About equipment, you said that you prefer the large tom in front of you, because of sounds and arrangements reasons, but we didn’t talk about your preferable drums sizes. What sizes do you like and what about the cymbals.

I play DW drums. When I use 2 rack toms up front, I prefer the 1st rack tom to be 12 inches then the 2nd tom 10inches. I set them up in reverse order from what is considered standard. For me I like leading my drum fills with a bigger rack tom, but sometimes I still like having the 10” tom set up, too. For The Doors and most other gigs I like a 22” kick drum, but I like it shallower than what seems to be popular nowadays. I like a 14”x22” or maybe 16”x22”. I like the feel of a shallower kick drum-less air to move and easier to play, and I’ve found that you still get a big bass drum sound-no problem. I own about 20 snare drums that I like to change up depending on the music or when recording the song. With The Doors, I’ve been using a 61/2 x 14” maple snare that I put wood hoops on. I’ve found that wood hoops can really liven up your snare drum without a lot of overtones that you don’t want, and they are great when you play sidestick and you want it to cut through better and louder. As for cymbals I play some great cymbals by a company called Bosphorus which I love. With The Doors I use a 21” Traditional medium ride, a 19” Traditional light ride with 3 rivets, a Traditional 18” medium-thin crash, a Gold 18” Fast crash, a 20” Traditional china, and 14” Gold hi-hats. Sometimes I’ll throw a splash up there, too.

When you started playing with “The Doors”, what did Robbie and Ray expect from you? Did they want you to stick with the original drums arrangement or did they give you freedom to create?

I have a lot of freedom in this drum chair. Robby and Ray hired me to play the way I play, and they are very open to improvisation and changing things up. I love John Densmore’s parts and they are very signature to the songs, so I do enjoy the challenge of interpreting those drum parts with how I play. I do play certain fills and licks that John played that are part of what makes those Doors songs so great and classic because I respect the music and I don’t want it to get too far away from sounding like ‘The Doors’. Robby and Ray really give very little direction, but Robby is particular about the tempo on a couple songs . He likes ‘Break On Through’ at a certain pace-not too fast, and he wants ‘When The Music’s Over’ on the slower side. Ray starts that one, so sometimes I have to kind of slow it down gradually after I come in if he starts it too fast. I use a metronome to get the tempos of ‘L.A. Woman’ and ‘Riders on The Storm’ because those need to be a certain tempo to really groove right…especially Riders on The Storm. Drummer’s have got to have their tempos together! That’s so important on any gig. I’d like to say that it’s really important as drummers to be able to take direction from the artist or another musician and be able to absorb that into your drumming on that gig. I can remember Robby asking me to play ‘Break on Through’ more on top of the beat, not as laid back as some of the other Doors tunes. In ‘Riders on The Storm’ Robby wanted me to play less bass drum than I was playing originally. On ‘Light My Fire’ he asked me to play less at the end of the song after all the solos when it goes back to the chorus. Robby and Ray have a very jazz mentality on stage which makes for really creative and sometimes exploratory shows! They don’t get hung up on mistakes or trying new things that don’t work out. That has been really enlightening for me. Don’t be afraid to go for it and try new things. It’s just music.

Is “The Doors” a band you used to listen in the past?

I wasn’t particularly a ‘Doors’ fan although I have always liked ‘Riders on The Storm’ and ‘Break on Through’, but after working with these guys and really hearing ‘The Doors’ records including some of the live recordings I have become very influenced by it.

Were you familiar with the songs because you played with “The Robbie Krieger Band”?

With a lot of the songs we play in ‘The Doors’ now, yes. In Robbie’s band we played all the same arrangements as ‘The Doors’ used to, so I was very familiar with the music before I started playing with ‘The Doors’.

Are you familiar with Brazilian music? Do you know any Brazilian drummer? Whose idea was it to invite the drum section of Vai Vai?

I can play a decent samba, but I’m no expert in Brazilian music. I do have a lot of respect for all the wonderful Brazilian musicians-especially the drummers!! I believe it was the mangement’s idea to bring the Vai Vai drummers up on stage during ‘Break on Through’. It was a lot of fun for me being a fellow drummer! By the way, I bought myself a pandeiro in Rio..I was inspired.

Did have formal education when studying drums?

Yes, my Dad is an excellent professional jazz drummer, so growing up I did learn to read with my Dad’s guidance. I was always asking him how a certain rhythm figure is played. I also played in high school marching band and stage ‘jazz’ band and later in a few different college big bands. I went through the Syncopation book, Stick Control, and that Carmine Appice book ‘Realistic Rock’ among others. When I was 18 I ended up taking lessons from Chad Wackerman for about a year. At that time I was really into Allan Holdsworth’s music, and that’s how I got turned on to Chad’s drumming. I remember at his lessons he would write out charts with lots of odd meter and feel changes and we’d get into other things like metric modulation. I’d have to say that I learned the most just playing along with records because you get to play along with great drummers and musicians. I think that really helps develop a good sense of time, too.

Do you teach drums?

I have taught off and on over the years, but I haven’t in a while.

Who are your favorite drummers?

Well, my favorites would be Mike Clark who I love on Herbie Hancock’s records. Those grooves he plays on ‘Actual Proof’ and ‘Spank-a-Lee’are out of this world! Steve Gadd has been an influence since I was a kid. Check out Chick Corea’s ‘Friends’…awesome! I love Terry Bozzio’s drumming and his concept. Of course, John Bonham…Stewart Copeland, Dennis Chambers, Steve Jordan. I also like Gary Husband on Allan Holdsworth’s records, especially Atavachron. Lately, I’ve been getting into watching some of the drum DVD’s out there. I really like the new Billy Ward DVD. He’s great. The new Steve Smith DVD is amazing, too. Of course the Led Zeppelin DVD is the best thing that I’ve ever seen. When I got that I stayed up all night watching it. That completely blew my mind!!

Do you play other instruments? Which?

I don’t play other instruments, but I have been learning Pro-Tools. I have a little studio out here—I’m getting into programs like Reason and Live which are amazing for loops.

How important do consider for drummers to play others instruments?

Well, I would suggest that drummers at least learn some basic music theory, maybe some guitar so that you can communicate with the rest of the band on a level other than ‘beats’. You’ll be able to understand song form better and it’s really beneficial when you are given a chord chart to read for the drum part. I definitely need to work more on music theory myself. Also, I would highly suggest that drummers get into drum loops of some sort. A program like ‘Live’ is amazing. You can expand beyond being just drumset and make yourself more competitive in the music business.

Do you write songs?

I have written a few things by recording some VERY rough ideas on a keyboard and then having my guitar player friends interpret that into what I’m hearing, or I might have a keyboard player play several different ideas, record them, and then edit the best parts together into a melody of some sort. So far, my songs have all been kind of whacky instrumentals.

Do you sing?

I rarely sing, but I have pulled a mic out occasionally for some easy background parts.

What are your plans for the future (solo album, band, etc)?

I hope to keep my career going in a positive direction. It’s a thrill to work with Robby, Ray, and Ian Astbury and to get to see far away parts of the world like Greece, Poland, and of course Brazil! This gig is very fulfilling as a drummer. You really get to play, and no 2 gigs are ever the same. There is a jazz like mentality on stage, and there is always improvisation going on and some far out jams, too. Right now I’m happy playing with these guys, and I’m having fun. At home in Los Angeles I stay busy doing some recording sessions and working with a couple of artists that I like. I have recorded 4 records with the band Firebug out here. That’s a good, creative rock band with a really strong female singer. Hopefully some good things will happen with that band. My drumming goals are to keep practicing and working on new drumming ideas because you never know what the next gig will be. I am also working on getting more into production and recording and getting creative with drum loops. A solo album would be an interesting idea. I would like to do that some day.

Well, that’s it! Feel free to add any information you might think is important and I didn’t ask

I would suggest that drummers get VERY comfortable playing with click tracks. In this day and age of Pro-Tools editing almost all recording is done with a click track except for jazz. It really is very, very important to get used to playing with a click tracks at slow tempos as well as medium and fast tempos. I could go on and on about this subject…..