It’s well beyond time that drummers get their props here at Music Connection, so we sat down with five beat-keepers from various genres to get their take on what makes a great tub-thumper…
Rikki Rockett
(Poison, The Rockett Mafia)
rikkirockett.com
When did you start playing drums, and what attracted you to the instrument?
I started when I was about 12 officially. Before that I played along with my sister’s Beatles 45s that she passed down to me. I played on phone books and old bongo drums. Drums are 50 percent physical and 50 percent mental. I feel like drums get all of me.
Describe your current drum setup, and what you like about it...
Different this year for me is, 1 - 14x24 bass drum and my first rack tom is a 13”. Usually I’m a 10, 12, 14, 16 guy. So, now it’s 13, 14, 16. At least on the kit I’m playing at my home station. All WFL III Drums.
All my cymbals are Sabian and I use a plethora, but have fallen in love with the Paragon series (Neil Peart’s formula). I’m a 14” hi-hat player. I’ve been with Sabian for close to 17 years. All my hardware is DW 9000 and my pedals are trusty DW 5000’s. I’ve been using DW hardware and pedals for about 36 of my 49 years as a pro drummer.
I’ve been with Aquarian Drumheads for about 18 years now, and have tried many of their offerings and so it depends on the kit and sizes. I’m rockin’ Performance II’s on the toms at the moment. I switched to Ahead sticks right before the Poison Stadium Tour and have not looked back. I was with Vader for years and they served me very well for many years. Still my favorite wood sticks, but the Ahead Sticks have saved me tons of joint pain. I also use wood beaters from Cherry Hill Drum Co. and Slug percussion Badge Beaters.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing drummers today, both recording and touring?
If you are playing pop, you have to be good at playing to the grid and being a hybrid drummer. So much is sequenced nowadays. If you are replacing drums with live drums you need to be able to figure out what should be live and what should be triggered and or left to the sequencer. It’s a huge job for these players. Many producers are not drummers and program near impossible patterns and so it’s a combo.
What advice would you give to a young drummer starting out today?
What I’m going to say is coming from a rock drummer’s perspective. Learn to play to a click. Learn to read (I lack in that department). And play in a top 40 band or cover band for a while. That creates a library in which you can draw from later when writing your own parts.
Don’t forget to just sometimes play for feel and to be in the moment. Try to figure something out without going right to YouTube to watch someone else play it. Let your drumming be a voice and not just drums. Listen first and remember if you are liked you will get more work that if you are just a talent. Be both, but be a good person that is trustworthy. It goes so far!
What is planned for the Rockett Mafia, and maybe Poison too, in 2026?
Nothing for Poison this year and looking hopefully at a tour next year. As for Rockett Mafia, we are rolling around the country playing the first Poison record in celebration of the 40th anniversary. We are starting to write original music, and we will deliver an EP very soon.
Gene Hoglan
(Dethklok, Dark Angel, Death To All, etc.)
hoglanindustries.com
When did you start playing drums and what attracted you to the instrument?
Well, when I started playing drums, I started air drumming to all the great classic rock bands of the ‘70s. I taught myself how to play drums by air drumming. I was pretty serious about it. I was eight years old when KISS’ Destroyer came out. That was a landmark record for me, and all my passion for drums came from that as well as all the classic rock bands of the era—Queen, KISS, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, Rainbow, Pat Travers, all guys like that. Those were all bands I was really into, and that is how I taught myself how to play drums.
When I would sit down with my record player and my sticks and I would teach myself, I would listen to what every drummer was doing, and I would be able to emulate what they were doing on my air drum kit, which, by the way, was huge.
I was able to develop an aptitude for being able to pick up what the drummers were doing. And I know what the hi-hat’s doing, I know what the snare’s doing. And I know what the kicks are doing. Emulating those in air drums when the fill comes in, I can make those out.
Describe your current drum setup, and what you like about it…
I like my drum set up because it’s mean and it’s like a tank or a big diesel truck. It’s just a huge drum kit. I am playing the Pearl Reference One. It’s a pretty new kit. I just got it this year. It’s on its third tour right now with Dethklok. It has a matte black finish with black nickel hardware, and the dimensions are a 10, a 12, a 14, and an 18” floor tom, 24” kicks, probably 24X16, and 14X10, I think. 14X12, something like that. My drum tech Geoff Bruce would be able to tell you a little better than I would.
My cymbals are Sabians. I use a lot of the AA series, AAX, and my ride cymbals are the Sabian Power Bells. They’re big, giant bells. And they are the biggest sounding ride bells around. I’ve been using those for 20 years. Anytime you hear me playing a bell on an album, chances are, 99 percent of the time, that’s going to be one of those Power Bells.
My Chinas are Holy Chinas. That’s the Chad Smith model. I use Evans, G2 Clear drumheads on the toms and I use the Evans ST Dry on the snare. And that’s my favorite snare head of all time.
My drumsticks are Pro Mark 2Bs. I use standard 2Bs. I don’t do anything crazy to them. They’ve got my autograph on them, but they’re not designer sticks by any means. I just use the pretty stock 2B nylon tips, and those are really awesome. I try to use anywhere between 72 and 74 gram sticks. That’s one thing that I do have personalized for me from Pro Mark, when they send me a batch of 144 pairs or whatever it is, they weigh them for me and they make sure that the weights are between the 72 and 74 gram range. That’s pretty good.
My drum kit just looks real menacing. This is the most menacing looking kit I’ve ever had. And by far, the Reference One is the most terrifying drum sound I’ve ever played. It is full terror. It is an apocalyptic sounding drum kit that is so thunderous, and it is perfect for the metallic style that I’m the most known for. This thing just really destroys. The Pearl Reference One, everybody check it out.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing drummers today, both recording and touring?
Since I tour about 10 months out of the year, one of the biggest challenges is more on the clerical side of trying to schedule 10 months of touring with four to five different projects, as well as tossing in the odd recording session. My biggest challenge is trying to find the time for everything. So, c’mon cloning technology. And the 26-hour day, and the nine-day work week and the 35-day month kind of thing. The 400-day year. That’s when we can really fit everything in.
So that’s kind of my biggest challenge, I suppose. But when actually on tour, getting rest is the most important part. I’m a serial napper before shows. Taking as long a nap as I can get before a show, that keeps me from having to do Red Bull or any of that sort of thing. I drink superfood before I go on stage. That’s my energy drink, just taking straight vitamins. I’m 58 years old right now and, if you’re familiar with my playing at all, it’s very extremely intense and aerobic. It’s a calisthenic style as much as it is a creative style. So, making sure my body is in shape to destroy every night is something that’s very important. I’ve mentioned this in many, many an interview that it’s my intent to be playing deep into my 70s or my 80s. I mean, my 70s are 12 years away from now, and that doesn’t seem that far away. So doing what I’m doing now only leveling up into my 70s, you know, I intend to be bringing it.
What advice would I give to a young drummer starting out today?
One thing I would advise to any young musician is, if you intend to make this your career, then you have to start setting yourself up to have this be your career. You need to have a laser-like focus on what you need to be doing in order to start in the business, then elevate yourself in the business. Do whatever you need to do to become the drummer that you want to be.
One thing I tell all young musicians is, if this is something you intend to be doing, you should make sure that you get your business acumen together as well. Learn how to read a contract. Learn how to survive in this industry. This industry, obviously, is ever evolving. The industry that we’re in now is not the same music industry that there was 20 or 25 years ago, and that wasn’t the same music industry that was there for 25 years before that. Obviously, you have to have not only your talent together, but you also have to have your social media skills together. All the side hustles that go on.
I’m new to social media. I’ve had a butler doing it for the last decade for me. I’ve recently taken over my own social media and I’m seeing feeds of these YouTube drummers or Instagram drummers who are all just mind blowing, just mind blowing. They probably get a million views on YouTube and I hope they make a lot of money from that. I don’t know how many gigs they’ve played or how many albums they’ve sold or anything. But boy, their talent is off the charts. One little bit of advice I would give is, when it comes to terms of skill, talent, and technique, those are all great. But the bottom line is that we’re all timekeepers.
If you can play at 300 BPM, a million miles an hour with all these new tricky pedals that are out there that let you do a bunch of stuff, that is fantastic. And if you can groove as well, and throw some swing and some taste and feel into it, then that’s impressive to me as a drummer. If you could play 300 BPM at a million miles an hour and just blast beat like crazy, that’s fantastic.
What do you have planned for death Dethklok as well as Death To All, Dark Angel and anything else in 2026?
Currently, we have just completed the AmonKlok portion of it as we speak. And so now Dethklok is finishing up with a run up and down the West Coast, and we complete this tour in a few days. We have about another three or four shows left, something like that.
After that, I go directly to Europe with Death To All for our Symbolic Healing of Europe 2026, and that’s where we are focusing on the album Symbolic from Death. If you’re familiar with it, it’s become a landmark album, not only for Death, but for the entire death metal genre. It’s a very well–esteemed record in the annals of metal history.
Death To All is, of course, three ex-members of an important era of Death along with our vocalist, Max Phelps. We have Steve DiGiorgio on bass. He’s a legend, no explanation necessary. Bobby Koelble, he was on the Symbolic album, and he’s a fantastic, amazing Death guitarist, and you’ve got myself and Max Phelps, our vocalist who plays Chuck’s parts. That’s what’s up with Death To All.
That’s in June, in Europe. And then I come back from that and then I go back to Europe with Bear McCreary, pretty immediately. And if you’re unfamiliar with Bear McCreary, Bear is a soundtrack artist and composer and he’s primarily known for his TV, video game work and movie soundtracks that he composes. He does all the music for The Walking Dead and Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power. He does all the music for Outlander. He’s done a ton of movies. For instance, Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
And then with Dark Angel, we are currently working on some on some overseas touring plans, and we’ll be able to announce that pretty soon. And boy, I tell you, I’ve got a lot of 2027 booked already, for a few months now.
Sheri Kaplan Weinstein
(The Pandoras)
facebook.com/thepandorasofficial
When did you start playing drums, and what attracted you to the instrument?
I started officially playing drums when I was 17, but my BFF noticed me tapping all the time in eighth grade. At that time, I had just gone to my first concert—The Cars at the LA Sport’s Arena. After the concert, I became obsessed with The Cars and started tapping along to my Walkman, and then tapping along with chopsticks from a Chinese food restaurant. At one point, I ended up at a music store with a family friend in Goleta, CA and asked them if I could sit down. In their lesson room and try playing. I remember exploring the kit, and I could naturally keep a beat. Once I turned 16, a friend of mine had a kit at her house, but she barely played it. One night at her house, her parents were having a party. My friends were going to jam, but the drummer was busy talking to her boyfriend on the phone, so they got me to play! We jammed, “Stop Your Sobbing” by The Pretenders! I bought a kit soon thereafter and took lessons for about three months. I play by ear!
Describe your current drum setup, and what you like about it…
I play a five-piece 1970s black chrome Slingerland set that I bought at a used drum shop in the San Fernando Valley in the mid ‘90s after my Tama Imperialstar burnt down in a fire. I usually set it up as a four-piece but sometimes set it up as a five-piece. I play Zildjian cymbals. I’ve always been a Zildjian girl! My snare is a Ludwig Black Beauty. I love my snare and my kit because of the big sound and responsiveness.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing drummers today, both recording and touring?
Oh, how I miss the good ole days of recording via tape machine. There was something so genuinely cool about those days. I do understand how much easier it is nowadays with computers, though. Touring wise, it can be frustrating when everyone is sharing the same kit. I recently toured Europe and having to adjust after a very tall drummer was frustrating at times!
What advice would you give to a young drummer starting out today?
It’s okay if you can’t read music. Feel vs being able to read is more important in my opinion. Having solid meter is everything, and your bandmates will thank you. Less is more, and don’t feel intimated by drummers you see with pro videos on Instagram and Facebook. Playing solid and tastefully with a band is much more important than playing along to a cover song that’s professionally filmed on social media. Also, play along with headphones to simple, straightforward songs.
What is planned for you, The Pandoras, and any other projects in 2026?
The Pandoras recently returned from a two week tour in the U.K./EU which was a blast. We headlined all the dates and were incredibly well received. It was so much fun meeting people filled with joy to finally see us perform live. We are playing in June with The Dwarves in San Francisco, in July in Alameda, CA at the Rock & Roll Flea Market, Alex’s Bar in Long Beach in August, as well as the Tiki Oasis in August. We may have other tours planned so stay tuned.
The other band I play in is an Allstar all female tribute to AC/DC called Horns Up. We have some shows booked in August and September, and others pending.
Alex Orbison
(Allman Betts Family Revival, etc.)
stillworkingmusicgroup.com
When did you start playing drums, and what attracted you to the instrument?
I started playing when I was six. The drummers were the thing that drew me in to the drums. When I was a kid backstage the bass players were too quiet, singers too busy, and guitarists too self-involved so I always hung with the drummers. They had the good jokes and could show me tricks with the drumsticks.
Describe your current drum setup, and what you like about it...
I use a four-piece drum set with two crash and a ride. I love the simplicity. I used big drums for tour 14-16-24 and studio smaller drums 12-14-20. I mount the ride off the bass drum so it’s close because I am singing on the choruses and want things to be easy and close ergonomically. Also, you need to be able to do everything on your small kit you would a bigger drumkit that way if there is a snafu with backline you can still excel.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing drummers today, both recording and touring?
The biggest challenge for drummers is you have to be able to do it all to stay working really. You need to be a drummer AND: content creator, self manager, play to a click live and in studio, make and read some kind of charts, and most of all show up with a good attitude. If you can write and arrange music and build tracks and run your rig live it opens up more doors. Where before you just had to be able to play and do the rehearsals.
What advice would you give to a young drummer starting out today?
Do it all! Don’t pigeonhole yourself by limiting what you do when you start out. And be meticulous in your counting. Take your time working it out at home. Most of all play for the song and pocket, don’t use songs as place to push fancy licks unless the writer asks you to.
What is planned for you, and any of your other projects in 2026?
2026 has been a banger of a year. I am dropping my first solo record Love and Loss. I have been writing a ton of music as well. I am focused on playing music with my kids that are five and seven when I am home. Allman Betts has played some fantastic shows so far and I am looking forward to the Allman Betts Family Revival this fall.
Deven Trusclair
(Tank & the Bangas)
tankandthebangas.com
When did you start playing drums, and what attracted you to the instrument?
I started playing drums around the age of three. Like most drummers, I started in church. My dad was always the minister of music at every church we went to. He’d let me play offering sometimes, which was only one song, nothing crazy. Then I’d get off the drums and the main drummer would hop back on the kit and finish the service. I remember being excited about that. My own church situation didn’t come to me until I was about 12. My dad plays piano and organ so both were at the house growing up, he showed me how to play some things on keys but I just gravitated towards drums. My mom said when I was a toddler I’d always stare at the drums at church and during the service my eyes would be locked in on the drummer.
Describe your current drum setup, and what you like about it...
My current setup is a Yamaha Absolute kit and it’s pretty sweet! I’m using 10, 12, 16, 22 shell sizes. I’m an Evans drum head artist, so, all Evans heads, of course. I’m a Zildjian artist as well, so from left to right: 19” paper thin, 9” trash splash, 10” trashformer on top of a 10” spiral stacker on top of a 10in A custom efx splash (stacked). Then, I have a stack right over the floor tom that’s a 16” oriental China on top of a 16” A custom efx crash. And finally, last but not least, I have the 19” sweet crash to my far right. Two snares; mapex black panther as my main. That snare is 14X6. Then, I have my aux snare which is 14X7. It’s a Tama Starclassic white oak shell. I bought that drum years ago. It’s such an amazing snare because of the low tone I can get from it. [It's] warm, and can fill the entire room. Really big sound to say it’s seven inches in depth.
I’m using Roland electronics. So, to my far left is the Roland SPDSX. Which houses majority of my sounds, but then I have two external pads, one pd8 and one pdx-6, that I use for claps (left side) and hi hats (right side) for the trap/hip-hop stuff. And my throne is a Porter and Davies; that’s pretty fun. I’m also a Vic Firth artist and I’m playing with Extreme 5As. Man, what I like about my build is how versatile I can be with it! I Can play the pocket, I can chop out, with the ballad snare I can play the more emotional songs, with the electronics I can go hip-hop with my trap snare/hats sounds or I can go R&B and soul with snaps and shakers. I also have a set of bongos that I use with this build, but I’m more of the Chris Dave mindset than anything else with those.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing drummers today, both recording and touring?
The economy is crazy. Everything is expensive, so unless you have a couple No. 1 hits in the bag, you may have to rely on, of course, the live music scene. Hopefully you can find some sweet deals that’ll pay you to promote their brands. Maybe you can get some syncs. On the recording side, in the realm that I’m in, everybody has their own recording situations now. Even my younger homies have a setup to record drums at their parents’ crib. A.I. is definitely lurking in the shadows, apparently downloading data from every song created and spitting out songs by fake artists.
What advice would you give to a young drummer starting out today?
Be the best you that you can be and try to expand in that world. Don’t try to be anybody else. Be kind to people and be kind to yourself. Set boundaries, know your worth. PRACTICE! Study the art. Learn a different instrument even if it’s just to get an idea out.
What is planned for you, Tank & the Bangas, and any other projects in 2026?
I have more tour dates and music coming out with/from Tank & the Bangas. I’m also still with Dumpstaphunk so I’ll be out with them as well this summer and throughout the rest of the year. We’re trying to get back in the studio as well. So, I’ll be back and forth between the two. I definitely prayed for times like these.
Gene Hoglan photo by @stephaniedcabral
Rikki Rockett photo by Jason Price
Alex Orbison photo by Kaelan Barowsky
Deven Trusclair photo by Alex Kluft
Sheri Weinstein photo courtesy of Sheri Weinstein
