speaker-0: What's up everyone? I got a real goddamn microphone today. And we are here with another episode of the Good Time podcast. We're here with our buddy Michael Russo. Everyone give it up for Michael. speaker-1: Yeah, what up for Michael Russo, everyone. Legendary drum The Boys. speaker-2: The boys. speaker-0: ⁓ Michael ⁓ yeah, Michael is a killer drum tech. He's a drummer, he's he's a great guy, he's just one of those real ones you meet out on the road. So, ⁓ Michael, what the hell are you up to right now? Where are you? speaker-2: ⁓ I'm home. I'm in Charleston, South Carolina. speaker-0: This delay is gonna kill me, bro. Hold on. Too bad? Hold on, one second. speaker-2: ⁓ my god, couldn't. speaker-0: Here's one idea. Here's one idea. If do you have do you have a good cell service at home? speaker-2: I yeah, I should. My fucking my shit my shit is like s my shit is saying it's straight, but again, like it is like pouring outside right now, so that might be fucking it up. ⁓ two seconds, two seconds. speaker-0: I was gonna say speaker-1: Thanks. speaker-0: Try try logging in. Tel er I was gonna say tell like have him try logging in on his phone using just his like L T E or whatever, it it might be better. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, that's fair. Well, this is why we're good right here, right? speaker-0: Yes. All of us in. No, we're fine. Let's keep all of this in the podcast so everybody knows how much of a pain in the fucking ass this is. speaker-1: I'm not delaying Yeah, this is real life problems, guys. This pie this is fucking it's torture. We got scheduling problems, we got audio problems. speaker-0: Yeah, me and Joe live across the country. He's in Rochester. I'm in LA and dude, if we had a podcast studio in LA where like we actually could go and film real podcasts and like this would be a rap. We could just literally kill with this, but unfortunately we are stuck with this shit. Now, I don't want to make an excuse though because there's been v many popular podcasts that have started this way and function this way. So We just gotta get with it. So it is. speaker-1: It's just real. Yo, you know that Sam Groovman dude? He ⁓ speaker-0: I don't. I name maybe rings a bell but speaker-1: He has a lot of viral videos. If you've seen one of his videos, you'll know he we like glasses, he plays Aquarian drumheads. He has like a red D W kit. And he th he's always doing like grooves, like nineties beats like speaker-0: I don't think I've seen this guy. speaker-1: This podcast now it's called Groove and Talk and he just sits down with a drummer and they both just play a groove and they talk. speaker-0: ⁓ I saw a clip of this, dude, that looks crazy. That looks really hard to do. speaker-1: I know, right? 'Cause they're both playing the same beat and they're both like on and they're like, ⁓ yeah, y where'd you go to school? speaker-0: Is it is it punishing to listen to or is it like funny to listen to? speaker-1: No, it's mixed like well too, where speaker-0: ⁓ okay. So the drums are kinda like behind speaker-1: I mean they nail it. I th I think it's pretty cool. I like it. I messaged him and I was like, Bro, that's dope that you're doing that. I think he's in Atlanta. speaker-0: Fire. I wanna go on that dude. Shit, next time tell him well hit a ne if you talk to him, tell him next time I'm in Atlanta. I'd love to do that. That sounds fun. speaker-1: Yeah, that would be dope. I'll definitely I'll connect you guys 'cause he's he's one of the ⁓ one of the Gs out here. I hope Michael makes it back in, dude. speaker-0: Well, if he doesn't make it back in, then we got I mean, we could just talk about dude, here's what I was doing today. So I was in my practice space. I've been going nuts, dude. I have a seven by eight practice space, which I've mentioned before on the podcast. It is such a small space, but I am trying to you know, the old saying pressure makes diamonds, it's like, dude, when you don't have much to work with and your goal is to make to just absolutely maximize But you don't have like you have a lot of restrictions. I think you can that's where you come up with some really crazy ideas. And I bought a bigger interface, so now I have eight channels. And 'cause I thought I only needed four channels because like Michael speaker-1: There we go. speaker-0: Yeah, it's great. speaker-2: Dude. ⁓ speaker-0: Good news is we're keeping all this in. I was just talking about how I I was at my new I'm at my my r my practice space. It's tiny and I'm trying to rig up seven microphones, probably eight eventually, but I actually I bought these clamps that you can I clamped them to like the wood on kind of like the ceiling to put overheads on. ⁓ and I finally got some Tom mics set up and I've just been like losing my mind ⁓ in my little tiny practice space Going nuts, which reminds me, your practice space is in a storage unit. Tell us about that because I've done that before. When I lived in Washington, there was in twenty eighteen my shit was in a storage unit and it worked out great. But one of the problems was that it ⁓ if I plu it was really cold in the winter and if I plugged in a space heater, it would literally like short it would like short the power. speaker-2: Shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, mine is ⁓ so I have a ten by fifteen unit. ⁓ it's the only storage facility in Charleston that every band rehearses at. They like the ⁓ the company name is Morning Star Storage. Apparently, the guy who founded the company is a musician. So any Morning Star Storage, ⁓ I don't know where else they are really besides South Carolina and North Carolina. speaker-0: Sick. speaker-2: But anybody can run one out to jam in any band, any musician, any of that. So like Monta ten by fifteen. I have an outlet right next to the door. So I have an extension cable that goes into the fucking thing, and then I got some lights and I got a fan and it's climate controlled. It's twenty four hours, no curfew. The only thing that sucks is that every band is in in in there. So sometimes, you know, I got two bands two units down from me rehearsing. And the majority of every video that I've posted in the last the last month of videos I've posted ⁓ posted, there's a band playing while I'm recording. speaker-0: ⁓ well I can't hear it, so that's good. Here's here's a hack for that. 'Cause I've had I've had like ⁓ well first of all I've rented from I've been in LA seven years and I've rented from one, two, three, four, at least four different lockouts. And there's there's a couple things that are consistent with all of them. And then I've I I rented a few in Washington as well. So I've probably had at least eight or nine total. Because one thing that's consistent with all of ⁓ it's that early in the morning, nobody's there. So or almost nobody's there. So I like to play drums really early early in the morning for that reason. Number two is I go in there and dude, every s every lockout I've had, there's been somebody who comes in and they play the same shit on repeat for weeks and weeks and weeks or months. ⁓ speaker-1: Mm-hmm. speaker-2: Yes. Do I know what you're talking about? speaker-0: Ever I'm telling you every single one of ⁓ There's a there's ⁓ in my in my current space right now, there's I had both of my neighbors. There's this this old dude who comes in and he plays the same ten to fifteen songs on repeat. He's been doing it for years. He he slams a a drum machine through a loud PA and just plays like keyboards over it and sings. ⁓ fifteen there's like lip no more than fifteen it's probably more like ten or twelve songs on repeat. Never plays anything else. I s I'm not joking. And then the other guy He just noodles on his guitar over some like backing tracks, which is like fine, but it's the same thing every single time. And it's like, dude, what are you actually working on? Yeah, same solo bits, like you're not getting any better. You don't get better by playing the same thing over and over again. I'll tell every everyone that. speaker-1: Thank you. I made a meme once. It was Mike Tyson like walking to the ring. Like when he fought like Jake Paul when he's like old. He like already looked defeated. He's like walking out all like a meme. And I was like, me going to play the same shit on the drums on the plane every day. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-2: Bro, the one you the one you posted today about how the drums changed the feel, that shit destroyed me. speaker-1: ⁓ when and I just fucked off playing it, yeah. speaker-2: Because that's how I feel watching everybody post those fucking videos, man. I'm like, all right, how many times are we gonna see the same fucking thing and then you just nailed it with making it a fucking meme? speaker-1: Got a clown out there, dude. Your videos have been your videos are crushing, dude. You you're an awesome drummer and they sound fucking great. speaker-2: Thank you dude. Thank you. speaker-0: The pearl kit you're rocking is dope too. That that's the color I really wanted that color. ⁓ yeah. I really wanted that finish. I just it didn't work with Dotry. But like eventually I'll have I'll get a kit with that finish just for fun. Yeah. ⁓ speaker-2: I've always wanted I mean that essentially is like one of my dream kits. I've always I'm I've been I've played every brand, but Pearl has always been home to me. I I mean I started on Pearl as a kid. and to get that kit finally, you know, it's I'm so never been happier with it. speaker-0: Same. Yeah, for the for the listeners, what is it? Give give some specs for the listeners. You're so we got by the way, Michael before Michael had to fix his internet or whatever, Michael's a professional drum tech. So, ⁓ and he's drum tech for a bunch of cool bands. So tell us a little bit about what you do and then give us a little rig rundown of your of your kid at home. speaker-2: Yeah, so I drum tech, I've been drum teching since twenty two. we all know Maddie Madero from Ashes to New, so that's my homie, and without him, I wouldn't have gotten my foot in the door. and then from his band, ⁓ went on to Bad Flower, went on to Cage the Elephant, did Rob Zombie, Steel Panther, Seven Dust, ⁓ About to Go Out with Huba Stank and Periphery. So those are the those are my next two tours. and the Seven Dust tour I just did was pretty special, considering that's my favorite band, favorite drummer. And without Morgan, I wouldn't have ge gotten the friendship of John over there. And John helped me get my Pearl kit, which is my dream kit. ⁓ and the kit is it's a Pearl Masters Maple Gum ⁓ ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, twenty kick. And then I have the I ha yeah, I have the I'm I love a twenty inch kick. speaker-0: So Nothing wrong with that, dude. One of the one dude, one of the best sounding kick drums I've ever heard was a it was aluminum, but it was like a twenty by fourteen or something, or but ⁓ twenty eight twenty inch kick drums are awesome, man. I think speaker-1: Okay. speaker-2: Okay. speaker-1: Yeah, no, it's a great yeah. speaker-2: I just think they're very versatile, you know. I just think it's like you can do a lot with that and it just feels to for me I just feels the best to play. I feel like I'm not I don't gotta work too hard. ⁓ it just again, it just sounds so good, you know. I just love the way I can make that thing sound. speaker-1: Shout out to Matt Glen, he plays the twenties too. speaker-2: Yeah. Again, like I mean, the the whole thing with me too is you know, I'm a big Morgan fan, so Morgan plays a twenty. And that gig was like the perfect gig because that's like my favorite drummer, so I already knew what to do when I got there. Yeah. ⁓ I mean everyone sees it. We play the same setup. So Yeah. but yeah, dude, he ⁓ that's another one of my dear friends and ⁓ that pearl kit wouldn't have happened without him. So speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Morgan's the best. ⁓ which reminds me, you went on Drummeo, and I want to hear about the drummeo experience, but before that, I want to know why you didn't bring Rocklocks with you, Michael Russo. Dude. What the hell's up with that? No, I'm I'm fucking with you. I'm fucking but if you ever No, I'm fucking with you, but if you ever if you're ever in a position like that where you're about to like speaker-1: Mm-hmm. speaker-0: Do something dope, a studio session, a a drummeo session, a a T V session, or you're just in a pinch for something cool, like especially drummeo 'cause there's so many cameras and like they're constantly looking at the snare drum, I'll give you rock books, no problem. I've also sent them a bunch of packs. I don't know why they don't bust them out, but speaker-2: Yeah. No, straight up I just didn't have any with me. but I mean I think I'm gonna go back again. speaker-0: I'm busting your bones up. speaker-2: ⁓ there's I think there's a good chance that I get to go back there again, but we'll see. ⁓ and if we do, then I will definitely be calling you. ⁓ but the the experience was awesome. ⁓ being a fan of the channel for a long time, like it was cool to see how they do it. Morgan's episode drops tomorrow, so by the time this comes out, it'll already be everywhere. ⁓ but like it's a it's like a fucking college campus type deal. I mean, it's like it's the real they got like eleven buildings of just studios and it's not just drums, you know, it's they got guitar, piano and like vocals and you know, like drumio is just a branch of like I guess Museura is the company. Yeah, so they they do it it's it's pretty wild over there. But the drum spot, you know, they have ⁓ two studios and I believe they're building two more currently. ⁓ speaker-1: Zora, there you go. Is it Vancouver? Right? In Canada. speaker-2: Yeah. Yep, yep, yep. You go to Vancouver. speaker-0: What was the most like sub what was the most like what was the most surprising thing about it? Like what was the thing that you were like, whoa, the most speaker-2: How small it was. It was really like the rooms are tiny, small really small studio rooms. Like the the main room, like the room the room that we filmed in was like the second newest room, but like the main room that they were filming in for somebody else, ⁓ it is so small. It is really, really small. speaker-1: Like like the storage unit or bigger? speaker-2: Yeah, yeah. I I'd say it was about a ten by ten room. Dang ⁓ where the drums were and the control room was, you know, small too. I mean it was really it was really, really tiny and like all the Mike Portnoy videos that were filmed, I think like when he first got announced back in Dream Theater were filmed in that room. Like the blue background room is like the main room. So that's like it's so small. ⁓ so that was definitely the most surprising thing. then they have like a whole warehouse where all the drums were, every brand, every size. I mean speaker-1: No kids. Like thousands or hundreds? ⁓ my god. speaker-2: Yeah dude. I yeah, like did I mean every brand had they had every brand on the wall, a shell bank of every brand ⁓ the one speaker-0: ⁓ is it did they do do you know if like the brand sent them all that stuff? I mean it it would make sense. speaker-2: So yeah, I know they ⁓ they had a brand new Tama kit on that wasn't unboxed yet that ⁓ they're replacing the the blue kit that everyone knows. That one's gonna get given away, I believe, and they're gonna do a whole new Tamo kit for like all the Tama artists. the Pearl kit that we used like just got sent there from Pearl. And ⁓ yeah, they had a million snare drums. I mean it was the that the wall of symbols was massive. They had Shit I'd never even seen before. Like it was just crazy. They had like a fucking twenty six inch ride from Pistee and sick. speaker-1: They don't ship your drums in, like 'cause when Alex Shellnut didn't they bring in his SJC kit? Yeah. speaker-2: Yeah, I it's I think it's all depending on like whoever wants to pay that. I know they paid a lot of money to ship Port Noise Kid in from Brazil when they did like his purple monster thing. so I think it just depends on who wants to you know, who wants to pay for it. speaker-0: Yeah, that's a really great question actually. It it's probably all situational. Like if it's a huge band that just doesn't care about the cardage, it's like go for it. But if it's like a speaker-2: Like the Venge Sevenfold, they brought his kid in. speaker-0: Yeah, he was probably like, I wanna play my kit and they probably just made it. speaker-2: It's also like they're not gonna have like they definitely wouldn't have what Brooks Walkerman had on that kit. Custom made and like different s like the sizes are all weird. Like obviously he could play anything, but like he wants to play his thing, so yeah. speaker-0: By some crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well if you're gonna go on the biggest drum YouTube channel of all time, might as well Is it as well? speaker-2: I don't know. speaker-1: One one take live shot. speaker-2: No, no. ⁓ speaker-0: Let's just say they set you up for success. speaker-2: They really do. They yeah, they they want it to look really good so that it will they they help. speaker-0: That's what I've heard from I've heard that like over and over and over again that it's like it's really it's scary at first, but it's really not like if you're any sort of a cap if you're like any bit of a capable drummer, ⁓ they you you get plenty of time to make sure ⁓ you don't look like an idiot. speaker-2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. We were out there for two days and I mean it was go go go, but it was all very natural and pretty relaxed and Brandon was cool, the whole team was cool, they took care of us. ⁓ they have like a cafeteria on site and with like a personal chef and they do they take care of you out there. So it was a really good time and it was really cool to be there again because, you know, Morgan's my favorite drummer, so to get to be there for that was like So pretty surreal, you know. I have tons of pictures and stuff from that, so like I'll never forget that. speaker-0: That is so cool. That's one of the perks one of the perks of our industry is like, you know, whether you're a a player or a tech, ⁓ if you make it far enough, you start to just you get to become friends with your heroes. And you know, they say they say don't meet your heroes, but I don't think that's true for drummers, man. I've met I've met hundreds of drum well, I've met thousands of drummers. I've met dozens of my favorite drummers. And the large majority of them are cool. I've ran into very few not cool guys in my in my time. ⁓ speaker-2: Hundred percent. I just met the last one on my list. I went to Motley Crew last week and I speaker-0: I saw that. How was that, man? speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: He was he was cool, bro. That that that's a real rock star right there. So everything about the ⁓ d dude. Well, the ⁓ I was just a fan of the band for a very long time. I mean, I'm talking, you know, middle school, like I was a fan, you know, my dad played the season's record for me, ⁓ when that shit first dropped and like it just stuck with me in two thousand three. And speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: Like how'd you get that? speaker-2: Went to a lot of shows, paid for a lot of VIPs, did a whole lot of bus hangs and waited outside the bus a lot and ⁓ had no from Morgan. He asked Morgan. Yeah, yeah. speaker-0: For Motley Group. Sevenda Yeah, damn, you would go to you go to Seven Dutch shows and hang outside the bus and try to get to meet ⁓ and stuff? speaker-2: Dude, but I'm saying I'm middle school, high school. The first show I ever went to was two thousand eleven. And ⁓ again, was just a fan, you know, just a big fan of the band and again like Morgan was like my favorite still is my favorite drummer. ⁓ but yeah, like I would go to shows, hang out at the bus, wait. twenty fifteen was really when like the like I guess like the shift happened because then I started playing in bands and ⁓ Here in Charleston, ⁓ the bass player of Shinedown, Eric Bass, lives here and in my first ever band I was in, ⁓ we did REP at his studio and I just maintained a friendship with Eric and the people at his studio and when Shinedown took out Seven Dust on a tour in twenty fifteen, we ⁓ I went with Eric there's ⁓ there's two Erics, Eric Rickard and Eric Bass. Eric Rickard like the guy who like runs the studio, but Eric Bass owns the studio. ⁓ me and Eric went to see Eric at the show. Seven Dus was opening. At this point, I've been to enough Seven Dust shows to where like Morgan like remembered who I was and he saw me backstage and was like, Yo, what's up, dude? You know, and like, you know, and then from there it really just became a genuine friendship. it's funny because my dad actually met him first and put him on the phone because he was like, Yo, my son really wants to talk to you, and like I'm like still like I'm like I'm like middle school at this point I think and still like it was just so funny 'cause my dad was like, Yo, like, Morgan's right here. Hold on one second He puts him on the phone and I'm like, Hello? And he's like, Mikey Russo I was like, ⁓ my god, dude, it was so funny. But then like years down the road, yeah, like, you know, I went to that Shinedown show with Eric and ⁓ you know, he was like, ⁓ yeah, this is you Michael Russo, he plays drums, yada yada yada like I again like I've met him enough to where like I've told him about me and he knows enough to be like, ⁓ yeah, I know him and then ⁓ But that was the day where it kinda like shifted into like an actual friendship because like I was like in the circle of other people in the business. And then from there again, like I just kept going to shows and then I eventually got into touring and ⁓ became closer and closer with him. And then like as the as the drum tech thing started to go up more up for me, like he needed a guy at one point and I was there. So finally got to make it happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've been friends we've been actual friends for about ten years now at this point. speaker-0: ⁓ he's the best dude. He's he's such a he's the type of dude every time you see him he wants to give you a hug. He's here's my Morgan impression. It's like 3 30 p.m. on a show day. Morgan rolls in Morgan rolls into the venue and he's like, ⁓ what's up, man? How are you? He looks like he's in pain from the night before. He's like he plays so hard. And like I mean this with all due respect. Like I love the guy. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-0: I think he's an incredible drummer. He's so fun to watch. It is psychotic that he plays that hard at his age. Like I mean that as a compliment. It is unbelievable. speaker-2: It's bro, and the sticks he's using, he's playing the baseball bats, bro. Yeah, like I have a brick in my in my storage unit because when we went to Drummond, I I took a brick with me and I just kept it because it was just with me. And ⁓ I actually never like properly jammed with those sticks. Like I did line checks obviously when I was touring, but like I never actually got to like I wanna like you know, I wanna actually try play with these sticks for more than two minutes. And I can't do it. I can't do it. speaker-0: Yes. speaker-1: Yeah. With those? speaker-2: ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. I was changing heads like every like every two shows. Every head has to be changed. Like I've never done I've never done that many ⁓ like crack symbol swaps on a tour ever in my life besides you know the tour we just did. speaker-1: Destroying them. speaker-0: ⁓ my He play as I was gonna say, not only is he using the baseball bats, but the symbols are so tight, bro. They must be c cracking like crazy. speaker-2: ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. Big time. Never done that many. Yeah, he doesn't want to chase him, you know. But it's also like, man, it's like when you tighten them that tight the sound, the tone of the symbol kinda goes away too. So they kinda sound like shit and I'm like, Man, how do you like that? But it's like, whatever, dude, you know, you're the fucking goat, so I'll speaker-1: ⁓ that's Yeah, yeah. It's a drum it's a fucking symbol, hit it. speaker-0: One the cool things it's one of the cool things about just drums in general is like everybody does it has their own thing. You know, everybody does it differently and you know, I I just think that's the magic of it. That's the magic of Morgan, is like Morgan is Morgan. He looks like Morgan, he sounds like Morgan, like there's only one. speaker-2: So he's he's truly a one on one and you know, again, really it's it's pretty cool to be able to call him a homie, you know, 'cause that's like the dude for me. speaker-0: Yeah. Well you're about to go tour with a couple more friends, Huba Stank, Periphery, all that stuff. I mean it's gonna be awesome. So what what would you say is like your favorite part of drum teching? speaker-2: Honestly it's hearing those drums back and just knowing that like I did that. You know what I mean? Like there's a lot of ⁓ I mean, dude the end the internet is like so like everyone's I think everyone's doing way too much on the internet when it comes to like the fucking I don't even know how to describe it, but I just think a lot of drum techs that are out there that are doing it for the content and only for the content are making it so cringe to be a drum tech. ⁓ but like, dude, like I straight up like speaker-0: I back that. speaker-1: Dude, speaker-2: We can we can go on for hours about that shit, but like for me, like I just love hearing those drums sound good and knowing that I'm I tune them bad boys, you know what I mean? Or like looking at ⁓ on a look looking at like a picture from the show and like drums look clean, dude looks happy, you know. And just knowing that like I that's my work, you know what I mean? So like it's nothing more than just that, like drums sound great, they look great, I'm doing my job, you know what I mean? So you know, that's my favorite part, is just fucking proving the fucking point. speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: What are the some what are some things about like what are some ⁓ traits you could you you might wanna have if you're gonna be a drum tech that people might not expect? speaker-2: First of all, you have to really want to be there. ⁓ I've know a lot of people that think they could be a drum tech because they just play drums, but like you don't have the like I can just tell off of someone telling me those words that you don't have the fucking thing, dude, because like you a lot of people have the ego and they think that just because they're a drum tech that it's like less than of like that like they're less than. And believe me I love playing drums. I would rather play drums any day of the week. But I genuinely love the art of making drums sound good for someone else and making sure that they're fucking ripping. Love it. ⁓ so you genuinely have to want to be in the fucking spot of being a drum tech to begin with. speaker-0: Well yeah, there's a lot of you and I have talked about this before, but it's like there's a lot of you know I mean, I I would actually say that you're probably even one of them. It's like you're you're a drum tech who wants to play drums, right? And but there are a lot of drum techs who want to play drums who because of that, they're kinda they kinda have a nasty attitude and they're like kind of nasty about a little ⁓ nasty about drum teching, which I is not yeah, that's I think what you're trying to get at. Yeah. And that to me is really whack because it's really first of all, you're taking a job away from somebody. ⁓ if you don't want to drum tech, go home. That's what I did. I did I did two techs I did two tours to drum teching and I went I could see myself doing this for sure. I really enjoy it, but I just really, really, really want to play drums, so I just kind of stopped drum teching. But I did that because I felt myself feeling nasty about it. I felt myself kinda being like, ⁓ I don't you know, I I wanna go play, blah, blah, blah. So I just kinda pulled myself out of the situation. But the speaker-2: Understandable, you know, that's that's totally fucking valid, you know what I mean. You recognized it and did what you had to do. speaker-0: Well, and I took a giant risk doing that because I walked away from a bunch of money and work. So it wasn't like it it wasn't like I was like had a better opportunity lay around the corner. It was just like, no, I'm just gonna wait for a a playing gig. I'm just gonna Yeah keep eating a lot of shit. So it's all really hard, man. Navigating these types of careers. And there there is a drum tech to drummer pipeline. It does exist. So I'm not saying I'm not telling you speaker-2: whole reason why that's the whole reason why I did it, you know, 'cause I mean Maddie's a dear friend of mine and Maddie did it and Maddie helped me like shift the mindset because at first like I definitely thought it was less than of me to do it. But then I was like that's really whack because like dude speaker-0: No, I did it. So I did it for Papa Roach on a tour with Hollywood Undead and then ended up on the Hollywood Undead gig. You see what I'm saying? And then like homeboy who plays for a dashboard confessional. ⁓ my god Trevor, I've never met Trevor, that's why I'm yeah he did that. Yep, who's tagging for them, just got the gig. ⁓ what's his name? ⁓ my god, dude. I'm such an idiot. Lonnie, Lonnie'll. speaker-2: Same thing. speaker-0: pla who plays for ⁓ Pierce the Veil. ⁓ he drum tech for August Burns Red way back in the day, and I believe of Mice and Men. Yeah. And maybe more. And then he got the Let Live gig and then Ali ooped that into like I think he played for a R and B artist and then got the Pierce the Veil gig. Anyway, point is there is a pipeline there. So speaker-1: The veil. speaker-2: Yeah, yeah. Man, that's the that's the that's I did play I I have played ⁓ I did one like country tour in twenty three. But since then ⁓ I was playing for a guy named Demon Jones and it was like this country rap band thing and Dark Jones. Shit. ⁓ yeah, that was cool 'cause that was like my first bus tour, my first like playing tour as like being paid to play for somebody. speaker-1: Yeah, I remember that. Very cool. Yeah. I wish dude. speaker-2: ⁓ in a whole different world, different atmosphere entirely. ⁓ it was really cool and that was fun. ⁓ at the you know, I obviously I don't do it anymore, but the whole reason why I stopped doing it was just because like I just felt like I hit the ceiling with that and I kinda just wanted to be around like more of my people again, which I think is the world that I'm in now. so I just said, you know, I'm just gonna go to drum tech and see what happens there. And it's been really good. I again like I I don't I don't say anything, you know, I'm One hundred percent. I'm so grateful for like the work and like the people that I've met through it and the experiences that I've gotten to do. you know, it's been one crazy ride and I'm still new in the game, you know what I mean? Like it kinda just but the thing about it though is once you get into that world heavy, I mean again, like it's hard to get looked at as a player because you're a drum tech. It is. And that's the thing that like speaker-0: good drum tech. I'm I'm literally sitting here like you're a guy I would hire, you know what I mean? Like if I if I was looking for a drum tech. Absolutely. If I was looking for a drum tech, like you would you would be on my list. So like that's that's a that's a massive compliment. That's like something that you should you know it's rad that you've come that far. It's awesome. There's nothing wrong with that attitude. speaker-2: Yeah. So crazy. Yeah. And the other thing speaker-1: I met I met I was gonna say I met you three years ago on that From Ashes to New tour. Yeah in twenty twenty three. And now to see like all the gigs you've done, like you already talked about like Cage Elephant, Bad Flower, I'll just see these posts and be like, damn, he's like I see you as a high level like industry tech. So that's speaker-2: It's so wild, dude. It's so it's it's so crazy 'cause like it doesn't even feel like I've done half the things that I've done because I'm still like is this it I still has the effect of like, is this real life right now? Like is is this really the job? But it's it's it's cool, man. It's really cool and like I again I I'm I'm so grateful that it's happened the way it that it has because ⁓ for a long time I really just thought I was kinda stuck in one spot and I just really wanted the chance to prove myself outside of it and speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah yeah. speaker-2: that came with Cage the Elephant and ⁓ that's still like my main spot where I'm hanging out at. ⁓ this year they're off so like I'm doing a bunch of other stuff. But like I've gotta do it's been it's been a pretty good year for doing other things. I mean I'm g I'm gonna get to work for Matt Halpern who's like my other like guy right below Morgan. So like that's gonna be cool. And the Hoopistank like one of my favorite bands of all time. So like I fuck with them. speaker-0: Yeah, that's pretty cool. I j we just played a show with them in Puerto Rico a couple months ago and I met them all for the first time and they're so sick. Also, Matt is like the coolest guy and is such a sick drummer. And another Pearl guy. speaker-2: Who for ⁓ for who bastack? Yeah. ⁓ Chris Hesse. speaker-1: ⁓ you were talking Matt Helper. Okay, Chris Halper speaker-0: Yeah, sorry. Yeah. Chris no, Chris I met Chris. I met Chris and the other Huba Sank guys in a dressing room very briefly and like they were so sick. Like it we didn't really hang out very long, but vr you could just tell they had a really good vibe. ⁓ which is what I tell speaker-2: I just spoke to Chris on the phone for the first time. We ⁓ we talked for like an hour just just getting to know each other. Like the funny thing is actually in twenty twenty two, when I first started drum teching, I got a call from them to go to Indonesia for one show and I'm on the way to the airport to go do this one show with them, and I get a call from the manager saying, Yo, it just got cancelled because the guitar player broke his foot, and I was like, ⁓ shit. So I was like I did my first drum tech tour and then the second call I ever got was to go out with hoobastank for this one show. It gets canceled. Years go by, I go do all these things that I've been doing and then I get hit up to go do this hoobastank tour. And I the first thing I say to Chris, I'm like, dude, like, you know, it's been a while, but like ⁓ like I can't believe, you know, we're finally gonna do this. The first time we ever spoke was for this one thing years ago and here we are finally getting to do one, so it's pretty cool. So he Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He remembered it and he like, dude, let's hope, you know, fucking nothing happens this time and I'm like, Yeah, dude, me too It's cool 'cause we're going out with ⁓ we're going out with Stane, Cedar and Hinder and we're playing the two of four slot. So like speaker-1: Right. Cool. speaker-0: Dude, that's gonna be so fun. Also, Hinder. I don't know if we talked about this or not, but this has been we've been just name dropping for the thirty minutes straight, it feels like. But Hinder For real, dude Hinder Hinder ⁓ again, another band that I met this year. We're like we're just our worlds are so enmeshed. This is why this is so awesome. Is Yeah. I met them this year. Those guys rock, dude. So you're gonna have a lot of fun with them if if you haven't met them already, but speaker-2: No, I've never met him. I I can't wait. It's gonna be the ultimate fucking butt rock tour, so I'm just ⁓ speaker-0: They're good. Absolutely. They own so Hinder owns their own bus and they like pimped it out, made it like theirs. And when you when you hang out with them, just tell them you know me and be like Okay. Like they'll they'll remember. We played like one show together or two shows together and anyway. speaker-2: Yeah, I can't wait, dude. It's gonna be sick and it's gonna be the ultimate fucking butt rock tour. So fucking red speaker-0: Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. So it's good. What are a few things that you enjoy outside of drums? speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: Man, ⁓ a big football guy, love football. ⁓ it's about to start back up again, so I can't wait. I play video games. I'm a Falcons fan. Falcons fan. speaker-1: is closer to Charleston, right? Yeah, yeah. Closer? Yeah yeah. speaker-2: Yeah. And also like, I mean, I was born in Miami and I lived in the Carolinas, but like the Dolphins sucked, the Carolina colors sucked, red and black, Falcons. I like, yeah, I'm gonna go be a Falcons fan. That's how that happens. speaker-0: I love not I love not liking a team just 'cause you hate the colors. speaker-2: Yeah, dude. I was like, Yeah, these colors ain't for me. Yeah. So no Falcons fans speaker-0: Baby blue and silver or whatever whatever the Panthers are. speaker-2: Dude, shit Yeah, it's that's what they are. That that shit's whack to me. So fuck that. as I sit here I have a blue drum set, but ⁓ Well speaker-0: The the finish the f yeah. No, the finish on your kit is way sicker than the Panthers ⁓ blue Panthers blue jerseys. Those blue jerseys are whack. I agree with you. Black ones go hard. I will say the black ones go hard. speaker-1: The black ones are are hard, but speaker-2: Yeah. But nah I'm a big football fan. ⁓ and I also play a lot of video games at home. But I say that I only play like three video games. I played Call of Duty Fortnite and Madden, so like kind of basic there. Yeah, exactly. But like the only game that I'm really really good at is Madden, so like I'll dunk on anybody on that. and then I'm a really big like Italian food guy. I'm I'm also Italian, so like if speaker-1: The only game. Nice. speaker-0: Wait, you are? speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: I ⁓ I just love a good meal. I'm a fully sober guy. I don't do anything so like I'd rather just spend the money that you would on drugs and alcohol on a good meal somewhere. So pretty basic if I you know, if I think about it. I'm a pr speaker-0: That's so fun. I wanna hear about this Madden I wanna hear about this Madden this Madden joint. So like I played a lot of Madden growing up, but I also played my game is is well it's now called FC but my whole childhood it was FIFA. I've been playing FIFA since bro, I've been playing that game. Well, I'm a soccer guy, so Yeah. I've been playing that game since two thousand I wanna say two thousand one. So I got about twenty five years of FIFA under my belt. speaker-2: Right. speaker-0: And it's literally the only game that I still play and I am nice with it. And I feel like what is how does Madden work online? Like are there if you're playing like competitively online, does do is there like a top division or like is there a how does it work? Do you get ranked up like speaker-2: You do get ranked. I have played online a few times, but the main thing that I really do is I play the franchise mode and I like taking an ass team. I like taking ass team and then making them like the top fucking team in the league and like being the top coach. Like I just got Madden twenty seven when it dropped and like I'm already halfway through the first like season and I'm playing with all the ass players the Falcons have right now. And ⁓ the next season starts I'm gonna speaker-0: That's fine. Okay. Hell yeah. speaker-2: trade all of them away and draft all rookies and then just take it from the top. I do it every every year is what I do. speaker-0: That's so fun. speaker-1: Do you like win the Super Bowl? speaker-2: ⁓ yeah, dude. Madden twenty six, I w I won the Super Bowl like ten times. Straight up. Like I I don't and I I put it on I put it on my life. I don't do nothing to make me better. I just play the fucking game at the hardest setting. And I just do it, bro. I just do it. I played and the thing is too is like I play so much Madden that when I'm watching real football, I'm like, bro, like why isn't why is the coach so acid like time management, bro? Like I think I honestly believe speaker-0: Michael, okay, that's a really interesting thing. I have played so much FIFA and I've I'm a I watch a lot of soccer that there are there's you know, my my team is Manchester United, so I know the team inside and out and I know what the players can do. And like the last couple of years they had this awful coach and what he did was he he wanted to play a really bizarre formation and he wanted to put players on the field that I was like, why is he playing these guys over those guys? And I swear there's times where I'm like, Bro, I if you let me pick the formation and the players, I swear they will perform better than how they're speaker-2: Hundred percent. Hundred percent. I'm talking like I can execute if you put me in a situation where it's like, all right, like we have to win this game and there's fuck like like a two minute drill. Yeah. And I'm on the twenty and I gotta get a field goal to win it. Bro, I'm reading the coverages, bro. I'm like, bro, I'm ro I'm I'm changing the receivers' routes. I'm like, bro, we're running this dig. speaker-0: I don't know. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: Have you played so much that you can that you that you know like you can you you know what kind of a play they're gonna run in real life? Yeah when they when they live like some like some Tony Romo shit where Tony Romo like you know how he comes before it happens. speaker-2: Yeah, yeah, one hundred percent. And the thing is too is like I would love an end to that world because like that's where I truly feel like I'm like again, I love touring, I love drums, all that shit. But that's the job. The sports, that's the getaway. speaker-1: That's shit. Yeah. speaker-0: Would you would you would you leave would you bail on drum teching and stuff if you could be like an assistant an assistant coach or like an assistant coach a college team and make like two hundred fifty grand a year? I mean you're telling me you tell me that ⁓ speaker-1: analyst on ESPN dude. speaker-2: Give me it. Give me all I wanna do is be the guy that like I wanna be the clock management guy. If like I I've I've had this thought of like, okay, like I'm watching the game. speaker-0: I don't know what I don't know how the coaching hierarchy goes. I would imagine the assistant coach is paying attention to things like clocks and stuff, but I don't know. speaker-2: Yeah. And that's like that honestly that's like where I feel like I would flourish in that world is either I either I'm calling the plays or I'm watching the clock and I'm telling you what to do based on where the clock is at. And like that's just, you know, I played so much Madden to where it's like I feel like I'm a better I'm I I can read the situation better than the fucking coach can in real life in the NFL. Because truly, I mean like being a Falcons fan, believe I know it inside and out. So many games we've lost by three points or less even sometimes. Because of just horrible clock management. I'm like, dude, like why aren't calling the fucking timeout right here? Or like, you know, why are you speaker-0: Clock management is really interesting in football. I I yeah I get it. I fully understand it. I just find myself watching games going, I think the same thoughts, but then I just I d default to like, well, they're a professional football coach. They must know more than me about this. But there's some times where it's like everybody in the building wants you to call a timeout. Yeah, I don't know what's speaker-2: You wanna you wanna you wanna round this back up into drums, dude? What we can round this back up into drums. So the Oasis Tour speaker-0: We start talking about football for the next twenty minutes and then end the podcast. speaker-1: We ⁓ speaker-2: ⁓ so KJ Elephant opened for Oasis on the reunion tour and it was a big stadium tour and I've never done anything like that before in my life. ⁓ and the rules on that are pretty you know you're obviously the opener, so you gotta go by their rules. And the rule ⁓ the rule of that tour was all right, you have fifteen minutes to get off stage and packed up. If you don't finish in the fifteen minutes, you can't pack up or get back on this stage until Oasis is done. And when Oasis is done You have five hundred stage hands that are going to help them all around you and it's just gonna be absolute chaos. speaker-0: So you're clock management. ⁓ Have your boy fake an injury. speaker-2: Exactly, dude. Yo, dude, the fucking guitar tech is down on the field, man. He just fucking But nah, so like you got you you got fifteen minutes to fucking pack all your shit and or you're or you're waiting until the end of the night and it's gonna be way worse like chaos, like it's just gonna be crazy. So I'm like, alright, so in Cage World I have two drum trunks and I have a four piece kit, some stands and some triggers and an S P D and the audio team does all the audio shit, so That's not me. Yeah. ⁓ but drum world, I'm like, all right, I got 15 minutes to break this entire kit down, pack it up, and go. And then I'm done I'm done for the night. I'm do I'm good. Like I I just gotta come back for the truck pack. And my drum cases are the last thing in the pack. So like it's pretty pretty smo you know it's smooth sailing in my world. So when I found that out, I was like, all right, I need to develop the system of how to get these shits done, you know, how to get this done as fast as possible. So as soon as Jared hits the last note. He's walking off. I'm walking on. My riser is the middle riser out of the three that we have. And, you know, the first thing I'm doing is I'm looking at what what takes me the longest out of everything to break down this kit? And for this kit, it's unplugging the triggers and wrapping the cable and peg you know packing the S P D away 'cause it's all cables and bullshit. So what I'm doing first, so the this is this was the process. Like, all right, cool. So like and obviously the symbols are, you know, in the way of like all the shit. So all right. Symbols first, put ⁓ on the sub. Now I have a clear path. Unplug the fucking triggers from the DI. Rack Tom, because the Rack Tom is like in it's in a weird fucking spot, so the cable's kinda weird. Rack Tom snare, the two weirdest cables. Unplug, pull ⁓ out, wrap it, unplug it, put it on the thing. Fortom is the closest to the SPD. So that's the easiest one. So that was the last one. By the time I'm done getting the triggers done, I'm taking the symbol stands apart, taking the boom arms out. And they're not even on my riser yet. So like, you know, cause the guitar tech has keys, a Mellotron, and a bass rig and a guitar rig. So they're dealing with him. So my goal was to have all the cymbal stands down before or right when they're about to move my riser. So cymbal stands are done, rock time off, kick drum pedal off, snares off, fucking all the stands are just done. By the time they're moving my riser, the kit's already on the fucking ground. And then I have my two cases. I grab three hands. I'm like, all right, this is the way it's gonna go. And fucking, you know, I know where all the shit is. And usually I ask like who who knows anything about drums in the slightest bit, because you're my person. I always there's and there is always one. There's always one just enough. And all I need you to do is to understand like what I'm telling you, like what what the what like what a snare drum is, the kick drum, just the basics. Yes. ⁓ speaker-0: Yeah, one. speaker-2: Exactly. Exact And ⁓ fuck I lost where I was going with that. But either way, so the fucking drums kit is pretty much broken down by the time they come to my roster and roll me off stage. So then all I gotta do is get my cases, grab my people, pack it away in the order that it has to go packed in, and then I'm done. But it took me it took me two shows just to like get it set, but then once I got it set, it was always so funny because like everybody on a big tour like that, like speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: So speaker-2: They hate back line because it's so like you're the last one in, you're the first one out, type shit. Mm. But in Cage World, Cage is a very guitar driven band and key, you know, keyboard driven band. So like the drums are kinda like the last thing to worry about. And I got like I have like a lot of stuff, but it's also like the least amount of stuff. But it's like I get done so quick, they're like, yo, like, what the fuck? It was just like, ⁓ yep, you know, he's done. There's clock management bro, you gotta get that system. You gotta get the system made, bro. You gotta get the system. speaker-1: I'm out. ⁓ I did my work. Peace. speaker-0: When you're on tour like and you're on a day off, what do you what's your like what's your typical day off look like? speaker-2: Depends on where we are. If we're in a cool spot, it's usually something that I like I already know that I want to go do. but it's usually a lot of sleep, a proper shower, and then depending on where we are, like it'll be either like a good meal or I'll just door dash something and just chill in the hotel room. but if we're in a cool spot, like I mean we'll go fucking do some outdoor shit. If we're like in like a fucking outdoorsy place, we'll go take a hike or Go see some mountain or some lake. ⁓ speaker-1: You ever go to a game You ever go to a s like a sports game of any kind? ⁓ speaker-2: I did go so when I did my first Europe tour last year, we did go to a soccer game and ⁓ speaker-1: Tony, you did guys, right? speaker-0: Yeah, we went and saw Barcelona this year. So fucking s speaker-2: We went and saw what is it? It was like Man City? What? I think it w I think it would have was. ⁓ speaker-0: Was it an speaker-2: Dude, I brand is s it was in England. Hold on. speaker-0: You got to see Man City and you can't remember who they played against? speaker-2: Bro. Bruh. I I I even bought a fucking jersey. speaker-0: ⁓ No, I I need to know it's okay. While you're no mine is two, but while you're talking about this or finding it, I need people to understand 'cause like I love speaker-2: I'll tell you mashed potatoes. We played at Sellhurst Park, you know what that is? ⁓ speaker-0: ⁓ yes. speaker-2: Who is that? speaker-0: I don't know off the top of my head. It's it's probably like I don't know, w is it like w like ⁓ speaker-2: ⁓ no. speaker-0: Is it like Wigan or like one of those smaller English teams? I don't know, like whole city. I don't know. Sellhurst Park is Jamie get on this. Sellhurst Park. ⁓ Crystal Palace. Yeah. That wasn't I wasn't too far off. I said smaller club. I knew it was a smaller club. speaker-2: Crystal Palace. Yep, yep, yep. We saw Crystal Palace play and that was my I mean I I don't I don't know soccer like that at all. That's okay, yeah, yeah. We went and saw I we went and did that on a day off. That was pretty cool. I know on the periphery tour I'm about to go do, they do like an off day like sports game if they can somewhere. ⁓ so I hope we get to do that 'cause that'd cool. ⁓ yeah, I've never really got to do a lot of sports games. speaker-0: Yeah, yeah. That's so sick. speaker-2: on an off day. But usually I it's really just like take a nap, get some good food and speaker-0: My Seahawks played in the Super Bowl this year and I was in Europe and the game was at like three in the morning and I was like, I just can't we were like f four weeks into like a seven week tour. I was already fried. I was like, I cannot stay up until three in the morning. I c it's not even stay till three, it'd be stay up till six in the morning. I can't do that. So I had to watch a replay of it the next day, ⁓ which sucked. ⁓ speaker-2: Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: But ⁓ that's a part of life, so it's all good. ⁓ okay, so here's a question I love asking. This is like one of my favorite questions, which is what in your words, what do you think makes a professional? Because and the reason I asked this is because ⁓ reason I asked this because just for the listeners is like I don't know, people always think that just being good at drums you can get a gig, or that being a good drum tech because you know how to tune drums that you're gonna be a good drum tech. It's like There's so much more involved in it. There's like a lot of great drummers and people who know how to tune drums who could never handle one day on the road. So Yeah. In your words, what makes a a a professional in our business? speaker-2: I really think you just have to genuinely care and like want to be where you are. 'Cause that's all it comes down to for me. Like if I don't want to be somewhere I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be there. So ⁓ genuinely ⁓ it's you just have to like actually care enough to do the job well and like want to be there and want to do a good job. ⁓ I think it all encompasses those things, you know, that that's how I've carried myself my entire career, you know, is just those words, like that that mindset. doesn't have to be a long answer. Like truly I think if you just if if that's what it is, like, you know, you're already doing the thing, you know. speaker-0: That's great. speaker-1: That's a great answer. No, professionals in any industry care. That's yeah, that's a huge that's a great answer. You gotta really go to shit and like be doing what you wanna do. So speaker-2: Yeah. Yeah. I think if you i i i if your heart isn't in it, you're you're bound to kind of fail and or not really fail, but I it's just not it's just not gonna end good or it's just not gonna go as well as it could if you just like you know, don't Yeah. And I'm you know, I just I I don't I ⁓ if I don't wanna be somewhere, like I'm not gonna do it. And that has saved my ass a lot of time. speaker-0: Care. You know. If you ⁓ I know you want to play drums. ⁓ in your dream, yeah, in your dream world, what what band would you want would you play drums for? What's your dream gig that you feel like I'd be a great fit for this band? speaker-2: I drop. speaker-1: Mmm, dream gig. speaker-2: It's so funny because the answer everybody wants to hear is Seven Dust. ⁓ because like it is true. You know, that is like my favorite band. speaker-0: you gotta remember you gotta remember though, like I 'cause one thing I I I always remember is like what whose shoes am I filling? And I'm not saying yeah I you're a great drummer, I'm not saying I'm not saying that. I'm just saying like that's a real one of one. Those are tough shoes to fill. Big time. Big time, big time. You can't to to go you have to like feel that energy, which is like I don't play like Yeah. And you don't have the big long red you know hair and like yeah, it's just speaker-2: Dude, when I was ⁓ w ⁓ it was a this was a long time ago, but for Halloween I actually did do my hair like that. Yeah. And we ⁓ I was in a band in twenty seventeen and we fucking did like a Halloween gig and I like my shit up like speaker-0: That's so sick. speaker-1: Six plus six toss one less. speaker-2: Yeah. But no I mean really it's like if it wasn't them, ⁓ I really early into like drumming I was really a big like dream theater fan and I love to fucking play some dream theater. speaker-0: Dude For sure. Dude you should You should dra you should be Mike Portnoy for Halloween this year. You could pull it off and fucking drew it for real. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: Near the blue goatee. speaker-1: Holy shit. That's actually speaker-0: Are you gonna be on tour on Halloween? I'm not even kidding. You should just pull up to the venue. Completely dressed and vibed like Mike Portnoy. Just act like him, talk like him. speaker-2: I'm gonna be on tour. The fucking jerty ⁓ the basketball. Seahawks That would be that's definitely a a gig that I would love to do. ⁓ but honestly, I mean truly I just want to get a gig. Yeah. I've had some moments where ⁓ it's like really hard. Truly, but like speaker-1: Yeah no he rock that speaker-0: Understand bro. speaker-2: Keep I I I keep my you know, I I always bring it back to like, dude, like I mean, look at what you're getting to do, you know, you're getting a lot of money to tune some drums. So it's like you know and I and again, like, you know speaker-0: I think it's a horror. speaker-2: Hard thing to 'cause there's like s it's like this weird like I don't know how to describe it, but it's like such a weird topic to like I don't even really I I don't know losing it. speaker-0: No, we No, we we've talked about it on the podcast before a few times. Like there's there's this whole thing 'cause I see it I see it I've seen it from both sides, right? I've drum tech. I've drum tech. I've speaker-2: Dude, you know what you know it's funny, you know we met. Do you remember where we met? speaker-0: ⁓ at the show in Charlotte, yeah. And Maddie was at speaker-2: Charlotte. I came up and you Yeah. No. No Maddie. No, it was just me. speaker-0: Are you sure? Wait, who are you with? Wasn't somebody? speaker-2: I was with a I was with a buddy. ⁓ Maddie wasn't there. Okay. I wasn't Maddie. But we met in Charlotte speaker-0: Mm-hmm. speaker-2: Yeah, yeah. And I would come up to you and I was like, you know, I knew who you were, and I heard that you drum tech for Papa Roach and I was waiting to get the call and I was gonna go drum tech for Papa Roach. speaker-0: That's right. I put in a good word for you. That's right. I d speaker-2: We like never spoke prior to that. That was our first meeting. speaker-0: That's so funny. I remember I really respected that 'cause like I you shot your shot quickly. Like I remember just being like, Whoa, that's crazy that he shot his shot that fast. But honestly, why not? He seemed like a nice guy. I'll I'll I'll ⁓ I'll ⁓ I'll send Brian a text. ⁓ but ⁓ what was I gonna say job? I see both sides and I and I always tell people like the thing I've done, I've drum tech and I've had a drum tech. speaker-2: You've seen both. speaker-0: But the thing I've done more than both of those is been on tour drum teching myself. I've done that over and over and over and over again. So I've seen like literally all three of those worlds basically. And what happens is that management kind of starts to see drum tech like crew as crew, band as band. You get you get literally separated into like different travel parties. And then it's like it becomes this like compartmentalized thing that managers do where they're like. If you lose a let's say you lose a drummer and you need to hire a new drummer, well, if you shift your drum tech into that position, then now you need a new drum tech. Now you need a drum tech. And now you're now you're messing with the vibe on the crew side and a lot of times the crew's in their own bus and like there's like a whole there's like politics to play there. So yeah, it it ends up being easier to just go and find another just drummer who can just who's been on tour playing drums or whatever. And I think I told you this directly, like when we were the last time we talked on the phone, I think I said something along the lines of like it's the same thing I tell everybody, which is like I do think there is a drum tech to drummer pipeline. I believe in it. I think being on tour is really valuable no matter what. But in your off time, which is what you're doing right now, in your off time you should be playing drums like as much as humanly possible, not losing your chops. Not only not losing your chops, but getting better. ⁓ because that to me is like the ultimate thing. If you're really, really, really good, like You you will find your way into a drumming gig if you like s it manifest that and it in and envision it. I really I really believe that. So speaker-2: That's all I've been doing this whole month. I've been home. you know a little bit of that situation that went down, but I'm home. I'm home playing drums every day. And ⁓ next week I'm I'm going on vacation before I go on this well I'm I'm gonna be out for eleven weeks, bro, doing butt back to back tours. ⁓ my birthday's next week and my girlfriend's taking me to Universal. We're but up until then, I mean today speaker-1: I speaker-0: ⁓ happy birthday. That's dope. speaker-1: Happy happy birthday, bro. speaker-2: It's been fucking raining and I'm kinda I post I posted a video yesterday, so like today's kinda like an off day for me, but tomorrow I'm gonna go back and like figure out what video to do tomorrow. But every day I've been just playing drums, just trying to like just post as many videos as I can, just put it out there that hey like I've been drums I play drums too, you know? So But yeah, dude, I mean we'll see what the fucking universe holds, you know. I mean I definitely you know, I have never I ⁓ speaker-1: Rip, motherfucker. speaker-2: There's no giving up, you know what I mean? Like I'm not I I know that like the end goal or like the like drum teching is cool and I do genuinely love to do it, which is why I think I continue to get work, but like trying to play some drums at some point, you know what I mean? speaker-0: I always try to say, dude, having a career anywhere inside of having a career in drums is impossible. So any career at all that has something to do with drums is still a better career than not. I would still rather like if my life fell apart, if I got fired from my gig or whatever happened, I I would still probably find a way to just stay in the drum world, you know what I mean? So that's just speaker-2: I keep telling myself is just like dude, there's no there truly is no better job than a job within drums, you know. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-2: Of drumming and drums and touching drums and tuning drums and just figuring out how to make the shit sweet. So speaker-0: That's all I was doing. That's why we pushed the podcast back today because I got so carried away today. I got I well, I I I I was setting up some new s some like more microphones and all this stuff, and then I was like, Man, my heads are pretty beat up right now. I should probably just take this time and change all of them. And then I was like, Yeah. Well, I guess I should just film this and s share this share a little game with some people and then ⁓ next speaker-2: Sorry, videos. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-2: Yeah. Tell me this for the two of you guys. Yeah we talking so we all have used the EAD ten at some point in our lives. Mm-hmm. And now we're shifting the microphones. speaker-0: What's up? ⁓ I saw this coming from a mile away, bro. Let me tell you something here. I don't wanna make you feel bad 'cause I know you have the I know you have the EAD Tanner, so I'm not don't take this personally like speaker-2: No, I would pass and limited speaker-0: Yeah, I don't care at all. I I think that it's a great tool if you're just like I I just want to pump out some content, like whatever. I think it's an awesome tool. Yeah. ⁓ I will say this. Here's something I'll give away. Here's a little bit of knowledge I'll give away. I did my ⁓ am I should I say this? I don't know. I s I had to submit my daughter tryouts very quickly. I didn't have a lot of time. And I did it with an EAD. And I don't think that they were super psyched about how it sounded. So I will say that. I will say that it's it's passable. It's passable. It's fine. But I think that if you're gonna go like what I learned in that experience is I was like, ⁓ because like other people who submitted videos, they had like fully mixed rigs. And I think like if you're trying to put your best foot forward and you can like have a fully mixed tryout video It's gonna stand out because people wanna hear something that sounds really badass. Like compared like a fully mixed real mic'd up kit versus an EAD kit, it's gonna lose pretty much every time. So ⁓ that being said, I do think it's an awesome tool. I'm really on the I because my practice space is so small, I got a small inner I got a four channel interface and was just doing kick snare overhead. And I was and that to me was sounding way better than an EAD. And then now I'm like, well. Might as well put the mics on. Might as well have a second overhead. Have some s you know have have some stereo capabilities. ⁓ and ⁓ now shit's sounding crazy. Wait till I get this dialed in. So anyway, long story short, get some microphones. I think it's worth the investment. And if you need some speaker-2: The other reason why I haven't done it is Yeah, for sure. The only reason why I haven't done it is because I do plan to get out of my practice my storage unit at the end of this year ⁓ and get into a spot with my girl in a house. So once we get proper room, that is when I will make the shift over to actual things. But for now, you know, the EAD just it's passable, you speaker-0: It's passable totally. speaker-1: It captures the plane perfectly too, I think. speaker-0: It does. Yeah. speaker-2: You've done a lot of videos, Joe, with the LVD. speaker-0: Yeah, like I said, I think it's a great tool. I think it's a great tool, like I said, especially in a pinch and just if you're pumping out videos like you are, like no problem. I will say that the last six months or so of this new journey of kind of learning how to record drums, I've just been really enjoying that as a new process. It's just another thing to learn and I've just been really having f like really actually going how to like forget the rules. Like they have all these rules about how to mic up a snare and what to use. Well, I have like four mics that I could use on my snare drum, I ended up just using the SM fifty seven. The classic st I still think it's the best snare mic out there, honestly. Yeah. It's like and then how how did I come to that conclude conclusion? By trying all the microphones that I had. Okay, let me stick a let me stick a overhead here and ha see how it sounds. Let me put it here and see how it sounds. Let me put it like higher back, see how it sounds. Let me put it over the drum kit, see how it sounds. That whole process has been really, really fun for me and it's you know, I don't know, it's kind of some speaker-1: Yeah, f speaker-0: There's a lot of stuff I have no idea what I'm doing still, so speaker-2: I have zero clue about any of that stuff, which is why I got the EAD. But now it's like I really think that I need to learn how to do all that stuff to be like in the next like the next tier of like a you know. speaker-0: I will say this ⁓ a ⁓ a thousand dollar interface, maybe another thousand dollars in mics and cables and logic and logic and some stock plugins and you're straight. I mean it's not really yeah it's not really anything more than that. Couple couple Gs and logic and you can like you know speaker-2: Built. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: And e k and EQing drums to me like the way my brain sees it, it's just like tuning a drum. Yeah. You know what I mean? You just fucking doing speaker-0: Yeah. It's a lot of it's a lot of messages. speaker-1: So you like the sound. speaker-2: Exactly. speaker-1: ⁓ my buddy Porter, yeah, yeah. I'm I'm helping him out promote that. Cool, right? speaker-0: That's t tell me about that because I doubt that's so random. Somebody mentioned that to me yesterday. Somebody completely separate mentioned that to me yesterday randomly when I was on the phone. And I go, What is this app? And I open I go, Porter has an app and then I I don't know Porter personally, but we're like Instagram buddies, and then ⁓ I tr I started messing around with it. It's pretty cool. It's a really cool speaker-2: Yeah. I downloaded it and I put a video in from 'cause like the way I do my Instagram videos I have just like the phone audio and then I do the audio over top of it. But I ha I took like the camera audio video from yesterday and I put it in that app and was fucking around with it. It's it's really cool. It's cool. speaker-0: Did it sound do you feel like it sounded as good or better or worse than the EAD? speaker-2: No, I think the I think still better. speaker-0: Okay, yeah, it makes sense. speaker-1: But but it it maximizes your phone audio the best possible. speaker-2: And you can do it doesn't yeah. speaker-0: We've a show we have a show coming up. I'm gonna I'm gonna take a like a a a drum cam and then take clips of it, put it into that app and see if I can like get the f on stage phone camera to not sound like complete dog shit. You if it's too close to high, you're so fucked. Like it sucks. speaker-2: Yeah. Yeah. Now that before I saw on that thing, yeah, I saw it had a lot of things you could fuck with and change and like you know, I obviously the storage unit isn't a good sounding room to begin with, but like I definitely got it to sound a little bit better than just stock phone audio. Right. speaker-0: Right, right. Well dude, my my seven by eight practice space sounds like shit. So it's you can work if you work some magic, you can it's a lot of trial and error. Like I'm trying to I don't know, I'm trying to defy the odds of like how good I can get a shitty, untreated seven by eight room with just a pretty standard interface and some basic microphones. Like that's kind of the thing now, so speaker-2: That's like what I was doing with the EAD was like, you know, a lot of people tell me that like your EAD videos sound like like really, really good, like, you know, they're not stock sounding EAD videos. And like the way what I do it is like I honestly will sit there with the song that I'm playing to and I'll like tune the snare to sound how the snare sound and then like I have the I have like the fucking the speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-2: 'Cause you'll you're there's there's two things to the the volume of the mic and the volume of the track. Yeah. And I'll sit here with headphones in and 'cause I'm doing it all through the fucking the I have like so I have my iPad next to me. I do this like really ghetto. Like so I have my iPad with the with the EAD app, right? And then I have my phone in front of the drums and then I have my watch and I hit record on my watch. Sick. And then I hit record on the a on my iPad and then I do the do the I play the song and the iPad is just filming the wall. And I take the fucking audio from the video on the ⁓ iPad. I just mix that. I sing it with the phone, but I'm doing like the the audio and the mic mix whatever level thing. Yeah, you've got I'm sitting here forever just trying to get it to sound where like the track is very loud, but the my drums are just a tiny bit louder, I'm kinda blending them together with the track and I have the drums tuned as close as I can to the track that I'm playing to. And then that's how I get the sound that I get out of the fucking thing. If you listen to any of them, like, you know, you hear that just a tad bit louder than the track, but it sounds like a fully mixed type of thing, you know what I mean? Like it doesn't sound like an EAD video to me. So, you know it's just like I don't know if speaker-0: Great. ⁓ We we gotta we gotta stop the podcast here, otherwise we're gonna start talking talking for too long. But I will say this, one thing I've always always did with the EAD was I never crank the compression or or the reverb too high. I think people over compress stuff with that. You just keep keep a little bit speaker-2: are your settings, bro. Like the w the settings you posted are the ones that I use. Like speaker-0: Wow. It was just like two or th maybe two or three on the remote. speaker-2: Half on the it was two and a half on the compression and I think it was like four on the reverb. Straight up what I used. speaker-0: There you go. speaker-1: ⁓ I found just turning all of it off was like honestly my favorite. speaker-0: There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Also put your own kick sample in there. It does make a little bit it makes a little bit of a difference. If you can find like a natural kick sample, ⁓ that does help. But yeah. Anyway. All right, man. Well, hey, Michael, you're the man. Thank you so much for your time, buddy. ⁓ hopefully we cross paths this fall. I you know, we'll we'll check our calendars and shit later, but we're both gonna be out on the road. So we'll be ready. If not, man, ⁓ save have safe travels and all that stuff and ⁓ speaker-2: Started when I first got it. speaker-0: Everybody go follow Michael on the internet. Just look on Michael Russo, you'll find his dumbass. And ⁓ Yeah be his dumb ass. All right. ⁓ we'll talk to you guys next time. Bye bye. speaker-1: Cool. speaker-2: See you guys. Peace.