Daniel Glass-Part 3

PART III

THE DRUMMER

Best known for his role behind the drum kit of the pioneering neo-swing group, Royal Crown Revue, Glass also has lent his talents as a player to countless artists including Mike Ness of Social Distortion, Bette Midler, Unknown Hinson, and Frank Sinatra’s guitarist, Al Viola, among others. As a veteran of the road with Royal Crown Revue, Daniel Glass has toured alongside The B-52s, The Pretenders, and KISS. His backbeat has projected to audiences in every conceivably sized venue, from small clubs to the Hollywood Bowl to countless outdoor stadium festivals.

Click the above graphic link to visit www.danielglass.com

--------------------------------- September 2006 ---------------------------------

Q: As a drummer, do you have any particular style that you enjoy playing the most?

DG: This sort of gets back to what we were talking about earlier. I used to think, “Well, Rock is very repetitive. There’s not much you can do with it. You’re stuck to one part. Playing Jazz, on the other hand, is very liberating because you can improvise constantly and you’re not tied down to play anything particular.” Whereas I used to make those kinds of comparisons, I’ve come to understand that whatever it is that you’re playing, even if it’s a very simple thing or something that’s very repetitive, and having been in a band in which I’ve played the same set over and over again for 13 years, I realize that playing drums is more like a practice. I mean, it’s great. It gets a lot of emotion out. On some days, you have a harder time focusing than on others; but it’s an ongoing practice just as meditation is. In other words, it’s not so much about what you’re doing; it’s about where you brain is while you’re doing it. On my best days, when I’m most satisfied with what I’m playing, I’m able to channel something that’s greater than myself. Tapping into something greater than yourself is allowing that something to speak through you.

Q: Is it the secret to being a multi-dimensional musician/recording artist?

DG: Yes. Regardless of what I do, as a performer, I try to access it. If you can access it at all times, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, people will dig what you’re performing because they will see that it is for real.

Q: As a session drummer, you’ve played with artists ranging from Bette Midler to Mike Ness of Social Distortion. Using those two examples, what’s the difference in experience between playing on a session with someone like Bette and then doing a session with a totally different kind of artist like Mike Ness, a guy with a Rock ‘n Roll background?

DG: There really is no difference. When you’re recording something, the goal is to get that perfect take. When you’re playing drums, the pressure is always on us at the beginning of a session because you’ve got to be the first one to put it down and really commit to something off of which everyone else is going to build. It really depends. If it’s a Jazz recording, you’re going for the performance and everybody’s got to work together. If it’s more of a Pop situation, you’re trying to figure out exactly what the song needs and fulfill the setting up of the pyramid from the bottom. Everything else has to be built on top of it.

Q: What main attributes do you feel a drummer, or a musician overall for that matter, has to have in order to be successful playing on other artists’ records?

DG: It’s definitely about submission of the ego. You’re dealing with somebody else’s project. It’s their project to be nervous about. It’s their ‘how-can-I-be-me’ to the max; it’s not yours. Unless they tell you otherwise, you’re there to figure out what their music needs and how you can best provide it for them. The best studio drummers, guys like Jim Keltner and Josh Freese, have the ability to just melt into the music no matter what the music is. They may not be so well known outside of the drumming community, but they’re legends in that community because of their ability to do just that.

Q: Are there any other attributes that you would mention?

DG: You gotta be able to play, man. There’s no hiding. Vibe will get you nowhere in the studio. I mean, you’ve gotta have the goods. In this day and age, that means being able to play with a click track like a motherfucker. You also have to be able to hit the drums in such a way that you’re creating the right amount of signal for those microphones. You have to play with a certain amount of consistency that you can really say something to the microphones and the board. Only then can what you’re saying translate to people’s ears. Whereas when people are watching you, there’s a visual impact added to what you’re playing. Often times, the visual impact can be as important if not more important than what you’re actually playing or how good of a player you are. Peter Criss of KISS is a perfect example. The guy is not the world’s greatest drummer by any stretch of the imagination; but he plays in KISS on the giant drum set and wears make-up. He is probably one of the best known drummers of all time; and he has probably inspired legions of more people to play drums than some super shredder guy who’s not all that well known, but is a better technical player.

--- Greg Debonne