NEW EPISODE - The Drum Panel: E-MAN is not a collector ok
What is up?
Ben here.
I’ve got another Drum Panel this week powered by Big Fat Snare Drum.
Listen to the full episode → HERE
This one’s with E-MAN (Gwen Stefani) and Eric Urrea (Marina City, La Armada). We got into studio vs live drumming, why some players obsess over the grid, and whether modern editing has actually made people more musical…or just safer.
E-MAN had a great point about how at a certain level, everybody can already play close to the click. What actually separates people is sound. The way the drums feel in the room. The way the snare reacts in the verse versus the chorus. The weird little details that actually make a performance feel human.
We also talked about:
• Why a little ugliness in drumming can actually make things feel better
• Punching in takes vs forcing full performances
• The reality that basically everybody is getting “fixed” in modern recordings
• The one cymbal E-MAN would steal from jazz history if he could
• Goosebumps moments from Nicole Scherzinger, Blink-182, and Dagny
• Whether any of us ever really stop trying to sound like our heroes
• Kenny Aronoff’s weird tom setup and the chaos of panning it in the studio
There’s also a very important discussion about chimes.
And UFOs.
You know. Drum stuff.
Listen to the full episode → HERE
The Drum Panel is a recurring series on Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum. Thanks for listening.
P.S.
When was last time a piece of music gave you the goosebumps?
—Ben
And don’t forget to check out my book, Drummers On Drumming: The Stories and Records That Shaped Their Sound👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
“an absolute gem—The depth here is next-level...“
- Butch Vig
“[This book] brings us back to carefully gathered, intimate insight and a deeper sense of connection that feels like sitting at a round table sharing stories with drumming colleagues. Well done, Ben!”
- Jojo Mayer
“A beautiful tribute to the drumming community...”
- Jared Falk