Antonio is one of that small category of “drummer’s drummers” who have crossed over into “normies know about them” territory.
“I’m interviewing Pat Metheny’s drummer” will compute to some music hipster friends. “I’m interviewing the drummer guy who did the Birdman soundtrack” will compute for practically anybody.
The crazy thing is the serendipitous way the two are related. After Sanchez got the gig with Metheny, he had just finished playing a show in Los Angeles when a kindly man approached him backstage, mentioning how he loved the performance and he had “done a couple of films”. Thinking this was the average Hollywood person who had “done a couple films”, and tired after the gig, Sanchez politely sought to cut the interaction short - “anything I’d have heard of?”
“Maybe,” replied the man. “I did one called 21 Grams a few years ago, and another called Amores Perros.”
Realizing he was talking to Alejandro Iñaritu, Schanez softened. It was on the basis of this conversation that, several years later, when Iñaritu was at work on Birdman, Antonio Sanchez got the call.
Fast forward a handful of years, and now it’s Sanchez’ music we hear behind the Emmy-winning Seth Rogan show The Studio.
Obviously, there was a lot to cover in just an hour, because we hadn’t even scratched the surface of Antonio’s early development, the Berklee years, The first gigs with David Sanchez and Miguel Zenon (where a young 8020-guy saw him a umber of times at the Jazz Gallery in New York), Pat, Bela Fleck, and the tour life.
Forget about his approach to practice, his attitude about chops vs musicality, etc.
But cover we did. Luckily, Antonio is as good a storyteller away from the drums as he is behind them. The gestalt of this interview is a wise veteran still in his prime, who’s seen a lot of things, played with a lot of greats, and lived a lot of life, and is eager to share.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy this conversation.