The joys and pains of auditioning drummers

[phlemmy]

i posted this on another forum but wanted to share it here...

So we fired our drummer a week or so ago because he just couldn’t keep a straight beat at a steady pace to save his life. Saturday we had 2 guys come in to try out.

Drummer number one: long hair, 25ish, Dream Theater shirt, nice Pearl kit (with roto toms! haha) and lots of too many cymbals and noise makers. So he shows up 30 minutes late and takes another 45 to get set up. Then he plugs his iPod into his headphones and starts warming up. I don’t know what he was playing to but it must’ve been ****** because whatever he was playing was ****** drumwise. Doug and I literally stood there with our gitfiddles hanging off of our shoulders for 10 minutes before I finally said, “WTF dude, we got another dude coming by in a little bit and we need to get this audition started.” “Oh, sorry. Cool.” We start playing the easiest simplest song we have and the guy could not play a straight beat. He kept trying to add Portnoy licks all over the place and even then he couldn’t do it in 4/4 time. We got through the 3 songs that guy has had since December 06(!) and Doug said, “Thanks, pack your stuff we got another guy coming shortly.” The kid said, “I’ll be waiting for the callback.” HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA. He reminded me of another guy we auditioned a few months ago who also came with nice gear and no talent.

Drummer number two: guy shows up sporting a fauxhawk hairdo and earrings in each ear. He had hit me up on Myspace when I posted a classified ad looking for a drummer. Doug got in touch with him and scheduled the audition. Guy shows up on time, had his drums in nice soft-cases and pulled out a nice DW 5pc kit with 2 crashes, ride and hi-hat. Single bass drum pedal. I asked if he needed to warm up and he said let’s just play. We stared the first song and HALLELUJAH he was spot on, hit hat tapping during the fills and while he was on the ride cymbal (I love that...I play drums similarly as well). He played a little fast, but it was consistent. All 3 songs were the best we had ever had them played with any drummer. So after the songs were done, we sat and had a little Q&A then offered him the gig. He accepted. He’s a very nice guy, 35, married, got a kid and a decent job. Very laid back. HUGE Kings X fan but I won’t hold it against him.

So…finally…again…we have a drummer.

[freshmattyp]

It's rare to find one who keeps good time and is normal. Most of them are either human metronomes who are flat out crazy, or great people who can't keep time.

[robbo63]

The best drummer I worked with was really straight-laced, nice but a little uptight, a really good drummer, but he talked non-stop! Ok, he stopped when he was drumming, but any other time the mouth was running. You'd think the drumming would get that out of his system.

Speaking of drummers, I remember when the City Paper ran a "Spot the drummer" contest with photos of about 7 not-well-known bands (no photos with equipment). I was correct on most!

[jwr2]

I hate it when drummer plays too loud ... I have worked with several good drummers through the years ... one I played with a few years ago could drop a drum stick and take his time to get a new one and he would never miss a single beat or fill ...

[kcole4001]

Auditions are always a little awkward for everyone at the best of times!
A really good band member that is easy to get along with on any instrument is a real gem, & just as hard to find!

I've been lucky to have worked with two really good drummers for quite a long time each.

The first, my brother in law, is a great drummer & a great guy. Super easy to get along with, hardly any ego, great skills & talent, very dynamic playing, but a hard hitter at times, but not unreasonable.

The second, in my current band, is humble, loves funky stuff, is a very smooth drummer, very tasty fills & really excellent grasp of dynamics, has more of a light touch, and a good ear for sound over all.
A pleasure to play with at all times.

[rictified]

How do you know when the stage is level?

When the drummer drools out of both sides of his mouth.

[alanz]

My last band had an ex-pro drummer who was also a great guy and man oh man was I spoiled. Smallish Gretsch kit that sounded great and the guy had FEEL and GROOVE.

My previous band had a guy with more money than talent; a big Pearl kit but I liked to say he gave us 15 out of 16 notes every time.

Congrats on finding a good one who is also apparently a responsible and cool guy.

[ozover50]

It's not easy auditioning lead guitarists either!! We had a guy try out last Sunday who is a good player but doesn't know when to stop...... he absolutely murdered some of our quieter 'mood' stuff!! Hope we can get him to settle down a bit..........

[charlyg]

HEY, I thought us bass guys were in charge of GROOVE!

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

EVERYONE is in charge of groove. In my experience, every position is difficult to fill, not just drums. Bands are like multiple marriages---and it's hard enough getting two people to mutually agree...

My favorite drummer was a skinny guy with burning eyes and not much money...his kit was spare as can be, and supplemented with a rack of pots and pans that he played like a symphony. Truly the most expressive and exciting drummer I ever played with.

But those auditions...we sure get a lot of excruciating memories from them, don't we?

[brammy]

>>>Most of them are either human metronomes who are flat out crazy, or great people who can't keep time.

Boy aint THAT the truth. Drummers are a strange lot, thats for sure.

[jimk]

The drummer I'd like to have in my dream band happens to be my teacher. That guy can play anything.


JimK

[jwr2]

I love auditioning for bands ... quite often I have to let them down and say I won't join ...

I auditioned for a punk band a few years ago ... they played a lot of fast loud music ... towards the end of the audition I got bored and started played a lot of fast rifs in the general key of the song ... they thought I was a virtuoso when I was just screwing around ... another band I auditioned with after about 10 songs I got bored and started packing up my equipment in the middle of a song ...

any way a good drummer is a bass players best friend ... also a good sound man is your second best friend ...

[qwezirider]

10 songs seems a bit much for auditioning. If there's not something there by a few songs, I don't usually see it happening.

[brammy]

No offense meant Jeff .... maybe its just me but anyone who starts packing up in the middle of a song is a legitimate target for flying stomp boxes and guitar stands.