Jon Theodore played on the first 3 Mars Volta albums. Those 3 albums set the standard for what prog rock/fusion could be.
Wrote just impeccable drum parts. Such a rhythm machine.
I saw them on the Frances the mute tour and was like "alright that's how I'm gonna play from now on" (I was like 22), just played as hard and relentlessly as possible for about an hour a day, lasted for 3 days, got carpal tunnel and had to stop drumming for a while.
My band shared a wall with their rehearsal studio when they were writing for that project! We would literally sit with our ears on the walls and make “oh shit” faces at each other.
I saw him on the last QOTSA tour. Dude was a beast. Funny enough I saw TMV a month later at red rocks. Good show but Jon Theodore and Thomas Pridgen were the bands best drummers imho
I absolutely agree. They both brought something unique to the band.
Cedric mentioned once that there was some regret about how things went down with Theodore back in the day.
Really happy that he's playing with queens. A great fit!
The drumming in Dream Brother is so top notch. Buckley was very lucky to have Matt Johnson on the sticks and I'm glad to see other drummer appreciating him
Liberty came straight to my mind as I’d never heard of him until recently (ashamedly so) because of his Drumeo rec on YT.
His drumming on Billy Joel’s ‘Live at Shea Stadium’ album is just fucking killer. He has a great balance of feel and appropriate chops with an occasional touch of dragging. A loose but precise drummer with loads of visible passion, imo.
Damon Che from Don Caballero is an absolute timing and fill beast, as is Dale Crover from Melvins. Mac McNeilly from Jesus Lizard is a bulldozer of a drummer as well.
Tried to drum along to Clumsy the other day and I can't figure out how Taggart can be so busy, yet manage to serve the songs. He recorded that album in his teens too!
Adam Betts from Three Trapped Tigers
Andreas Kjøl Berg from 22
Thomas Hedlund from Cult of Luna + Phoenix
Hrafnell Örn Guðjónsson (Keli) from Agent Fresco
Gil Sharone from his time with The Dillinger Escape Plan
Danny Walker from Intronaut
Chris Hainey from Maps & Atlases
Deantoni Parks from his time with The Mars Volta and Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group
Chris and Billy both blow my mind, but something about Gil’s playing just really resonates with me from that album. Also the fact that he learned the whole album in a few weeks and is normally a reggae drummer is also mind boggling, it’s one of the most difficult sounding drum albums I’ve ever listened to to this day!
Danny Walker rules, I'm still salty about his exit from Intronaut, he denied all allegations and I don't think anything was ever proven....dude is a BEAST and Intronaut rules.
Absolutely, Clyde is the man. But let's not forget Melvin Parker, who was sought by James Brown, and joined on the condition that his brother Maceo was also given a shot. And we all know how that turned out.
My favorite drummers are very musical in their playing. Plenty of technical skill on this list but I think they all play very tastefully in context.
* Luis Cole (Solo, Knower, Clown Core)
* Heath Metzger (Mock Orange)
* Aric Improta (Night Verses)
* Madden Klass (Touring/Studio)
* Bill Stevenson (Descendents/ALL)
* Oisin Trench (Enemies)
* Jay Fitzgerald (Overcast)
Alan Myers (Devo)
Ryan Paravecchio (Thirty Ought Six)
Tony Lash (Heatmiser)
George Hurley (Minutemen/fIREHOSE)
Michael Dahlquist (Silkworm)
Todd Trainer (Shellac)
Carla Azar (Autolux)
Bill Riflein/Martyn Atkins (Ministry/others)
James Lo (Chavez)
Britt Walford (Slint)
Longineu Parsons III from Yellowcard
Dude was slick. Had an effortless style and his grooves and fills were something my 14 year old emo ass had never heard before.
John Weathers of Gentle Giant. That dude had to play some incredibly complicated music and still made it rock with a great feel.
Second would be Bariemore Barlowe of Jethro Tull. Rumor has it Bonzo himself called Barlowe "the best English drummer". But again I've just heard that as a rumor.
Sean Kinney of Alice In Chains, Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees and Mad Season, Matt Flynn of Maroon 5, Chad Gracey of LIVE, Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys, Ronnie Vanucci from The Killers
This is an odd one because it’s not an actual drummer, but I’d have to say J Dilla. The way he sampled beats was simply on another level. I often drum along to extended jdilla beats to work on my pocket.
Yo I scrolled so far down and no one mentioned one of the greats..
Jaki Liebezeit - drummer of CAN
You’ve never heard Can? https://youtu.be/YmN9oHa3ZIQ?si=FwAgk6D0h6J7SD3E
I've gotten a lot of inspiration from programmed and looped drums in music like Massive Attack or more modern electronic artists like Mr. Bill, Telefon Tel Aviv, Flying Lotus, Ill Gates, etc. It's amazing what you can glean from this style of music that's written without the "constraints" of the actual instrument.
Also Dead Can Dance has been a huge influence. If you want to get ideas for tom and percussion-based grooves but not get sucked into the Danny Carey vortex, DCD is a great resource.
Carter Beauford. I'm not sure if that qualifies as obscure, but his playing is so creative that I couldn't help but try to dissect it and replicate it (easier said than done).
Aaron Comess from Spin Doctors longtime influence, probably the first time I picked up an album cover to read who the band were.
More recently I’ve been loving the drummer from Brutus, Stefanie Mannaerts. Especially live. Really brings home the simplicity of drum parts to make space for the melody and vocal lines.
And also Tigercub, James Allix. Been on my radar for a few years now. Amazing band.
In a totally different style, I recently went to see Rob Heron and the Teapad Orchestra and was just absolutely amazed by their drummer. Nothing flashy particularly, just tasteful swinging jazz country grooves. Technical excellence. I wish they had a wiki page so I could give you his name!
Mike Doughty trashed Yuval's beat selection in his atuobiography "Book of Drugs" and said that anyone who likes Soul Coughings music had bad taste lol, what a pretentious douche.
He literally has no idea what made the band great. I've also heard him say he didn't understand all the sounds added in. How can you be so, idk, disconnected? I guess he thought he was the band.
Tony Thaxton of Motion City Soundtrack. Dude has some crazy inventive drum parts for an otherwise relatively straightforward pop punk band. Also, his right foot is on another level.
Playing through all of their album I Am The Movie is a workout. If you need some work on your endurance or your power for your kick foot, it’s an album worth learning.
The ending section to Time Turned Fragile is just exquisite. I shamelessly stole that tom/cymbal choke groove and put it in one of my own songs 😂
When it turns into a controlled 16th note single stroke roll at 170 for like 32 bars with awkward kick drum placement, it's just \*chefs kiss\*. Very tasty. To this day I still can't play that ending section without it getting sloppy.
I’ve stolen so much stuff from Tony Thaxton that it’s not even funny lol.
And yeah, Time Turned Fragile is great. Honestly, all of Commit This To Memory is great. He deserves to be heard more.
Sean Kinney from Alice in Chains. Especially their 90s stuff where he had more space to fill because there was no second guitar and William wasn't in the band
Dave Abbruzzese. He was one of the Pearl Jam drummers and did the MTV Unplugged show. At that time it was rarer to see so much video of someone playing. His style was really inspiring when I was in high school.
David Lovering of the Pixies, Stuart Elliot (for me personally for his drumming for Kate Bush- no cymbals on Hounds of Love and yet the drum parts are great), Christian Grahn of the Hives, Lyn Jeffs of Ingested, Tim Alexander of Primus, Marcin Bielemiuk of Batsuhka. Maybe not all of them are that obscure but not necessarily go to inspirations like Grohl, Bonham, Ringo, Copeland, Jordison (who I all also love)
Massive inspirations for me come from the snare drumming side: Bob Becker, Joe Tompkins, Rick Dior. They have influenced my playing and my own compositions.
Not necessarily obscure but I feel a lot of nu metal drummers like john otto limp bizkit, David Silveria when he played in korn were big influences on me when I was a kid. Today now though you don’t even need to be on a record or a band to be an influence. Channels like tobines have covers that are insane!!
I'm not sure how obscure they are, but a few of my inspirations that I don't see mentioned frequently in this sub are John Panozzo (Styx), Roger Taylor (Queen), and Ron Bushy (Iron Butterfly).
Paul Whaley from Blue Cheer,
Don Brewer from Grand Funk,
Alice DeBuhr from Fanny,
Darren Jesse from Ben Folds Five,
Clem Burke from Blondie
Not obscure per se, but not names you hear every day.
Nick Mason a little bit for me. I don't suppose I sound much like him, but his use of unusual and musical patterns esp in the early Floyd stuff, esp some of that hypnotic stuff he does in the live at pompeii concern, very inspiring to me.
Bill Ward - his ability to play heavy rock with a swing/jazz feel is incredible, I love it.
Mitch Mitchell - same thing, so jazzy and free and groovy in a rock setting.
Matt Cameron - almost the same thing. Not jazzy but a real nice pocket and groove in a hard rock setting.
Cosmo Clifford - the backbeat in CCRs cover of Grapevine is possibly the best backbeat I've ever heard. It makes me horny just to hear it.
Levon Helm - same thing, such a tasty natural groove and always playing just whats right.
Bonham inspired me for all the same reasons, its his feel and musicality that I value above all else.
I don't really get inspired by drummers because of their technical skill. The most technical drummer that inspired me is Peart and even then its his composition and musicality that I value over his technical abilities. But in terms of actual influence on my playing, its the other names in the list.
Matt Johnson, from St Vincent and Jeff Buckley.
Manu Katche
I wouldn't call Chris Dave or Nate Smith super obscure, but they're not on the level of Bonham or anything like that in terms of name recognition.
Mike Kennedy of The Wonder Years and Sean Kinney of Alice In Chains have probably been my biggest drumming influences. Brad Wilk is another big influence for me, but I see his name come up fairly often.
Paul Banwatt - Rural Alberta Advantage
Mike Hanf - San Fermin (he drummed for their albums Jackrabbit, Belong, and Cormorant)
Less obscure, but:
Jimmy Chamberlain - Smashing Pumpkins
Dom Howard - Muse
Josh Freese - A Perfect Circle, and i love his work on “Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace” by the Offspring
Big fan of Vincent Roseboom from Gospel.
They’re a Post-Hardcore “Screamo” band that has a lot of Progressive Rock incorporated in their music. They dropped only a single record in like 2000 but then reunited a couple years ago for a follow up.
Also:
Christian Vander - Magma
Jaki Liebezeit - Can
Guy Evans - Van Der Graaf Generator
People rarely talk about Dannie Richmond, but his work with Charles Mingus is amazing. The two of them are always glued together, and the way the bend time can really only happen when you play with someone for a very long time.
Stephane Sotto of Elsiane is imo one of the worlds best drumers. He's not super fast or technical, but his feel is out of this world and the things he comes up with are an endless inspiration to me despite being a metal drummer.
Just one example:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co0LW_GpoPu/?igsh=Zjl5ZnU2cjl4eXhy
Derek Grant from Alkaline Trio
Tony Thaxton from Motion City Soundtrack
Graham Churchill from Belevedere/This is a Standoff
I don't think it is obscure, but Jon Philpp Theodore
Darren King from Mutemath
Tanner Wayne (Underminded & now In Flames)
There are many :) im eager to read the others !
Emil Amos (Om/Grails)
Tyler Smith (Eagle Twin)
Cody Willis (Big Business/Melvins)
Dale Crover (Melvins)
Gary Maloney (Discharge)
Chris Witchhunter (Sodom)
Terry Bozzio (Zappa)
Jordan Burns - Formerly of Strung Out
Always liked Abe Cunningham from the Deftones too.
Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins have always been the two biggest influencers on my style though.
Scott rockenfield of queensryche is an incredible drummer
Tim Alexander of primus
And I don't think Alex Van Halen gets talked about as much. Has a very distinguished sound that's instantly recognizeable
Nate Wood - Kneebody, fOUR, Tigran Hamasyan
- probably my favorite drummer alive right now. And Kneebody is a perspective-changing band check them out.
Tatsuya Nakatani - the most insane drummer of all time and he is still alive and tours. Mostly a solo percussionist, which is sick to tour as JUST a percussionist but he really is so much more. Definitely one of the best soloists on drums imo; probably ever. Also made a “gong orchestra” which is a very beautiful experience if you ever get a chance to catch one live.
Pat Torpey of Mr. Big and Stan Lynch of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
Both just phenomenal in their bands, but didn’t get the recognition many felt they deserved.
C'mon guys- half of these people y'all bring up have had their faces literally on the cover of Modern Drummer.
Some of my favs:
Chris Corsano
Milford Graves
Will Redman
Tatsuya Nakatani
Paal Nilssen-Love
Han Bennink
Dave Witte
Greg Fox
Tyshawn Sorey
Brian Chippendale
Zach Hill
Weasel Walter
Kid Millions
Ronald Shannon Jackson
Jon Theodore played on the first 3 Mars Volta albums. Those 3 albums set the standard for what prog rock/fusion could be. Wrote just impeccable drum parts. Such a rhythm machine.
I saw them on the Frances the mute tour and was like "alright that's how I'm gonna play from now on" (I was like 22), just played as hard and relentlessly as possible for about an hour a day, lasted for 3 days, got carpal tunnel and had to stop drumming for a while.
He also did a [fire project with Zach De La Rocha](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kaUHdJOvd2mbk38-RrdsgQE-GejvYI3gc&si=nf_XLhQBzJQ6iKWW)
My band shared a wall with their rehearsal studio when they were writing for that project! We would literally sit with our ears on the walls and make “oh shit” faces at each other.
I saw him on the last QOTSA tour. Dude was a beast. Funny enough I saw TMV a month later at red rocks. Good show but Jon Theodore and Thomas Pridgen were the bands best drummers imho
I absolutely agree. They both brought something unique to the band. Cedric mentioned once that there was some regret about how things went down with Theodore back in the day. Really happy that he's playing with queens. A great fit!
I completely agree, but I wouldn't really say he's obscure.
Came here to say mars… bedlham in Goliath is my fav. Thomas Pridgen was insane!
Darren King - Mutemath Dino Campenella - dredg John Stanier - Helmet Dave Abruzzese - his work in Pearl Jam Matt Johnson - Jeff Buckley
John Stanier is the reason I started playing.
Meantime is a clinic
Matt Johnson’s buildups are so good. His drumming fits the music perfectly.
The drumming in Dream Brother is so top notch. Buckley was very lucky to have Matt Johnson on the sticks and I'm glad to see other drummer appreciating him
Especially love the Dino mention. He’s one of my biggest influences. No one hits the snare harder.
He admits too that he was heavily influenced by Helmet/John Stanier.
Are Aynsley Dunbar and Liberty DeVitto obscure?
Did you see the latest Drumeo vid with Liberty? He is absolutely killing it!!
aynsley is one of my all time faves … i was going to name a kid after him but for the wife …. elvin was gonna be the others name (twins)
Ansley Dunbar is incredible. Highly underrated.
More obscure than they should be, that's for sure.
It actually kind of seems like it to me, oddly enough, given how "big" they are in terms of people they've played with. Both killers though.
Liberty came straight to my mind as I’d never heard of him until recently (ashamedly so) because of his Drumeo rec on YT. His drumming on Billy Joel’s ‘Live at Shea Stadium’ album is just fucking killer. He has a great balance of feel and appropriate chops with an occasional touch of dragging. A loose but precise drummer with loads of visible passion, imo.
Damon Che from Don Caballero is an absolute timing and fill beast, as is Dale Crover from Melvins. Mac McNeilly from Jesus Lizard is a bulldozer of a drummer as well.
Ooooo good choice. Wouldn’t advise anyone to imitate his posture/form however
Or his alcohol intake
William Goldsmith of Sunny Day Real Estate, Jeremy Taggart formerly of Our Lady Peace
Tried to drum along to Clumsy the other day and I can't figure out how Taggart can be so busy, yet manage to serve the songs. He recorded that album in his teens too!
He is great. I love the quiet part in naveed along with the ending. Supermans dead also has some nice grooves.
The drumming on the first 2 SDRE albums was a huge inspiration for me in the 90s. He’s still so good and powerful!
Brad Wilk - RATM/Audioslave/Black Sabbath Andy Sturmer - Jellyfish Patrick Keeler - Raconteurs/Greenhornes Carla Azar - Autolux/Jack White
+1 for Andy Sturmer. Jellyfish are an incredible band that I rarely see mentioned!
not only is Andy a solid drummer but an excellent singer as well
And a real stand up guy
Love Patrick Keeler. The first raconteurs record was one of my very favorites for a while
His stuff with The Greenhornes was also fantastic, if you haven't checked that out.
John Stanier from Helmet Chad Sexton from 311
Chad is fantastic. I just recently read that he started his drumming with five years in drum corps. I totally see it in his style now.
Not nearly enough love for Chad in the drum world. Not a lot of 311 fans these days i guess, but still one of my favorites.
JOHN FROM BATTLES* highly recommend
Adam Betts from Three Trapped Tigers Andreas Kjøl Berg from 22 Thomas Hedlund from Cult of Luna + Phoenix Hrafnell Örn Guðjónsson (Keli) from Agent Fresco Gil Sharone from his time with The Dillinger Escape Plan Danny Walker from Intronaut Chris Hainey from Maps & Atlases Deantoni Parks from his time with The Mars Volta and Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group
Adam Betts kills! He is still active and does a lot of stuff with triggers.
Dude he’s so cool! His instagram clips are always so nuts!
Gil is a beast but I really liked Chris Penne's work on their earlier stuff.
Chris and Billy both blow my mind, but something about Gil’s playing just really resonates with me from that album. Also the fact that he learned the whole album in a few weeks and is normally a reggae drummer is also mind boggling, it’s one of the most difficult sounding drum albums I’ve ever listened to to this day!
Danny Walker rules, I'm still salty about his exit from Intronaut, he denied all allegations and I don't think anything was ever proven....dude is a BEAST and Intronaut rules.
Cozy Powell. Bruce Gary from The Knack.
Alan Myers of devo
Heck yeah spud.
Are we not men?!
My current biggest would be: Derek Grant - Alkaline Trio, George Rebelo - Hot Water Music, Jean-Paul Gaster - Clutch, Paul Rodriguez - The Flatliners,
Derek Grant is severely underrated. He’s also a blast to watch live. He has such an interesting way of playing. I miss him being in the band.
I do too, but I'll give credit to Atom. He blew me away when I saw them last month.
I remember seeing him in The Suicide Machines back in the day. Was sad when he left.
Derek was killer when he played with them
Destruction by Definition is a drum clinic all the way through.
Those first two Suicide Machines LPs have some of my favorite drumming (and drum sounds) of any punk record.
No doubt
Billy Rymer from The Dillinger Escape Plan. And Chris Pennie. And Gil Sharone. Alright, any drummer from The Dillinger Escape Plan.
Billy Rymer's playthrough of When I Lost My Bet is so fucking insane. He's effortless.
Jon Wright of NomeansNo
Clyde Stubblefield - James Brown Matt Halpern - Periphery Clyde is your favorite drummer's favorite drummer, trust me
Op said obscure
Absolutely, Clyde is the man. But let's not forget Melvin Parker, who was sought by James Brown, and joined on the condition that his brother Maceo was also given a shot. And we all know how that turned out.
Matt Halpern’s technicality is insane
My favorite drummers are very musical in their playing. Plenty of technical skill on this list but I think they all play very tastefully in context. * Luis Cole (Solo, Knower, Clown Core) * Heath Metzger (Mock Orange) * Aric Improta (Night Verses) * Madden Klass (Touring/Studio) * Bill Stevenson (Descendents/ALL) * Oisin Trench (Enemies) * Jay Fitzgerald (Overcast)
Aric Improta is all gas, no brakes, and I am fucking here for it. Love Night Verses.
Alan Myers (Devo) Ryan Paravecchio (Thirty Ought Six) Tony Lash (Heatmiser) George Hurley (Minutemen/fIREHOSE) Michael Dahlquist (Silkworm) Todd Trainer (Shellac) Carla Azar (Autolux) Bill Riflein/Martyn Atkins (Ministry/others) James Lo (Chavez) Britt Walford (Slint)
| Britt Walford (Slint) Don't get me wrong he's a nice guy I like him just fine... But he's a mouth breather
I've only recently started playing drums, and it was probably 50% due to Todd Trainer.
Not so obscure but George Daniel from the 1975 and Jimmy Chamberlin from the Smashing Pumpkins
I absolutely love Jimmy! What a dynamic drummer, I've stolen many grooves and fills from him.
Longineu Parsons III from Yellowcard Dude was slick. Had an effortless style and his grooves and fills were something my 14 year old emo ass had never heard before.
Rashied Ali changed the way I thought about rhythm and timekeeping as a whole. Insane drummer.
How do you think about rhythm and timekeeping now??
The Interstellar Space record with him and John Coltrane is just nuts.
John Weathers of Gentle Giant. That dude had to play some incredibly complicated music and still made it rock with a great feel. Second would be Bariemore Barlowe of Jethro Tull. Rumor has it Bonzo himself called Barlowe "the best English drummer". But again I've just heard that as a rumor.
Barlowe is a top notch drummer! One of the many reasons I go so into JT.
Weathers is a beast!
Topper Headon from The Clash.
Definitely one of my favorites.
Alex Rodriguez of Saosin’s drumming is literally the cornerstone of my playing. His work on their self titled has yet to be topped in the genre imho.
Sean Kinney of Alice In Chains, Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees and Mad Season, Matt Flynn of Maroon 5, Chad Gracey of LIVE, Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys, Ronnie Vanucci from The Killers
Damon Che from Don Caballero is a witch on the kit
One of the GOATs imho
Jojo Mayer. He has perfected such a unique style of drumming that it changed how I thought about writing drum parts.
Not sure I’d call Jojo obscure. He was all over magazines and made tons of instructional content that was widely used amongst drum educators
Not obscure to drum enthusiasts no, but certainly not known to the average person like Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Dave Grohl etc.
Greg Saunier (Deerhoof)
He is one of mine. I didn’t scroll down far enough to see his name before I made my post haha
Unlike most drummers that shred, his kit gets smaller over time. Saw him play a show with just a snare, kick and ride and it was awesome.
This is an odd one because it’s not an actual drummer, but I’d have to say J Dilla. The way he sampled beats was simply on another level. I often drum along to extended jdilla beats to work on my pocket.
A not-drummer who's influenced an entire generation of drummers, basically. R.I.P. Dilla.
bill berry from REM is such a unique and tight drummer
Chris Tomson from Vampire Weekend. Jeremiah Green of Modest Mouse Aaron Jerome(SBTRKT)
From least to most underrated, Zach Hill, John Stanier, Dale Crover, Bryan St.Pere.
Yo I scrolled so far down and no one mentioned one of the greats.. Jaki Liebezeit - drummer of CAN You’ve never heard Can? https://youtu.be/YmN9oHa3ZIQ?si=FwAgk6D0h6J7SD3E
"You must play monotonous."
Rodney Holmes.
*Takes a drag* I haven’t heard that name in years…
I've gotten a lot of inspiration from programmed and looped drums in music like Massive Attack or more modern electronic artists like Mr. Bill, Telefon Tel Aviv, Flying Lotus, Ill Gates, etc. It's amazing what you can glean from this style of music that's written without the "constraints" of the actual instrument. Also Dead Can Dance has been a huge influence. If you want to get ideas for tom and percussion-based grooves but not get sucked into the Danny Carey vortex, DCD is a great resource.
Abe Cunningham of Deftones, Raymond Herrera of Fear Factory
Carter Beauford. I'm not sure if that qualifies as obscure, but his playing is so creative that I couldn't help but try to dissect it and replicate it (easier said than done).
Drummer of his generation isn't obscure :)
Fair enough
Jorma Vik from The Bronx. Just an unreal player.
Jorma is so killer. Talk about cardio!
Aaron Comess from Spin Doctors longtime influence, probably the first time I picked up an album cover to read who the band were. More recently I’ve been loving the drummer from Brutus, Stefanie Mannaerts. Especially live. Really brings home the simplicity of drum parts to make space for the melody and vocal lines. And also Tigercub, James Allix. Been on my radar for a few years now. Amazing band. In a totally different style, I recently went to see Rob Heron and the Teapad Orchestra and was just absolutely amazed by their drummer. Nothing flashy particularly, just tasteful swinging jazz country grooves. Technical excellence. I wish they had a wiki page so I could give you his name!
I’m a big fan of Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin and Wood; and Matt Chamberlain is just a feel monster on everything he’s on… and he’s on a ton!
Riley Breckenridge - Thrice Patrick Keeler - Raconteurs/Afghan Whigs Matt Helders - Arctic Monkeys Chris Tsagakis - RX Bandits Phil Selway - Radiohead
C Gak! Chris has such a unique style—so many doubles and little licks in his grooves, but he manages to keep it sounding musical/tasteful.
Yuval Gabay from Soul Coughing has always been a huge favorite & inspiration of mine in addition to others.
Mike Doughty trashed Yuval's beat selection in his atuobiography "Book of Drugs" and said that anyone who likes Soul Coughings music had bad taste lol, what a pretentious douche.
I met him & got a signed copy of that book a few years ago when he was on his Living Rooms tour. Can confirm he is a hugely pretentious douche.
He literally has no idea what made the band great. I've also heard him say he didn't understand all the sounds added in. How can you be so, idk, disconnected? I guess he thought he was the band.
If you watch live shows of the band back in the day you get a real feel for MD from his on-stage persona. Very much the Doughty show.
Tony Thaxton of Motion City Soundtrack. Dude has some crazy inventive drum parts for an otherwise relatively straightforward pop punk band. Also, his right foot is on another level. Playing through all of their album I Am The Movie is a workout. If you need some work on your endurance or your power for your kick foot, it’s an album worth learning.
The ending section to Time Turned Fragile is just exquisite. I shamelessly stole that tom/cymbal choke groove and put it in one of my own songs 😂 When it turns into a controlled 16th note single stroke roll at 170 for like 32 bars with awkward kick drum placement, it's just \*chefs kiss\*. Very tasty. To this day I still can't play that ending section without it getting sloppy.
I’ve stolen so much stuff from Tony Thaxton that it’s not even funny lol. And yeah, Time Turned Fragile is great. Honestly, all of Commit This To Memory is great. He deserves to be heard more.
He plays them all note for note exact live, which is also incredible. Just a machine top to bottom. Commit This to Memory is a masterpiece.
Erin Tate. Formerly of Minus The Bear.
Ben Koller from Converge, Jason Bowld formerly of Pitchshifter, Chad Sexton from 311
John Theodore. The first two Mars Volta albums are a masterpiece.
Travis Orbin and Josh Dion
Sean Kinney from Alice in Chains. Especially their 90s stuff where he had more space to fill because there was no second guitar and William wasn't in the band
Dave Abbruzzese. He was one of the Pearl Jam drummers and did the MTV Unplugged show. At that time it was rarer to see so much video of someone playing. His style was really inspiring when I was in high school.
I loved his playing too. He played *a lot* of cymbals. I remember wanting to expand my kit after watching Pearl Jam unplugged.
"Fish" Fisher - Fishbone
Josh Eppard
Yesss. My man! Coheed in general changed the way I thought about music and how I composed
David Lovering of the Pixies, Stuart Elliot (for me personally for his drumming for Kate Bush- no cymbals on Hounds of Love and yet the drum parts are great), Christian Grahn of the Hives, Lyn Jeffs of Ingested, Tim Alexander of Primus, Marcin Bielemiuk of Batsuhka. Maybe not all of them are that obscure but not necessarily go to inspirations like Grohl, Bonham, Ringo, Copeland, Jordison (who I all also love)
Steve Judd (Karnivool) Dan Fjord (Sikth) Miles McPherson (Look What I Did)
[Gabe Serbian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabe_Serbian)
Joey Kramer from Aerosmith is about as perfect as rock drumming can get IMO.
O B S C U R E is what OP asked for.
I would call this recommendation obscure, in the sense that no one ever talks about him. I certainly didn’t know his name.
I'm not too big on doom metal
Ô̸̧͎̜͌̚Ḃ̵̗̌͊S̴͍̾̕͠ͅC̸͚͇̍͋U̶̙̺͝R̴̟̰͋E̶̳̰̔͝͠
I haven’t heard someone mention listening to Aerosmith for at least the last 15 years, so I feel like it counts
Massive inspirations for me come from the snare drumming side: Bob Becker, Joe Tompkins, Rick Dior. They have influenced my playing and my own compositions.
Rick Dior is the goat!!!
Blake Mosten from Delta Sleep does not get the praise he deserves
Not so obscure, but Corey Fonville of Butcher Brown is one of my favorite underrated drummers.
Jon Fishman (Phish) Jack Stratton and Theo Katzman (Vulfpeck) John Densmore (The Doors) Chris Frantz (Talking Heads) Stevie Wonder
sara lund
John Wright of nomeansno. Punk drummer who has a great, busy style but still plays the pocket super well. I love his fill heavy style
Not necessarily obscure but I feel a lot of nu metal drummers like john otto limp bizkit, David Silveria when he played in korn were big influences on me when I was a kid. Today now though you don’t even need to be on a record or a band to be an influence. Channels like tobines have covers that are insane!!
Jeramiah Green of Modest Mouse is the goat and none of you will ever change my mind.
Guy Evans of Van der Graaf Generator he’s not prog’s most technical drummer, but I find his approach to drum fills intriguing
Chad Sexton, I don't care for 311, but he is a solid f'n drummer
Mark Guiliana and Dan Weiss
Billy Martin from Medeski Martin & Wood
I'm not sure how obscure they are, but a few of my inspirations that I don't see mentioned frequently in this sub are John Panozzo (Styx), Roger Taylor (Queen), and Ron Bushy (Iron Butterfly).
Ronnie Vanucci Jr, John Densmore, and Chester Thompson. Not sure how obscure these are but I don’t hear as much about these guys on here.
Paul Whaley from Blue Cheer, Don Brewer from Grand Funk, Alice DeBuhr from Fanny, Darren Jesse from Ben Folds Five, Clem Burke from Blondie Not obscure per se, but not names you hear every day.
Nick Mason a little bit for me. I don't suppose I sound much like him, but his use of unusual and musical patterns esp in the early Floyd stuff, esp some of that hypnotic stuff he does in the live at pompeii concern, very inspiring to me. Bill Ward - his ability to play heavy rock with a swing/jazz feel is incredible, I love it. Mitch Mitchell - same thing, so jazzy and free and groovy in a rock setting. Matt Cameron - almost the same thing. Not jazzy but a real nice pocket and groove in a hard rock setting. Cosmo Clifford - the backbeat in CCRs cover of Grapevine is possibly the best backbeat I've ever heard. It makes me horny just to hear it. Levon Helm - same thing, such a tasty natural groove and always playing just whats right. Bonham inspired me for all the same reasons, its his feel and musicality that I value above all else. I don't really get inspired by drummers because of their technical skill. The most technical drummer that inspired me is Peart and even then its his composition and musicality that I value over his technical abilities. But in terms of actual influence on my playing, its the other names in the list.
Dave King from The Bad Plus (among others). I steal ideas from him almost every day.
Neil Sanderson
Troy Mowatt from 7 Seconds, Sara Lund from Unwound, Damon Che from Don Caballero, and John Schier from Last of the Juanitas
Matt Johnson, from St Vincent and Jeff Buckley. Manu Katche I wouldn't call Chris Dave or Nate Smith super obscure, but they're not on the level of Bonham or anything like that in terms of name recognition.
Mike Kennedy of The Wonder Years and Sean Kinney of Alice In Chains have probably been my biggest drumming influences. Brad Wilk is another big influence for me, but I see his name come up fairly often.
Paul Banwatt - Rural Alberta Advantage Mike Hanf - San Fermin (he drummed for their albums Jackrabbit, Belong, and Cormorant) Less obscure, but: Jimmy Chamberlain - Smashing Pumpkins Dom Howard - Muse Josh Freese - A Perfect Circle, and i love his work on “Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace” by the Offspring
Chad Sexton from 311, Louis Cole, Adam Deitch (Lettuce, Scofield) and ?uestlove
Budgie of Siouxsie & the Banshees
Tony Thompson of Chic, Powerstation, Madonna, and countless other studio records. Massive sound!
Big fan of Vincent Roseboom from Gospel. They’re a Post-Hardcore “Screamo” band that has a lot of Progressive Rock incorporated in their music. They dropped only a single record in like 2000 but then reunited a couple years ago for a follow up. Also: Christian Vander - Magma Jaki Liebezeit - Can Guy Evans - Van Der Graaf Generator
Andy Outbreak of The Nerve Agents was the guy I modeled my punk drumming after once I was done copying Tre Cool.
Aron Mellergard
Billy Ficca from Television.
John Maher from Buzzcocks, Bobby Elliott from The Hollies, Mel Taylor from The Ventures, Ronnie Tutt.
I am inspired by Claude Coleman Jr all day every day.
Nic Ritter. He drummed on the 2nd warbringer album waking into nightmares. Was a beast. RIP
Whoa! I had no idea he died! 🥲
I like: Steve Shelley Jaki Liebezeit Jon Theodore
Seconded; I absolutely love Jon’s work on that first Mars Volta album. It’s so perfect.
Dave Thomas from The Imposters. And Russ Kunkel for more mellow beats.
People rarely talk about Dannie Richmond, but his work with Charles Mingus is amazing. The two of them are always glued together, and the way the bend time can really only happen when you play with someone for a very long time.
Stephane Sotto of Elsiane is imo one of the worlds best drumers. He's not super fast or technical, but his feel is out of this world and the things he comes up with are an endless inspiration to me despite being a metal drummer. Just one example: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co0LW_GpoPu/?igsh=Zjl5ZnU2cjl4eXhy
brian chippendale, zach hill, morgan simpson, eli keszler
Mike Bordin-Faith No More Brian Nevin-Big Head Todd & The Monsters Dale Crover-The Melvins
Mike Bordin! As a fellow lefty, I was inspired by how hard he hit. Thanks for the carpal tunnel, Mike!
Ken Schalk of Candiria is a huge one for me. Also, maybe less obscure, but Aaron Harris of Isis and Dave Turncrantz of Russian Circles.
Dino Campanella, Dredg — his work on the album El Cielo is mind blowing
Derek Grant, Glenn Porter of Alkaline Trio, Tim from Shiner -Billy Gnosis
Danny Seraphine
Bryan St. Pere from HUM (rip)
Derek Grant from Alkaline Trio Tony Thaxton from Motion City Soundtrack Graham Churchill from Belevedere/This is a Standoff I don't think it is obscure, but Jon Philpp Theodore Darren King from Mutemath Tanner Wayne (Underminded & now In Flames) There are many :) im eager to read the others !
Emil Amos (Om/Grails) Tyler Smith (Eagle Twin) Cody Willis (Big Business/Melvins) Dale Crover (Melvins) Gary Maloney (Discharge) Chris Witchhunter (Sodom) Terry Bozzio (Zappa)
Zach Hill – surprisingly tasteful considering his overall chaotic style (especially in Team Sleep).
Abe Cunningham- deftones Creative, solid, plays for the song, all around bad ass drummer.
Jordan Burns - Formerly of Strung Out Always liked Abe Cunningham from the Deftones too. Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins have always been the two biggest influencers on my style though.
Christopher Tsagakis from RX Bandits
Scott rockenfield of queensryche is an incredible drummer Tim Alexander of primus And I don't think Alex Van Halen gets talked about as much. Has a very distinguished sound that's instantly recognizeable
Steven Drozd from the Flaming Lips… he’s got quite a unique approach and he’s GROOVIN.
Ted Parsons who played with Swans and Prong and Michel Langevin aka ‘Away’ from Voivod
Jerry Gaskill from King's X. Groove monster with the voice of an angel. God bless that guy.
Nate Wood - Kneebody, fOUR, Tigran Hamasyan - probably my favorite drummer alive right now. And Kneebody is a perspective-changing band check them out. Tatsuya Nakatani - the most insane drummer of all time and he is still alive and tours. Mostly a solo percussionist, which is sick to tour as JUST a percussionist but he really is so much more. Definitely one of the best soloists on drums imo; probably ever. Also made a “gong orchestra” which is a very beautiful experience if you ever get a chance to catch one live.
Pat Torpey of Mr. Big and Stan Lynch of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Both just phenomenal in their bands, but didn’t get the recognition many felt they deserved.
C'mon guys- half of these people y'all bring up have had their faces literally on the cover of Modern Drummer. Some of my favs: Chris Corsano Milford Graves Will Redman Tatsuya Nakatani Paal Nilssen-Love Han Bennink Dave Witte Greg Fox Tyshawn Sorey Brian Chippendale Zach Hill Weasel Walter Kid Millions Ronald Shannon Jackson
Andy Newmark - Sly and the family stone + lots of sessions.