The following interview took place via e-mail, and was conducted very carefully and responsibly by Dr. Zoltan!
You have drummed with Suicidal Tendencies, The Vandals, Tenacious D., and now Bad Religion. A lot of drummers of your caliber are shameless about pimping their abilities with endorsements, websites, instructional DVDs… and you don’t even have a website. Why do you keep such a low profile?
Well, I do have my own Myspace page, which I need to make a little more fan friendly (i.e. drum set diagram, bio, etc). That’s my New Year’s Resolution. As far as whoring myself out? I’m still waiting for Cadillac to call me about using my drum solo in their commercial. I’m shamelessly waiting.
Are there any mainstream pop bands or singer / songwriters out there that you’d want to drum for?
Elvis Costello, David Bowie, David Byrne, and PJ Harvey. All of these artists would be a dream come true to play with.
As a fan of Zig Ziglar and Dr. Laura, what is your idea of success and happiness in life?
To find a lady who loves you, not only for your 5 stroke rolls, but for the man that you are.
You’re a fan of some really quirky music… Mr. Bungle and Ween, to name a few. How cerebral do you get with music? Are you a music theory geek?
Not at all..Although I’m in the midst of learning the piano. I do know a lot about drums and I do know how to read music, so maybe I am…
You live in the Imaginary City referred to as Los Angeles. What is the worst thing about it?
The pomposity, smog, and world famous traffic.
Your drumming on “Look What I Almost Stepped In” was monstrous. What type of preparation went into the recording of your tracks? Did you work from charts or did you get to develop your parts with the other players? Were the songs completed before you arrived? How creative were you allowed to be? Would you have done anything different?
No charts in punk music. Warren Fitzgerald gave out demos and he had some ideas for me, which is usually a great blue print whenever we work together, but I definitely added my paprika into their mix. Yes, the songs which were 95% Warren’s were completely written… although when we rehearsed, minor changes occurred. I was pretty happy with my performance on this particular record. It allowed me to really play out and unleash my own fury. From a drumming stand point I’m pretty proud of that one, so i don’t think i would have changed anything.
To your knowledge (or according to your best guess), who was / is the greatest musician in the world, on any instrument, out of anyone who has ever lived? Why?
Buddy Rich… because to this day there’s no one that can come even close to matching his ability behind the trap set.
What instrument should be mixed the loudest on an album?
The trombone. Under all circumstances.
Find out more about Brooks Wackerman right here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_Wackerman