What about your drum setups?

Over the years, I have had various setups that were all tailored for the specific bands. For instance, with Kinda Black, my last project, I had a very extensive drum kit with a lot of electronics(pads, kicks triggers,) to get as close as possible to the specific sound of the record.

And now with the Dire Straits I am going quite back to basics again, and I tried to match the setup from their early years of touring, so two rack toms off centre and two floortoms on the side. The only thing I added to it is a rack system and some electronics. So I had to adapt my drum kit to the music of Dire Straits. And it has been fun to be creatively engaged in creating a setup that is both effective and visually appealing. at least to me... and I think I’ve kind of nailed it.

How did you prepare for this project?

To prepare myself for the upcoming challenge of being the drummer for the Dire Straits tribute, I’ve immersed myself in the playing and techniques of: Pick Whithers (original drummer), Jeff Porcaro (drummer of TOTO and recording drummer for the On Every Street album), Terry Williams (live drummer for the Alchemy tour), and of course Chris Whitten (live drummer for the On the Night tour). I’ve integrated all those techniques with my own playing style, and in that way, a really nice mix of different styles and techniques has emerged that I can fully identify with.

Did you have to change a lot in your drumming to be able to do this project?

Suprisingly  yes, As I said before, I really had to get into the groove of the drummers of Dire Straits just to even come close to a specific style. I have played many different styles, but despite the fact that the music of Dire Straits is quite pop/rock oriented in terms of drumming, it still requires a fair amount of subtlety to capture the full range  wich allows me to be more creative in the musical process of this project. So it did take a bit of time for me to really get into it.

Is the visual appearence important to you as far as the drumkit goes?

Yes, I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and that was the period when bands really went all out when it came to the visual aspect, and I think that when you look at the stage, and you see a big drum kit there, it gives a boost to the expectation.  And it also gives me a bit more involvement with my instrument, the band, the audience and the stage. I mean, I think it's important that you play a drum kit that reflects you as a musician and that way you can also bring out your specific sound..., and so it's nice to see that you have a matching drum kit to achieve all that. So visually and in terms of sound, it all just adds up.

Why do you play a big setup, and do you play everything on your drumkit?

Well, the reasons for that is it makes me comfortable immersing myself completely in my drum set so I can express myself as fully as possible. I mean its like my musical office, and I want to feel comfortable in my office. And besides that it gives me the wide musical range and access of different sounds I can use. So I've got everything I need to play anything I can.
And to get back to your second question,  Yes I use everything on the kit... The only things I don’t use are my side snare and side kick drum. These are exactly my back-ups that I’ve integrated into my setup. Because that way I have direct access to my backups in case something would go wrong, and it also looks cool, especially from the audience's perspective     

How long do you think you're going to do this?