Drum Influences Series: #8 Josh Freese, "Judith," A Perfect Circle (Drum Cover)

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Josh Freese became my favorite rock drummer after I discovered him by chance on the 1992 Suicidal Tendencies album, Art of Rebellion. I was heavy into skateboarding at that time and hardcore punk was the soundtrack of choice during those early teen years. ST was big in the skate scene but I hadn't heard much of their music, so I went to Waxie Maxies in the mall and grabbed their most recent album, which happened to be one where they hired Freese to play drums. That record established an entirely new benchmark for me, as far as what I wanted to sound like on the drums. All throughout, Josh is reckless yet calculated, fresh and exciting yet always in service of the songs, and his sound is loose and natural yet cuts through the mix like a laser beam. He was early in his session career at the time, but it was clear that he was on another level.

Other favorite Freese records are Infectious Grooves' Sarsippius Ark and the first two A Perfect Circle releases. "Judith" is my track of choice here because it's loaded with Freese-isms, like machine-gun fills, over-the-bar phrases, and tribal toms. It also grooves like a mofo. I haven't gotten it down perfectly; I'm still stuck in the "thinking" phase, as my friend and studio great Nir Z once pointed out. But it's about as close as I can get it...for now.

The backing track is from the Hal Leonard "Modern Rock" drum play-along book/CD (www.halleonard.com)

Gear Used:

MCD/Keller Magnum Maple kit (10, 13, 16, 22)
Masters of Maple 6.5x14 bell brass snare
Zildjian cymbals (14" Quick Beat hi-hats, 20" and 19" A Thin crashes, 20" A Rock ride from the '70s)
Remo White Suede Emperor heads on toms, CS Coated on snare, and Clear Powerstroke 3 on kick
Porter & Davies Gigster seat kicker
Shure, Blue, Sennheiser, M-Audio, and Audio-Technica mics
M-Audio Profire 2626 interface and Octane pre's
Ableton Live DAW