1.What is your name and what band do you play for?
Paul ‘Sandy’ Sandefur - Down For Days
2.Who made you want to play drums and why?
Initially as a kid it was Peter Criss. Was totally blown away by KISS and gravitated to the drums in large part thanks to him. KISS was the first concert I went to, and I’m old so I was able to see the original lineup. lol I remember I had a complete head to toe home made Peter Criss costume for Halloween. Yeah, I was that kid. My dad was a working musician so I was exposed to a constant revolving door of musicians coming through our house so I was fortunate to be able to see all forms of instruments and players growing up, but for whatever reason I was drawn to the drums.
3.When did you get your first kit? Tell us about it…
My uncle (Carl) gave me my first kit when I was around 6 or so. A red sparkle wrap Rogers kit. Pretty sure they didn’t make kids sized kits back then so it was lowered as far as it would go. I played on that same kit all the way up through my high school days. Looking back, it was probably the most valuable gift musically for me and when combined with my exposure to live music from my Pops it was in my blood for good.
4.Where your parents supportive of you and your loud / expensive new habit?
Absolutely! As I said my father was a working musician (keyboardist/vocalist) who loved to entertain so he let me hammer those drums from an early age, no matter how terrible I was. My first gig was also with my Dad for some work banquet thing he played. I was probably 10? He got me up there to play a few songs, so yeah he totally encouraged me.
5.What drum performance on an album is perfection to you?
Oh man, so many I can choose to answer this. And as big of an impression Peter Criss was on me growing up, unfortunately he’s not gonna make this list. That’s cool though, his drumming still impacted me as a kid. It would be easy for me to pick Neil Peart, John Bonham, Mike Portnoy, Nicko McBrain or Phil Rudd as they all are high on my all time list, but the perfection and simplicity that Nick Mason played on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side
Of The Moon is nothing short of perfection. To have the ability to lay back like he did yet still come across as powerful is a gift. Great album, great drumming and a complete lesson in playing what is needed, not necessarily what you may want to play.
6.Tell us about your current kit and set up in DETAIL.
I use different kits/set ups for different bands I play with. For DFD it will either be a two up, one down configuration or a two up two down depending on how much time we have between bands. I also utilize a two kick setup or a one kick with double pedal as needed. In a perfect world, I prefer the two single kicks and a two up two down kit as I feel more balanced but as I’ve gotten older I’m def okay with sacrificing some gear when it’s not necessarily needed. BUT, if we are the headliner or we have plenty of time between bands, I’m also a rock drummer who understands that big kits and a cool stage show still looks good.
7.If you could have a dream kit tell us about it in DETAIL
Don’t let my wife read this, but I’m actually happy with all of the kits that I currently own (even though I continue to add pieces, lol). My dream kit would have to be Mike Portnoy’s Siamese Monster kit simply because it had EVERYTHING. Every size drum, including percussion, every size cymbal, including stacks. No way I would want to set that thing up or tear it down though.
8.Name your top 5 drummers excluding Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy
Well, there goes two of them right off the bat! lol Both of those guys are huge influences on me and how I think creatively. So, after regrouping I would have to go with:
5. Gavin Harrison
4. Danny Carey
3. Bill Ward
2. Nicko McBrain
1. John Bonham - greatest drummer ever
9. Do you prefer Live or Studio?
I prefer playing live performances. There is nothing like playing live. The interaction within the band, with the audience, nothing on this planet compares to that.
10.Do drummers really get all the chicks and if so how do we convince the guitarist?
lol, man I don't know if they get them all but they get their fair share. We work our asses off up there, and chicks dig us cavemen!
No comments:
Post a Comment