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'MUSIC EDGE' FASTEST DRUMMER COMPETITION 2006

WA DIVISION WINNERS

KOSMIC SOUND AND DRUM.COM.AU CONGRATULATE:

855 BEN MAZZAROL (FEET)

849 LOUIS RANDO (HANDS)

For the first time in West Australia, the Music Edge 'Fastest Drummer Competition gives players a chance to strut their stuff, going up against each other in a battle of the hands and battle of the feet. The rules are simple: Single strokes as fast as you can on either hands or feet for 60 seconds without stopping. Whoever scores the highest wins!

Over 100 drummers from all over town came into Kosmic to register their score. After the qualifying round was over, the ten fastest hands and the ten fastest feet were chosen to play off against eachother on Sunday July 2. In attendance was champion WFD participant and top clinican Johnny Rabb.

With a score of 855 hits in 60 seconds, Western Australia's fastest double kicker proved to be BEN MAZZAROL of Carine, whom we interviewed shortly after the comp to get his opinions and advice..

BEN, WHO ARE YOUR DOUBLE KICK IDOLS?

Gene Hoglan is my idol when it comes to double kick. His bands ‘Death’ and ‘Strapping Young Lad’ were always something I aspired to play along with. Also a lot of Swedish melodic death - that kind of stuff.

HOW DID YOU FEEL GOING INTO THE STATE FINAL AND HOW DO YOU FANCY YOUR CHANCES IN ADELAIDE AT THE NATIONAL TITLES?

I felt I had as good a chance as anyone there, because I didn’t have any idea what other peoples scores were going to be like. I feel exactly the same way about the National finals because this is the first time its been done Australia wide, so nothing is to be expected.

YOU’VE FLOWN A LITTLE ‘UNDER THE RADAR’ IN TERMS OF YOUR REPUTATION IN THE LOCAL METAL SCENE. WOULD YOU SAY THAT HAVING A REPUTATION AS “THE FASTEST DOUBLE KICK PLAYER IN PERTH” WOULD PUT MORE PRESSURE ON YOU TO PERFORM, OR WOULD YOU RISE TO THE OCCASION?

It’d be more pressure and It’d be hard!

PLAYING YOUR FINAL ATTEMPT, YOU LOOKED VERY SMOOTH. CONSISTENT AND EXTREMELY STRONG WITH YOUR KICKING. WHAT SORT OF EXERCISES DO YOU DO DEVELOP SUCH A STRONG KICKING TECHNIQUE?

You just have to try to be consistent. Play along with music, make sure you have a constant tempo and try to get a bit of power behind the hits. Always use a metronome. For the competition, its ok to play with your pedals very close to the drumhead, but if you want to play live with a band without the need to trigger, you need to get the volume up by allowing the beater to come right back. I tend to move further and further back on the pedal as my speed increases.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS STYLE OF COMPETITION HAS BEEN RUN IN AUSTRALIA. INTERNATIONALLY, THERE HAS BEEN SOME CRITICISM OF THE WFD AND THE IMPORTANCE IT PLACES ON SPEED, SPECIFICALLY THAT IT ‘MEANS NOTHING MUSICALLY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THESE KINDS OF COMMENTS AND HAVE YOU FOUND THAT THE COMP HAS HAD AN EFFECT ON YOU OUTSIDE THE REALM OF JUST SPEED?

I find the competition has helped (especially in the style of playing I do) with the endurance and keeping your playing strong and even. As you learn to player at faster tempos, everything else becomes slower and easier. Of course, in metal it is perhaps more useful than others.

WHAT ADVICE COULD YOU GIVE TO OTHERS LOOKING TO IMPROVE THEIR DOUBLE KICK ABILITY?

Like I mentioned before, the metronome is very important. Play along with it constantly. Also, mixing combinations of 32^nd notes, 16^th notes and 8^th notes helps you control your overall double kick technique.

CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE YOU BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR, BEATING YOUR CURRENT SCORES?

Yep. Well hopefully!

Now onto Western Australias fastest hands, Mr LOUIS RANDO of Scarborough, who blitzed the competition with his winner score of 849 hits in 60 seconds.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR DRUMMING HISTORY, INCLUDING BANDS YOU’VE WORKED WITH AND WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON CURRENTLY.

Ive been playing drums for about 11 years. Ive been very active, playing in the local metal scene for the last 7 years. I played in bands such as Pagan, Militant Mass, Pathogen and Im currently playing with The Furor, who Ive been with now for about 3 and a half years. All my energy is currently in The Furor but of course there will be room for more work in the future, perhaps with other bands. All I do is play drums and Im thinking about them constantly, so 2 bands (minimum) is kind of a good thing!

MANY PEOPLE HAD PICKED YOU TO WIN THE COMP, BUT I PEROSNALLY FIGURED YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN A FINALS CONTENDER ON THE FEET RATHER THAN THE HANDS. DO YOU FIND THAT OTHER PEOPLES EXPECTATIONS OF YOUR ABILITY PUT PRESSURE ON YOU TO PERFORM TO A CERTAIN LEVEL?

I think it does. Its awesome to have people know me and support me on the day, but as soon as someone mentions “Fastest drummer” contest, everybody expects the “speed metal guy” to get in there and win it. I guess it makes sense for them to think that, but in reality, playing a 1 minute roll on a pad is very different to what we do in bands, and often players with great technique end up taking out the honours, whether they are in metal bands or not. Its not always the metal players who stand head-and-shoulders above the rest when it comes to speed.

IT’S INTERESTING YOU SAY THAT BECAUSE WHEN I INTERVIEWED BEN (WINNER ON FEET) HE AGREED THAT PLAYING ON A PAD AT YOUR FASTEST SPEED FOR ONE MINUTE IS VERY DIFFERENT TO PLAYING A FOUR OR FIVE MINUTE SONG UNDER THAT TOP SPEED.

Well, with my band we are blasting at top speeds constantly for entire songs so Im used to really pushing the endurance factor. I don’t believe that players of other styles lack the speeds of what we do, but most of them choose not to use it to the same extent because their music doesn’t require it.

YOU WERE VERY LATE IN QUALIFYING FOR THIS COMPETITION. WE WERENT SURE IF YOU WERE IN FACT GOING TO ENTER AT ALL. ARE WE TO ASSUME THAT YOU WERE USING THE EXTRA TIME TO PREPARE MENTALLY FOR THIS EVENT, OR WERE YOU JUST TIED UP DOING OTHER THINGS?

Its was more about not being able to get into Kosmic to qualify. I work nights, so I get up late and my days are somewhat short. Im always quite prepared. I play for 90 minutes a day on average and Ive been doing a lot of band work lately so whether I applied earlier or later, Im pretty much always ready to go!

HOW DID YOU FEEL GOING INTO THE STATE FINAL AND HOW DO YOU FANCY YOUR CHANCES IN ADELAIDE AT THE NATIONAL TITLES?

I didn’t know a great deal about the competition or the other people that were entering and I really didn’t know what to expect at all. I aimed to do my best and did some practise for it prior to the final, but I knew there were some insane players out there. I just practised as usual with the band – That’s fast single stroke practise right there – But I did give a little time to working on the practise pad. I tried to figure out why I couldn’t go faster and refined my technique to get me a better result.

I think there is going to be some pretty stiff competition in Adelaide and nerves are going to play a part aswell, but both of those factors could improve your performance, or impair it. From my experience playing with bands I think the extra pressure could be a good thing for me. Some of my best gigs have always been in front of crowds I don’t know or when the pressure is highest. Hopefully Adelaide will bring out the best in me.

YOU WERE ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO USED FINGERS ALMOST COMPLETELY WHEN YOU MADE YOUR ATTEMPT AT THE STATE TITLES. EXPLAIN WHY YOU USE THIS METHOD AND WHAT EXERCISES DO YOU DO TO DEVELOP THIS FINGER TECHNIQUE?

I use fingers because you can move them a lot faster with less effort than what you can using your full arms. You conserve more energy this way which helps with endurance. Its something I just naturally developed through the course of my playing. In metal music, some of us are always striving for higher levels of speed. To be honest, its not something Ive thought about specifically, but Ive always tried to push my speed faster, and the fingers just naturally started to kick in as my body adjusted. I also watched videos of myself using this technique and thought to myself “Yep, that’s the ticket!” I would also talk to drummers who play similar styles to my own, and they agreed that finger technique has also brought the most success for them.

Well, I think that speed alone is not really that important. Its good fun and it’s a good novelty thing because its exciting and great to watch. However, in terms of what we know as ‘good drumming’ and what constitutes ‘good music’ it really doesn’t have a huge importance. Its more about what you do with the speed that counts. Being creative is what music is all about. I liken speed drumming to sprinting down a 100 metre track or bodybuilding – Its sometimes pretty mindless but it makes for interesting competition. We do use a lot of speed in my band, but we try to be as creative with it as we can. Sometimes bands who speed playing as a cover when they cant think of playing something a little more interesting, but when you can harness the speed and bend it to your liking it gets really interesting. I always aim to improve my maximum speed, but creating something musically is what Im all about.

WHAT ADVICE COULD YOU GIVE TO PLAYERS WANTING TO IMPROVE THEIR HAND TECHNIQUE?

Start at a pace you’re comfortable with, and keep it even and steady. As that becomes comfortable, push the speed little by little until you’re happy with the speed you’ve reached. I think it’s better to play all this with a metronome because you’re keeping your tempo steady, which is also important. Without a metronome it’s difficult to tell whether you’re keeping your speeds up or starting to lag behind.

CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE YOU BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR, BEATING YOUR CURRENT SCORES?

Of course not. I mean I’ve got nothing to lose so why not have a go!

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