Welcome back to another blog entry for Drummers I Love! This one is a massive highlight for me, as this drummer was responsible for my initial endeavor towards becoming a more technical drummer. While I was in college, I spent a lot of time dissecting some of his drum parts to understand both his writing process and his ideas for fills. This amazing drummer is none other than….

Matt Garstka – Drummer for Animals as Leaders

The pure talent and capability of this man is incredible. I never use the word talent lightly, however; I use it to describe the many years and hours of practice and dedication to one’s craft. I once read that during his education at Berklee College of Music, Garstka was practicing roughly eight hours a day to perfect his abilities the best he could and get where he is today. After everything I have heard and witnessed from him, this does not surprise me one bit. I have seen him do things that many drummers twice his age are not capable of.

Above all of his amazing attributes, I would have to argue that his strongest ability lies in his sense of time. No matter what time signature(s) or tempo(s) Garstka is playing in, he is able to manipulate it in a way that makes the music even more complex than it already is without missing a beat. Without a doubt, he is one of those drummers that has you asking, “um… where is beat one [of the time signature]?” With this being said, I would highly suggest checking out Garstka’s videos on Mastering Time, available on his website. It is a three part course that breaks down how Garstka perceives time whilst playing and what he does to manipulate it. I think a decent example of this can be seen in his playthrough of “Inner Assassins” by Animals as Leaders. I have a hard time even understanding what is happening starting at 3:43 in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUMYJF-_gm0

Asides from his unwavering sense of time, he really is the full package. Blinding fast chops, well-refined rudiments, proficiency in various unrelated genres, natural feel and groove, precise dynamics, metronomic accuracy, and much more. I have seen Garstka claim that his weak point on drums would be double bass, but I strongly believe he could still dance circles around several other drummers in the metal genre, at least for coordinated grooves. It is also obvious that Garstka has spent much of his time not just practicing, but also listening to and dissecting many great drummers from several different genres that have come before him. Understanding what makes your predecessors great is key to becoming great yourself.

To elaborate on a point made above, I really respect Garstka’s ability to play multiple different genres at a high level. That takes an incredible amount of practice and discipline to do properly. Being able to do this will definitely increase one’s ability to be hired for multiple gigs, as well as open up new innovations to be used across genres. For example, playing a Latin groove in metal can sound incredibly interesting when done appropriately. Below is a video of Garstka playing drums in the Afro Cuban style, which is in my experience one of the most difficult styles to pick up. Keep in mind that Garstka was only 24 when this video was uploaded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqmoloHHsvQ

Although Animals as Leader’s most recent album “The Madness of Many” is an incredibly well-written and interesting album, I was totally captivated by the release of the previous album “The Joy of Motion,” which was Garksta’s first album with the band. I found the general flow of the album to be more melodic with more focus on groove than anything, but still technical in its own regard. This was the first time I had really heard very technical playing that also had amazing groove to it, and I was immediately captivated. During my time in college, I spent a lot of time dissecting the grooves and patterns, attempting to learn every song that I could on the album. I got most of it down, but at the time some parts were beyond me. The ability to play technical grooves is absolutely the most intriguing facet of metal drumming for me, and Garstka is able to do so with utter perfection.

To sum things up, I believe Garstka is without a doubt one of the best all around drummers of our generation. He is capable of just about any style at a high level, and can manipulate time at will with ease. His dedication to his craft should be an inspiration to not even all drummers, but all musicians out there. I will end this off by leaving you all with one of my favourite Garstka performances: a live rendition of “Get Ur Freak On” by Missy Elliot played at Meinl Drum Festival 2015. Thank you all for reading, and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWdDVg9K87k

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog page! I will be using these blogs as an outlet to nerd out about music in many different ways. To begin, I will be posting a series of blogs about my main drum influences. I have already covered the surface of this in my brief biography and will also have a podcast in the near future that talks about my general musical influences, so these posts will be dedicated to the many great drummers I have discovered over the years that have both inspired me and shaped my own playing. This will not be organized as a “Top 10” however; I simply hope to feature any and every drummer that has had an impact on me in no particular order. This being said, my first post will be about…

Baard Kolstad – Drummer for Leprous and Rendezvous Point

Taken from https://sabian.com/artist/baard-kolstad/

I am not even sure where to begin with this one. I know I previously stated that this was in no particular order, but I really felt the need to start this series off with the drummer that has intrigued me the most over the past few years. What catches me most about Baard’s playing as a prog drummer is his natural feel. Although his parts can be extremely complex, he manages to execute them in a very absorbable fashion. He truly has a knack for writing with a song rather than for the song. Here is a fantastic example of this; a playthrough from Baard for the song “The Sky is Red” by Leprous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj6fM2KpyOA

Upon first listen, this song is generally quite… weird. It is written in 11/4 time, and the accents from each instrument will seem random at first. As with most progressive bands, it is important to note that nothing is inherently random, and everything you hear is simply (full pun intended) a product of masterful songwriting. Most people will consider prog to be “music for musicians” with that in mind, and I cannot exactly refute that statement. However, this is what I love most about Leprous; they manage to write complicated songs that can still be understood on the surface. I could very easily continue on about how amazing the entire band is, but the focus of this post will be on Baard specifically.

The groove Baard chose for this song in particular is very complex, consisting of some rudimental sticking and seemingly displaced accents. All of this is totally calculated and precise however, as he does this entirely to fit the writing of the guitar. His real mastery lies in his ability to deviate from such a complicated beat with slight improvisations and embellishments to add some further elements to the song.

Baard also gets a lot of critique on his grip. It is very loose, and his fulcrum point lies between the middle finger and thumb rather than using his index finger. I have heard him say in interviews that he prefers the loose feel that this grip provides him and that it also delivers a slightly different sound from the drums than a normal grip would. I simply consider this a sign of Baard understanding his craft at a very high level. I feel that the grip gives him a very signature and unique style that you will not see in anyone else. As I always say, “whatever works best for you.”

The other part of this song I would like to point out is the outro. It begins at 6:40 and lasts for four whole minutes. That’s right; this repeated cello hook keeps going for four minutes, as each member of the band slowly adds different elements to the song to increase the build up. Baard truly shows his maturity as a drummer here as he plays very simple parts that highlight the accents of the cello hook and nothing more. The sheer intensity he manages to deliver in such a simplistic way is absolutely brilliant. I have listened to many prog bands with very complex pieces that are mostly interesting, but Baard and Leprous have a way of showing that in many cases, less can be much more. In contrast to “The Sky is Red,” Leprous’ most recent single “Castaway Angels” really emphasizes this point. Baard’s part on this track is very simple despite his ability to play very complex parts, but he shows far more concern with fitting the somber feel of the song.

In conclusion, Baard is a reminder to me that complexity is a tool that cannot just be used lightly. Many drummers are capable of executing a part that is hard to understand from a technical perspective, but few are able to implement them in a way that properly complements the song. To reiterate a point I made earlier, it is far more important to write with a song rather than for a song. As I continue to write my own parts for 1.O.M, I keep this point in mind more than any other.

To end this post off, I will leave you with a video of me playing through one of Baard’s most underrated pieces known as “Moon” on the game Rock Band 3. The nice aspect of this video is that you get a visual of what his playing looks like with a transcription. If you made it this far, thank you for your time! I hope you enjoy this series of me praising my influences.