S.W. Lauden - Forbidden Beat: Perspectives on Punk Drumming

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Copyright 2022 by S. W. Lauden

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epub isbn : 9781644282779

Cover artwork by Brian Walsby

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lauden, S. W., editor.
Title: Forbidden beat : perspectives on punk drumming /
edited by S. W. Lauden.
Description: First hardcover edition. | Los Angeles, CA : Rare Bird Books,
2022. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021044890 | ISBN 9781644282274 (trade paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Punk rock musicHistory and criticism. | Punk rock
musicians. | Drummers (Musicians) | Punk rock musiciansInterviews. |
Drummers (Musicians)Interviews.
Classification: LCC ML3534 .F664 2022 | DDC 782.4216609dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021044890

Contents

Foreword

By Lucky Lehrer

Y ou cannot love punk music without loving punk drummers. Punks early drummers were pistons, providing a pulse that drove the music. They rebelled against extravagant drum sets overloaded with cymbals and toms, in favor of stripped-down kits. Less-is-more drummers including K. K. Barrett of the Screamers, the first punk band I ever saw because my friend Paul Roessler happened to be the keyboardist, illustrate that the most dramatic move in music is the simple rest note. Silence is what allows notes to echo and breathe.

Looking back, the Screamers were more of an art band than a punk band. There was no uniform sound for early punk bands, but they were often lumped together in their nihilism under the nebulous phrase new wave. This kind of misses the point since punk was all about self-expression. Drummer El Duce of the Mentors offers an outstanding example of punk drummer as artist. He crafted a uniquely colorful kit where no drum, no cymbal, and no stand were the same color or the same brand. His drum set appears to have been found in trash cans, at pawn shops, and from flea market finds. Even El Duces right and left drumsticks were different!

When I first started playing drums on punk rocks low stagesseldom were risers used, offering a better the view of drummersI assembled a combination of fiberglass drums with North brand tom-toms to deliver maximum volume. Drums were rarely micd at early Circle Jerks gigs (garage soires and birthday parties). Those drums contributed to the sound on the bands breakout album from 1980, Group Sex .

Irrespective of the particulars of chosen equipment, there is a collective lack of self-consciousness among punk drummers. Where a serious drummer may warm up backstage with rolls and ratamacues on a practice pad, a punk drummer might prepare by guzzling a fifth of Jack Danielsand then storm the stage like wildfire.

There were four genres of pop music on FM radio when I graduated University High School in West Los Angeles in the mid-seventies along with Paul Roessler, Darby Crash of the Germs, and Pat Smear of the Germs (later the Foo Fighters) to name just a few of whom would go on to completely change the musical landscape. As a mutant offshoot of glam, punk music began oozing through vacant basements and dank art venues, including Brendan Mullens underground hellhole, The Masque, in Hollywood. In the media, music critic Lester Bangs who wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone referred to the Midwests MC5 and Iggy Pop as punks. To distinguish its cadence, Ira Elliot observes in the first chapter of Forbidden Beat that punk musics drumbeats were fabricated to upend convention.

The Ramones were aware of the MC5 and Iggy Pop. Their first drummer, Tommy Ramone, was a guitarist who had never played the drums before joining the band. Some punk drummers did have formal training (D. J. Bonebrake of X comes to mind. D. J. is a proficient sight reader who can play vibes and marimba). Tommys beatssimple bass and snare patterns, with his right stick on the hi-hat and never a tom-tom fillare the Ramones sound. Over time, the Ramones had several drummers. Each stayed true to Tommys style. Each had the stamina to plow through thirty fast songs with no time to catch their breath.

As Curt Weiss points out in chapter two of Forbidden Beat , punk drumming should not be confused with a lack of creativity. Savvy dissidents, punk drummers were inventive in their defiance. The band Fears drummer (and a personal favorite), Spit Stix, crossed between his snare drum and a used oil barrel in We Destroy the Family. His driving beat sounds ominous and intense.

My personal journey began in elementary school and married the ferocity of big band, up tempo swing with overtones of the Latin clave. I borrowed from the Mitzvah bands I used to play in as a kid; my yarmulke-wielding side hustle. Oom-pah standards like Hava Nagila (which literally means Let Us Rejoice) emphasize the down beat and inspired whats now called the forbidden beat. In an arms race for originality, John Robb states in chapter three that early punk drummers created a completely new rhythmic language. Topper Headon of the Clash was so innovative that rap musicians still sample his beats today.

Its easier to hear a killer drum beat than it is to use words to describe it. The challenge to verbally explain syncopation did not discourage Matt Diehl from dissecting the D-beat. Along with drummers Daniel Glass and Spike T. Smiths prior historical research, Diehl traces another of punks most often used rhythms. The classic D-beat is known for a grinding, distorted, and brutally political sound. With the cymbal playing and snare drum cracking rim shots on two and four, the beat puts the bass drum on one and plays the ands of two and three. A good example of how this beat sounds is John Mahers drumming on the Buzzcocks song You Tear Me Up, and Tezz Roberts on Discharges first EP, Realities of War .

Forbidden Beat is not only a book for drummers. Musicians and music fans will gain a finer appreciation for songcraft by discovering how punk drummers develop memorable music. The authors did not intend an exhaustive compendium on the worlds greatest punk drummers. Some influential contributors to punks pantheon of percussionists from Paul Cook to Travis Barker are discussed. Some noteworthy players arent mentioned. Chapters are based on what the individual contributors decided to write about. So, if your favorite drummers name doesnt appear in this book, dont fret. The idea behind this is to throw a spotlight on drummers everywhere. I applaud every kid who ever bashed a secondhand trap set with shitty cymbals and a janky kick pedal. We wail and flail in primal exuberance for the sheer joy of it.

I gained a lot by reading an advance copy of Forbidden Beat . Phanie Diaz, the drummer from Fea, reminded me of how much I learned from closely watching other drummers play. When I started, things like surfing, skateboarding, and playing drums were considered boy things. There were a few female drummers, but what used to be a novelty has thankfully spawned several greats whose stories appear in the book, including Gina Schock, Lori Barbero, and Lynn Perko-Truell, among many others. As drummers, we may be happy with our playing, but never totally satisfied. Theres an infinite number of ideas, techniques, different genres, and new gear to become familiar with.