Part 2

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

They are co dependent. The rhythm is a flower from which the bee, the harmony, drinks to produce a melody, the honey. Or vice versa. What came first the chicken or the melody? To me they’re all the same. All of these three things build a fundament of each other and are codependent on each other in my opinion.

Often when I write a song I don’t start with a groove. I usually have a melody in mind and the groove is kind of already manifested within that melody and I just unravel the stuff which is there through either one of them. They come hand in hand and wouldn't have meaning without one another.

Every instrument involved brings a rhythmic ingredient to the table and how they contribute solely depends on their effort or even non-effort. Ideally they contemplate the rhythmic fundaments and make it what it's supposed to be by filling gaps / space which hasn’t been filled before, for example.

So their power is the same as the drum or bass or whatever started to whole thing.

Different drums have a distinct sound and drums and percussion are also timbral instruments. What drum sound are you aiming for and how are you making use of the timbral potentials and possibilities of your instruments?

The sound I’m aiming for depends on the situation and the piece which is performed. Sometimes you want to get rid of timbrals and try to kill everything with dryness ... sometimes you let the overtones sing in harmony with other percussive sounds. I don’t really aim for a certain sound restriction but it’s definitely dependent on the concept of the music / album / piece / context.

For the second album I produced after Circle of Madness I wanted to have a dry hihat, drier snare and dry toms and underly certain parts of the songs with drum machines and other percussions to achieve a certain feel. To this day I aim for a drum sound that's being created with care and recklessness at the same time … mainly I want to have a sound that’s crisp and colourful and this sound is 80% determined through the way I play.

I haven’t reached my ‘how do I want to sound’ goal yet and I believe it's a constant progress which is guided by everything like failure, fun, trial and error, observation, mood, patience, musical context … the only thing that scares me is stuckness. I don’t want to wake up some day and be like: oh yeah that’s the one sound that is me forever, that defines me ...

The sound is the way I play, a reflection of my current state and the realm of my own limitations.

In relation to drumming, Stewart Copeland said: “Listening is where the cool stuff comes from. And that listening thing, magically, turns all of your chops into gold.” What do you listen for?

Listening is a form of respect, being able to be quiet has the same value, if not more, then saying something.

Listening is a form of empathy. I mean real listening. The ability to handle the space and quietness in between and to transform / contemplate what is being said with your own vocabulary. You don’t think about chops etc. Ideally you don’t think at all and just observe and enjoy the happening.

I listen for space, space which craves to be filled, space which invites for a dialogue, space that can still breathe once I entered the conversation … you’re not playing for yourself, you’re also playing for more than just the others.

Music is a celebration of life. At least from my spoiled life situation / point of view. I better be grateful I can play out of no other reason but for the amusement of the gods listening with care from an unknown place.

Do you feel that honing your compositional / songwriting skills has an effect on your drumming skills?

It definitely forces me to adapt my playing depending on the composition I come up with. So I'd have to learn this or that groove in order to fulfil the compositional requests. Maybe there are new displacements or accents I have to learn or play within a groove or a new way to count / feel the sub stages of a groove (for example 7+5+4 in ‘The Last Stylebender’ on Circle of Madness had to made me play this way) …

So yes it has an effect and is a valuable improvement tool to compose and being enslaved to the given challenge of a new piece.

How has technology, such as drum machines and sequencers, impacted the way rhythm is created and perceived? Has it been a concrete influence on your own approach?

I used drum machines on the last album I was working on. It impacted the way I played on the record because it forced me to play more straight grooves without much improvisation within the groove in order to leave enough space for the drum machines.

Sometimes, in an improvisational context, when there’s a drum machine involved, it enables me to sit back and play around the base of it because it takes away responsibility to keep everything steady.

But I am not the biggest drum machine fan and I can’t say if it changes the way rhythm is perceived. To me they are more predictable and take a certain thrill out of music making, not necessarily listening. They can also be seen as a revelation of a lazy society which rather likes to press a button than to use all four limbs (it might sound a bit old fashioned). But they bring their own sound of course which is innovative ...

I haven’t befriended sequencers and drum machines yet. Still open to change my mind about them. There are probably some machines out there waiting to be discovered by me ...

Physical strain is a particularly serious issue for many drummers. How does it manifest itself, how do you deal with it and in how far does it affect your creativity?

As mentioned before it was my biggest issue to become loose and relaxed.

I had to get rid of this issue once I became really aware of it in my early 20s. I knew I'd have to change a lot and get my lazy ass up and start to practise … use more my wrists and create muscles / muscle memory, fast twitch muscle fibers hahaha  … work out and sweat on an almost daily basis.

I think it’s important to look after yourself not only in a musical, drumming context. Once you realised what it takes to reach at least a good to mediocre level. I’m still miles behind, lacking behind my own dreams within the drumming possibilities - I think a lot of people are fine with where they are musically and in general in life. You can still be a good drummer and be drunk or on drugs all the time but it doesn’t seem to work for me to be at my best, to play the best way possible I can offer to play.

Treat yourself good. Eat good. Work out. Sleep enough. Surround yourself with the right people. Learn to be alone. Be honest with yourself. Your body and your mind will tell you what to change in order not to feel restrained. Of course you can have bad luck or something. But often it’s in our hands. That's at least what I figured out about on my way and comes from a very subjective point of view, like all these answers.

I found out this year that I have three herniated discs (probably from overtraining Bjj or lifting) … luckily I can sit and I'm not in severe pain and can even train Bjj again. The options I had were pretty black and white but it’s about how you see and eventually treat a situation. To me it was a chance to get to know my body even more. Stretch better, eat better and listen to your body without numbing yourself and find the right people and sources of inspiration to help your situation.

What is the underlying message a certain pain or health issue is addressing towards you? There’s always a hint.

Many recording engineers have remarked that the drums can be particularly hard to capture. What, from your perspective, makes drums sound great on record and in a live setting?

Many factors contribute to the optimal sound of course. I think for the next record I would like to use only one mic for the drums. A very good mic, a very good preamp and a great sounding room …

Depending on the sound it might be nice to put the gain pretty high if you play very quiet stuff, what hasn’t been sound wise the case for my first two solo album productions …

Often drums that are not too compressed sound nice to me. A good mic position, a nice fitting room, a good player, an ok preamp, an ok mic and not too much after mixing will do the job. Tape is legit.

For live you need a sound engineer who isn’t tired of life and ideally knows your music. If your music allows to be played different everyday you can fullfill the requested needs of a certain location and the given acoustical possibilities aswell …

Drums and percussion are remarkably often used for physical therapy / healing. What, from your point of view, makes them particularly suitable tools for this?

They generate instant vibration and touch our inner roots / true self through rhythm and vibration, our core fundaments of existence.

I haven’t dug deep into sound healing yet but aim to explore this field more soon. Singing bowls, gongs, wide open drum sounds with a long sustain: it’s just pleasant stuff for anyone.

I can only ASSUME that through the vibrating effect of drums and other percussive things our micro intertwinements within our body and brain that connect negative attachments or connect unhealthy happenings within us can be shaken loose and finally dissolve.