The 2009 Winter NAMM Show kicks off tomorrow and looks to be one of the best yet. Zildjian will be hosting a press conference to announce John Blackwell's signature drum stick and an upcoming promotion in which the winner will recieve a tour of the Zildjian factory by Blackwell himself! Joining Zildjian was one of the many feats John has accomplished within the past year, having also started a new solo project, clinic tours, and performing at the prestegious Buddy Rich Memorial Concert. Recently Drummer Connection was privilaged enough to conduct a brief interview with Blackwell after one of his clinics about the release of his new DVD from Hudson Music titled Master Series.

 

John Blackwell Interview: By Damian King
DC: Drummer Connection
JB: John Blackwell

DC: First I just want to congratulate you on another great drum clinic, we always enjoy coming out to see you here at Seminole Music and we learn something new every time we do. When being affiliated with certain companies is there a specific criteria you have to meet as far as clinics and appearances or is it based on your availability?
JB: No they don’t do that, it’s all about if I’m available. Sometimes people request me and ask if I’m available and I’ll say yes or no.

DC: Your first DVD was mainly yourself and Billy Amendola from Modern Drummer. In this DVD you’re joined by several guest musicians and an audience of 11 students during the whole filming process. With those things in play did that make everything more difficult to coordinate and film or did having one DVD under your belt make the process a little easier?

JB: This time was easier because I knew what I had in store. The first time I did the video I had never been on a DVD or had my own DVD that was John Blackwell, so I was very nervous the first time. But this time it was much smoother and I knew what I wanted to say and I knew what I wanted to do.

DC: When working on projects like this hindsight is always 20/20. When you look back is there anything you missed or wish you had covered in more detail, or does this conclude all of the material that you weren’t able to include on the first DVD?

JB: I feel whatever was supposed to be said was said, and in the future there will be room for something else.

DC: One thing drummers never seem to get any credit for is the ability to write and produce their own songs. When coming up with ideas for your originals do you transcribe the music first or just play what you feel- and what is your mindset when it comes to creating your music?

JB: I go by feel, I just hear it and I run in the studio and put it down on tape before I forget about it. What helps out is that I have perfect pitch so when I hear something I can just easily play it out. Then I add more ideas, leave it alone and when I get more ideas for it I go back and finish it.

DC: Do you ever collaborate with other artists or let them hear what you’re working on for their input?

JB: No, I like to collaborate later but not at the moment. There are certain artists that I want to meet that I dream of playing with and those are the ones I collaborate with like Gary Granger, Mike Scott, and Corey Bernhard.

DC: Well you certainly have a talent for creating your own music and there are plenty of people that love what you do. Have you ever considered coming out with your own Play Along CD of your music?

JB: Hudson is working on something now to where you can buy the tracks from the DVD and download them so you can play to them.

DC: Having finished up your second DVD and after appearing on many others do you plan or writing your own funk lesson book? What’s next for John Blackwell?

JB: What I’m focusing on now is putting out a record because I haven’t put out my own CD yet. I’ve put out 2 DVD’s now but haven’t put a record out so I want to do a CD now. That’s the next project, finish the CD and from there maybe talk about doing a book or something-not a music book but a book about my life and what I’ve been through.

DC: Playing with Prince must be intimidating because he’s one of those rare musicians that not only can he play your instrument, in most cases he can play it better than whomever he hires for that role in his band. How has he inspired you as a drummer and musician as a whole?

JB: I’ve learned a lot from playing to his records all my life: Controversy, Purple Rain, Dirty Mind, and all the records I had in my catalog when I was a kid. I learned how to play drums halfway through listening to his music so it’s a great honor to be with him.

DC: Recently you performed at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert which I know meant a lot to you. Did you get to pick your own Buddy tune?

JB: They had an idea of what they wanted me to play and then they wanted me to play an original. So I picked the original I wanted and just went from there.

DC: I loved your original tune “Mind of J”; I had the music from your solo vamp bouncing around in my head for the next three days.

JB: I wrote that song about married life actually. If you listen to the song all those crazy weird kicks here, there and all that stuff…it’s so difficult. And that song pretty much explains how difficult it was while we were married. That’s why I called it that because it’s a crazy song and its about a crazy time..

DC: I know it takes a lot to write these songs because everything you do is so genuine and it comes from the heart and your fans really appreciate that transparency in the music. I just want to thank you again for your time and I’ll be looking forward to any projects you and Prince will be working on in the near future.

This and many more surprises as Drummer Connection will be bringing you all of the inside news to this year's show.

zildjian.com

hudsonmusic.com