Twentyish Drummer Questions Volume Forty-Eight: Josh Elstro!
Drum interview!
1. How long have you been a drummer?
Almost 3 years-ish. Are we sure I really qualify as a drummer?
2. When/why did you decide to be a drummer?
A few things kind of came together at once and made sense to at least give it a shot. In early 2010 the after-school music program/studio I work at lost it’s drum teacher and I figured someone there should at least know something about drums, my friends and I (now Horsecop) had been joking about starting a band with that name for months but none of us played drums, we had nice kits at the studio just sitting their after hours to practice on and I’d just broken up with a girlfriend and had nothing but time on my hands... so you know, why not?
3.What kind of set did you play?
We have a nice PDP kit with a little Pearl piccolo snare in our live room that I still practice on 95% of the time. At the time it had some ratty old cymbals that were cracking, breaking and tossing shards of metal around the room. The fact that inner city kids were trying to also learn to play on these ugly, dangerous cymbals made it an easy sell to get someone to donate some nice Zildjian K series and such.
4. What album(s) did you learn to drum to? If not an album, with whom? Or did you just bang it out?
I remember putting on a lot of Streetlight Manifesto. I didn’t listen to them much anymore even at the time, but I just always thought that dude was a tight and fast player. Also None More Black records for some reason. Just looping them on my iPod and trying to keep up a little more each time. I threw in Slackers tunes because I grew up on ska and reggae and they’re still the best. Since then I have spurts of trying to learn snare rudiments and looking up drum lesson videos online.
5. When you started out, did you buy so many accessories?
I still barely own any special doo-dads, but EVERY drummer should have a pack of moon gels with him/her at all times. My hardware bag with wheels was quite the game changer though.
6. Single or double?
I can’t play double and I don’t play THAT fast, so I’m not sure if I really have the right to say this BUUUUT I think they’re kind of silly. Especially when punk drummers do it to cop out of making their foot faster.
7. Stick size/type?
Practice with Vater 5As and switch to Vic Firth 5As when performing or recording. It feels like a batter dropping the weight off his bat when he steps to the plate.
8. Nylon tips, or wood?
Working with kids who ALL like to hit pretty damn hard, I learned early on the nylons just fly right off. Wood.
9. What brand of heads do you prefer?
An anonymous donor gave our studio dozens of really high quality Evans heads right when I started playing, so those... kind of by default.
10. What is your favorite cymbal ever?
I got a good deal on a 22” Zildjian Custom K Ride at a flea market. It sounds a little silly when I play punk rock with it, but it’s amazing on recordings and the few times I’ve lent it to jazz players.
11. What are your thoughts on china cymbals?
Save them for your “dad rock” cover band.
12. How about splashes?
Not many people are tasteful enough to use them properly (myself included) but they have a time and place.
13. Where did you get your gear from?
I bought a Tama Imperial Star kit that I still use most of live. Found it on Craigslist and bought it cheap off some parents in the suburbs who’s kid never played it. It sounds like shit. Otherwise I’m a bit of a gear head about all my instruments/recording gear. I hunt around craigslist, pawn shops, local shops and flea markets looking for deals on vintage gear that sounds good. That’s been my method to slowly replace that original Tama kit piece by piece.
14. How do you feel about the statement “any drummer with more than a four piece set is an asshole?”
I’ve trimmed every kit at the studio that I teach on and that kids practice on down to kick, snare, rack, floor... so you know. “Asshole” might be too far, but more than 4 is definitely unnecessary 95% of the time.
15. I know that you are in Horsecop now.. What bands have you been in/are you in? Would you mind listing out a bandography for us?
I haven’t played drums in any other bands but I played guitar in a punk influenced reggae band through college called Clifton Hit Machine with Jack Wright who now plays in a bunch of great reggae bands in Brooklyn. I spent about 4 or 5 years playing as The Best Revenge. First solo, then as a duo with Casey Weissbuch on drums, who now plays in Diarrhea Planet, and THEN became a trio with Zac Schmidt sitting in on drums who now plays in a great doom metal band, Grey Host... point is, playing in crappy bands with me is apparently a great spring board to later success and I’m looking to join something new if anyone’s hiring. Eh? Ehhhh?
16. Where is your best performance located? (This refers to physical media)
Currently sitting on a hard drive waiting to be mixed. Horsecop recorded a full length this summer and despite the silly tongue in cheek nature of the band, I really like a few songs I wrote for it. The drumming? Ehhh... I get by.
In the meantime, I’d only been playing drums for a year when we recorded it in 2011, but people seem to like the song “You’re From Cincinnati? That Must Suck!” off our first EP (horsecop.bandcamp.com/track/youre-from-cincinnati-that-must-suck).
17. Who are your top three drummers now?
-Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes is super good and tasteful. Also hilariously entertaining to watch.
-We’ve been bouncing around the idea of learning a bunch of Blink 182 covers so I recently got back into Travis Barker. I imagine he’s a huge douche and never listen to any of his music, but I admire and appreciate his eclectic playing and definitive style.
-Hell... Joe Frankl (The Frankl Project)! I’ve been watching the kid play since he was like 15 and have consistently been impressed at how calm and effortlessly he makes it look.
18. Who were your initial top three drummers?
-I remember looking up Buddy Rich videos on YouTube when I first started because I guess that’s what you’re supposed to do. I started late enough in life that my music taste was too niche to get into the classic guys you’re supposed to love by default (i.e. Neil Pert, John Bonham, etc.).
-The dude from NOFX was awesome when I first started playing that style, but I got pretty bored with it.
-I always kind of loved the tone and grove of the drums on Roots records (Quest Love). Any time they come up on shuffle I’m still like, “Whoa. What is this?!”
19. Have you ever actually stopped a cymbal crack?
Nope.
20. Do you play any other instruments, or do you feel like a drummer should just concentrate on doing their drummer job well?.
Who doesn’t play guitar and bass? Also learned my way around a piano as a kid and can strum some runs/chords on banjo. My upbringing in the audio engineering world kind of led me to believe anyone who’s passionate about doing music for a living should know as much as they can about everything. I still don’t think I’m very good at all, but drumming has quickly become my favorite.
21. How do you feel about that “This drummer is at the wrong gig” video? That shit rules, right?
For sure. I’d quit my band if he wanted my spot.
22. What is your signature move?
Throwing my sticks at our guitar player at the end of a set.
23. What cd do you put in just because the drums are amazing?
Any Fela Kuti record (“Zombie” being the classic I guess...) just locks you in a zone and creates a serious “experience” on every track and the drumming is a huge part of it.
24. What would be the most exciting fill in spot for you; the kind where you would puke from excitement before going onstage?
There was that thing going around the internet a few months back where people were nominating Mikey Erg to fill for the open drummer spot in Against Me! ...for some reason this question made me think that’d be a pretty big deal. I worshipped that band in college and still admire them PLUS the dude is a chick now?! What a ride that’d be!
25. Shoe preference or no shoe?
I played without shoes once and ended up with a gnarly bruise and some splinters. Shoes.
26. Fill in the blank: Best word (phrase) ever to describe your drumming: “Hack”.
Worst word (phrase) ever to describe your drumming: “Professional”.
Word (phrase) that you are aiming for while drumming: “Wow! I didn’t notice how inexperienced the drummer was.”
Thanks for answering these for me, Josh!