SIMON PHILLIPS & KAZ FACE TO FACE RODRIGUEZ
If you are lucky you may make a good living simply playing the acoustic drum kit. But more than ever today it’s important for drummers to develop multiple skills, initially to embrace hybrid acoustic-electronic drumming and programming. Then maybe remote recording, engineering and producing, arranging and composing.
All these areas were explored by Simon Phillips from a young age and Simon’s approach made a massive impression on Kaz Rodriguez, growing up in the 2000s. Kaz has duly forged his own multi-faceted style in the modern era.
Simon also pioneered open-handed, ambidextrous playing and extended multi-tom drum sets, following the example set by Billy Cobham from the late 1960s. And like Cobham, Simon became a composer and bandleader in his own right. From his teens, he slotted into the London session scene (his CV is astounding – see biog. on p45), then in 1992 he moved to Los Angeles and took over the drum chair in the band Toto, following the untimely death of groove-guvnor Jeff Porcaro. Simon would eventually engineer and also produce the band.
Kaz Rodriguez grew up entranced by Simon’s extensive Tama kit and the fact that Simon, although obviously a world-class drummer, was equally enthralled by engineering, producing and composing. Intuitively Kaz knew that being “more than just a drummer” was the right path to pursue.
Kaz has a condition called synaesthesia, which means he associates musical sounds with specific colours, and this has helped him to compose music with unique character. Already a talented and experienced touring drummer, Kaz found himself in the limelight as a result of releasing online tracks of real substance, composed specifically for drummers to play along with.
