Brad Roberts aka Gizmak the Gusher of Gwar, in this month's Modern Drummer!

This month in Modern Drummer features an article called: "Get Good Stage Presence".  Featuring three contributors, including the one and only Brad Roberts! The article goes into depth in regard to one of the harder to explain aspects of playing drums.  Sure, you may have mastered the quadruple paradiddle....but does anyone enjoy watching you play it?  The ability to communicate visually, AND make a musical difference belongs to a rare breed, and Brad has that in spades.  Favorite quote: You should treat every moment of your life as a performance, because you never know if GWAR will be behind the corner to kill you with a rubber sword."  Words to live by....

Congrats to John Humphrey and Seether, for the Number 1 Single on the Rock and Alternative chart.

In what looks to be the start of a big year for Seether, the band currently has the number one spot on the Rock and Alternative chart with their single "Country Song".  This is the first release from their upcoming full length, Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray.  The new disc was produced by Brendan O'Brien.  All early indications look to this be the strongest release, to-date, from a band that has already proven to be one of modern rock's top-draws!  In drum news, we will be debuting the new John Humphrey signature snare very shortly, for specs, check out the snare section of our website.  John is currently rocking a Yellow-Gold Fade Dios kit on the Road, as the band makes the rounds on Late-night TV and select festivals. For a complete list of tour dates, hit the link below:
http://www.seether.com/sub.asp?type=tour

'The Big 4' receive double-platinum award in Indio, CA

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax ("The Big 4") were presented with a double platinum award for the two-disc DVD version of "The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" last Saturday at the first ever "Big 4" show in the US at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA.

"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" was certified double platinum on December 17, 2010 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies. (Note: Due to the fact that the set consists of two discs, it was eligible for platinum certification after shipping 50,000 copies; platinum certification for a single-disc release is 100,000 copies.

Shawn Drover of Megadeth plays ddrum kits along with his signature ddrum snare.

Black Veil Brides WINS Best New Band, Revolver Golden God Awards!

Congratulations to Christian Coma of Black Veil Brides, for last night's win at the Revolver Golden Gods Award show.  Despite fierce completion from the other bands in the category, the boys in black walked away with top honors.  All of this comes 2 days prior to CC taking possession of his ALL NEW custom DDRUM kit.  Black Veil Brides will be stopping by St Petersburg, on the current AP tour and we will be personally delivering his new kit for use that very night, and on the rest of the tour, as well as their run on Warped Tour and beyond.  More details as well as pics and vid to come from their stop here on Friday, as well as COMPLETE specs on CC's new kit.

CCs Dios Ash Kit, in our photo studio. Pics of his set up coming soon.

A View from the Road. Craig Morgan's Russ Whittman

Sometimes, there is nothing in the world like some pics of a kick-@$$ drum set.  Here is the latest from Russ Whitman, currently on tour with craig morgan.  Russ is using a dios maple player kit with the "tons-o-options" setting all the way to the right.  In addition to the 14" add-on floor tom, Russ is also using the the matching wood hoops on all of the toms and the 7x13 snare.  Then a pair of trans-black wood hoops on the Hammered Bronze snare.

More pics, from the Office of Special Projects.....

What could they possibly be?

Relient K in the studio with DDRUM!

Received a picture text from Ethan Luck in Reliant K.  The band is currently in the studio, recording a cover album.  Ethan is playing a Dios Maple kit in Pearl White, one of our most stunning and subtle finishes.  Ethan has been using this kit since late 2010, and reports that all of its tone is translating very well in the studio.  The Dios series, which has always been superb in live settings, is finding a second home in recording studios across the country.  The warm maple shells, combined with low mass hardware and depth ratios, makes for a recording kit that ranks with some of the finest studio kits in the world.  Ethan's set-up for the recording is as follows:

Dios M in Pearl White
7x14 cast chrome snare (or 6x14 Dios M in olive sparkle)

9x13 tom

14x16 floor tom

16x18 floor tom (not in photo)
20x24 bass drum.

Something BIG is brewing at the shop....

More to come.....

ddrum USA Custom Shop "Flame Dub" Kit

ddrum USA Custom Shop - where USA Handcrafted Drum Kits are a reality! Check out this ddrum USA order featuring custom hand painted flames over maple shells, die cast hoops, Dios Tube Lugs and a 22" Dub spinner recessed in the kick drum.

Reflex - Incredibly Versatile, Sonically Rich Alder wood drum kit

A first in the drum world, ddrum's Reflex Drum kit is made with 100% Alder shells. A natural tone wood, it produces warm focused drum tones. Notes on the demonstration: All drum equipment is standard as sold. No drum heads were replaced from stock. Processing during production of the recording was kept to the minimal required. We believe the tones you are hearing are a true representation of a ddrum Reflex drum kit. Check out more at ddrum.com

Jeff Fabb, In This Moment, the Gun Show.....LIVE!

Thanks to Chris Brewer at Meinl for letting us use this video.  Jeff is playing a Dios, Carmine Appice kit in Olive sparkle:

7x14 Maple Duplex Snare
8x12 tom
9x13 tom
16x16 floor tom
16x18 floor tom
18x22 bass drum (x2)

KRASHKARMA - 9Lives (1,2,Die)

The first video from the debut album "Straight To The Blood".

New Video from Love.Might.Kill

FIREWIND´s drummers LOVE.MIGHT.KILL: "Pretty Little Mess" Video/Cover-Artwork Released

"Pretty Little Mess", the first video from the german-/italian-based melodic-metallers LOVE.MIGHT.KILL can be viewed below. The clip was shot in Germany in October 2010 and directed by Stefan Ellerhorst.

A picture is worth a thousand words....

98 ROCKFEST!

Saturday was a heck of a day in Tampa Bay!  Wait....did I just rhyme that?  Local Rock station 98 Rock hosted its annual package show, known simply as Rockfest.  Joining us for these festivities was not one, but two DDRUM artists.  Gracing this year's main stage was Joey Dandeneau and Theory of a Deadman, and John Humphrey with Seether.  Both bands performed a blistering live set, providing the "ROCK" for Rockfest.  Joey played his USA customer DDRUM kit, was painted with custom graphics.  John held it down on a yellow-gold fade dios maple kit.  Both drummers favored the traditional 1 rack 2 floor set up and both used a 20x24 kick.  John's descending tom sizes were 13/16/18, while Joey went 12/14/16.  Joey proved a double threat by also utilizing DDRUM's acoustic pro and DRT triggers.  Highlights from the show were numerous, but two in particular really stand out.  Theory performed a new track off of their soon-to-be-released follow up to Scars and Souvenirs called "Bitch Came back".  A rollicking tune that had the crowd cheering.  Seether, performed their hit "Broken" with vocals provided by Halestorm front woman Lzzy Hale.  Included below are a few quick shots of Joey's custom kit.  More photos from the show to come!