This week’s guest is Petar Janjic…a Serbian-born, Nashville-based drummer by way of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s one of the funkiest groovers out there today and is THE drummer for one of today’s funkiest guitarists / bandleaders, Cory Wong. Before passing away, Prince himself even asked Petar to play on his record and…well…that’s that! He’s involved in a bunch of happenings, including his own project called ‘Heavy Chevy’. Please enjoy the trip 5 influential records that shaped Petar into the dr...
Jun 29, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 20
This week’s guest is Matthew Pretty a.k.a. @thebucketboy on social media. He’s an incredible, world-renowned street percussionist based out of Las Vegas. We get into everything from his setup, to why he chose street performing and eventually stagger into the 5 biggest influences that made him into the extremely-unique player he is today. Cheers! A few of Matthew’s street performances: https://youtu.be/B1-3G-O4pik https://youtu.be/Yn-hDqFgNAQ https://youtu.be/Gu0zI19dT30 Blue Devils 2004 Drum Lin...
Jun 22, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 19
This week’s guest is Eric Somers-Urrea…a Chicago-based drummer, educator and producer who I very-much admire both on and off the kit. His main project is a band called Marina City and his sincerity / kindness as a person matches his incredible prowess on the drums. I just can’t say enough good things about him. I love his drumming and this is episode is LONG overdue. Please enjoy our chat about the 5 main influences that shaped Eric into the drummer he is today, but first…we play a little game. ...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 18
This week’s guest is Aaron Haggerty…a California-based drummer who played for Al McKay (Earth, Wind and Fire) and his ‘Al McKay All-Stars’ for 11 years. Aarons also recorded and/or toured with Kool & The Gang, Eric Gales, Gary Clark Jr, Wicked Wisdom and many more with his current gig being Willow (Smith). He’s just a badass drummer and I think you should know about him. His pocket is deep and his wisdom is wicked *wink wink*. Please enjoy the top 5 records that shaped him into the player he...
Jun 08, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 17
This week’s guest is Nick Baglio (aka @nickybagzz). I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get him on the damn podcast. If you follow Big Fat Snare Drum on Instagram (@bigfatsnaredrum), he’s literally our most-reposted account because A) he’s an amazing drummer / insanely creative and B) he captures a very powerful recorded sound and it’s super inspiring. We get into his backstory right off the bat, but in high school Nick was continuously selected for All State and All Region Jazz Bands, wh...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 16
This weeks guest is a Rory O’Connor…the New York-based drummer for the Gramny-nomninated band Tycho. He also finds time for his own electronic music under the name Nitemoves. Before joining Tycho, Rory played with Com Truise (another legend in that world of music). Rory brings the world of Tycho to life both in the studio AND figuring out how to re-create his own (often-chopped up) grooves for a live setting in the most interesting ways. With what I do for one of my projects, Cannons, I look up ...
May 25, 2022•58 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Alright so…if you listened to the ‘70’s Drum Sounds’ episode, you know that we sometimes do a little questionnaire/poll thing about a certain topic on the Big Fat Snare Drum Instagram. Recently, I asked “What are the simplest, yet most effective drum parts”. Of course, drummers are a bunch of smartasses so many of you answered with “tension rod, nylon washers, the snare strainer…” to which I chuckled. Well done… But for this episode, I made a playlist of all the songs ya’ll responded with and I ...
May 18, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 14
This weeks guest is the Greyson Nekrutman. He exploded on Instagram and YouTube over the last few years by picking a lane that he saw was lacking representation on the platforms…jazz drumming. If you can, go check out his pages below before listening to this episode so you really grasp how truly amazing Greyson is. That being said, he certainly doesn’t want to be pigeonholed as just a jazz drummer…and THAT'S why I was stoked to see his 5 drastically different choices. Cheers! --- Get Your Copy o...
May 11, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 13
This week’s guest is Kyle Crane…a drummer I’ve been following and looking up to for years. He’s a highly-sought after independent drummer based in LA who’s worked with Daniel Lanois (look him up), Neko Case, Kurt Vile, Brad Mehldau, Bill Frisell, and Conor Oberst (plus many more), but is currently out with Maddison Cunningham. He was also a drum double for the movie ‘Whiplash’ and is the principal everything for his project, Crane Like The Bird. We talk about all this and more before hopping int...
May 04, 2022•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 12
This week’s guest is the incomparable Josh Dion (of Paris Monster and a million other rad things). He’s a busy New York cat and I’ve wanted to get him on for a long time. If you don’t know of Josh, he’s an independent drummer for than one reason (and yes there’s a dad joke coming); he’s played with sooo many including John Scofield, Jim Campilongo, Wayne Krantz, Bill Evans, Chuck Loeb, Ulu, and Esperanza Spalding, but, in Paris monster, he plays drums with his left hand, synth with his right han...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 12
We are back to our regularly-scheduled programing with this week’s guest, Aksel Coe. I first learned of Aksel via Instagram thanks to a shoutout by our good buddies at Nelson Drum Shop (Nashville). I was hooked right away. Seriously, check him out before listening to this episode. Aksel is the epitome of a modern drummer and has collaborated with Homes at Night, The Sisterhood Band, Cody Jinks, K.Flay, Temecula Road, Brittany Spencer, Pam Tillis, Larkin Poe, Jars of Clay, The Donelson Broncos, O...
Apr 20, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 11
This week’s guest is Anthony Fung…an incredible talent drummer based in Los Angeles. I brought him on to discuss the 5 records (and subsequent drummers) to FINALLY get you into jazz. He definitely did not disappoint. Cheers! --- Get Your Copy of the Drummers on Drumming Book Today! 🎯 Click here to order now! Drummers on Drumming (the book) takes you inside the stories, records, and moments that shaped some of the world’s greatest drummers. Built on the Big Fat Five format of digging into top in...
Apr 13, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 10
This week’s episode is going to be a little different. I’m starting a new, perhaps self-indulgent series where I pose a question on the Big Fat Snare Drum Instagram and make an episode out of your responses. Maybe it’ll stick. Who knows?…but these are the conversations I have with my musician friends anyways, so now I’m just pushing record. The first question posed was “which records helped define the 70’s drum sound?”. We got A LOT of responses and opinions were certainly shared (THANK YOU!) Ih...
Apr 06, 2022•59 min•Season 3Ep. 9
This week’s guest is Blair Sinta. Blair’s drumming resume includes touring and/or recording with Alanis Morrisette, Ringo Starr, Annie Lennox, Gwen Stefani, Stevie Nicks, Chris Cornell, John Fogerty, Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard, Lisa Loeb, Better Than Ezra, Josh Groban, Damien Rice…I mean that’s basically everyone right? He’s based out of Los Angeles and runs his own studio where he records himself for artists, records other drummers, runs live lessons, records online courses and talks to meander...
Mar 30, 2022•58 min•Season 3Ep. 8
This week’s amazing guest is Mr. Donnie Marple. Donnie was (still is) the 2007 Guitar Center Drum Off Champion and has been the new guy in Lee Brice’s band for over 10 years. He is a monster soloist who can really hold it down. Donnie is the exact drummer you want in your band and his career is gonna keep going and going. He’s played on numerous #1 hits and is a gentlemen through and through. I kind of just want him to be my best friend. Alright bye !!!! Donnie Marple playing “Rumor” with Lee Br...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 7
This week’s guest is Mr. David Raouf aka rdavidr. I’ve been a fan of his YouTube Channel for years and, with his seemingly-endless offering of videos featuring drum tips, tricks, hacks and DIY projects, David has combined a love of craftsmanship and drums into a beautifully-hilarious melting pot of education and entertainment. The dude knows his way around a garage and his beard gives mine a run for its money. Please enjoy the 5-ish records that shaped David’s style behind the kit and beyond. --...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 6
This week’s guest is THE William Goldsmith. William has been a member of two incredibly influential bands with Sunny Day Real Estate and Foo Fighters in addition to The Fire Theft, his current project Assertion, and many others. William’s emotional and bombastic-yet-dynamic grooves have been in many previous guests top 5. If you listen to the show, especially recently…you’ve heard his name quite a bit. I could go on and on about this drumming, but I sorta do it to his face at the top of this con...
Mar 09, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 5
This week’s guest is Stella Mozgawa…drummer for the band Warpaint. In addition to her band, she’s also collaborated with Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, Flea, Adam Green, Regina Spektor, The xx, Sharon Von Eaten and many, many more. It’s basically a list of all the cool kids…but like that actual cool kids. I’m truly a fan of Stella, so having watched and read many of her interviews before this chat, I knew she has incredible taste in music and I was so stoked to hear what she had to say. Her style ...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 4
This week’s guest is Tim Very…drummer for the rock band Manchester Orchestra. Tim is a highly-imaginative crafter of parts who knows exactly where to sit in a song. He’s powerful, playful and perfectly in tune to what the vibe needs to be. I first saw Tim live at The Fillmore in Philadelphia in 2018, but not because I bought a ticket. I was on tour with my band and we were playing the smaller, upstairs room of that same venue called The Foundry. The thing is, to get to our dressing room, we had ...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 3
This week’s guest is Martina Barakoska….a Macedonian drummer / educator / composer and clinician. I heard about Martina via Instagram and was hooked immediately. She’s just starting her career and I’m really excited to see how it unfolds. All in all, she’s a badass drummer and I wanted to chat. Go give her a follow at @iamthe_m on Instagram and Tik Tok and go to school. Today, we discuss the 5(ish) records that helped shape Martina into the drummer she is today. Cheers! --- Get Your Copy of the ...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 3
This week’s guest is Erin Tate, founding member of the Seattle-based indie-rock, Minus the Bear, but he’s played with many great bands throughout his career including Kill Sadie (from Minneapolis), Ghost Work, Time Pieces (etc.) in addition to running Indie Drummer Collective…which we get to right off the bat. Erin has an incredible ability to weave his way through odd time and syncopated phrases with seaming-ease and confidence. He’s a legend and a big inspiration to a lot of my peers (especial...
Feb 02, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 3Ep. 1
This week’s guest is Joe Bagale, a San Francisco-based producer, artist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and educator. Now, I know that might seem like he’s a jack of all trades and a master of none, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. As Joe’s bio states on his website, his sound is “fresh, but tangibly rooted in nostalgia” and I think that’s the perfect way to describe it. Joe is also a self-proclaimed “Groover Not A Prover” and this conversation perfectly showcases that vibe. Origi...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Season 2Ep. 59
This week’s guest is Connor Denis…drummer for the rock band Beartooth. Connor has been touring since he was 15…making sure that live rock n roll music still rocks. Seriously, he’s a basher, but has all the technical prowess in the world to back it up. He’s got an insanely long career ahead of him and has already accomplished so much at such a relatively young age. I rarely get young, hard hitting rock n rollers on this show, so this was a fun one. Please enjoy the top 5 records (in order) that s...
Jan 19, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 58
This week’s guest is Dave Elitch and this chat is long overdue because he’s one of the most-mentioned drummers on this podcast…behind Levon Helm, of course. Dave has played with The Mars Volta, The 1975, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake…and countless others, but a lot of drummers know him as a “teacher’s teacher”. He’s helped many of the best drummers (and instructors) fine tune their own playing such as Jason McGerr, Benny Greb, Tomas Haake, Chris McHugh and even Bill Burr...who I would love to g...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 57
This week’s guest is Matt Johnson...one of the most-respected drummers to a handful of the guests I’ve had on this podcast. He is probably most-known in the drumming community for playing on ‘Grace’ by Jeff Buckley. He was also the touring drummer with St. Vincent for a handful of years and played with many, many other artists (you can look them all up), but the two I just mentioned are enough to make him a legend. He’s an incredible teacher and a very philosophical thinker. This episode is chal...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 2Ep. 56
**GET YOUR NOTEPAD OUT FOR THIS ONE!** This week’s guest is Terry Keating of the Bonzoleum YouTube Page. Soooo when I first started this podcast, I had no idea what I was doing (and sometimes I feel like I still don’t) so it was just called ‘The Big Fat Snare Drum Podcast’. There wasn’t really any sort of format besides it somehow focusing on drums. In the summer of 2020, however, I started to hone in on a format that excited me, which is what you’re used to now, but I wanted to separate the ori...
Dec 29, 2021•1 hr 53 min•Season 2Ep. 55
This week’s guest is Mr. Joe Plummer. Joe has played drums for Modest Mouse, Cold War Kids, The Shins, The Black Heart Procession and so many more in addition to releasing his own album, Hew Time, with Dale Crover and Coady Willis. Basically, he’s a really cool dude. He’s the epitome of a working drummer and I love the personality he brings to any band he signs on with. He’s also the host of his own podcast called Tour Stories, which we discuss towards the end of the episode. Please enjoy my con...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 54
This is part 2 of my conversation with Guy Licata. While we kept to the traditional format in the first half of our chat, I think the topic of today’s episode deserved its own place in the sun. Guy prepared Emmy Award-winning actor Riz Ahmed for his role as a drummer in Amazon Studios’ film ‘Sound of Metal’. He was tasked with all aspects of the drum set instruction and preparation for the role over a seven-month period. To crudely sum it up, the movie tells the story of Reuben, a touring metal ...
Dec 15, 2021•42 min•Season 2Ep. 53
This week’s guest is Guy Licata. Guy is most recently known as the founder of Reflexx Practice Pads (now the Zildjian Reflexx Conditioning Pad), but Guy is more than just a business owner; he’s a master player himself. While he’s a very-sought after teacher himself, Guy has studied with the greats including Jim Chapin and Jojo Mayer, which we get into during the episode. He’s played with countless artists over the years including Museum of Love (fronted by LCD Soundsystem’s Pat Mahoney), Santigo...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Season 2Ep. 52
This weeks guest is Mr. Jason McGerr. What can you say about Jason?...wellllllll, he’s the drummer for Death Cab For Cutie and one hell of a drum educator. It seems like everything he says is carefully thought out and this conversation is no exception. Yes, we get into the top 5 influences that shaped the player he is today, but it’s the little pockets of wisdom throughout that made this one of the most fruitful conversations we’ve had on this podcast. I look up to Jason a whole hell of a lot an...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 51
