Story by Steven Douglas Losey
Photos by Rick Malkin Page 4

MD: What are the components of being musical?
David: Being a musical cat is everything. I always play with big ears and really listen to what's going on. I try to think like the other musicians I'm working with. It's imperative to think about what the guitarist is doing and what the bass player is doing and why they're doing it. When you get yourself to a certain proficiency on the drums, then you don't have to pay attention to yourself anymore. Everything we learn - the rudiments, 16th notes, triplets, 8th note grooves, shuffles - all that stuff is learned in the practice room so it can become second nature on stage. When we go on the bandstand, we open our ears and listen. We play and react to what's taking place. That ability is incredibly important for all musicians to hone, but especially younger players. All the things you learn early on become a part of your soul, so you don't have to think about them later on when you play. You listen to the other musicians and become reactionary.
MD: So it's not about the chops?
David: No, it's all about the groove. Well, I love guys with chops and I always have, but I've never really considered myself one of those cats. I think if someone tells you that you have great chops, that's cool. But the best compliment I've ever received is something like, "That was incredibly musical" or "That was really grooving" or "That felt great." To me, those are the most important things.
MD: What are some of the special musical moments you've had as a drummer?
David: The first would be the opportunity to play on Les Dudek's album Deeper Shades Of Blues, which took place in 1993, shortly after Jeff Porcaro passed away. Jeff was my absolute hero, and I was heartbroken when he passed. I met Les Dudek when I was playing in a club. He approached me and asked if I'd be interested in finishing up an album that he had in the can. He said he had the record almost complete, but the drummer who had played on all the other tracks was a good friend of his who had recently died. He told me he didn't want anything detracting from his friend's sound and feel. When he told me that the other drummer was jeff Porcaro, I couldn't even believe it.
MD: That must have been incredible.
David: My first master session was with him, which involved incredible pressure knowing that I had to get the track right if I wanted to appear on the sam record next to my hero. It was definitely a God thing. An opportunity like that was too special to be a "right place at the right time" kind of thing. After I knew my track was going to be used, I got a chance to hang out with Les quite a bit in the studio. I was able to sit around while they brought Jeff's drums up and mixed the stuff, which was a real special moment for me.
MD: Any other musical moments?
David: I had a chance to perform at the Theater At Madison Square Garden in 2005 at the Jammy Awards with a jam band called The Disco Biscuits. I was playing at B.B. King's in Manhattan with Travis, and it's a tradition for the Jammys to feature artists from different genres. Initially, The Disco Biscuits contacted Duke Cooper of Quantum Management to see if Travis would perform with them. Then they asked if I'd be into playing as well, because they were in between drummers. I've always been game for playing different styles of music, and it just so happens that they chose their most difficult song to perform. It was a song that bounced between seven, nine, thirteen, and fifteen - crazy metric modulations. It was like playing an old Genesis song. When I first saw a video performance of the tune, I thought to myself, "I can't chart this because it has too many changes. There's no music stand big enough!" It was back to the days when I was trying to learn a Rush song or a Yes song, when I just had to memorize each section. To make it even more difficult, there was a key modulation and a metric modulation when Travis came out on the stage while we segued out of the Biscuits' tune into one of Travis's songs, which then meshed back into the Biscuit's tune. We had one rehearsal in New York City the day before the show, and we just went up on stage and winged it. It was cool to pull that off with Phil Lesh and Huey Lewis standing on the side of the stage, just diggin' the performance. It was all about the music that night.

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