Ryan Carroll – Adakain – Exclusive OnlineDrummer.com Interview
OLD: Tell us a little about yourself. Why and when did you start drumming? When did you get your first kit? etc.
Ryan: I got my first kit when I was 12. My dad was a drummer and it just looked like the coolest thing ever. I learned to play by drumming to Nirvana’s unplugged which is a great record to drum along to as a beginner.
OLD: What do you consider as the most important drumming skill to you? (i.e. timing, improv, creating rhythms, groove, rudimental, etc)
Ryan: Everything you listed is very important, however timing has to be the most important. Being able to place every stroke or note in the exact right space to make your rhythm have as profound an impact as possible is very important in my opinion.
OLD: Do you have any good warm-up techniques to share?
Ryan: You want your wrists and forearms to be loose. Take care of your wrists people. If you screw up your wrists, drumming is out of the question.
OLD: Can you give us any advice for playing live? Anything we should focus on or pay attention to?
Ryan: Do whatever you need to do to enter “that zone.” There are different ways that different people go about doing that. You want total focus.
OLD: Can you give us any advice as far as recording in the studio? What do we need to know?
Ryan: Learn to play to a metronome and you make everybody’s job way easier, including your own. At first when beginning to master the metronome, it is your worst enemy, but once you master it, it becomes your best friend.
OLD: What do you consider your most memorable moment as a drummer?
Ryan: Every night that everything goes great, and the show kills is a great night. This sounds very cheesy, but I try to make every moment a great memory.
OLD: Do you have any other good drumming stories that you like to share?
Ryan: When I first started drumming, I was playing a party and decided to do a drum solo. Five or so minutes into it, I was going full steam and my cheap piece of crap throne broke and I fell flat on my back mid solo.
OLD: With the recent release of your CD “Silhouette of Lies”, what can we expect?
Ryan: A lot of melody, nowhere near as heavy as the previous Adakain releases. The drumming isnt as flashy as the other discs, but a lot of really cool rythmic concepts. I was totally open to all of the producer and engineer’s suggestions, so a lot of the drumming was stuff that I originally wouldn’t have thought of myself. All in all a great experience in the studio.
OLD: If you could only pass along 1 piece of advice (drumming related) to the next generation, what would it be?
Ryan: Make sure you’re doing it for the love of the music first and foremost, because the money and the glory comes and goes. Just do your best and don’t shortchange yourself. Nowadays there are vast learning resources on youtube that are free. Never stop learning, for example the great Steve Gadd has a lot of free lessons on Youtube where he breaks down some really tricky, advanced stuff to where it’s easy to understand. If you really love drumming, it shouldnt be work, but fun.
Author
Publisher of OnlineDrummer.com, Alfred Publishing author, Ddrum artist, and veteran Drum! Magazine contributor, Nate is a graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio and holds a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Findlay.
