June 28, 2024 • 29 mins
Join @TheBuzzKnight for this episode with drummer Nic Collins. Nic is a member of The Effect and is the son of Phil Collins. He discusses his father's immense influence and about his dedication to his craft.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My biggest teacher now is YouTube.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
You know, I spend hours watching all my favorite drummers,
and I think that's such a huge asset.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Now you can just.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Watch a drum play through and see exactly what's happening,
and you have so much access to information that.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's become a great tool.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
But I see it, you know, being able to listen
to as many drummers and just kind of you know,
add different colors to your to your palette and to
your to your arsenal of sounds.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Welcome. This is the Taking a Walk Podcast with Buzz Night,
the podcast that delves into the stories of musicians and
their passion for their music. Today, Buzz is joined by
drummer Nick Collins. Nick is Phil collins Son and he's
carving out his own musical journey. Here's Buzz Night and
Nick Collins on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Nick Collins, it's so great to have you on this
virtual edition of the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Of course, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Man, Congratulations on all of your work. We're going to
talk about the effect and how excited you are about that,
but I do want to get into a little, uh
talk about your father and your work with him as well.
First of all, how is your dad these days?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah, he's doing good.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
He's uh retired, uh, you know, until until maybe he
gets the itch again to do it. But at the
moment he's he's enjoying the retired life.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Well, how does it make you feel when fans and
fellow musicians are wowed by your playing?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
It's great.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I mean, you know, obviously, it's a it's a huge
compliment in a in an honor that you know, get
to do things people like it, that's great. Obviously If
people don't like it, that's fine too, you know what
I mean. I think it's it's awesome to be to
be doing this the thing that that I love, you know,
and uh, I've been very lucky to have been able
(01:59):
to do it in different context, different artists and bands,
and so yeah, it's a very huge compliment.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Well, besides your dad, talk about the other drummers that
you've studied very closely.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Oh yeah, I mean, dude, the laundry list goes on
and on, you know, it's always always growing. But I
think my main drum heroes are Danny Carey, John Bonham,
Abe Cunningham, who from Deftones, Stuart Copeland. I mean there's
so much John Theodore from Mars Veulta and Queens of
(02:33):
the Stone Age. It's just so many all the time.
Taylor Hawkins, he was a huge one.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
It's like different eras of like what in different parts
of my life and which drummers really grabbed me at
different times, you know, like growing up it was obviously
apart from my dad, the first three were bottom and
then Taylor Hawkins and Chad Smith from the Chili Peppers.
And Taylor and Chad I felt this huge you know,
I really idolized them just because it felt like I
(03:04):
these were like my generation of guys, you know, like
they had you know when I when I say Bonham
and Stuart Copeland that you know they'd been around for
such a long time that you know, those are their
favorite drummers. And it felt like with Chad and Taylor,
it was like, oh, this is like the new the
new guys that those are like my guys, and it
was like, you know, not like my dad's guys and
stuff like that. So I felt like a real connection
(03:24):
to them and it made me fall in love with
the idea of being in a band and you know,
playing live and and then since you know, different eras
where I get started getting into prog music. And that's
when Danny Carey, Gavin Harrison, I started really John Theodore
looking up to them, but the same way that I'll
also look up to like the jazz fusion world, and
you know, get into guys like Billy Cobbham or even
more newer guys like Larnel Lewis from Starky Puppy.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know, they all have such.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
An equal influence on me, because to me, that's the
best teacher is just being able to listen to as
much music and as many drummers as possible.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
You know, we had Kenny Aronoff on the podcast previously,
and Kenny talked about a lot of his disciplines to
sort of stay in tune and primed for every performance,
you know, his whole practice session and regiment. How do
you go about that sort of process?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I mean when I'm on tour, it's a different thing
to when I'm like at home, and it's more studio stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
You know, on tour I do. I am very disciplined
in like a warm up.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Routine, just because when you're doing it you know, playing
two and a half hours every night. You want to
make sure that you're not hurting yourself. So I'll go
through like a thirty to forty five minute warm up
routine with like a metronome and go through a bunch
of different rudiments at different speeds and get my body
warmed up and just get the blood flowing to the wrists.
And because I used to have some risk problems, I
(04:45):
started using heavier sticks and that kind of took a
lot of it away. But I still want to make
sure that I'm you know, able to keep it up
for as long as possible. But I do also realize
I need to do a better job of that when
I'm at home or when I'm like, you know, just
this week, we were rehearsing with the effect, you know,
I I'll like just jump into rehearsals and then now
I'm like, oh, my arm kind of hurts, you know,
(05:06):
And I should like, just because it's rehearsals does not
mean you should not warm up, you know, just because
it's not a show.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So that's something I've got to get better at.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
But definitely taking care of myself, you know, and staying active,
going to the gym and you know, always making sure
that my body is in shape because drumming is very
physical and I don't want to be injuring myself.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And so far everything's been good. I try to make
that a priority.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
I love what I saw online the Grooves of Genesis,
that whole presentation there with Duke's intro and cinema show
and behind the lines, so many great songs. Watcher of
the Skies, did you have fun doing that particular session.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I mean, you know, the shout out to the guys
at Drumio. They were you know, they're incredible guys in
the platform that they've built. I mean, I've been a
fan of theirs for since I was like twelve, you know,
looking up look watching those videos on YouTube. So to
find be in the space and doing stuff with them
was really awesome. That that was probably like two years
ago that we filmed it, which is a trip because
like you know, not all the videos have come out yet,
(06:09):
so we had like another video come out in like January,
and like, you know, I remember my girlfriend being like,
you look really young, and I'm like, yeah, that was
two years ago, like you know, I've aged, but no,
that was a lot of fun. It was a lot
of rehearsal, and because basically we shot a course about
my dad's playing, and you know, that's kind of that
was the live stream that we did and that's out
(06:30):
on YouTube. And we actually did a more in depth
course about each of those songs kind of by themselves,
plus some additional ones.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And it was great fun, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I mean, I think to me, it was it felt like,
this is the thing I want to do for my dad.
And you know, also, I think the younger generation maybe
don't know my dad as a drummer and know him
more as the Indiania guy or the Tarzan guy, and
I feel like I wanted to showcase like, no, you know,
my dad was a was a badass drummer, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And that was after doing the Genesis thing.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
We shot like a huge core and I learned forty songs,
like some of the songs we were playing in the show,
but then a bunch of other of like the really
heavy prog tunes that which we didn't do it in rehearsal.
So it was a lot of work and a lot
of pressure, but it was, you know, a great time.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I had a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Doing that session and so many great drum parts, and
it is a weird thing when you're trying to explain
and teach parts that you didn't write or that you
weren't involved in, you know, because I'm like, this is
like some of these songs were thirty years before I
was even born, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
What I mean, So like it can be a bit interesting.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
But I thought it was you know, it was good
fun and you know, I'm excited for that course to
finally come out. When it does, you know, there's just
a you know, some copyright things that need to be
cleared up.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
First, I thought it was fantastic, And I have to
tell you, Nick, you make it look really easy, and
I know it's not.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Ah, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
No, I mean, you know, like it's I've been around
those parts for a while, but it's definitely takes a
long time of getting it down like I wouldn't you know,
I'm not going to be like, oh yeah, I just
went in there and just played them, you know, Like
that was maybe two months worth of repetition, multiple days
a week to try and be comfortable with the songs
because some of those songs are just like really complex
(08:10):
and a lot of improv, and when you're trying to
learn somebody's improv, it's very you know, I can get
very tricky.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I was privileged to see your dad play with Genesis
a few times, also to see him play with a
brand X, and I wanted to share one of those
experiences that I'll never forget. It was the Trick of
the Tail tour, and it was the dual drumming of
(08:37):
your dad and the great Bill Bruford. I was wondering
if you ever got to see any sort of video
form anything from that tour.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I've seen videos. I don't know if it's from that tour.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
I've seen some videos of him and my dad and
Bill doing cinema show that may have been from the
seconds out or before for that, like maybe that the
tour after Trick of the Tale.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I'm not sure when that video was, but I've seen
some of it.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I mean, you know, Bill is another guy who's become
such a big influence, and he's like the prog drummer
of the seventies.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
You know, it was in every great prog band.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Bill Bruford was in it at some point, you know,
and he's what a great drummer and that was you
know that the double drums became a theme in my life,
from watching those videos to watching him and Chester do
it to actually watching it live between them.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So yeah, I mean, amazing stuff.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
It was the Ohio Theater in Columbus, Ohio where I
saw it and our mind was completely blown from that
show and it changed us really.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Oh wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
And of course were you able to sort of go
back and study some of the Brand X work from
your dad?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, we didn't do as much for the course. You know.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
It's it's funny like I've kind of gotten more into
the brand Deck stuff more recently, you know, after the
Genesis thing and getting into the Prague side of their
sound and getting into Brand X and the more fusion stuff.
It started really impacting me also as a drummer, and
like going from playing the really heavy, loud beats to
like the really quiet, intricate, more fusiony stuff. But you know,
(10:12):
that's some great material with Brand X, and we did
I think we broke down maybe one or two for
the Drummo thing. But now it's you know, it's one
of those things that I get into more now, Like
it's just you know, the evolution of what you listen
to and what you decide to get into.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And yeah, you know, I mean.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
It's it's funny to see that different sides of like
my dad's playing, which I haven't you know, been familiar
with until I'm like twenty one or twenty you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It's strange to be like, oh, you did this too.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
You're not just this guy, you also happen to do
something that's completely totally different.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And on the dual drumming theme, what's your personal take
on the dual drumming that was so part of the
Allman Brothers and obviously The Grateful Dead as well.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, I thought it was great.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I mean, you know, I think it's like my opinion
is always dependent on like the context, you know. I
think as like as a drummer, you kind of want
to go into be like I don't need another drummer.
I could do everything, you know what I mean, Like
there's like that ego side of things. But I think
when Genesis were doing it, it was such an amazing
asset to have to the to the show, not only
just in like the progue bits and the instrumental parts
(11:21):
where both my dad and whether it was Bill or Chester.
When they would play it became it just added this
layer to the music both visually and you know, sonically.
But I also think, you know, to have those drum
featured moments where you know, not every band can just
get two guys to do to do.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It at that level, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I think you can get some guys where I don't know,
a lead singer a band will go and play some
you know, toms or something, but it doesn't you know,
to have two guys who were just like absolute monsters
at drums, doing and playing off of each other and
creating compositions together. I thought it was you know, it
became something that I was just so familiar with from
watching all the live DVD and just being there and
watching the shows, you know, like later on. And it
(12:05):
was a weird thing when I joined Genesis, and it
was just me because we had something similar in my
dad's band where me and the percussionists would do a
drum bit, like a drum part kind of not a solo,
like a drum duo kind of thing, and we'd play
off of each other. But with Genesis, you know, we
didn't do that because my dad can't play drums anymore.
But you know, it was tricky playing navigating some of
(12:29):
the instrumental songs which used to have double drum featured moments,
you know, especially Cinema Show had like a call and
response on the snares and it was just me and
so I think, you know, Daniel Pierce, who was one
of the backing singers, did do a little bit of
Timbali's to like do have that effect, like the call
and response. But it was also for me trying to
find like, okay, how can I play the groove but
(12:50):
also still include some of that double drum stuff because
it's hard when you're just one person. When you know,
back then it would be like Chester would keep the
groove going and my dad would go and you know,
play off the keyboards or something.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
So so it was a bit tricky to find the
right balance.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
But you know, by the end it was you know,
I think we got it down by the end, hopefully.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I pretty sure you did. So the great movie Whiplash,
I guarantee you probably saw it. The question is did
it scar you for life?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That's you know what's funny is the Whiplash. When I
did the drummo thing.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
One of the first time listening videos was the song Whiplash,
which I've seen the movie Whiblash, but for some reason
didn't connect the song. I've just like, I was like,
something sounds familiar about it. But then you know, Brandon
starts riffing off Whiplash quotes and you know it's threatening
to throw a symbol at me, and that's when I
was like, oh, that's from Whiplash, you know what I mean.
But I really liked the movie when it came out.
(13:47):
I was young enough where like it was just like
it made me really interested in jazz.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
But you know it is now I.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Look at it and I can see why it would
upset some people just because it's very unhealthy. But I
think that was the point point, like the point and
the great you know.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
JK. Simmons is amazing in that movie, and.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Like that role, like where you really hate the teacher
and you hate the band leader. I think it was
supposed to be kind of influenced by Buddy Rich. Obviously
I'm not I'm not sure. I never met Buddy Rich,
but that was what I've heard that that was the
influence of of like the harsh the harshness and I think,
you know, maybe it was a bit extra, but it's
a movie, you know what I mean. Like it's also
you know, when when Miles Teller puts his hand in
(14:26):
the you know, jug of water and he's all bleeding,
I'm like, that doesn't happen either, you.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
It's it's it's the dramatization of the of of Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
But I thought it was a good movie.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You know, I understood the you know, the message, and
obviously I think it's not supposed to be taken literally.
You know, if a teacher was really like that, then
there'd be a problem because I don't think that's really healthy.
But I think for a movie and to almost put
drums in the limelight, especially jazz drumming, which became this huge,
you know thing around the world when that movie came out, I.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Think it was great to be able to feature the
drums that way.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
We'll be right back with more of the Taken a
Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Who are the teachers? Aside from your father? Obviously that
made an impact on you and really shaped you to
this moment today.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, I mean I've only really had one drum teacher.
His name is John Pierre Espiritu Santo, and I started
taking lessons with him when I first moved to Miami, Florida,
and I was like eleven or twelve, and you know,
originally I kind of wanted to be a soccer player.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
That's really that was what I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
And then I moved to Miami and kind of realized
I'm not that good at soccer, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Like, oh, I guess I'm okay at this other thing.
Let me take this more seriously.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
But my technique, you know, I played drums and I
had a good sense of groove and rhythm, but my
technique was just not there.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
And so he really was able to.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Help me, hone in on that technique, and he was,
you know, taught me about all the different rudiments but
also different Latin grooves, which at the time, I you know,
didn't understand why I was playing boson nova or samba.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I was like, this is this, you know, don't want
to play Foo Fighters music? Like what do you? Why
are we doing this?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
But then I've understood as I got older, and then
I started getting into progressive music and polyrhythms. I was like, no,
it was about the lim in dependence, you know. So
I'm very grateful to for him teaching me that.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
But you know, we don't we don't.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I don't take lessons necessarily anymore. Honestly, My biggest teacher
now is YouTube.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
You know. I spend hours watching all my favorite drummers, and.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I think that's such a huge asset that I don't think,
you know, young people nowadays realize how lucky we are
to have the access to YouTube, because I you know,
I talk about it with different guys and they're like, yeah, well,
back when I was grown up, it's like you had
to like rewind the DVR and like try and like
play it so you could see what was happening, or
just like you just had to listen, whereas now you
(16:51):
can just watch a drum play through and see exactly
what's happening, and you have so much access to information
that it's become a great tool.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
But I see it, you know, being able to listen and.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
To as many drummers and just kind of you know,
add different colors to your to your palette and to
your to your arsenal of sounds. I think that's such
a you know, big asset nowadays.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
And the interesting thing about YouTube as a teacher is
it doesn't really do any good to get angry at
YouTube for like teacher.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yeah, you can get angry at yourself, but you know,
or you see like you know, I will say sometimes
on YouTube it's like, you know, you'll see some seven
year old from you know, Japan or something and he's
just like way better than you, and you're just like
it makes you like, you're.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Like, what the hell is? You know, it's I But
that's the only.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Thing I think, you know, you can maybe get you
lose sight of what the point is and be and
because you see so many people that are just so great,
and it can like damage your confidence. But I think
it's better to just look at it and an approach
of like a learning side of things. And you see
these people and it's you know, what can you take
from these different drummers to add to your own?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Uh, to your own drum?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
So let's talk about the Effect. How did the Effect
come together? Talk about all the key players there in
the band that make up the Effect, and how excited
you are about the project.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Yeah, the so the Effect came about Trev Lucather, who's
the guitar player and producer of the band.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
His dad is Steve Lucather from Toto.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
You know, we actually Leland Skalar and Amy Keys, who
were both in my dad's solo band and Toto at
different points. You know, they'd been telling Trev and I that, like,
you know, you guys need to get together. You know,
you guys would really get along, and you know, you
need to do something together. And you know, I think
we followed each other on Instagram and just like connected
(18:43):
on social media, you know, supported each other here and there.
But it wasn't until January of twenty twenty three, where
he was in Miami for some reason, you know, for
our TV show that kind of went south. It was
like he was going to be hosting this thing and
producer and director kind of went at it, and so
the show was canceled.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
And he was like, well, I'm stuck in Miami. Who
do I know?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
And so he invited me out to dinner and it
was him and his wife, Madison, and then me and
my girlfriend Isabelle, and we got together on like a
double date and that was the first time we met,
and we totally hit it off. You know, we connected
and found that we related a lot on you know,
in different ways. Almost felt like we'd live parallel lives
and just so many things that were in both of
our lives that we really were able to.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Kind of bond on.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And but at the time, you know, he did he
was he still does a lot of production work, and
I think that was the extent of what we thought
was going to happen if we work together. Was just like, oh,
I'll play on a session or you know, something like that.
But then fast forward a couple months.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I was on the road with Mike and the Mechanics
and Trev sent me a text and he's like, hey, dude,
I'm thinking of putting a group together, just an experiment,
and this is who's in the band?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Are you down? And I'm like, well maybe, I was
like what do you have in mind? And then he
sent me the guitar riff to Unwanted, Like that was
literally the first tune we ever did together, and I
was like, oh, yeah, I'm down, Like, let's do it.
I didn't get to record my parts until I got
back from the road, and then we did that first song,
and then it turned let's do another, and then two
three songs turned into well, no, let's let's actually be
(20:19):
a band, you know, let's actually do it. But the
funny thing is we by the we had written, recorded,
and mixed three songs before all four of us were
ever in the same room together, which is because you know,
we've done like I live in Miami, Trev lives in
la and then Steve Majoria who plays keyboards and does
background vocals, he lives in Palo Alto, like so NorCal
(20:42):
and then Emmett Stang who's the singer, he lives in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So it was all being done very remotely.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
But then we got together and we all kind of
really hit it off, and you know, we all really
got along. And basically that was in June. June was
when we started the record, and basically we finished the
record by December.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
It was very We didn't go like, let's write the
whole record and then record it.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
It was we were just do We were recording it
and mixing it as it was being written, and you know,
everybody brings such an interesting take to the whole you
know band. You know, we never had a conversation what
kind of band do we want to be?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
What genre?
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Like, you know, what bands are we going to try
and emulate like it was? Literally, this is what the
four of us sound like when we are writing music together.
And you know, the first song I recorded last, But
typically what we've done is Trev. Trev will come up
with a guitar part and a guitar idea, and we'll
essentially map out a whole song's worth of like Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Here's the verse, pre chorus, chorus.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Whatever, and he'll just send it to me blank with
just the guitars, and then I will go and other
than Unwanted where I was the last one, every other
song has been this way, where I'll go and basically
write a drum part and you know, go into the
rehearsal room, and then I'll FaceTime Trev and we'll basically
bounced notes off of one another of what he likes,
what I like, what I don't like, and you know,
(22:07):
and then from there, I basically record the drums the
day that they're written, which is not what I'm not
very used to because usually with you know, with other
you know, with my other band, better strangers, like, I'm
very meticulous about how much work I can put it,
you know, and overthinking my drum parts and trev wanted
me to just be very instinctual, like, no, I want
to capture whatever magic you.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Were able to get.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
So then once I've done that, you know, Trevori laid
down his real guitars, and Steve Matroy will lay down
his keyboard parts, which you know he always The textual
stuff that Steve is able to create is really amazing
on a both keyboard wise and also background vocals. And
then Emmett gets together with trev and they write the
lyrics and top playing together, and you know, Emmett's voice
is the range that that guy has, not just literally
(22:51):
on a musical range, but I mean the fact that
he goes from being like this really heavy rock singer
to also being able to dial it back and do
the total pop thing. You know, it's a really you know,
the whole band is just a class musicians and it's
lots of fun to be able to create and work
with those guys.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Everybody brings just so much to the table.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
And what is the expectation on the band in terms
of touring and just getting out for people to see it.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Yeah, So we finished the album at the end of
last year, so we just put out another single a
couple of weeks ago, and.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Actually I was just in La last week.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
We just recorded and did a video for something very
exciting that will be announced soon, so we're very pumped
about that. But no, we've got some American dates that
will be announced eventually for in May, and then we've
got a European tour happening this summer where we've got
our own headline shows, but we're also playing the Isle
of Wight Festival and also the Kupe Live Festival in France,
(23:52):
and then we're opening for Toto in Germany, which you know,
huge shout out and thank you to you know, Luke
and everybody in the total crew for being able to
for wanting us out there and for for having us.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
It's going to be a great time.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
So yeah, basically, you know we're gonna be playing some
shows and getting on the road this year and hopefully
the album.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
You know, we don't have a set release date.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
We've released three singles so far and you know, everything's finished.
It's just basically about finding the right time and place
to put it out. Whether you know, nowadays so much
music gets put out every day on streaming services that
like if you do it wrong, you just end up
being another drop in the ocean. And I think for us,
like we believe in the record and everybody's put in
spark into the album that we feel like it deserves
(24:38):
the you know, to get the right attention.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
And will Better Strangers still still exist as well?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Yeah, of course, you know, I'm I'm doing both, and
you know, it's funny. I grew up in from a
dad who you know, had a solo very successful solo
career and a very successful Genesis career as well, So
the idea of doing both is not something that scares me,
you know, and I really like actually doing both because
they are such different bands and like almost every way,
(25:07):
you know, the effect is more of a pop rock
that's what I consider it, pop rock, but we do
get pretty heavy sometimes, whereas Better Strangers is more of
a progressive, you know, progressive band, you know, with that
goes a bit heavier, maybe like the line between progressive
hard rock and progressive metal at this point. But it's great,
you know, I get different creative outlets in different ways,
(25:28):
and you know, it's it's been lots of fun to
be able to do both.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
So when you're playing live, how much of playing live
as a drummer is about getting in a particular zone
that you're just kind of off at a different place
and it's coming so naturally.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think again, it depends on the
band and what the role is, because you know, with
the effect we play, I played a click and so
that is different because you.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Really have that.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
You got to be really locked in with what you're
playing along too, because if you're often it becomes a
whole train wreck. But it's a different kind of thing
because you're not really worried about whether it's with Genesis
or my dad or better strangers. Where I don't play
to click, those become more like I have to get
in the zone where I'm I got to make sure
I don't let the adrenaline take over and I'm playing
(26:21):
things too fast too slow.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
I think with the.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Effect, it's like making sure obviously you know the songs
and really locking in and you know it comes. It's
it's a mix of muscle memory but also really being
familiar and becoming almost one with the material. That's always
something I've said to anybody when I've done, you know,
the few clinics that I've done. My biggest advice is
when you get hired to or ask to play a gig,
(26:46):
you know, familiarize yourself with the songs in a way
where they become second nature and you're listening. You're not
just listening to them in the rehearsal room, but you're
listening to them on the way to the grocery store
or on the way to the gym or whatever it is.
I think that's the biggest thing, is being aware that,
like you know, this is what's best for the song,
this is what the song needs, and really kind of
(27:07):
getting into that mindset.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
In closing, is there a dream band that you I
realize the effect is a dream right now because there's
a great amount of a serendeputy to it. But is
there some dream players that you think about and go,
my god, if I could ever do a session with
this group of people, this would be incredible.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
That's a great question.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
I think it really It really depends, And I mean
there's obviously the guys, like you know, I would love
to play a song with Chino from the Deftones, Gina
Mareno Singing, or Maynard James Keener from Tool Singing. I
love both of those guys, as you know, they're they're
singing so much in their vocal parts and their sound
(27:52):
that I'd love to do a song with them on it.
Then as far as musicians, I mean, there's so many.
I think off the top of my head now I'm
thinking John for Shante or Flee from the Chili Peppers.
I mean, those guys are such a big deal for
me growing up that to be able to be on
a track with them would be a dream.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I'll have to get back to you on that.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
One, you know what I mean, Like, there's so many
different you know, there's different producers and you know, guys
that I look up to that that I of course
I want to work with, but also I you know,
I that in that same way, it motivates me to
try and make my own thing and with my own
uh you know, bandmates and and be able to like
create something that I believe in and that's unique that
(28:34):
way as well.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Well. Definitely get back to me, because I'm not going
to be surprised that anything you pull off.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Nick.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Okay, amazing, Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Yeah, congratulations on everything. Congrats on the new project The
Effect and Better Strangers and all your work around Genesis
and your dad and Mike and the mechanics. Please tell
your dad give them our love. And it's so great
to have you on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Nick i aphit it Buzz. Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My biggest teacher now is YouTube.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
You know, I spend hours watching all my favorite drummers,
and I think that's such a huge asset.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Now you can just.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Watch a drum play through and see exactly what's happening,
and you have so much access to information that.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's become a great tool.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
But I see it, you know, being able to listen
to as many drummers and just kind of you know,
add different colors to your to your palette and to
your to your arsenal of sounds.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Welcome. This is the Taking a Walk Podcast with Buzz Night,
the podcast that delves into the stories of musicians and
their passion for their music. Today, Buzz is joined by
drummer Nick Collins. Nick is Phil collins Son and he's
carving out his own musical journey. Here's Buzz Night and
Nick Collins on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Nick Collins, it's so great to have you on this
virtual edition of the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Of course, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Man, Congratulations on all of your work. We're going to
talk about the effect and how excited you are about that,
but I do want to get into a little, uh
talk about your father and your work with him as well.
First of all, how is your dad these days?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah, he's doing good.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
He's uh retired, uh, you know, until until maybe he
gets the itch again to do it. But at the
moment he's he's enjoying the retired life.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Well, how does it make you feel when fans and
fellow musicians are wowed by your playing?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
It's great.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I mean, you know, obviously, it's a it's a huge
compliment in a in an honor that you know, get
to do things people like it, that's great. Obviously If
people don't like it, that's fine too, you know what
I mean. I think it's it's awesome to be to
be doing this the thing that that I love, you know,
and uh, I've been very lucky to have been able
(01:59):
to do it in different context, different artists and bands,
and so yeah, it's a very huge compliment.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Well, besides your dad, talk about the other drummers that
you've studied very closely.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Oh yeah, I mean, dude, the laundry list goes on
and on, you know, it's always always growing. But I
think my main drum heroes are Danny Carey, John Bonham,
Abe Cunningham, who from Deftones, Stuart Copeland. I mean there's
so much John Theodore from Mars Veulta and Queens of
(02:33):
the Stone Age. It's just so many all the time.
Taylor Hawkins, he was a huge one.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
It's like different eras of like what in different parts
of my life and which drummers really grabbed me at
different times, you know, like growing up it was obviously
apart from my dad, the first three were bottom and
then Taylor Hawkins and Chad Smith from the Chili Peppers.
And Taylor and Chad I felt this huge you know,
I really idolized them just because it felt like I
(03:04):
these were like my generation of guys, you know, like
they had you know when I when I say Bonham
and Stuart Copeland that you know they'd been around for
such a long time that you know, those are their
favorite drummers. And it felt like with Chad and Taylor,
it was like, oh, this is like the new the
new guys that those are like my guys, and it
was like, you know, not like my dad's guys and
stuff like that. So I felt like a real connection
(03:24):
to them and it made me fall in love with
the idea of being in a band and you know,
playing live and and then since you know, different eras
where I get started getting into prog music. And that's
when Danny Carey, Gavin Harrison, I started really John Theodore
looking up to them, but the same way that I'll
also look up to like the jazz fusion world, and
you know, get into guys like Billy Cobbham or even
more newer guys like Larnel Lewis from Starky Puppy.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know, they all have such.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
An equal influence on me, because to me, that's the
best teacher is just being able to listen to as
much music and as many drummers as possible.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
You know, we had Kenny Aronoff on the podcast previously,
and Kenny talked about a lot of his disciplines to
sort of stay in tune and primed for every performance,
you know, his whole practice session and regiment. How do
you go about that sort of process?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I mean when I'm on tour, it's a different thing
to when I'm like at home, and it's more studio stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
You know, on tour I do. I am very disciplined
in like a warm up.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Routine, just because when you're doing it you know, playing
two and a half hours every night. You want to
make sure that you're not hurting yourself. So I'll go
through like a thirty to forty five minute warm up
routine with like a metronome and go through a bunch
of different rudiments at different speeds and get my body
warmed up and just get the blood flowing to the wrists.
And because I used to have some risk problems, I
(04:45):
started using heavier sticks and that kind of took a
lot of it away. But I still want to make
sure that I'm you know, able to keep it up
for as long as possible. But I do also realize
I need to do a better job of that when
I'm at home or when I'm like, you know, just
this week, we were rehearsing with the effect, you know,
I I'll like just jump into rehearsals and then now
I'm like, oh, my arm kind of hurts, you know,
(05:06):
And I should like, just because it's rehearsals does not
mean you should not warm up, you know, just because
it's not a show.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So that's something I've got to get better at.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
But definitely taking care of myself, you know, and staying active,
going to the gym and you know, always making sure
that my body is in shape because drumming is very
physical and I don't want to be injuring myself.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And so far everything's been good. I try to make
that a priority.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
I love what I saw online the Grooves of Genesis,
that whole presentation there with Duke's intro and cinema show
and behind the lines, so many great songs. Watcher of
the Skies, did you have fun doing that particular session.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I mean, you know, the shout out to the guys
at Drumio. They were you know, they're incredible guys in
the platform that they've built. I mean, I've been a
fan of theirs for since I was like twelve, you know,
looking up look watching those videos on YouTube. So to
find be in the space and doing stuff with them
was really awesome. That that was probably like two years
ago that we filmed it, which is a trip because
like you know, not all the videos have come out yet,
(06:09):
so we had like another video come out in like January,
and like, you know, I remember my girlfriend being like,
you look really young, and I'm like, yeah, that was
two years ago, like you know, I've aged, but no,
that was a lot of fun. It was a lot
of rehearsal, and because basically we shot a course about
my dad's playing, and you know, that's kind of that
was the live stream that we did and that's out
(06:30):
on YouTube. And we actually did a more in depth
course about each of those songs kind of by themselves,
plus some additional ones.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And it was great fun, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I mean, I think to me, it was it felt like,
this is the thing I want to do for my dad.
And you know, also, I think the younger generation maybe
don't know my dad as a drummer and know him
more as the Indiania guy or the Tarzan guy, and
I feel like I wanted to showcase like, no, you know,
my dad was a was a badass drummer, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And that was after doing the Genesis thing.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
We shot like a huge core and I learned forty songs,
like some of the songs we were playing in the show,
but then a bunch of other of like the really
heavy prog tunes that which we didn't do it in rehearsal.
So it was a lot of work and a lot
of pressure, but it was, you know, a great time.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I had a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Doing that session and so many great drum parts, and
it is a weird thing when you're trying to explain
and teach parts that you didn't write or that you
weren't involved in, you know, because I'm like, this is
like some of these songs were thirty years before I
was even born, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
What I mean, So like it can be a bit interesting.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
But I thought it was you know, it was good
fun and you know, I'm excited for that course to
finally come out. When it does, you know, there's just
a you know, some copyright things that need to be
cleared up.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
First, I thought it was fantastic, And I have to
tell you, Nick, you make it look really easy, and
I know it's not.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Ah, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
No, I mean, you know, like it's I've been around
those parts for a while, but it's definitely takes a
long time of getting it down like I wouldn't you know,
I'm not going to be like, oh yeah, I just
went in there and just played them, you know, Like
that was maybe two months worth of repetition, multiple days
a week to try and be comfortable with the songs
because some of those songs are just like really complex
(08:10):
and a lot of improv, and when you're trying to
learn somebody's improv, it's very you know, I can get
very tricky.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I was privileged to see your dad play with Genesis
a few times, also to see him play with a
brand X, and I wanted to share one of those
experiences that I'll never forget. It was the Trick of
the Tail tour, and it was the dual drumming of
(08:37):
your dad and the great Bill Bruford. I was wondering
if you ever got to see any sort of video
form anything from that tour.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I've seen videos. I don't know if it's from that tour.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
I've seen some videos of him and my dad and
Bill doing cinema show that may have been from the
seconds out or before for that, like maybe that the
tour after Trick of the Tale.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I'm not sure when that video was, but I've seen
some of it.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I mean, you know, Bill is another guy who's become
such a big influence, and he's like the prog drummer
of the seventies.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
You know, it was in every great prog band.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Bill Bruford was in it at some point, you know,
and he's what a great drummer and that was you
know that the double drums became a theme in my life,
from watching those videos to watching him and Chester do
it to actually watching it live between them.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So yeah, I mean, amazing stuff.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
It was the Ohio Theater in Columbus, Ohio where I
saw it and our mind was completely blown from that
show and it changed us really.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Oh wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
And of course were you able to sort of go
back and study some of the Brand X work from
your dad?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, we didn't do as much for the course. You know.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
It's it's funny like I've kind of gotten more into
the brand Deck stuff more recently, you know, after the
Genesis thing and getting into the Prague side of their
sound and getting into Brand X and the more fusion stuff.
It started really impacting me also as a drummer, and
like going from playing the really heavy, loud beats to
like the really quiet, intricate, more fusiony stuff. But you know,
(10:12):
that's some great material with Brand X, and we did
I think we broke down maybe one or two for
the Drummo thing. But now it's you know, it's one
of those things that I get into more now, Like
it's just you know, the evolution of what you listen
to and what you decide to get into.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And yeah, you know, I mean.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
It's it's funny to see that different sides of like
my dad's playing, which I haven't you know, been familiar
with until I'm like twenty one or twenty you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It's strange to be like, oh, you did this too.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
You're not just this guy, you also happen to do
something that's completely totally different.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And on the dual drumming theme, what's your personal take
on the dual drumming that was so part of the
Allman Brothers and obviously The Grateful Dead as well.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, I thought it was great.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I mean, you know, I think it's like my opinion
is always dependent on like the context, you know. I
think as like as a drummer, you kind of want
to go into be like I don't need another drummer.
I could do everything, you know what I mean, Like
there's like that ego side of things. But I think
when Genesis were doing it, it was such an amazing
asset to have to the to the show, not only
just in like the progue bits and the instrumental parts
(11:21):
where both my dad and whether it was Bill or Chester.
When they would play it became it just added this
layer to the music both visually and you know, sonically.
But I also think, you know, to have those drum
featured moments where you know, not every band can just
get two guys to do to do.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It at that level, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I think you can get some guys where I don't know,
a lead singer a band will go and play some
you know, toms or something, but it doesn't you know,
to have two guys who were just like absolute monsters
at drums, doing and playing off of each other and
creating compositions together. I thought it was you know, it
became something that I was just so familiar with from
watching all the live DVD and just being there and
watching the shows, you know, like later on. And it
(12:05):
was a weird thing when I joined Genesis, and it
was just me because we had something similar in my
dad's band where me and the percussionists would do a
drum bit, like a drum part kind of not a solo,
like a drum duo kind of thing, and we'd play
off of each other. But with Genesis, you know, we
didn't do that because my dad can't play drums anymore.
But you know, it was tricky playing navigating some of
(12:29):
the instrumental songs which used to have double drum featured moments,
you know, especially Cinema Show had like a call and
response on the snares and it was just me and
so I think, you know, Daniel Pierce, who was one
of the backing singers, did do a little bit of
Timbali's to like do have that effect, like the call
and response. But it was also for me trying to
find like, okay, how can I play the groove but
(12:50):
also still include some of that double drum stuff because
it's hard when you're just one person. When you know,
back then it would be like Chester would keep the
groove going and my dad would go and you know,
play off the keyboards or something.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
So so it was a bit tricky to find the
right balance.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
But you know, by the end it was you know,
I think we got it down by the end, hopefully.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I pretty sure you did. So the great movie Whiplash,
I guarantee you probably saw it. The question is did
it scar you for life?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
That's you know what's funny is the Whiplash. When I
did the drummo thing.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
One of the first time listening videos was the song Whiplash,
which I've seen the movie Whiblash, but for some reason
didn't connect the song. I've just like, I was like,
something sounds familiar about it. But then you know, Brandon
starts riffing off Whiplash quotes and you know it's threatening
to throw a symbol at me, and that's when I
was like, oh, that's from Whiplash, you know what I mean.
But I really liked the movie when it came out.
(13:47):
I was young enough where like it was just like
it made me really interested in jazz.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
But you know it is now I.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Look at it and I can see why it would
upset some people just because it's very unhealthy. But I
think that was the point point, like the point and
the great you know.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
JK. Simmons is amazing in that movie, and.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Like that role, like where you really hate the teacher
and you hate the band leader. I think it was
supposed to be kind of influenced by Buddy Rich. Obviously
I'm not I'm not sure. I never met Buddy Rich,
but that was what I've heard that that was the
influence of of like the harsh the harshness and I think,
you know, maybe it was a bit extra, but it's
a movie, you know what I mean. Like it's also
you know, when when Miles Teller puts his hand in
(14:26):
the you know, jug of water and he's all bleeding,
I'm like, that doesn't happen either, you.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
It's it's it's the dramatization of the of of Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
But I thought it was a good movie.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You know, I understood the you know, the message, and
obviously I think it's not supposed to be taken literally.
You know, if a teacher was really like that, then
there'd be a problem because I don't think that's really healthy.
But I think for a movie and to almost put
drums in the limelight, especially jazz drumming, which became this huge,
you know thing around the world when that movie came out, I.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Think it was great to be able to feature the
drums that way.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
We'll be right back with more of the Taken a
Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Who are the teachers? Aside from your father? Obviously that
made an impact on you and really shaped you to
this moment today.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yeah, I mean I've only really had one drum teacher.
His name is John Pierre Espiritu Santo, and I started
taking lessons with him when I first moved to Miami, Florida,
and I was like eleven or twelve, and you know,
originally I kind of wanted to be a soccer player.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
That's really that was what I wanted to do.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
And then I moved to Miami and kind of realized
I'm not that good at soccer, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Like, oh, I guess I'm okay at this other thing.
Let me take this more seriously.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
But my technique, you know, I played drums and I
had a good sense of groove and rhythm, but my
technique was just not there.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
And so he really was able to.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Help me, hone in on that technique, and he was,
you know, taught me about all the different rudiments but
also different Latin grooves, which at the time, I you know,
didn't understand why I was playing boson nova or samba.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I was like, this is this, you know, don't want
to play Foo Fighters music? Like what do you? Why
are we doing this?
Speaker 3 (16:11):
But then I've understood as I got older, and then
I started getting into progressive music and polyrhythms. I was like, no,
it was about the lim in dependence, you know. So
I'm very grateful to for him teaching me that.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
But you know, we don't we don't.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I don't take lessons necessarily anymore. Honestly, My biggest teacher
now is YouTube.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
You know. I spend hours watching all my favorite drummers, and.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I think that's such a huge asset that I don't think,
you know, young people nowadays realize how lucky we are
to have the access to YouTube, because I you know,
I talk about it with different guys and they're like, yeah, well,
back when I was grown up, it's like you had
to like rewind the DVR and like try and like
play it so you could see what was happening, or
just like you just had to listen, whereas now you
(16:51):
can just watch a drum play through and see exactly
what's happening, and you have so much access to information
that it's become a great tool.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
But I see it, you know, being able to listen and.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
To as many drummers and just kind of you know,
add different colors to your to your palette and to
your to your arsenal of sounds. I think that's such
a you know, big asset nowadays.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
And the interesting thing about YouTube as a teacher is
it doesn't really do any good to get angry at
YouTube for like teacher.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yeah, you can get angry at yourself, but you know,
or you see like you know, I will say sometimes
on YouTube it's like, you know, you'll see some seven
year old from you know, Japan or something and he's
just like way better than you, and you're just like
it makes you like, you're.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Like, what the hell is? You know, it's I But
that's the only.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Thing I think, you know, you can maybe get you
lose sight of what the point is and be and
because you see so many people that are just so great,
and it can like damage your confidence. But I think
it's better to just look at it and an approach
of like a learning side of things. And you see
these people and it's you know, what can you take
from these different drummers to add to your own?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Uh, to your own drum?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
So let's talk about the Effect. How did the Effect
come together? Talk about all the key players there in
the band that make up the Effect, and how excited
you are about the project.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Yeah, the so the Effect came about Trev Lucather, who's
the guitar player and producer of the band.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
His dad is Steve Lucather from Toto.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
You know, we actually Leland Skalar and Amy Keys, who
were both in my dad's solo band and Toto at
different points. You know, they'd been telling Trev and I that, like,
you know, you guys need to get together. You know,
you guys would really get along, and you know, you
need to do something together. And you know, I think
we followed each other on Instagram and just like connected
(18:43):
on social media, you know, supported each other here and there.
But it wasn't until January of twenty twenty three, where
he was in Miami for some reason, you know, for
our TV show that kind of went south. It was
like he was going to be hosting this thing and
producer and director kind of went at it, and so
the show was canceled.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
And he was like, well, I'm stuck in Miami. Who
do I know?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
And so he invited me out to dinner and it
was him and his wife, Madison, and then me and
my girlfriend Isabelle, and we got together on like a
double date and that was the first time we met,
and we totally hit it off. You know, we connected
and found that we related a lot on you know,
in different ways. Almost felt like we'd live parallel lives
and just so many things that were in both of
our lives that we really were able to.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Kind of bond on.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And but at the time, you know, he did he
was he still does a lot of production work, and
I think that was the extent of what we thought
was going to happen if we work together. Was just like, oh,
I'll play on a session or you know, something like that.
But then fast forward a couple months.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I was on the road with Mike and the Mechanics
and Trev sent me a text and he's like, hey, dude,
I'm thinking of putting a group together, just an experiment,
and this is who's in the band?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Are you down? And I'm like, well maybe, I was
like what do you have in mind? And then he
sent me the guitar riff to Unwanted, Like that was
literally the first tune we ever did together, and I
was like, oh, yeah, I'm down, Like, let's do it.
I didn't get to record my parts until I got
back from the road, and then we did that first song,
and then it turned let's do another, and then two
three songs turned into well, no, let's let's actually be
(20:19):
a band, you know, let's actually do it. But the
funny thing is we by the we had written, recorded,
and mixed three songs before all four of us were
ever in the same room together, which is because you know,
we've done like I live in Miami, Trev lives in
la and then Steve Majoria who plays keyboards and does
background vocals, he lives in Palo Alto, like so NorCal
(20:42):
and then Emmett Stang who's the singer, he lives in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So it was all being done very remotely.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
But then we got together and we all kind of
really hit it off, and you know, we all really
got along. And basically that was in June. June was
when we started the record, and basically we finished the
record by December.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
It was very We didn't go like, let's write the
whole record and then record it.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
It was we were just do We were recording it
and mixing it as it was being written, and you know,
everybody brings such an interesting take to the whole you
know band. You know, we never had a conversation what
kind of band do we want to be?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
What genre?
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Like, you know, what bands are we going to try
and emulate like it was? Literally, this is what the
four of us sound like when we are writing music together.
And you know, the first song I recorded last, But
typically what we've done is Trev. Trev will come up
with a guitar part and a guitar idea, and we'll
essentially map out a whole song's worth of like Okay.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Here's the verse, pre chorus, chorus.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Whatever, and he'll just send it to me blank with
just the guitars, and then I will go and other
than Unwanted where I was the last one, every other
song has been this way, where I'll go and basically
write a drum part and you know, go into the
rehearsal room, and then I'll FaceTime Trev and we'll basically
bounced notes off of one another of what he likes,
what I like, what I don't like, and you know,
(22:07):
and then from there, I basically record the drums the
day that they're written, which is not what I'm not
very used to because usually with you know, with other
you know, with my other band, better strangers, like, I'm
very meticulous about how much work I can put it,
you know, and overthinking my drum parts and trev wanted
me to just be very instinctual, like, no, I want
to capture whatever magic you.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Were able to get.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
So then once I've done that, you know, Trevori laid
down his real guitars, and Steve Matroy will lay down
his keyboard parts, which you know he always The textual
stuff that Steve is able to create is really amazing
on a both keyboard wise and also background vocals. And
then Emmett gets together with trev and they write the
lyrics and top playing together, and you know, Emmett's voice
is the range that that guy has, not just literally
(22:51):
on a musical range, but I mean the fact that
he goes from being like this really heavy rock singer
to also being able to dial it back and do
the total pop thing. You know, it's a really you know,
the whole band is just a class musicians and it's
lots of fun to be able to create and work
with those guys.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Everybody brings just so much to the table.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
And what is the expectation on the band in terms
of touring and just getting out for people to see it.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Yeah, So we finished the album at the end of
last year, so we just put out another single a
couple of weeks ago, and.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Actually I was just in La last week.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
We just recorded and did a video for something very
exciting that will be announced soon, so we're very pumped
about that. But no, we've got some American dates that
will be announced eventually for in May, and then we've
got a European tour happening this summer where we've got
our own headline shows, but we're also playing the Isle
of Wight Festival and also the Kupe Live Festival in France,
(23:52):
and then we're opening for Toto in Germany, which you know,
huge shout out and thank you to you know, Luke
and everybody in the total crew for being able to
for wanting us out there and for for having us.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
It's going to be a great time.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
So yeah, basically, you know we're gonna be playing some
shows and getting on the road this year and hopefully
the album.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
You know, we don't have a set release date.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
We've released three singles so far and you know, everything's finished.
It's just basically about finding the right time and place
to put it out. Whether you know, nowadays so much
music gets put out every day on streaming services that
like if you do it wrong, you just end up
being another drop in the ocean. And I think for us,
like we believe in the record and everybody's put in
spark into the album that we feel like it deserves
(24:38):
the you know, to get the right attention.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
And will Better Strangers still still exist as well?
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Yeah, of course, you know, I'm I'm doing both, and
you know, it's funny. I grew up in from a
dad who you know, had a solo very successful solo
career and a very successful Genesis career as well, So
the idea of doing both is not something that scares me,
you know, and I really like actually doing both because
they are such different bands and like almost every way,
(25:07):
you know, the effect is more of a pop rock
that's what I consider it, pop rock, but we do
get pretty heavy sometimes, whereas Better Strangers is more of
a progressive, you know, progressive band, you know, with that
goes a bit heavier, maybe like the line between progressive
hard rock and progressive metal at this point. But it's great,
you know, I get different creative outlets in different ways,
(25:28):
and you know, it's it's been lots of fun to
be able to do both.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
So when you're playing live, how much of playing live
as a drummer is about getting in a particular zone
that you're just kind of off at a different place
and it's coming so naturally.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think again, it depends on the
band and what the role is, because you know, with
the effect we play, I played a click and so
that is different because you.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Really have that.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
You got to be really locked in with what you're
playing along too, because if you're often it becomes a
whole train wreck. But it's a different kind of thing
because you're not really worried about whether it's with Genesis
or my dad or better strangers. Where I don't play
to click, those become more like I have to get
in the zone where I'm I got to make sure
I don't let the adrenaline take over and I'm playing
(26:21):
things too fast too slow.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
I think with the.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Effect, it's like making sure obviously you know the songs
and really locking in and you know it comes. It's
it's a mix of muscle memory but also really being
familiar and becoming almost one with the material. That's always
something I've said to anybody when I've done, you know,
the few clinics that I've done. My biggest advice is
when you get hired to or ask to play a gig,
(26:46):
you know, familiarize yourself with the songs in a way
where they become second nature and you're listening. You're not
just listening to them in the rehearsal room, but you're
listening to them on the way to the grocery store
or on the way to the gym or whatever it is.
I think that's the biggest thing, is being aware that,
like you know, this is what's best for the song,
this is what the song needs, and really kind of
(27:07):
getting into that mindset.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
In closing, is there a dream band that you I
realize the effect is a dream right now because there's
a great amount of a serendeputy to it. But is
there some dream players that you think about and go,
my god, if I could ever do a session with
this group of people, this would be incredible.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
That's a great question.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
I think it really It really depends, And I mean
there's obviously the guys, like you know, I would love
to play a song with Chino from the Deftones, Gina
Mareno Singing, or Maynard James Keener from Tool Singing. I
love both of those guys, as you know, they're they're
singing so much in their vocal parts and their sound
(27:52):
that I'd love to do a song with them on it.
Then as far as musicians, I mean, there's so many.
I think off the top of my head now I'm
thinking John for Shante or Flee from the Chili Peppers.
I mean, those guys are such a big deal for
me growing up that to be able to be on
a track with them would be a dream.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I'll have to get back to you on that.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
One, you know what I mean, Like, there's so many
different you know, there's different producers and you know, guys
that I look up to that that I of course
I want to work with, but also I you know,
I that in that same way, it motivates me to
try and make my own thing and with my own
uh you know, bandmates and and be able to like
create something that I believe in and that's unique that
(28:34):
way as well.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Well. Definitely get back to me, because I'm not going
to be surprised that anything you pull off.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Nick.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Okay, amazing, Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Yeah, congratulations on everything. Congrats on the new project The
Effect and Better Strangers and all your work around Genesis
and your dad and Mike and the mechanics. Please tell
your dad give them our love. And it's so great
to have you on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Nick i aphit it Buzz. Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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