Colin's music

Influences and style

I sound a bit like a mix of Stewart Copeland, Omar Hakim, Chester Thompson and 60's-era rockers like Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker and Keith Moon. But mainly I sound like me.

My formative influences as a little larval drummer were the first Muppet Movie soundtrack; an obscure Cat Stevens album called 'Numbers'; 'Sports,' by Huey Lewis & the News; and megadoses of The Police. I grew up in Australia in a time and place where records were expensive and radio was lame. To those first influences I went on to add Omar Hakim from Sting's first albums, then some Weather Report and The Dregs (that's fusion/prog-rock stuff). Back in my college days, I took conga lessons one summer from local master Arturo Rodriguez and at that time also learned some latin grooves for drumset from Scott Mercado, the drummer for Candlebox. I even took tabla for a year or two, and once took a taiko workshop. In the end I realized I enjoy stick drumming more than hand drumming.

Wish list for learning: everything, but especially jazz, New Orleans styles, double bass footwork, timbales, maybe drumline stuff, and maybe some dumbek for the tasty licks.

Miscellany

Non-smoker, non-user, basically don't drink. Very non-flaky. Own transportation & practice space. Laid back, cooperative guy. Been drumming since I was 10.

I don't require that my collaborators have all the same interests as me. I don't claim to know all the cool stuff out there. Nor do I care about stuff like age, gender, race, orientation, class, education, etc. (right-wing bigots can kiss my hairy ass, tho). Let's just make some good music, alright?

I can read drum charts, but don't do it often enough to be able to sight-read.

Singing is fun. In my current groups I often sing backup while I play. I sing in 'lead' range. I've never fronted a group, but wouldn't mind trying. A cappela stuff would be fun too.

Listening favorites

I listen to instrumental music at least as much as "worded" music. For me, lyrics are usually (not always!) just something to say while you're singing, so a piece like Sting's "Fields of Gold," which is really all about the words and not about the music, doesn't really rev my engine. Here a some favorite albums and artists.

• The Police
• The Beatles, "Abbey Road"
• Anything Bela Fleck. I own a ton of Flecktones albums, plus the two Acoustic Planet albums and the classical album
• Chris Thile, "Not All who Wander are Lost"
• Weather Report, "Black Market" and "Heavy Weather"
• Phish, "A Picture of Nectar"
• Genesis Live: The Mama Tour (this is a video; it rocks except for the junky pop medley at the end)
• Rush, "Hemispheres" and "Moving Pictures" (although I don't care for Geddy Lee's voice)
• Bob Marley, "Legend"
• Bobby McFerrin, "Spontaneous Inventions"
• Jeff Beck & Jan Hammer's 1975 live album
• Tenacious D! (but only their eponymous album)
• Steve Vai, "Passion & Warfare"
• Jazz a la "Maiden Voyage," "Time Out," "Joe Cool's Blues"
• Funk a la Stevie Wonder, James Brown, the Meters
• Stewart Copeland, "The Rhythmatist"
• Presidents of the United States of America
• Puggy, "Dubois Died Today"
• Gomez, "How We Operate"
• In the classical vein, I lean toward contrapuntal stuff, not heavy Romantic
  

Interests, Aims, Dreams, etc.

Since I have a family and home and happiness here, I don't want to pursue the big time and tour. I'd love to be part of a well-loved local band, playing Puget Sound gigs and occassionally one-shotting to places farther out around the Pac-NW. The grandest gig I'd likely pursue would be to play Bumbershoot. Not interested in a world tour or MTV or Shea Stadium.

As for projects, like most musicians I have a wild flock of ideas flapping around my head. I'd love to play in a band that could do, say, three to six songs in each of various different genres—kids' music, hard rock/metal, world music, jazz, pop rock, prog rock, newgrass, ska/reggae, N'Orleans blue funk, etc., etc.—and not sound lame at anything. It would be a blast to play together with another drummer and/or percussionist(s)—maybe in a band, maybe as a drum duet or ensemble; maybe jamming, maybe playing set pieces. It's something I'd like to experiment with. I dig the scales used in Arabic, Gypsy, Klezmer and suchlike music, so I'd enjoy playing with someone who could throw some of that into the mix. Since I speak Japanese, I'd enjoy working with Japanese musicians if our interests were compatible. It would be cool to try creating some fusion tunes using Japanese scales and rhythms within an American/Western band framework. And if there are any taiko players out there who'd like to try collaborating with a drumset player, I'd be your guy.

No thanks, not interested

...in muzak, bubblegum pop, buttrock, serious country, pure punk or death metal or gothic stuff, weepy depressing wear-lots-of-black music, or jazz that's so smooth it has no edges to it (I don't like that marshmallowy-soft jazz guitar or EWI sound). Also I'm not interested in playing only a straight beat in song after song after song.

Gear

This has been my usual setup for the past few years. It's a 6-piece Mapex "Fusionese" with a Mini-Timbale added at the high end and the low tom replaced with a plain brown wooden 16" (so, 8-8-10-12-16 toms). On stage I swap back and forth between my stock Fusionese 14x5.5 snare (tuned "medium sharp"), another Mapex 14x6.5 maple snare (tuned "medium fat"). I've tied kerchiefs to the snare drums so that I can easily adjust the choke, allowing more or less ringiness by flipping the cloth on or off the drum head.

Right now I am experimenting with an 8-8-10-14-16 setup that sounds maybe better. But I also now have a job, I think there's a new kit in my future (!!).

Historically I have tended towards Zildjian cymbals, but my lineup now is a mishmash: 14" Mastersound hats, 20" A ping ride, old 10" splash, an 18" unmarked Sabian reproduction of an original Buddy Rich crash-ride which resides in the collection of Donn Bennett, a 13" Stagg crash (very high and sharp-toned; I never would have predicted it to sound good, but it does), and a 6" Sabian splash (more like a splish). I have a 14" Zildjian K crash and 12" Zildjian splash on indefinite loan, and sometimes use them.

I bought a double bass pedal sometime after the turn of the millenium, after nearly 20 years of playing single kick. I haven't really pushed or felt pushed to play double-kick-oriented material, so I still can't really use them well enough to apply much outside of practice—I usually leave them at home. But I am making progress, and I WILL get there.

If I get rich I might buy Paiste Signature series cymbals and one of those dual-lathe-typed Zildjian rides. More realistically I'd like to throw in a China type...and some electronics...and random toys like woodblocks an' cowbells an' shit... More targets! Hee-hee!