BATTERY DRUMMER INTERVIEW : Barry French /Final Coil (From Leicester, UK)

1.What is your name and what band do you play for?

I am Barry French, and I play with Final Coil (From Leicester, UK)

 

2.Who made you want to play drums and why?

It’s odd for a guitarist to be the inspiration behind my drumming, however a friend, Dave Lawlor, was the person who inspired me to take up drumming. Originally, I started off as a singer, then my voice broke and didn’t know how to train it so I moved on to the guitar. 

When I moved school I met Dave who also played guitar. He was a very open minded person, and he really got me into improvising and jamming. We tried to create a band but he really wanted to be the sole guitar player. After trying bass (played it too much like a guitar) and singing (hated my own voice!) that was it, it was clear that Dave and I weren’t going to work together.

So my last dash attempt to work with him – I told him that I could play the drums. I couldn’t at all, so I booked in a 3 hour rehearsal at Robannas studio (Birmingham) to learn what I could. And luckily, it was good enough for Dave to be satisfied that we could play together.

3.When did you get your first kit? Tell us about it…

My first real kit was a Mapex V Series kit in Abalone Red. I had that kit for a few years and loved it. I still think Mapex’s bottom range kits still punch above their weight, they sounded great for the money!

4.Were your parents supportive of you and your loud / expensive new habit?

I never played the drums while they were in the house, although they of course knew I had the drum kit. They were a lot more supportive when I moved my kit into a studio though!! ☺

 

5.What drum performance on an album is perfection to you?

This is a really good question actually. I’ve had to give this a little bit of thought. I have to give two performances because they both are brilliant in very different ways.

Mike Portnoy’s playing on ‘Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From a Memory’ was absolutely incredible. Firstly, the sound of the drums was immense, but there were many different aspects of drumming on display during this masterpiece of an album.

The other performance which for me, just embodies what musicianship and playing for the song really means, is Ringo Starr’s performance on Abbey Road. Everything is so tasteful and every note mattered. I don’t always agree with the phrase “less is more” but here, it’s appropriate. He gave the other musicians all the sonic space that they needed. I wouldn’t drum how I do if it wasn’t for Ringo, so he has to have a mention.

6.Tell us about your current kit and set up in DETAIL.

Okay so I have a 3 bass drum setup. I’m using a Mapex Meridian Birch kit, with a couple of extra kick drums from other kits. It is important to stress that this is a studio setup. Live I just use one kick drum.

 

22x18” Kick drum
26x10” Kick drum (Converted Premier marching bass drum)
18x12” Kick drum (from an Andrew Brooks Custom nesting kit)
4 Octobans - 6x8” 6x10” 6x12” 6x14”
10x8 Rack Tom

12x9 Rack Tom
13x11 Rack Tom
14x14” Floor Tom
16x16” Floor Tom
18x16” Floor Tom
14x6.5” Mapex Saturn Snare Drum
14x3” Dixon Piccolo Snare Drum

I use CODE Heads on all my drums. They have been supporting me for the past three years. Their equipment sounds very nice on my drums, and the heads sound massive on ‘The World We Left Behind For Others’. Give them a try! I definitely recommend the Zero snare heads, they are phenomenal and last a long time.

I use Pellwood 5A sticks with wooden tips

Roland SPD-One sample pad – used to trigger any songs live that require synth/industrial sounds.
MEE In-Ear Monitors

Cymbals – I endorse Symrna Cymbals, and I’m currently in the process of switching all of my cymbals over to them.

Hi-hats

15” Symrna Thunder Lord hi-hats
14” ZankiVibra light hats

18” hybrid of Zildjian O-Zone crash on top of a Paiste Alpha Joey Jordison crash – gives a really dirty stack sound that is used in verse 2 of ‘Empty Handed’ and in the breakdown section of ‘The Last Battle’

Rides

22” Symrna Thunder Lord ride

21” Sabian Andre Cacarelli hot ride

Splashes

Stagg 6” SH splash
Stagg 10” SENSA splash
Zildjian 10” K Custom Dark splash
Zildjian 10” K splash

Chinas/Effects

Meinl 19” Generation X China Crash
Stagg 20” SENSA China (with 8 rivets)
Meinl Generation X filter stack – 12” splash inside a 14” china
Hybrid stack of 12” Stagg SH China, on top of a 14” Zildjian K Mastersound top hi-hat
Stagg 8” SH splash on top of a cheap 10” splash
Stagg 8” Vintage Bronze on top of a cheap 10” splash
Stagg 6.5” Ice Bell

Crashes

Symrna 17” Thunder Lord crash

Symrna 18” Icon extra-thin crash
Symrna 19” Thunder Lord crash
Symrna 20” Thunder Lord crash
Zildjian 16” Avedis thin crash
Zildjian 16” A Custom projection crash
Paiste 17” 2002 crash

7.If you could have a dream kit tell us about it in DETAIL

I feel that I must explain why my dream kit is why it is. My belief is that drums are 50% melodic and 50% rhythmic. I take real care in selecting what cymbal I hit, and this is why I want as big a range of cymbals as possible. It is not about aesthetics. If I could do everything on one crash, one ride and one set of hi-hats that’d be my dream kit. 

The colour of the kit would be black sparkle with gold hardware

I don’t know who would be manufacturing my dream kit, but my kit would have 4 kick drums – two 20x16” in a central position, a 18x14” kick to my left and a 26x14” kick to my right.
Toms would be 6x5.5” 8x6” 10x7” 12x8” 13x9” 14x10” 15x12” 16x13” 18x15”

I would have 3 snare drums – 10x5.5” 12x5” and 14x6.5”
I would have 4 sets of hats – 3 on remote cables so I can operate them with my feet at all times. Sizes would be 13”, a bright set of 14”s, a dark set of 14”’s and my 15”
I would have between 9 crashes in varying thicknesses between 16” and 20”. Each of these crashes would have a splash stacked on top, and then 5 different splashes dotted around the kit to give me a wide palette of quick decaying sounds.
I’d have 6 chinas which would be high up above my crashes, almost hanging vertically (picture Terry Bozzio’s monster kit)

2 rides – 22” and 20”
5 sets of stacks (China on top of splash/crash) – 8” china on 8” splash, 10” china on 10” splash, 12” china on 14” crash, 16” china on 18” crash and 12” splash inside 14” china.

8.Name your top 5 drummers excluding Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy

Ringo Starr
Stewart Copeland
Marco Minnemann
Roger Taylor (Queen’s drummer, although Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor is pretty good too!)

Terry Bozzio

9. Do you prefer Live or Studio?

Another great question. I had to think about this one a lot, and the studio wins…just! Live has its perks, because when people enjoy the music then it is very satisfying. But I prefer the Studio environment because I get to capture my playing at its absolute best. If the band was to finish tomorrow, I’d have the ultimate souvenir of a polished performance. I’d rather have a professional sounding CD to listen to, over a distorted video of a gig that was put on facebook using a mobile phone.

10.Do drummers really get all the chicks and if so how do we convince the guitarist?

Drummers get the ladies who appreciate good rhythm. You can’t convince a guitarist as I’m not sure any of them know what rhythm is unless a metronome or drummer is put in front of them haha ;-)