Inspiration- Drummer- Jonas Holmberg

Komeda rocks my socks. They're Swedish. They're pop. They opened for Beck. They have a chick singer.

Sock rockage commence...

They're drummer Jonas Holmberg drums how I want to drum: simple, tasteful, complex, complementary, swingy, jazzy, rocky, powerful, for the song.

Their album What Makes It Go? is one of my favorites. "Curious" is so laid back and cool and swung. "Flabbergast" is literally one of the songs that made me want to get on a drumkit. It's super easy. The parts are straightforward, but there's a presence to the simplicity. You can zone on the drums then drift to the other parts in the arrangement but the drums hold it all together. There are 4 basic themes and it's all about the dynamics and the movement that's created by the interplay between hat, snare, kick, toms, tambourine, ride... God... I love the drums in this song. And as if all that weren't enough, the kick-snare pattern morphs during the coda... ahhhhhhh... so good...

Jonas is one of those drummers that makes it easy to focus on the drum part but not because it's flashy, actually just the opposite. You marvel at how he can make something sound easy that's so complex, he makes it sound full while keeping it simple, he completes the song, which is the goal of any good drummer.

Inspiration- Drummer- John Stanier

I was a freshman in high school and had played on an actual drumset a handful of times. My brother-in-law had given my sister some CDs of music that he liked. One of these CDs was Helmet's In the Meantime. I listened to that CD on the way to and from every single football game I went to that year. It was a truly awesome year and a turning point in my life.

Unsung is one of the reasons I wanted to become a drummer. John Stanier absolutely kills it in this song. The variations on the ride at the beginning, the kick drum- snare interplay throughout the whole song, the half time feel that complements the guitars, the quick groove between the 1st chorus and 2nd verse... there are so many things I love about this song. And He Feels Bad is a perfect example of not playing too much. And Better with its straight ahead groove underneath the syncopated guitars. Stanier always has that pocket groove.

Then the intro of I Know off of their album Betty... so heavy yet musical and always complementary to the song. And the triplets at 2:15... I always hit rewind and just sit back...

Stanier has gone on to drum in several other bands including Tomahawk with Mike Patton and his current gig with Battles. Drool at the chance to see him on October 16th at the Glasshouse... might have to make that happen...