The Drumstick Community: Drums, Solos, and Rock Drummers

One of my earliest internet rabbit-hole memories dates back to the beginning of the century: while searching for things to download on KaZaA (a P2P exchange client of the time), I saw a file promising something like a "Joey Jordison brutal solo". It sounds like extreme porn, but it was a drum solo by "#1", Slipknot's original drummer, filmed at a show in Poland. Joey was sitting in a hybrid gamer/orthopedic chair with the drum kit mounted on a platform that tilted up and down and spun 360°. One minute into the solo, he stopped as if ending it. But then this happened:

Hello, How Are You?

Before the internet, stumbling onto drums happened at random: live TV clips, movie scenes, going to buy a T-shirt at a gallery in Lomas de Zamora and seeing a Tama Rockstar kit set up in another store. With the internet, in 2000 the music portal opened wide for me, but it wasn't until 2003 that I got interested in actually playing. In 2004, my first year at university, I bought a used kit shell pack from a junkie guy on campus for 180 pesos (roughly 65 USD). It was a Colombo Junior, made in Argentina. He threw in some cracked cymbals and a few sturdy stands so I could cobble together something like a drum kit and start rehearsing with my friend Beto. That year a progressive-rock drummer moved in next door –Ariel "Muralito"– and between hangouts and joints he ended up teaching me how to play with sense.

After a lot of circling, I finally joined my first band in 2007 –though in my heart everything really starts with the second one, Androide Mariana, in 2009. And many years later, my next show is this Thursday 10/30 at Ciudad Cultural Konex, with El Pacto Quiroga. Spare me the trolling—I know I'm a mediocre drummer but you still don't know how fun it is.

"Not Quite My Tempo"

We were talking about drum solos, and half the world seems to have seen Whiplash, so let's address the elephant in the room. "Oh, you play drums? What was that movie about the tyrannical bald instructor and the guy whose hands bleed?" Damien Chazelle's film leaves few people indifferent. Many love it. To me it felt a bit pretentious along the lines of The Black Swan –without Natalie Portman–. An over-wrought tale about the dark side of artistic dreams that isn't much deeper than kids' movies like Sing and plenty of others. La La Land with a mean streak. I remember it more to J.K. Simmons's turn as Professor Terence Fletcher than for the drum solo that serves as leitmotif, chimera and Rubicon for the protagonist. A solo I barely remember and don't care to revisit.

"Thanks, I Like to Play"

Now, do you know which on-screen drum solo I'll never forget? Garth's solo in Wayne's World.

The Spinal Tap Curse

Another one I always remember is This is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner's 1984 film that just released a sequel over 40 years later –I haven't seen it yet–. The original is hilarious, very funny and very contemporary with the time in which it came out: it is presented as a mockumentary following the band Spinal Tap, and delivers gag after gag. The most relevant here is the "curse" on the drummer's chair: everyone who takes the seat ends up dead: by choking on (someone else's) vomit or even spontaneous combustion. Peak comedy.

"I'm Spartacus"

I first saw Wayne's World near the end of the '90s, as a preteen, but as a kid there was another scene that kooked me on drums. It was 1996, I was ten, and it was in the movie where I confirmed my crush –and first fever– for Liv Tyler: That Thing You Do!, a feather-light film with Tom Hanks as the manager of a '60s beat group, The Wonders. I'd had a crush on Liv since Aerosmith's "Crazy" –the video that hyper-sexualized both her and Alicia Silverstone while promoting Liv dad's band, Steven Tyler.

"I'm Spartacus", the chill man on TV said. He was a good guy –and in the end he got the girl, Liv. Before Viejas Locas, Fun People, nü-metal and Babasonicos, there was "Spartacus". The Wonders' drummer, Guy Patterson, had a jazz background but played rock, like Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker or Mitch Mitchell. But he was cheesy. Super cheesy.

Ringo Starr: Respect the Ranks

If your drummer doesn't make you laugh and can't tame the chaos in a rehearsal room, a studio or onstage, then –sorry, my queen– you don't have a drummer. Maybe Ringo wasn't the most technically legendary, but he's undoubtedly the most iconic. Starr is the power source of The Beatles, a force of nature pounding his Ludwig kit, exploring a kind of creativity different from jazz and laying the platform for psychedelic music, from Swingin' London to stoner rock.

Without a particularly wild attack –savageness his wife endured during Ringo's hardest, drunkest years–, Starr also managed to become possibly the most beloved drummer of all time. And even though everyone loved or hated him, he was The Beatles' drummer. Respect the ranks. Period.

Ginger Baker, John Bonham, and Keith Moon: The Three Demons

These three '60s icons form a three-headed monster that dominated the first era of heavy rock as an omnipresent force. Keith Moon joined The Who in '64. Ginger Baker formed Cream along with Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton in '66. And finally John Bonham joined Led Zeppelin in '68.

Three savages. Three Englishmen. Two died far too young—Moon and Bonham. They attacked their kits like orcs endowed with fine magic. Nothing I write will do them justice. I’ll drop some videos—but they’ll take hours to watch.

Moon doing "My Generation" shortly before his death:

Bonham's "Moby Dick" solo at Madison Square Garden:

Baker flirting with proto–blast-beat speeds, eyes blazing:

Charlie Watts and Roger Taylor: Two Kinds of Magic

From that cohort I only saw Charlie Watts live when the Rolling Stones played Estadio Unico de La Plata in 2006, and Roger Taylor (one of Queen's survivors) when they came to Estadio José Amalfitani (Vélez Sarsfield) in 2008. Taylor is a beast and wrote iconic Queen songs like "Radio Ga Ga" or "A Kind of Magic". Beyond that, I don't have much to add.

I saw Watts from a afar, but I didn't need to be closer. Those moments when he lifts off the hi-hat hand when striking the snare are an absence you feel even in a packed stadium. That signature move is front and center in this scene from Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese's film about the Stones: not only technique, but effectiveness, absolute focus, holding the groove while everyone else goes wild. Long live Charlie Watts, drummer of the greatest band of all time.

Marky Ramone and Stephen Morris: Meet Your Idols

Working as a music journalist gave me many satisfactions, but two I treasure are interviews with drummers of three of my favorite bands –even if my interviews were pretty mediocre: Stephen Morris of Joy Division and New Order, and Marky Ramone of Ramones (obviously).

I spoke with Morris in 2011, around New Order's return, and asked about his youth as a music fan ("The world was much more serious and gray; the band you listened to was your shield, your credential, your flag –something very important "), the back-and-forth with Peter Hook, and what it was like for Joy Division to record with the mercurial Martin Hannett.

I interviewed Marky in 2010 when he came to play some gigs with Michael Graves (the Misfits’ post-Danzig singer). We talked about the mess after his 2008 show in the Teatro Colón basement—yes, I joined the mosh in the Colón basement while watching a Ramone, wild—and his side work making videos, clothes, and documentaries. Before the show, Marky autographed a tom drumhead for one of my best friends, Adrián, drummer for Mendigos 14 in his youth.

I interviewes Marky in 2010 when he came to play some gigs with Michael Graves (Misfits' post-Danzig singer). We talked about the mess after his 2008 show in the Teatro Colón basement –yes, I joined the mosh in the Colón basement while watching a Ramone, wild– and his side work making videos, clothes, and documentaries. Before the show, Marky autographed a tom drumhead for one of my best friends, Adrian, drummer for Mendigos 14 in his youth.

Totally contrary to what is proposed on Twitter: meet your idols.

Tommy Lee, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, and Matt Helders: Riders in the Storm

Some of the most recognized drummers of recent decades ended up playing in Argentina amid storms, torrential rain, and clouds of steam rising from the cloud. Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe at Pepsi Music 2008 –and yes, I must admit I also used KaZaA to download that infamous boat video with Pamela Anderson–. And Dave Grohl & Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, plus Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys, on the night of the historic storm at Quilmes Rock 2012. I worked both festivals, so if you click the links you can read the chronicles of those recitals (in Spanish).

The only one I got to interview –the year before the Quilmes show– was Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters drummer who died in March 2022. We talked about the overdose that nearly killed him in 2001, sharing a band with Nirvana's drummer, music's dominance over technology and the end of the world. The article ran in April 2011, just before Foo Fighters released Wasting Light (but it's in Spanish too).

Travis Barker: The Big Miss

The one I didn't get to see live is one of the best drummers of his generation –and of the last 30 years: Travis Barker of Blink-182. I've watched countless videos of him, not because I liked his band (I dind't then and don't now), but because I was fascinated by his technique, speed, and performance aesthetics –his movement, more than his look per se.

One of Travis's last big moments behind the kit was at Back to the Beginning, the farewell show for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. There he squared off in a three-drummer battle with Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Danny Carey (Tool). It's unclear wether Smith's expressions showed real annoyance (you can read his lips as he leaves the stage) or were part of the acting –like his The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon's drum-off with –of course– Will Ferrell. Either way, Travis did his thing: a combo of elasticity, precision, energy, and vibe that's hard to find in any drummer.

Argentine Drumheads to the End

I've been rattling on, but I hadn't stopped to think about Argentine drummers. There are many top-tier players here –pioneers and masters alike. Off the top of my head: Oscar Moro, Fernando Samalea, Javier Martínez, Rodolfo García.

Of course, everyone has their favorites, for reasons that are not always clear. In my case, this is my short list of Argentine drummers who I really enjoy listening to and/or watching play:

• Panza / Diego Castellano (Babasonicos)

• Black Amaya (La Pesada, Pappo's Blues and Pescado Rabioso)

• Superman Troglio (Sumo and the first stage of Las Pelotas)

• Fernando Ricciardi (Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Cienfuegos, Mimi Maura, El Siempreterno)

• Walter Broide (Los Natas and Poseidótica)

• Ray Fajardo (El Otro Yo, Jauría)

• Lulo Esain (Acorazado Potemkin, Motorama, Fantasmagoria)

With Ray Fajardo, we met a lot at Tío Bizarro venue. With my band, we used to hang out in its yard, smoking with friendly bands (Indigo Invasion, Le Premier Enfant) or with some clan in the area we were cool with (Viva Elástico), and suddenly Ray could appear. Several times we talked about how well Tifi Rex, from Los Reyes del Falsete, played drums. And in the last era of those meetings, we also talked about how good Roki Fernández, from Amor Elefante, was with her instrument.

With Lulo Esain we work crossed paths. A thousand years ago, I interviewed him. For a long time I saw him onstage, where his punch is legendary and seeing him play shirtless is the rule. More recently, we worked with him because he is part of the CED cultural cooperative (wich helps El Pacto Quiroga with managerial issues and booking gigs). You always hear Lulo arrive: he's got a bunch of drum keys hanging from a chain on his black skinny jeans. Lulo has a long track record as a drum doctor in the studio and live, producer, and –when needed– stage tech and tuner. A total luxury to work with him.

Claudio Maffia: Kapanga and the Malvinas War

For many years it wasn't widely known, but Claudio Maffia, drummer of Kapanga, served as a continental soldier in Tierra del Fuego during the Malvinas/Falklands War. He completed his mandatory military service while Argentine troops arrived at Isla Soledad and took Puerto Argentino (Port Stanley), which led to the British governor's surrender and the beginning of the war.

"It was a very intense psychological situation", he told La Viola in 2022. "You didn't know how long it would last or what could happen to us. Every day we were ready to cross (to the Islands). Then came the English blockade, cutting off food and weapons supplies. You couldn't go. Hercules planes flew at very low altitudes to carry supplies and avoid detection. No one expected a conflict like this. There were partners and people who gave their lives for the country. Where is patriotism now? We continental soldiers were ignored for 40 years –and at some point that also reached ex-combatants."

Drums in Magic: The Gathering: The Art of War

Earlier I mentioned Tommy Lee. For about 30 years ago, Magic: The Gathering has had a meme-material card with art that looks a lot like Vince Neil, Mötley Crüe's singer (evidence attached). Over MTG's history, several drum-related cards have appeared. Artifacts like drums and tambourines; creatures like Deeproot Drummer (Mercadian Masques) and Clockwork Percussionist (Duskmourn). But the standout –also for its many reprints– is the enchantment Goblin War Drums, which gives all your creatures menace.

Drums in Video Games (But at What Cost?)

Max Payne, Spider-Man 2, Cyberpunk 2077, The Last of Us 1 and 2, GTA: Vice City Stories. There are drums in many games (no, not in The Sims 4), and some can even be "played". But generally they're just set dressing. Except for the sky-blue-and-white kit in Hitman's Club 27 mission –remembered both for the absurdity of a hitman knowing how to handle the sticks and for the awful outfit the bald guy has to wear for the occasion.

For now, I'll leave it here. Obviously I skipped a ton of drummers, more precise matters about the instrument, and the sheer material weight of drums in music. I may complete this later. Or haybe not. Hence the "dump".

Consider yourself warned before what sounds here –the final drum roll.