Be An Entertainer

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/07/01

I had a suspicion Benny Greb would be an interesting and thought-provoking conversation partner, and I wasn’t wrong. I was interested to compare notes with the master-clinician on a number of things that have been top-of-mind, like nature/nurture, the paradox of the subjectivity of - but requirement for skill in - art, gap-click, and overrated drum advice. Benny surprised me at turns, and confirmed my suspicions at others. One of his most-interesting insights, in my opinion, was that he wants to be

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54:45

TaRon Lockett (And His "Life Coach") on Humility,...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/05/13

TaRon Lockett, who was Prince’ last drummer, who cut his teeth with Erykah Badu, and who was a key member of a scene that spawned Robert “Sput” Searight, Cleon Edwards and Mike Mitchell among others… …showed up to our interview in character as his own life coach. And from that point I knew this wasn’t going to be an “average” podcast episode. It’s perfectly in-keeping with TaRon’s entire approach to music and creativity, though. There’s the dedication to “the bit”, evidenced by TaRon’s philosophy to

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58:44

Ed Soph - "I Don't Teach Jazz Drums, I Teach...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/05/12

Today we have an interview I’m very excited about. One of the forefathers of jazz drum instruction - though as you’ll hear he doesn’t like the taxonomy, preferring to say he’s an “improvisation teacher”. The biggest surprise for me upon speaking to Ed is that he’s an iconoclast. His energy is pure punk-rock, and he has no time for the idea of “handedness” on the drums, nor the “walling off” of jazz from other forms of improvisation. Ed and I chat about hierarchies in music, how Denton, TX became a

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46:58

Raghav Mehrotra - Playing With The Late Night Band,...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/04/11

Today’s podcast guest first caught my attention with his clean, slamming Instagram clips. Picture closing your eyes and hearing a mix of Clyde Stubblefield, Bonham, and Nate Smith, then opening them and seeing a skinny teenager with a big mop of black hair and an infectious smile, and thinking “this guy is playing this”? To the degree we use the word “prodigy”, Raghav Mehrotra is that. Someone who exhibits a degree of artistic maturity we usually don’t expect until many years later, even though he’s

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50:49

Tim Metz - Notes From A Jazz, Youtube, and Teaching...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/03/25

If you’ve watched more than zero of my videos, you’ll know that there’s a kick drum technique that I endorse pretty unequivocally - simple heel up. Sure, it takes some dialing-in, but my general feeling is it’s the most versatile/least “distance-sensitive” technique for avoiding tension at multiple speeds and dynamic ranges. But what if I was wrong. Today’s interview subject has the opposite take: whereas I switched to “heel up” after several frustrating years trying to coax more volume, power, and

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51:28

Richie Martinez of Arch Echo - Questioning The...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/03/13

If you haven’t heard of Arch Echo’s Richie Martinez, get ready for a rabbit hole. (Richie’s Instagram) Richie is one of the most electrifying young drummers around. While he calls the genre of his band “progressive metal”, his playing encompasses a type of "cross-genre” fluency not many drummers have, but it’s exiting when you see it. Equally comfortable in funk, fusion, or prog settings, Martinez brings energy, enthusiasm, and blistering chops to anything he plays. Martinez’ background is an

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58:03

Brandon Green - How to Play Drums and Feel Great For...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/03/04

Want to play drums injury-free into your 70s and beyond? I sure do. Today’s video guest, Brandon Green, was coaching elite athletes when a high school friend’s struggle with injury inspired him to utilize his skills to help drummers. Since then, Brandon founded the Drum Mechanics YouTube and Instagram channels, where he breaks down the setup and movement of some of your favorite drummers, and gives tons of free advice to help all drummers improve our setup and movement. I wasn’t an uninterested

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55:48

Andy Prado on The Case for Chops, The "Why" Behind...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/02/20

Andy Prado is a drummer’s drummer. Talk to practically anyone you’ve heard of about who their favorite drummers are, and Andy is likely to be in that sentence. He’s one of a small list of drummers you could call “elite choppers” - a list that includes people like Ron Bruner, Mike Mitchell, and not too many others. As such he’s in both an enviable, and an unenviable position. And you better believe we dig into the multi-edged sword of “chops”. (It’s way harder than you think to get them, you don’t

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39:00

Arthur Hnatek on Creating Drums for Tigran, Creative...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/01/24

Whether or not you’ve heard the name Arthur Hnatek, you’ve probably heard the drummer. If you love Tigran Hamasyan, by definition you love Arthur Hnatek. Since the Mockroot album, Arthur has been creating unique drum parts for Tigran, and weaving himself deeply into the fabric of the band, and the albums. As my interests currently sit at the intersection of jazz and prog rock, I was extremely interested in who Arthur’s influences were, and how he’s developed his voice. We start out having the usual

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52:49

Brandon Scott on Being a YouTube OG, Murdering Out...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/01/16

When I was first getting started on YouTube, there were only a few drummers doing the same thing. One, of course was podcast guest Mike Johnston. Another was Brandon Scott. Brandon brought great playing, low-key humor, and humility to his videos, and immediately captured attention. Over the years, as my production quality stagnated, Brandon kept leveling his up, becoming a student of great filmmaking in general, and youtube videography in particular. Recently his video chops caught the attention of

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50:08

Ari Hoenig on Being an Original, Dealing With The...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/01/09

One of my proudest “hipster” achievements was being an early adopter on Ari Hoenig. Long story short, I arrived in New York 3 months before the start of my first school year in grad school, and spent the summer checking out live music with other students who’d stayed around the for summer. One of those things we checked out was Ari. And as such, I was able to share the discovery with my classmates when they arrived in the fall. Who was this guy who looked like he was outrunning demons when he

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57:47

Matt Halpern on Learning Songs Intuitively, and Why...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2024/01/02

I just learned that being a “youtuber” is the number one career goal of elementary school children. If I could give them one tip it’s “study accounting unless you’re ready for a lot of hustle and at least a few sleepless nights.” But one of the things that makes my “job” worth it is when I get to embark on learning a genre that’s not familiar to me as a science experiment, and when I get to speak directly to one of the leading artists of the genre for advice. Such was the situation when Periphery’s

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53:50

Clarence Penn on Teaching Improvisation, Creating...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2023/12/18

In this interview you’ll catch a lot of references. That’s because Clarence was one of the most influential drummers on the early-2000s “jazz renaissance” that happened in New York, and on me. No matter who the artist was that was drawing out New York jazz students on a Tuesday night, you can bet the drummer was Blade, Ari Hoenig, Dan Weiss, or Clarence. (And later Eric Harland and Marcus.) And if you look up the personnel from practically any of the most influential bands of the era, you’ll see

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01:02:44

Forrest Rice - Drum-off Stories, Playing Jazz At "The...

The 8020 Drummer Podcast ·

2023/12/11

In 2016, I had no business being welcomed into the West Coast drum family with open arms. I had a tiny YouTube channel, and didn’t even play all that well. But that didn’t stop Forrest Rice from inviting me over to shed, and letting me hang with him and friends at that year’s NAMM convention. Forrest first came to prominence after playing in grand finals for the Guitar Center Drumoff, may it rest in peace, in 2014. He’s played drums for Covet and Wolfy, and currently plays with saxophonist Ian

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The 8020 Drummer Podcast

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