Here at Sweetwater, we have the good fortune of having many of the world’s leading musicians stop by for a visit, or in the case of drummer/educator extraordinaire, Peter Erskine, booking time to record an album in our world-class recording studios. I had a chance to sit down with Peter for a Q&A session, which I’ve excerpted here.
Peter Erskine has had an amazing lifetime of making music, from joining Stan Kenton’s band when he was a teenager to seminal fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead to countless amazing recordings and performances as a leader and drummer in many groups. We asked him…
From your perspective as a professor at USC, do you feel that groove can be taught?
Yes, I think it can be taught. If not taught outright, it certainly can be refined. What can’t be taught, unless you can inspire the reaction, is the passion. The passion is what helps bring the edge — that impossible to define thing — that when you listen to a piece of music, it touches you; it communicates to you. I had a student ask me, how do you do that? The answer is, you really need to care. It’s that feeling that what you’re doing, it “must need be done” — you have to do it. Then you balance, as a professional, with serving the song, serving the project.
You play in a lot of styles – big band, fusion, singer-songwriter, orchestral — do you adapt your style to each situation?
A drummer’s first job is to provide rhythmic information for the band. So that’s the first thing I need to take care of. Beyond that, of course, it’s serving the project. The art is in the craft of doing that. It may seem that I’m being selfless, very generous, in fact it fits in with my need to control things a bit, because as a drummer, if I play softer or if I just shift things this way or that way rhythmically, it draws the listener and it draws the musicians in. I become like the puppet master. It’s not really about control, but musically I like having the ability to influence things to some extent. And then allowing myself to be open to have a conversation. It’s endlessly fascinating and fun. There’s a lot of power in a whisper. So that’s a little bit of an operating principle that I do at the drums, of all places.
For me, the music works better when you don’t push it too hard, you don’t try too hard, and you leave a little bit of space.
You’ve said that things swing harder when you place less.
That’s part of the whole thing of playing with intention. Something I’ve discovered; we tend to define jazz as being triplet based. But if I were to sing something that sounded like a Charlie Parker solo [sings example], there’s no triplet in there. What I’m doing is accenting the off beat and singing it legato [smoothly connecting the notes]. I try to teach legato drumming to my students; you have to be aware of the subdivision, and of course, the ride cymbal is more or less triplet based. When you combine that triplet with what I sang, there’s this delicious little bit of rhythmic tension. That’s what sparks the music forward. The way that whole fabric is woven together is fascinating to me. It’s part of playing with intention. So if I’m playing just quarter notes, if I’m thinking of what I’m going to have for lunch or [sings straight beat] that’s going to make these quarter notes come out different than if I’m [sings swung beat]. So even if you don’t play, if you’re thinking with intention, it feels like the intention. Just like when you say something to someone. People read it right away.
What is it that makes a great musician?
The ability to listen.
What do you look for when choosing musicians for a project?
The first word that comes to mind is “vocabulary” — their musical vocabulary, which is going to reflect their musical experience and what kind of choices they make. When a drummer sits down to play, I can usually tell in about two seconds how they sound, what they’re capable of. Just in the touch, the sound of the cymbals, the balance of the kit, and the space between the beats.
With the bass player, I’m looking for someone who has dependable time. Someone that pays attention to what I’m playing. Generally that means they’re watching they’re not [closes eyes and nods head to beat]. Good note choices. And also someone who doesn’t Mickey Mouse the moment. If I start doing something, it’s not a signal for them to do that too. I do that because they’re already doing this. You do this and I’ll do that.
So a musician who has enough experience to have developed a vocabulary and someone who listens and responds, but who responds by not just repeating back to me what they just heard. Contribute something to the conversation.
And someone who’s not a jerk…
See the full interview with Peter Erskine here…
*BONUS
Peter rounded up his Grammy-nominated band Dr. Um and headed to Sweetwater Studios to record their new album, “Second Opinion.” A film crew was on hand to document the magic of the sessions…