Early Access - Nate Wood

Nate Wood might be the ultimate “drummer’s drummer” of the current age.

Speak to practically any drummer who cut their teeth in the 20-teens, no matter what their genre, and it’s a fair bet you’ll find a Nate Wood fan.

Many innovators end up sounding “mainstream” by virtue of everybody imitating them, but if you can your mind back to 2006, those of us listening to illegal Kneebody bootlegs smuggled at great personal peril on VHS tapes, were like “whaaaaaat’s up with this drummer.”

The sound. The textures. The risks. The aggression. The whimsy.

Fast forward, and now a there are a lot of imitators.

I first sat down with Nate in 2016, and we only had 20 minutes for that convo, so I was excited to “run it back” - this time for a much longer and wider-ranging conversation.

Nate talks about:

• How fatherhood affects creativity

• How he prioritizes his time in his life, and in the shed

• When he realized Kneebody was becoming “a thing”

• Whether the internet is a net positive or net negative for drummers today

• What I’ve been calling “radical creativity”, an approach of complete trust of your musical instincts in the moment

• …and more…

He also critiques my performance of a Kneebody song called Greenblatt, from their record The Line.

If you haven’t seen the video about that process, it’s below.

Hope you enjoy!

N

Early Access - Mike Johnston

Mike Johnston is the godfather of online drum lessons. Back in the early 20-teens, when I was starting the channel, practically everything was Mike’s Lessons.

Fast-forward 10 years, and Mike’s figured out a niche that sees him teaching drum camps, doing clinic tours, working with sponsors to develop new products, and making only the content he wants to make.

In this wide-ranging interview, Mike shares about what’s changed in the drum ecosystem since we were both in college, his favorite gear, and what he’d tell a brand new creator about the bare minimum to get them started. He also dishes about whether there’s room for every drummer to be a personal brand.

I’ve enjoyed speaking to all my guests on the podcast so far, and MJ is no exception.

And if you haven’t caught my latest youtube video, on a new system I’m implementing to “boot-camp” myself to better solo trading in the jazz style, you can watch below.

And here’s the free download from that lesson.

Hope you enjoy!

N

Early Access - Jharis Yokley

Jharis Yokley generously donated some of his time to enlighten me about how his practice routines have changed over the years, the true difference between “MCing” your own performance and a self-critical voice, whether they should being back the Guitar Center Drumoff, what excites him about young players, and more.

Also, catch my posture video from the week of September 4th.

And here’s the free download from that lesson.

Hope you enjoy!

N

Richard Spaven Interview

Last week I sat down with one of my drum heroes, on Mr. Richard Spaven, for the inaugural episode of the 8020 Drummer Podcast.

(Well, the inaugural episode of the “comeback”. There are some old episodes from 2015.)

Because you’re on my list, I’m giving you access to the interview a day before I publish it on YouTube.

Richard and I discuss…

The origins of several of his songs, and his songwriting process in general

The ephemeral nature of flow-states, and how to achieve them (hint: there’s no magic bullet)

“Kids these days”, and whether social media has been a net benefit or a net harm for drumming

The importance of studying jazz, and why we both like “full takes”

and more…

If you haven’t yet seen the video of me submitting to Richard’s critique playing one of his most famous songs, check that out below.