E-Interview--Harsh Words drummer: Mohamed Laglilate

Mohamed Laglilate is a drummer from Morocco. I wanted to get inside the mind of a double bassist on the other side of the world. It has to be a different scene over there. I was fortunate enough to talk to Mohamed Laglilate through the power of Facebook. You can check out his band http://www.youtube.com/user/harshwordsband here doing some covers. Metal lives and breathes, its breath just smells different depending on where you go. They also have their blog here http://harsh-words.skyblog.com . Below you can see what we talked about.

DP: What is it like to be a drummer in Morocco?

ML: In morocco it is normal, there are a lot of drummers here, but if we are talking about metal drums there is not a bad amount of drummers.


DP:Where do you play in Morocco?

ML:Now just in my city, we play at 7 scene.


DP: Why do you like double bass drums in music?

ML: Every drummer of death metal uses double bass , i found it to be very hard 3 years ago, but now I like it very much.


DP: How hard or easy is it to get a show

ML: It's very hard to get a show in Morocco you find a problem of sonorisation, a local, and then there is the gear.


DP: Do a lot of people listen to metal in Morocco?

ML: Not a lot, but some people do.


DP: Are there any bands from Morocco that are popular in more than just Morocco that you know

ML: In Morocco I like 2 bands, Wanted: technical death metal and Syncopea: progressive metal


DP:In one of our past conversations you mentioned that double bass pedals are really hard to come by, why do you think that is?

ML: We don't have a drum shop here, we have yamaha but with a commande, it's very expensive.

Thank you for reading this E-interview. It just goes to show that music will go where it wants to, it can show up in any part of the world, and surprisingly because of technology can sound the same, great minds think alike!

In a country like the US, musical instruments can be found anywhere and at really affordable prices. It is more impressive to me when a band outside of the US makes an international presence. This means usually that they have had more to overcome as band than just making it work, often oppression, government influences, and what we think is a bad economy is nothing compared to what the rest of the world deals with.

Just be appreciative of what you have and if someone got it for you. The dollar is worth three times as much as the Moroccan currency. This means that the $50 bass pedal over here is probably $150 over there making it harder to just throw together a band because you liked the video game rock band. Can you imagine that $1000 double bass pedal costing $3000, yes it is very real, I don't think Americans realize the value of being able to go to your local department store, and get real functioning instruments. Rock on Harsh Words! Thank you Mohamed for the interview.

Madonna Metal, a bad thing? You be the judge...

If you got this far you were not mislead. If you have ever listened to Lacuna Coil you can recognize the same thing. Now I have to prove it so you don't hit back on your browser. If you are comfortable with yourself, you can admit that Madonna is huge and always has been. Her vocal range is actually Mezzo-Soprano which is the mid range for females but Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia is a Contralto, which is the lowest female vocal range. Usually done by witches in opera music, not exactly goth metal, but some Italian operas can be very Gothic. It humors me to listen to them and imagine Madonna being one of the vocalists. It sounds similar. Double bass? Yeah, I have to talk about double bass in every post or else it would be uncivilized. You have got to give Lacuna Coil credit for being very heavy and mainstream, and still having very tasteful double bass in it. In 20 years we can look back and say that that was a band who helped put more double bass into the mainstream, and internationally. Hope you enjoyed the reading.

Double Bass in Country Music?!?

I don't know if there is but it wouldn't be a bad idea. I think you can apply any instrument (or addition to an instrument) to any genre as long as it sounds good. Maybe I should start a country metal band, that would probably just make the country people happy and the close minded metal heads have even more angst. Those who appreciate both may have there dead dog run away from home while they were losing their job on the day of the apocolypse. That would be an interesting thing, with the more rock style of country it could be done very tastefully, but screaming in country may propose problems. Will we ever find out? If you know of anything close to that let me know, me ears are open!

Got trigger?

DDrum Drum Triggers
I love my triggers! Not only do triggers help in enhancing the auditory sound of a surface, but it is good for practice too. I noticed when using mine that it helps my ear distinguish the timing of fast double bass. I have to bass drums so I don't have to worry about the problems that come with triggering a single bass drum with a double bass pedal attached. It is really fun to practice loud and it forces you to hear yourself more clearly. I got the DDrum Triggers because they have a protective cover over the actual sensor, it would be pretty lame to pay for something that awesome and break it in one shot. Kinda like when you buy a really cheap pair of sticks and break them on the first fill, ha ha. I researched afford ability and functionality and these one's worked just fine for me. It also very nice to the ear to hear the end product of hearing your trigger to PA, depends on the brain or sound bank you get, thats another blog for another day.

Double Bass, Instrument or Part of Drums?

After the last interview I did, it got me thinking about Double Bass as an instrument or is it a part of drumming?

Kyle, from the Devour the Masses said he uses it in correlation to drums. I feel that it is to be considered a different instrument. It changes your style, it makes for a different feel, and depending on the use can really enhance the sound of your drumming. So yes it is a tool, but I would actually consider it an instrument within an instrument. Listening to a single bassist and a double bassist should allow for your own opinion. What do you think?

Drum Interview - Kyle Rector of "Devour the Masses"

Recently I had the pleasure of doing an E-Interview with the Sonoma County drummer Kyle Rector. He drums for Devour The Masses which can be described as Death Metal with an eccentric blend of several other genres. They are a new up and comer in the North Bay Death Metal Scene. Hardcore vocals mixed with melodic singing, tie together not only a new style in death metal, but also adds more flavor for the ears than your typical death metal band. They can be heard on myspace http://www.myspace.com/devourthemasses and followed at twitter http://twitter.com/dtmband. Check out the E-Interview below.

Devour the Masses are also playing a show at the Petaluma Phoneix Theatre November 7th, 2009. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

DoublebassDavid: First off what kind of drumkit do you have and what pedals do you use?

Kyle Rector: I use Yamaha Absolute Maple Custom Drums, it's the fusion model 6 piece set w/snare, bass drum, 2 rack toms, 2 floor toms. Cymbals are mixed but I'm aiming for a full Sabian set up right now. I have a DW9000 Double-Bass pedal. I play with the plastic hard side of the beater.


DD: What do you like about your drum pedals?

KR: My 9000's are great, they have a lot of versatility with about every type of set up I can imagine. What I truly love is that they're infinitely adjustable. I can add weight, switch the chains out for a felt strap, etc. They also have a great memory lock system for the beaters which is spectacular. And as a nice bonus, they come with a heavy duty carrying case for free.


DD: What are your goals as a double bassist for Devour the Masses?

KR: Well, I don't really have so much goals for double bass in DTM, but I have goals for my drumming overall in DTM. I generally try to keep my goals separate from my individual practice, and my role as a drummer in DTM. My only true goal that correlates between both is to be able to play anything I hear in my head along with the music when we're writing. So if I hear myself blasting away 220 bpm in my head to a song we're writing, then it's a goal to be able to play that fast with my feet.

DD: When you are creating music with Devour the Masses, how do you come up with such intricate drum parts? What is your process for making a new song?


KR: DTM's writing process is still relatively new. Most of the time it's me laying drums over riffs that Corey(lead guitar) brings in. So far it's more of a mechanical approach to writing music, and I find myself usually just laying drum tracks over the riffs, and then the band as a whole does the constructing.
The intricate drum parts just come from me practicing the song over and over and just letting the ideas flow. I'm usually never really done writing as I always find something new that sounds good. My main focus is trying to write to the song though, and help convey the message that we're sending out... though to be honest, I do feel I can be guilty of overplaying.


DD:What do you attribute your speed too with your feet?

KR: Practice, practice, practice. With a metronome, usually for about 50% of my daily practice. It's also a bit of experimentation, i.e. should I spread out the pedals more, lower their tension, add weight etc. Mostly practice though for about 1-2 hours everyday. Usually it's just selected rudiments that I play and every few days I bump up my metronome 4 bpm.

DD: How do you see double bass in the mainstream media taking hold?


KR: I don't really pay much mind to mainstream media, but I have noticed that double bass playing is definitely more prevalent in modern times. I think this can be attributed to cheaper and better quality double bass pedals. I know a lot of kids who got a double bass pedal when they bought their first kit. It's starting to become the standard for all drummers to be fast with both hands and feet. Fast double bass drum playing also has a "wow" effect on the crowd as well and I feel that this is a goal for performing drummers, especially during a drum solo. Lastly, metal has seem to be on the uprise in popularity in these past few years, granted it never died but it's definitely not as popular as pop, hip-hop, rap, country, etc. but there has seem to be more acceptance in mainstream media. For example, there are less idiots out there attributing heavy aggressive music to worshipping Satan, or being evil in some shape or form. It's naturally grown as a part of the music community and held in high regard for at least the technical value by most individuals. I use double bass but only in correlation as a drummer.

There you have it, from the underbelly of hell known as Sonoma County, CA...Devour the Masses drummer, Kyle Rector!

Until next time!

Who is your favorite double bass drummer?

Everyone who plays drums usually has a favorite drummer, but how about double bass? It is really starting to take ground around the world in more than just metal now. Who do you think is your favorite double bass drummer, and why?

I am going to have to say one of my personal favorites is Joey Jordison, very common favorite amongst beginning metal drummers. I am a supporter of diversity though. So he knows his way around the set and plays well with the music. He also is a well trained jazz virtuoso. How about you?