Episode 107 - Joshua Thompson (Wang Chung, Cutting Crew)

imagine the answer's gonna be similar to what I've spoken to people about before, but do you find that playing a melodic instrument changes your drumming?

100%.

And do you feel that when you know and understand maybe melody and maybe even some of the theory behind harmony and construction of harmony, et cetera, et cetera, that when you're drumming, it becomes less about lick you can put in just to put it in and more about well this maybe eighth note fill would suit the song better.

The reason I ask is because I know how I feel about it and I've had this discussion many times but we're living in a time where there's just so much sort of Olympic drumming.

You see these clips where it's like it's truly outstanding but like you know if you think about band drummers or drummers who are essentially the time keepers within a group.

And that used to be really its only role.

Like you were the timekeeper, you would get your moment to solo.

You maybe have a couple of cool chops or licks, whatever you want to call them.

But like, you see some of these reels and I think to myself, like, I wonder how this person would approach being in a band.

I think that when you're a young musician and you're just kind of getting started, um, you, you haven't really trained your ears yet.

Uh, your ears haven't gone through enough training.

You really have to train to learn how to listen, you know, to what's going, I'm not even kidding you.

I, I feel like I started listening, really kind of intently in kind of like my mid thirties.

And I think it's exactly what you said.

The more I started playing guitar, and also working with other drummers, the more I was like, oh, okay, you can just tell whenever a drummer knows how to listen and knows when to, you know, kind of just dial it back.

And when I started with Wang Chung, I really hit hard, you know, and I was just, it was just kind of proper sort of rock drumming.

And I think they liked that and it worked, but now, like in certain verses of certain songs, I dial it back and I just kind of go, dude, like just create space.

Or it's like, oh, that one little guitar lick that Jack does in this verse, you know, is coming up.

Don't play over that, you know, just it's it's just constantly just sort of doing this and just allowing for that space that takes time.

I also think that it takes a little bit of a little bit of humility to just kind of, you know, understand your your part in and whenever you're young and insecure, you know, and you're constantly comparing yourself.

to other drummers, that's the one thing I can say I'm so grateful that the full weight of like when you're a young drummer and you hear another drummer who in your mind is clearly better than you and that feeling that kind of comes over you, the only, all of the feeling of just kind of comparison is just completely gone.

I just get inspired and I just go, God, that guy's good.

And then, and then I also go, I should really work on my left hand a little bit, you know?

But that's definitely a, I don't know if it's a time thing or a maturity thing or what, but you're on the money, dude.

Like I remember being a child and falling into these comparison traps, but If you can find a way to turn that into inspiration, to go work on your left hand or whatever it is, that's gold, dude, because it becomes constant fuel, right? You briefly mentioned Wang Chung.