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MAY 2010 Randy Cooke In a real funky world THE BLACK PAGE THE BLACK PAGE MAY 2010 Randy Cooke 3 by Jayson Brinkworth Taking Care of Yourself 10 by Chris DeRosa Good Times on the Bass Drum 14 by Ryan Carver Global Educators Database 16 THE DRUM WORKS The Final Word 19 The Drum Works is based in Muri bei Bern, Switzerland, headed up by British profes- sional drummer and teacher Richard “Doc Spoons” Spooner. The Drumworks offers THE BLACK PAGE is distributed via PDF to expert drum lessons in all styles of contem- email inboxes worldwide. porary music from rock, punk and heavy To get the latest edition, click below: metal, to blues, funk and jazz. The studio is equipped with digital music/ www.theblackpage.net video recording and playback facilities, three professional Ludwig drums, Paiste cymbals, Send us your feedback at: DW hardware and a full range professional [email protected] PA & monitoring system The program of study can be determined Sean Mitchell Publisher by you if you need to give something special Jill Schettler Editor in Chief attention. You can also choose to follow a Jayson Brinkworth Writer Ryan Carver Writer program put together by Doc, such as of the Rich Spooner Writer popular UK Drumsense method or the Trin- ity College of Music graded exam syllabus Rock School, among others. EARTH FRIENDLY Click on the link below to visit us online No Paper,m No Ink, No Waste www.thedrumworks.net Randy ByCooke Jayson Brinkworth What do you get when you combine a good eh-saying Canadian kid, who can stand a -40 winter, with a passion and desire to commit whole heartedly to the groove, and a boundless and energetic work ethic that just won’t quit? The answer is the one and only Randy Cooke. Randy’s career has spanned the who’s who of the music industry, but he doesn’t rest on his past accomplishments. He is a believer in the “you are only as good as the last notes you played” concept, and he has a knack of playing all the right notes. So, how does a kid from Toronto end up working with the likes of Mick Jagger and Ringo Starr? How does he network himself into one of the hot shot players in Los Angeles? Read on and get into the very funky world of Randy Cooke. Just a word of warning: this article is very inspiring and you might find yourself reaching for new heights in your own playing. Photos: Char Beck - www.charbeck.net Randy, first off, let me say what a pleasure funk and reggae band called Phase IV com- it is to have a chance to get a glimpse into prised of close family friends. We played your groovy world. To start, let us know originals as well as covers, and to this day I what your formal years were like growing attribute much of my groove sensibilities to up Toronto. When did you start playing, that musical environment. I played for four or how did you start, and what were some five years with them. of your first experiences drumming? Being fifteen years old, you couldn’t play clubs, so we all had to get special notes from My exposure to drumming occurred practi- the LCBO allowing us to play licensed estab- cally from birth, as my father was a snare lishments, as long as we went straight from drummer in the Toronto Scottish Regiment street to stage and back out again without Pipes and Drums. There was always a snare loitering. There were only a few clubs that drum lying around and sticks that I could catered to R&B so we ended up at a lot of bang away with. He taught me my first rudi- the same places for years. We still loved ev- ment (the long roll – “mama – dada”) along ery minute of it. with others as I progressed. I loved drum- ming, but didn’t want to wear a kilt, so he en- You did a lot of live playing as well as stu- rolled me in the Cadet Lancers of Etobicoke dio work throughout your Toronto years. Drum Corps. I was about thirteen years old How did you break into the studio scene at the time and in grade 8, I think. The first there? two years of high school found me messing around on the school drum kit during morn- My exposure on a live basis brought me into ings and after school, which led to me in- enough social circles that enabled me to rub evitably begging for a kit of my own! That shoulders with people that hired drummers first kit came Christmas of grade 10 (fifteen for sessions. I didn’t wake up one day and years old). The following summer, I joined a decide I wanted to be a session guy. I just became one through a slow and natural pro- everyone will gravitate to a specific personal cess. I do think one of the necessary tools musical genre, but that doesn’t mean (s)he for being reliable in the studio was being able can’t appreciate and round his/her perspec- to comfortably play to a click. Since I was al- tive on all other styles that exist. I think the ready used to playing to a click live for many best players at any one genre surprisingly years in the funk band (we used loops and have many deeper layers of prior exposure sequences etc.) the transition from stage to all the others. As far as boot camp for to studio really wasn’t that intense. If you’re young players, the school of Top 40 will al- considered a great live player, the only thing ways remain the best! I did so much of that separating you from being called a session in my early years purely for financial stability. player is your ability to do what you do to Little did I know that having to learn so many Click HERE to visit Randy online at www.myspace.com/randycooke click without it feeling or sounding as such. different styles of music for one Top 40 band Of course, when the record button gets would teach me things I never would have pressed, you’ve got to be able to overcome learned otherwise. I may not have enjoyed any nervousness or confidence issues! some of the songs myself but that didn’t mean I wasn’t up to the challenge of making You are also very diverse in playing many them sound like the original. styles. For the younger drummers out I studied privately and know how important there, can you talk a bit about the impor- that is in and of itself, all the while forcing tance of diversity and open-mindedness yourself to learn different genres of music so as a musician? you’re armed with more musical ideas from which to draw upon in your personal playing I know how important musical diversity is to style. I remember thinking, I’m never going one’s approach to feel, fills, and song con- to join a Latin band, but practicing those ex- cept. It can be compared to having a great ercises absolutely gave me things that creep vocabulary and being able to speak with into my playing today. many ideas, colors and layers. If you’re train- ing to compete in a one mile race, you run I had the pleasure of seeing you at the ten miles a day, so that when it comes time Montreal Drumfest in 2003. Your perfor- for the race, the one mile comes more eas- mance was fantastic as always, but it ily and without strain. It’s very natural that was the presentation that was so power- ful. You came out and blazed out a great of the matter remains: in the studio, for pop solo, stated afterwards that you have music, drum solos and playing in odd time never been hired to do that and proceed- just aren’t required. So, that was my (hope- ed to play a variety of tunes from all over fully) humorous point. the stylistic map. What made you decide to approach the clinic in this way? Forgive me if I am off here, but was one of the first breaks into the US market for yourself the Hillary Duff sessions? How did this session come about for a Cana- dian drummer? It was either that or the Kelly Clarkson tracks. Both of those sessions were the result of personal relationships I already had with Ca- nadian writer/producers (Raine Maida, Mat- thew Gerrard) that had already moved to LA. I’m so thankful and grateful there were some familiar faces already down here doing great things to allow me to be able to ride on their coattails! Thanks so much for those kind words. I guess I chose that approach because it was the The list of artists you have worked with most honest way of me letting young drum- here in Canada is impressive and has mers know that there are alternative ways to grown to be the who’s who in music. go about being a live and/or session player First, how did the gig with Ian Gillan –and make a living at it. I’m always in awe (Deep Purple) come about? and greatly respectful of players that delved much deeper into improvisational and tech- nical layers than I did, but it’s just the musi- cal cards that life’s dealt me.

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