James Kaye, drummer for Auckland band Polaar, talks to Isaac Tucker of The New LoungeHead.
Isaac Tucker is the drummer for The New LoungeHead, New Zealand's excellent jazzy drum 'n' bass outfit. LoungeHead formed in Auckland about five years ago with a name change in 1997 to reflect a new line-up. Their 1997 debut album, 'Came A Weird Way' won the best jazz album award at the 1998 New Zealand Music Awards. Their music is mostly instrumental, with an emphasis on both beautiful melodies and hard-ass beats.
Isaac is a most versatile player, having played in thrash, rock, jazz, hip hop, dance and drum 'n' bass bands. He refuses to become set in one style of music and is unafraid to explore new possibilities.
Isaac also drums for Che Fu, Del Ray System and Token Village. I caught up with him at his Ponsonby studio.
How long have you been drumming?
I started getting lessons when I was 14. I'm now 26, so that's 12 years - 12 years officially, but I used to muck around on drums when I was younger cos my father was a musician.
Do you recommend lessons?
Yeah, there's so much you can do by yourself, but when it comes to lessons, it's people passing on knowledge that goes back over 100 years and the techniques that they've developed so they (lessons) can only be a good thing. These days, the way music seems to be going, quite often people purposely go for sloppy beats and get a funky sound so I don't think technique has to mean all that much. Technique is only important to people who devote themselves to it.
Do you still take lessons?
Sometimes, but not very often. What I like to do is choose a drummer that I really like, and ask him for a few lessons. I'll study his style, his background and things like that.
What was your first drumkit?
When I first started, I was given a crappy mongrel kit. It was a '60s Premier with crappy Olympic toms.
What drummers have influenced you?
One of my biggest influences would be Stewart Copeland from The Police. I've always liked their music and as a three-piece what he was able to add to it, fusing reggae, punk rock, and up-speed, up-tempo pop-style licks sounded really good. I also like the way he tunes his drums - really high pitched. I also got into jazz drummers - Max Roach, Alvin Jones, there are so many.
Do you have a favourite drummer?
No, not really. Lately I haven't really heard a drummer that's blown me away. At the moment I'm into exploring new fields of music, and getting into the electronic side of things. I haven't heard any drummers who are quite far advanced on that trip. If they are, they aren't famous yet. They're just breaking ground.
Do you still teach drumming?
I used to teach quite a bit, mostly around colleges in Auckland, and some private students. These days I just take on students who come to me and are interested enough to persevere with it.
Can you briefly give a history of bands you've played with?
Since high school I've played in various bands and ensembles. I played in African drumming groups and studied with a master drummer from Ghana and played in the Auckland Youth Orchestra doing symphonic percussion. That was really good for my reading skills and stuff. Then I played in some hardcore bands, a group called Somerset which was a straight-edge hardcore thrash band. I played in Second Child for a while and then started working with LoungeHead, which has been going for about five years. During that time I've been doing other freelance work.
Earlier on I was with a group called Repeater, an experimental ambient dub-type group. It was all live and improvised and that was really good for me as I got to explore space and minimalist playing, just holding down solid grooves.
At the moment I'm playing with Che Fu, and Cuba and Gizmo - which is live drum 'n' bass, where I play along to a computer. It's all really fast, around 186 bpm. I also play in another group called the Del Ray System which plays live improvised dance music and in Token Village, a hip hop collective.
How do you find playing with computers/clicks?
I've been practising and playing to dance and drum 'n' bass music for over three years. Over that time I taught myself how to play those beats as fast as I could by playing along with records. For the last year I've been working with computers with Dean Godward (the other half of Cuba and Gismo) so it's quite a new thing, and it's bloody difficult - any mistake you make will be shown up by the computer straight away. All the tracks that we play are mixed in together, there are no stops so it's a great work out for me as well, I really enjoy it.
When did you get into percussion?
I got into it probably before I was even playing drums. Just anything to do with drums I like. I love all percussion, anything that makes interesting noises. Matthias (Sudholter, from LoungeHead and Repeater) has a huge percussion collection. I taught myself to play a whole range of percussion.
Your kit obviously changes depending on who you are playing with, but do you have a basic starting set-up?
I play a Premier Jazz-Star kit, that has a 20-inch kick and five toms (8",10", 12", 14", 16") but I generally only play a five-piece and choose the toms depending on the group or recording. The snare I use is a 10" Premier - very small, tight and high edged. In addition I use Roland V-drums. I attach just the kick, snare and brain to the rest of my kit. My cymbal set-up is quite minimal. (13" hats, 20" ride, 18" crash, 18" china, and 12" splash).
How do you tune your kit?
I tune the toms in thirds. The kick, I play with no front head, so it has a long ring, and I tune it up tight, in comparison to say rock drummers, who have a sloppy 'thug' type kick, whereas I prefer a boom. I play the beater either open or closed to get two different sounds and I either choke it or let it ring open. All the toms and snares are tuned quite high and tight.
And your pick of skins and sticks?
I like Evans single ply coated skins. As for sticks, any I can afford! I haven't bought any for about five weeks because I have no money. It's funny though, I used to pay a lot of attention to the makes and brands, and used to read Modern Drummer all the time. But now I'm working so hard, I don't really do it any more. For me it's more about playing.
Do you have a favourite fill or signature lick?
I really like the hi-hat. I love putting syncopated beats in using the open hi-hat and using lots of flourishes on the hi-hats and combining military rolls and Brazilian drumming on the snare - those make a really good combination. Ruffs, Swiss triplets, flams ... they're all things I definitely enjoy.
Do you have any favourite songs with LoungeHead?
Ike Just Do It, which is kind of my nickname. It's a drum 'n' bass track and I get a lot of rhythmic freedom to do what I want. And Cloth, one of the first singles from LoungeHead. It was probably the first drum 'n' bass song that I did. LoungeHead's quite good because a lot of the stuff is instrumental so I can play odd time signatures and have the freedom to get away with quite a lot.
