Part 1

Name: Gustavo Cortiñas
Nationality: Mexican, Chicago-based
Occupation: Drummer, composer, educator
Recent release: Gustavo Cortiñas's new album The Drum Also Sings is out via Desafio Candente.
Recommendation for Mexico City, Mexico: Xochimilco - you’ll get people, music, landscape, food, and drinks.
Pure drumming records recommendation: Anything from Muñequitos de Matanzas; Max Roach - Drums Unlimited; Sergio Mendes - Brasileiro opening track; Ari Hoenig - The Life of a Day; Steve Smith and Jeff Hamilton - salt peanuts youtube video duet. My most recent record focuses on just percussion driven story telling with some vocals.

If you enjoyed this Gustavo Cortiñas interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, Facebook, and bandcamp.



It seems as though most aspiring artists are drawn to the drums and percussion for one of two reasons: Creating sound/noise and creating rhythm. What captivated you?

It is hard for me to put a purpose behind the drive towards percussion that I’ve had for as long as I can remember.

In kindergarten music class, they would divide the instruments randomly amongst all the students (whistles, shakers, flutes, things to bang on), and I remember literally praying every time to an amulet of the Sun that I had gotten in Teotihuacan, so that I would get this pair of coconuts that you could bang together.

I don’t think I even conceptualized rhythm at the time, or noise for the matter, but perhaps something about the percussiveness has always seemed so grounding to me. Something that always captivates me is the energy that goes into the drum and the energy that comes out of it though the music. It seems to me that the energy out is always so much more than the energy in …

I’m speaking spiritually perhaps, but it seems to me that in this way, music defies the laws of physics. It connects us beyond our place/time and awakens something that didn’t seem present in the equation.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. Others experience emotions. Everything around drums, on the other hand, is based on touch, vibration, and movement. Does this mean that your own perception as a listener is also more connected to touch, vibration, and movement? What happens in your body when you're listening?

To me all music (and drumming is no different) can show all many different perspectives and move us in different ways. These are three things I like to focus on:

1. Rhythm: which I understand as a process (be it in the phrasing of a melody, the pulse of a song, the syncopation of a groove, or harmonic rhythm), and sets the pace of contrast, and familiarity in a piece.
2. Texture: which I perceive as landscapes, and which transports me to different places.
3. Storytelling: the connection that music can have to the different narratives of our past, the contrasting perspectives of our present, and the many hopes that we have for our shared future.

Here is a song from my record Desafío Candente. I believe the music in here does exactly these three things very well:



What was your first drum set like and what are you using today? What, to you personally, are factors in terms of build and design that you appreciate in drums and percussion instruments?

My first drum set was from what I believe (just googled it didn’t know before) is a Taiwanese brand called Power Beat. It was a five piece, 3 toms, snare bass, a crash/ride and hats. Was handed down to me, nothing special about it, and that goes to the first factor that goes into what instrument to use: THE AVAILABLE ONE. Play what you can and have, and work hard at getting your sound from it! That’s all that matters.

These days I am lucky to be endorsed by Canopus Drums and I use their RFM kit and Zelkova snares. They are warm sounding drums, that produce really clear tones, hold a tune really well. The hardware is on point too! I’m also endorsed by Bosphorus cymbals … they literally will make whatever I need for the gig, and are top quality makers. I have a couple different kits and cymbals … and depending on the gig I use different stuff. I have details on my kits here.

Here is a drum solo with my main kit from Canopus, and my Bosphorus cymbals line:



Late Rush-drummer Neil Peart said: “The equipment is not an influence. It doesn't affect the way I play. It's an expression of the way I play.” What's your take on that?

100% agree. You can put me on any kit and I will sound like myself … I have seen this happen with all my favorite drummers. You can’t escape your sound! That’s the beauty.

It is nice to have your own gear when you can, so that you can play comfortable and get that “expression” of the way you play, but that’s it. Your touch and your feel, and your ideas, will follow you anywhere.

The drums and percussive instruments are an integral part of many cultures, and traditions. Which of these do you draw from in your playing – and why?

Growing up in Mexico I was exposed to a wide palette of music through my family and my environment. This was later enhanced by my professional studies in Jazz, and later through my hundreds of gigs with people from all over the world, with whom I connected with while working in Chicago.

I would be lying if I didn’t say that all of these have become a part of me in one way or another, and found branches of expression in my music.

However, if I had to pick a few roots with which I purposefully nurture myself regularly I would like to say:

1. Jazz - it was jazz and jazz drummers who really showed me how to tell a story through music and showed me the possibility of the instrument. Here is a video of me playing the blues with two of my favorite drummers, each of us going on this path of personal expression:



2. Latin American Music - broadly said only because I have explored traditions of many cultures in Latin America, and because my dad was from Uruguay and my mom from Mexico. These traditions tie me to my history and the culture of my people. When I connect with that I feel like I connect with my ancestors, and I leave a trail for my daughter to do the same. My grandma does the spoken word on this piece which does my own off time flip on an afro-cuban clave. 



3. Rock - The spark that lit my fire for music, and that first showed me the possibility of expression and rebellion through it.



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

Believing in myself … seeing other people do wonders in the instrument, and not understanding that was also for me to do.

EXPOSE YOURSELF TO MORE AND MORE GREATNESS. IF ONE PERSON DOES IT, IT’S AN ANOMALLY … IF MANY DO ... FIND THE PATTERN AND FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE.

Leaving home and everything I ever knew to pursue a career in music.

FIND SUPPORT IN YOUR COMMUNITY, FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FELLOW MUSICIANS.

Making ends meet once I was out of school and had to face the reality of living as a new musician in the Chicago scene.

KEEP YOUR OVERHEAD LOW AND PERSEVERE

Some technical bumps I’ve hit along the road, getting injured, hitting walls etc.

KEEP SEARCHING, KEEP INFORMING YOURSELF AND NEVER STOP LEARNING.

Two quotes that I'll share from this journey:
FROM MY BROTHER: “Don’t preoccupy yourself … occupy yourself”.
FROM VICTOR GOINES, one of my mentors: “We are in the business of persevering”.

How would you describe the physical sensation of playing the drums? [Where do you feel the resonances/pulse/groove, what are emotional sensations, is there a sense of release or tension etc …]

Depends on the music you are playing. Some music needs flow, some music needs tension.

As I age, I try to relax and flow through everything I execute. I try to play the music and not have the music play me … I  don’t always succeed.

When I find my groove, the only thing that could describe it is freedom and flow.