Skylar Alam – Legend of the Fall – Exclusive OnlineDrummer.com Interview

How long have you been playing drums AND what inspired you to begin playing drums?

I’ve been playing drums for 8 years now. When I was in 7th grade I got a set of my own. My dad was playing Led Zeppelin one day and I heard a song called Moby Dick, and after that I wanted to be that good.  I started listening to other drummers like Neil Pert and Mike Portnoy and even Buddy Rich.

Do you find that it’s an advantage to work with your family in the band?  Share with us some of the positives/negatives.

I think it’s great working with my brothers.  I mean yeah there are fights like every family and band, but aside from that we all share different styles in music, where in a band of friends you find people who listen to their favorite style or genre of music.

What’s something you learned through your experiences in the studio that you could share with us?

I learned how important a click actually is. Our music changes in time a lot so we needed to use a custom click. I also learned that you need to memorize your music, so that you don’t have to improv and do it over a bunch of times, because when I started recording I just kind of jammed it out but now I understand how important it is to memorize and write out a part.

How do you go about writing a drum part for a song?  Do you just jam it out?  Write it out?
Program it on the computer and then learn it?

I start by jamming it out with the band.  Then, if I like the sound of the jam I modify it to make it more elaborate and well constructed.

Do you memorize your drum parts and play them the same each time or do you improv certain parts?

I used to have trouble memorizing music, but now I memorize it and play it the same.  If need be live I’ll improv a bit to make the show more exciting and unpredictable.

What are your future goals/aspirations as a drummer? 

My goals are to keep increasing in skill and get the band signed.

What’s one memorable experience that you’ve had as a member of Legend Of The Fall?

There are 2 things that strike me, like our CD release show when our future manager Doug Weber (Framing Hanley) first saw us, and playing at Six Flags Great Adventure twice this past summer.

Give us one piece of advice.

Always play to click and memorize your music and when you take it live you can change it up to be flashy but start small and get BIG!

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Legend of the Fall (Skylar – far right)