My Window To The World…

Sad, but true - it is now official: Steve Hewitt is no longer Placebo’s drummer!

Here is the press release from Placebo *:

“PLACEBO PART COMPANY WITH DRUMMER STEVE HEWITT

Placebo have parted company with drummer of 11 years, Steve Hewitt, due to personal and musical differences.

Brian Molko commented “Being in a band is very much like being in a marriage, and in couples - in this case a triple - people can grow apart over the years. To say that you don’t love your partner anymore is inaccurate, considering all that you’ve been through and achieved together. There simply comes a point when you realize that you want different things from your relationship and that you can no longer live under the same roof, so to speak.”

The split is amicable and a sad time for both parties. Steve Hewitt replaced Robert Schultzberg behind the drum kit in 1996 whilst the band were promoting Placebo’s eponymous debut album and went on to record the following 4 studio albums ‘Without You I’m Nothing’, ‘Black Market Music’, ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ and most recently ‘Meds’.

Placebo have just returned from the USA where they were part of the high profile ‘Projekt Revolution Tour’ alongside Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance. The band are now taking a well earned break.

Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal will begin work on Placebo’s 6th studio album next Spring and are in no rush to find an immediate replacement for Steve.”

* sources:

Placeboworld.co.uk

Placebo MySpace Blog Entry

Technorati Tags: Placebo, Steve Hewitt, Placebo drummer, Placebo drums, Brian Molko, Stef Olsdal, Stefan Olsdal

The older I get, the more I am into checklists to make sure I do not forget things.

It has been claimed that by writing a checklist, you are more likely to memorize what you are writing down.

Whether I go out to play the drums in a studio or at a live gig, I always make sure that I have the following items in my bags:

- Drumsticks
- Music Charts / Scores / Notes
- Writing Paper & Pencils
- Roland SPD-20 Drum Pad
- Roland SPD-20 Drum Pad AC Adaptor
- Roland SPD-20 Drum Pad Mounting Kit (incl. Screws & Tools)
- Laptop
- AC Adaptor for Laptop
- Firewire Cable
- USB Cable
- External USB Mouse (in case the trackpad malfunctions)
- M-Audio USB Sound Input/Output
- Headphones
- Spare Headphones
- Headphones Extension Cable
- Chinch to Jack Adaptors
- Jack to Chinch Adaptors
- Gaffer Tape
- Tuning Key (for Drums)
- Spare T-Shirt
- Towels
- Custom Earplugs (not the cheap ones from the Pharmacy)
- Flashlight

For gigs I like to add:

- Laptop’s Operating System on CD
- Software I am using (Ableton Live) on CD
- CD or Harddrive Backup of all (Audio/MIDI) Data needed

The list might seem kind of crazy, but experience shows that most things listed can come in handy at one time or the other.

I have had my laptop “go crazy” on me before. Re-installing the operating system as well as the application took care of it. (It is best to have no data on the harddrive that has not been backed up yet, so one can just format the HD and start re-installing.)

Another time the laptop’s harddrive stopped working an hour before the gig. Luckily, one of the VJs had a spare laptop. I installed the application, copied the data onto his harddrive and was (more or less) ready to go by the time we hit the stage.

Since I oftentimes play with backing tracks, I cannot survive without headphones. I usually have some left/right channel splits happening, so the headphones must work 100 %. The spare one has saved my life more than once.

The custom earplugs I also want to mention again. The volumes we are often exposed to on stage are nothing but poison for our hearing, so it needs to be protected. No hearing = no music!!!

Technorati Tags: Drummer Survival Guide, Drummer Checklist, Live Gig Checklist, Rehearsal Checklist, Drums, Drummer