My Favorite Drummers
Who is your favorite drummer? Although I get asked this question a lot, I find it hard to narrow it down to just one. So I created a short list of the drummers that have influenced me the most.
Mike Portnoy
Mike is one of my favorite drummers on the planet and has influenced me a lot over my musical career. I first heard about Mike through the band he co-founded in 1985 called Dream Theater. I was immediately impressed by his chops, but what I connected with, even more, was his passion behind the set. Although it was sad when Mike left Dream Theater in 2010, he has kept himself very busy. One of my favorite bands that he is a part of is called The Neal Morse Band. Another notable project that I continue to listen to is the Liquid Tension Experiment, with one of his Dream Theater bandmates, John Petrucci.
Bands: Dream Theater / Transatlantic / Neal Morse Band / Adrenaline Mob
My Favorite Recordings: Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory / Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence / Liquid Tension Experience / Liquid Tension Experiment 2
Website: mikeportnoy.com
Darren King
Darren is another one of my favorite drummers. Although his genre is very different from Mike's, they both have one thing in common-passion. Darren is well known for duct-taping his headphones to his head because of his rowdiness behind the set. That energy takes his playing to another level, which is why I love watching him play just as much as listening. Darren co-founded one of my all-time favorite bands called Mutemath. Although he sadly left the band in 2018, he has continued to music with his wife Stacy in a band called Sucré. I was lucky enough to Sucré play live, and it did not disappoint. Darren was as on point as ever.
Bands: Mutemath / Sucré
My Favorite Recordings: Mutemath / Odd Soul / Vitals
Website: @dkthedrummer
Jojo Mayer
Jojo founded a band called Nerve which is, not surprisingly, very beat-driven. His chops are so phenomenal I am constantly saying, what did he just do? My favorite work from Jojo though is his instructional videos. He has two courses, one on hand technique and one on foot technique. They are very detailed, and I’m sure every drummer can get some value out of them. I’ve also been influenced by Jojo’s drum setup. Although I have a couple of different drum configurations based on genre, my go-to setup is similar to Jojo’s -albeit simplified.
Bands: Intergalactic Maiden Ballet / Screaming Headless Torsos / Nerve
My Favorite Recordings: Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer-Hand Technique / Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer-Foot Technique
Website: jojomayer.com
Mark Guiliana
Mark is a newcomer to my favorites list, but that’s because I found him just about a year ago. Although I haven’t listened to everything he has done, I have really been enjoying listening to him. Mark has a great sense of time and his jazz influences melt seamlessly into his sound. My favorite recording from him right now is called, locked in a basement. He also has a course out about exploring your creativity on the drum set, which I am excited to go through.
Bands: Heart / Beat Music / Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet
My Favorite Recordings: Locked in a basement / Exploring Your Creativity on the Drumset
Website: markguiliana.com
Other Notable Mentions
Buddy Rich & Gene Krupa
Of course, what players list would be complete without mentioning a couple of drumming legends, Buddy Rich & Gene Krupa. And if you haven’t heard of these guys, please look them up.
If you are looking for even more drummers, check out drumeo’s list of their top 100 drummers of all time. It's a great read. Cheers and happy drumming!