Mickey CURRY

Karl Brazil: “You are one of a select few session drummers that have managed to nail both the live arena and the studio, and it’s very inspiring for people to see you doing both things so successfully. Under the umbrella of groove, what would you say are the fundamental elements of your drumming when on stage or recording?”

Mickey Curry: “I think simplicity first and foremost and a big, solid backbeat – always making sure that the kick drum lands where it needs to be on the downbeat. It can be a little on top or a little behind, depending on the song, but with the right combination of those two things you can set a groove. Some drummers are brilliant at playing on top and pushing, which creates a certain energy that a track, or a band, might need. Then there are the players that can drop their left hand just ever so slightly back, and those are the guys that I have always admired, because that for me is where the greatest grooves come from. John Bonham was a master of landing the kick on the downbeat and having that backbeat ever so slightly behind.”

K: “Hearing you say that, it feels like an appropriate time to mention your own playing on The Cult’s ‘Fire Woman’. I love your performance on that track – the four-on-the-floor kick and your snare backbeat land so consistently... Teaching feel is one of the hardest things, but I’ve always thought that listening and playing along to records that you connect with is the best way of understanding and appreciating exactly what it is. As a young drummer, how did