05/08/2008 – Interview with GWYLLION

I go to know GWYLLION in January this year at Frostrock, where they really amazed me and it has been a while since that happened with a band I wasn't familiar with. So I bought their album "Awakening The Dream" which proved to be as good as the band's live performance. Not only did the music play a role, but also the members' skills and mainly Wouter's drumming. I saw these guys perform a few months later and it was as good and perhaps even better as at Frostrock. Anyhow, I hadn't forgotten about the drumming, so I sent Wouter the list of this inquiry. There were a few problems, like mails not arriving, but a few weeks ago the Q&A finally got through.

01. When did you start playing the drums and what triggered that desire?

I started playing when I was 13 - 14 years old, in '94 or '95. I had already taken some classical music lessons (like all my brothers), which did not interest me a lot. At that time, my brother Martijn was playing the electrical guitars and both him and me were fans of bands like METALLICA and SEPULTURA back then, and as I wanted to be able to play that kind of music as well, and was especially drawn to the rhythmic part of that music, I started to play the drums. To me, most bands stand or fall with their drummer. It is the instrument that is responsible for most of the power and strength in the music, as well as most of the groove - while all the other instruments create the melody, which is also an important part of course, everything is rooted in the rhythmic track laid down by the drums. I just love the power and the energy that can be projected by this instrument, as well as the versitality in playing that can be achieved.

02. How did you learn to drum: on your own or by taking lessons?

The first years, I took lessons with a great rock drummer (Gino Kesteloot), who taught me a lot about Rock technique but also taught me to love my instrument the way I do now. After a while, I looked up some DVDs of great drummers and learned a lot watching them play and trying to imitate their technique and the way they use this technique in their songs. A few years ago, I started to take some lessons to develop a bit of jazz technique - rudiments, groove playing, etc. Guy Vernelen, the drummer of OCEANS OF SADNESS, was a great help for me here (great guy!), and he is also one of the greatest examples of how to apply groove playing in Metal!

03. Who are your influences (other drummers)?

There are a lot! In the early years I was mainly influenced by Lars Ulrich (METALLICA) and Igor Cavalera (SEPULTURA), but nowadays I am mostly inspirated by guys like Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER), Johan Langell (PAIN OF SALVATION), and maybe especially studio drummers like Thomas Lang, Marco Minnemann, Mike Mangini, Jojo Mayer, etc. In fact I always love to watch any skilled drummer play, because there are always things they are doing that I can't do or just never thought of doing, and this way you never stop learning!.

04. When did you buy/get your first kit? Which brand/model was it?

My first kit was a 5-piece Mapex Mars series which I got in '94 or '95, with one sucky Paiste ride, one sucky Powerbeat (?) Hihat and one almost decent Sabian crash. I expanded this kit over the years to a 9-piece with some more cymbals (another crash, a splash and a china if I am not mistaken).

05. How many kits have you had over the years?

Including the electronic kit I had for a few months before returning it, and counting my first kit that kept expanding as one kit, I think the correct answer is 5: the Mapex Mars, then a Tama Starclassic (great monster kit in the Purple Monster finish), a red Sonor Delite 7-piece and finally the greatest kit of all time, my Ice Sparkle Sonor Delite 8-piece.

06. Which kit(s) do you have now? (brand, model, skins, cymbals, hardware, ...)

At the moment, I still have both Sonor Delite kits, which I believe are the best sounding kits ever. The small one has a Birdseye Cherry finish and consists of 8", 10", 12", 14" and 16" toms (hanging on a Pearl Icon curved rack), a 22" bass drum and a 14" snare. It has Paiste Alpha cymbals (14" hihat, 10" and 12" splashes, 14", 16" power, 18" power and 18" bright crashes, 18" china and 20" ride) and Tama Iron Cobra pedals (power glide twin pedal, hihat stand and Cobra Clutch).

The big one has an Ice Sparkle finish and two custom bass drum heads with an image and the Gwyllion logo. It has 8", 10" and 12" rack toms, 16" and 18" floor toms, two 22" bass drums, a custom cut Pearl Icon curved rack, Sabian Hand Hammered, Vault, AAX and Signature cymbals (too much to sum up except for the greatest ride ever, the 21" HH Raw Bell Dry Ride), and Tama Iron Cobra pedals (two power glide single pedals, a legless hihat stand and a Cobra Clutch).

On both kits I use Vater 5B hickory sticks (with wooden tips). I use Remo skins: on the toms, clear Emperors on the top and clear Diplomats on the bottom, on the snares, coated Ambassadors on top and hazy snare-side on the bottom, on the bass drums Powerstroke III's on both batter and reso.

I think I have taken the best things from every major brand: the shells are Sonor, the hardware is Pearl, and the pedals are Tama. I also use a Roland SPD-S for samples and effects.

07. Are you endorsed by certain brands?

Nope, not yet, though one of these days maybe I should really make the effort of sending some press kits...

08. How important is it for you to have a realistic drumsound when recording or performing live?

It depends. Of course it is always the most fun if you have a good feedback of your own sound when playing. Also, the better I can hear myself, the more creative my playing becomes - if I have a very bad sound live I will stick to the things I have already tested, if I have a good sound I like to experiment. But in a live situation it is important that you are able to play even without hearing yourself (though not hearing any bass drums and toms is a bitch because it's not easy to coordinate the tom - bass drum fills this way). A lot of venues simply do not have the possibility to get the stage-sound crisp and clear, but you still have to try to give your best perfomance in those circumstances. So to answer your question, it's more fun to have a realistic and good sound when you're playing, but you should be able to play on feel alone as well.

09. Do you use triggers? Why (not)? If so, in which situations?

No. I do agree triggers have their use (for instance in the ultra-fast Death Metal stuff; where all bass drum hits just become one big blur without triggers), but I like my sound to be as natural as possible. I like to be able to make the difference between loud hits and soft hits, both in volume as in sound. Especially on snare and toms, but also on the bass drums. However, I have a lot of respect for drummers like Gert Monden (IN-QUEST and APOCRYPH), who does use triggers but has a speed and technique most drummers can only admire!

10. What makes a drumkit a good drumkit, in general or for the style you play? (material, setup, portability/movability, ...)

Well, firstly the sound ofcourse... I love the sound of maple drums, especially if they are pretty thin shells (which gives a very warm and resonant sound). They also have to be tuned well, so they can be miked without problems in a live situation but also sound good without any amplification at all. The setup is also a very important factor, everything has to be where it can be reached easily and without stretching yourself, or you will get hurt. I also like to have my setups as identical as possible from gig to gig, so I don't have to worry about the placement and can just hit things without worrying if it will be where I think it is. For portability, I highly recommend a rack system, which enables me to setup and tear down my (pretty big) kit in less than 10 minutes, and still everything is locked into place and exactly where it should be. It is important to have fast changeovers between bands on the gigs we do. Sometimes size is also a factor, if you're playing a very small stage it's not always great to install a drumset that takes over 3 x 2 meters. That's why I sometimes take my smaller kit with me, which also has the conveniance of fitting into smaller cars! :-)

11. How much money can a professional kit like you use in studios or on stage cost? (rough estimation, despite different setups)

Hm, my big kit has set me back over 10,000 Euros, but if you want to buy a pro kit that has everything you need with a good sound and good hardware and cymbals, you should be able to get it for about 5,000 - 6,000 Euros I think (about the same kind of kit as my smaller Sonor)...

12. How often do you practise? Do you then also try new things or just maintain what you're already capable of?

Not nearly enough! I used to play at least 1 hour a day, now I'm lucky if I can squeeze in some time between band rehearsals... But I have at least 2 3-hour rehearsals a week, so maybe it could be worse... I always try to include new things in the new songs we write, this way I am obligated to learn them since I have to be able to play them in those songs :-) When I play alone, I do a mix of these things, I play the things I know for fun, and then I try to practise some things I know I have to work on. I also have two sticks and a practise pad next to my computer and in front of my TV, so I am able to practise some hand and finger exercises while watching a movie or something - that really works!

13. Do you stick to a certain style or can you play different styles?

I used to focus on metal alone, but in the last years I'm trying to learn some jazz and groove playing. If you look at the greatest drummers in metal, most of them implement a lot of stuff from other genres into their playing and that's what makes them so great, so that's what I'm also trying to do: learn different things and then finding ways to apply this to my own playing.

14. Any advice you have for starting drummers? Or something you'd like to share in general?

It may sound boring, but try to practise some theoretic things (rudiments, etc) from the start! You'll benefit greatly later on, and now I am regretting that I never did this before because now I'm wasting time trying to learn these things :-) Also, just have fun! If you're playing against your will, just stop for a while until you feel like playing again, it should never become a drag!

15. For the 'famous'/very experienced drummers specifically:
a) Do you believe drums and drumming will evolve during the next five or ten years?
b) Do you believe instruments have reached a level where it will become stale or can it still be improved greatly?
c) What are the greatest weaknesses of drum kits now and what needs to be improved to reach a better sound or to facilitate the task of playing drums for you?

Hm, I'm neither famous nor very experienced but I'll try to answer anyway...

a) Just like all music, drumming has been evolving a lot in the last few years (10 years ago a blastbeat was almost unheard of and now almost everyone can play like this), and in my opinion it will keep evolving at the same rate in the next years or even centuries. There will always be drummers who innovate and find new things and new applications, and five years later these innovations become common and everyone starts using them, it has always been like this and I think it will always be like this.

b) See the above answer, it works equally for equipment. If you compare our kits now to the kits they had 50 years ago, the difference is incredible. Yet 50 years ago they probably thought they were making the best kits ever. There will be new innovations and in time, every company will take over these innovations and make them common. One thing I think is improving at a fast rate and that will be important in the future are electronic kits, I think there will be more and more people using them and there will probably be some cool things growing out of this niche!

c) I am extremely happy with the equipment I am using now :-) I will probably follow the next trends though, if something new comes out that seems to be the greatest thing ever I'll probably embrace it as well, but I think I'm pretty much set for the next few years now... One thing they could maybe make easier is the tuning process, who knows maybe one day they'll come out with a device that tunes your drums automatically, that'd be great! :-)

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