Name: IKI (France, there is also a Danish ensemble by the same name)
Members: Isabelle Duthoit (Vocals), Anthony Laguerre (drums)
Interviewee: Anthony Laguerre
Nationalities: French
Current release: IKI's self-titled debut album is out via Serotonin. 
Recommendations for Champenoux, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France: I recommend visiting the Brin-Sur-Seille pond, the Amance arboretum, and the surrounding forest.
Pure drum recording recommendations: Will Guthrie – Sticks, Stones & Breaking Bones; Gérard Grisey – Le Noir de l’Étoile; Christian Wolfarth

[Read our Isabelle Duthoit interview]

If you enjoyed this Anthony Laguerre interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, bandcamp, and facebook. 



It seems that most aspiring artists are drawn to drums and percussion for one of two reasons: to make sound/noise or to create rhythm. What captivated you?

The drums were first an outlet. A way of making noise, of hitting, without it being a problem. So I understand people who play the instrument for that sole reason.

Then came the work on rhythm, writing drum riffs and discovering the drum kit as a sound generator – louder or softer.

Today, what I keep exploring and searching for is the spectral possibility of the instrument through amplification. You can play very high or very low, very loud or very soft. The possibility of such a wide dynamic range and the revelation of the space in which the drums play is what excites me the most today.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. Others feel emotions. Everything about the drum set, however, is based on touch, vibration and movement. Does that mean your own perception as a listener is also more connected to touch, vibration and movement? What happens in your body when you listen?

When I listen to music live, if the sounds touch me, then I dive into a time-space that stops. I’m no longer really there, I merge with the sounds being offered.

When I listen to music I have to mix or compose, I listen analytically. Quite close to an Excel spreadsheet. This listening is rather vertical. The spectrum is my guide.

When I listen to music in my living room, I cook or chat with friends. It helps set an atmosphere or allows me to share albums that move me. When I listen to music in the car, it’s like a movie screening, with the road being the film ...

Each situation makes listening unique!

What did your first drum kit look like and what instrument do you use today? For you personally, what construction and design features do you value in drums and percussion instruments?

I’ve always had the same kit: a champagne Ludwig from 1960. By chance, I found it over 20 years ago on Ebay. I have no reason to change it.

What does change is that today I can play on any drum kit. In the end, it’s very much about tuning and playing – that’s what makes the sound of the instrument …

The late Rush drummer Neil Peart once said: “The gear is not an influence. It doesn’t affect the way I play. It’s an expression of the way I play.” What’s your opinion on this?

I absolutely agree with him.

It’s like with guitar pedals – at first you compose a new song because you’ve got a new pedal, then later you get a pedal with a specific sound that matches the composition you’re working on at the moment …

Percussion and rhythm instruments are an integral part of many cultures and traditions. Which ones inspire you in your playing – and why?

I’m most inspired by what I hear live or on record.

I don’t listen to a lot of traditional music, so I can’t really claim any particular tradition except rock, which I listened to a lot. From Shellac to Nirvana, via This Heat or Public Image Limited.

The connection with improvised music happened thanks to a drummer from Nancy: Michel Deltruc, and also with a Burkhard Beins concert.

What have been some of the main challenges in your development as a drummer/percussionist? Which practices, exercises or experiences have helped you most in reaching your goals?

My main challenge at the beginning was playing in time. Not losing tempo during a break …

Then, when my ears opened up, I tried to compose things with my instrument, alone. To find melodies that held up just with my sticks.

After that, I had to integrate it all with other musicians. So – to create music!

How would you describe the physical sensation of playing drums?

Whether I play drums, guitar or something else, the idea is the same: sharing sounds with my fellow musicians and/or the audience. I play to free myself, so that time stops for the moment of that exchange.

The drums are an instrument I play physically, hard. So again, it’s an outlet and also a moment when I feel my body in motion. It’s a kind of physical thermometer that tells me where I am in my body.

I love feeling like I’m letting go completely, that my consciousness is doing almost nothing anymore.

What is the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? How do non-percussive instruments contribute to the overall rhythmic texture of a piece?

The easy thing about rhythm is that it creates a backbone onto which you can add anything you want/can. I try to avoid that as much as possible.

Harmonic instruments can quickly play beautiful melodies (which already contain rhythm) and bring an emotion that’s easy to grasp. I also try to avoid that.

I look for something in between. Where you no longer know if it’s rhythm or melody, if it’s feedback or a violin …

Do you think honing your composition/songwriting skills affects your drumming skills?

Yes, any kind of work brings new things into your practice. It opens doors …

I’ve always been intrigued by bands or ensembles where the drummer is the leader and/or main composer. As far as it’s possible to generalize, what do you think changes in the music or the performance in these situations?

I don’t know ... Maybe you’re a drummer? Or would like to be a drummer?

I think we all have our own perspective on artistic objects, often linked to our projections ...

How do you make use of the timbral and textural possibilities of your drums and percussion instruments when creating music?

Timbre, dynamics, spectrum and the space in which it all happens are the only ingredients I combine to create a composition. Percussion is an infinite source of possibilities.

I write vertically, more with the ear of a sound engineer analysing sound than with the ear of a drummer serving a composition.

I don’t have a recipe but I try to open and close spaces. For example, you can play for a long time in the high spectrum (with a cymbal) and suddenly play only the floor tom. It feels like falling into a void. Psychoacoustics are also very important in a composition.

How has technology, such as drum machines and sequencers, influenced the way rhythm is created and perceived? Has it concretely influenced your own approach?

Drum machines are tools that allow you to do great things. They’ve also standardised “the sound of drums.” I’m wary of them.

But I like mixing the two – an acoustic kit and an electronic one. Putting warmth into the cold!

Physical fatigue is a particularly serious problem for many drummers. How does it manifest, how do you deal with it, and to what extent does it affect your creativity?

I know this problem well. We all face it at some point. But there are many older drummers who continue to play wonderful music. I’m thinking of Hamid Drake or Han Bennink.

With age, you learn where to put your energy. Not to play with force, but still stay energetic ... You need training, sports, or simply playing every day! And for that, you have to be in love with drums. That’s not necessarily the case for me!

Many sound engineers have noted that drums are particularly difficult to record. What makes a drum kit sound great in recording and in concert?

It’s the hardest instrument to record for several reasons.

The first is that everyone knows the sound of drums. On record, live, on the radio etc ... As I said earlier, drum machines have standardised the sound of this instrument. So we all, unconsciously, have a favourite drum sound in our heads.

Then, each element of the kit reveals the sound of the room differently. It’s very difficult to have a space that reacts perfectly to all frequencies and impacts of the instrument. That’s very rare.

Then – and only then – comes the placement of the microphones in the room where the kit is recorded. You need to know the space perfectly and also have a drummer who plays in a balanced way within it. Adding more microphones multiplies problems, so you need to take the time to find the sound of that drummer, with that drum kit, in that space. Often, that time doesn’t exist.

But when all of that does exist, then you dive into the sound of the drums as if you were in the same room with the instrument. And that’s pure joy. Like on this Shellac album: Excellent Italian Greyhound (2007)



Drums and percussion are very often used in physical therapy/healing. What do you think makes them particularly well-suited tools for that?

I think you don’t need to be a musician to make a gong sound. That’s also what’s beautiful with percussion. You hit: it sounds.

And then again, it makes the space around us vibrate. These vibrations enter our bodies. But I know a piano or a violin, a trombone or any other instrument can do good as soon as the performer knows how to play it.