Sick Drummer Magazine

Keep up with Chris here:

Flesh Consumed MySpace

Dismal Lapse MySpace

 

I started playing drums out of neccesity.  I live in a very small town and couldn't find a good drummer with drive and talent.  Our previous drummer had left his kit at my house and I ust started playing what I could.  I've always been a huge fan of drums and as a guitar player always wanted a drummer that could play the stuff I had in my head.  After a couple of months I decided that I should take some lessons.  After the first coupe of lessons I was completely hooked on drums.  i've been playing guitar for over 20 years now and never thought I was where I should be for that amount of playing.  Something just felt right about playing drums.  My drum teacher felt the same and I went to lessons 2 and sometimes 4 times a week!  I felt totally inspired and loved the feeling of drums.  I bought my first kit in 2006 and never looked back.

I've been told that my playing style is a little different.  I think that is alot becuase I was a guitarist for so many years.  And the fact that I do all of our vocals, the drums take on a whole different feel when you have to remember lyrics and use your breathing for vocals.  Seeing as how I learned to play drums while doing our vocals, it  made it an easy transition from playing guitar and vocals.  Now I'm just going to lessons and learing to become a more rounded player.  speed has never been a huge deal to me.  I think alot of music sacrafices quality for speed.  As long as I'm tight when we play live and on recording I'll be happy.  To me a guy that plays extremely tight and with finess is far more interesting than a blastathon, although I don't mind it sometimes.



Chris Barnum Interveiw:



SD.com: How old were you when you started playing?

Chris:  Well I only started plyinf drums about 4 years ago so about 23.  I played guitar in the band (bled/dismal lapse)for the first 8 years we we're a band.

 

 

SD.com: Did you play in a school band or any drum corps?

Chris:  No, my first lessons were taken from a drum teacher.

 

 

SD.com: Who are your top 5 metal influences?

Chris:  Well as a drummer, trym, lille gruber, chase westermorland, sean reinhert and vitek.  Funny that two of those people are younger than I am!!!   If your talking bands than Theory in practice, gorguts, the faceless, death and immolation.

 

 

SD.com: Who are some other of your favorites?

Chris:  I'm pretty much a fan of any music that sounds "GOOD" to me.  It doesn't really matter what genre it is as long as the musicianship is at a very high level.  I'm very open about my music and ceratin parts of a band can be my favorite for any amount of time.

 

 

 

 

SD.com: Let us know 5 CD's that are in your current rotation

Chris: The Faceless (planetary duality), Burning the masses (mind control), Immolation (close to a world below)"pretty much never leaves the rotation!!!!", theory in practice (armaggedon theories) and Ihsahn (the adversary)

 

 

SD.com: What do you do to warm up before a show?

Chris:  I play a set of rudiments I learned from Kenny arenoff and usually do a set of stretches.  I'm usually really busy dealing with getting set up and getting merch put out to do very much warming up.  Although I notice a big difference when I actually get time to set up.

 

 

SD.com: Do you read music? Regardless of answering yes or no, please tell us how it might have effected your playing?

Chris:  Yes I read drum music.  It was the first thing I learned when I started taking lessons.  It has only affected my playing by making it possible to count things out I might be having a problem with.

 

 

SD.com: Can you tell us about the gear you use?

Chris:  I'm playing a Tama all birch set with a 22"x20" kick and shallow toms (8", 10", 12" and a 16" floor).  I use an Orange county procussion snare, All Zildjian cymbals and Aquarian heads.  I have a very small DW rack that Fits everything and Axis A long boards.  I use the ed shaughnessy oak, pro mark sticks.  I also use a Roland trigger and an alesis dm5.

 

 

 

 

SD.com: If you could give one piece of advice to young drummers, it would be...

Chris:  Sounds cliche but PRATICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!!  It's so important when you really listen to recordings of old and new material you put down.  A little amount of practice everyday makes a massive difference.  Also play a lot of kinds of music.  Metal is awesome but learning to play other kinds of music will open doors in your playing.

 

 

SD.com: Who gave the best live performance you've ever seen?

Chris:  I have to say it was a tie between two totally natural drummers!  Lyle cooper with the faceless and chase from Burning the masses.  Both make me sick with how naturally good they are at drums!!!

 

 

SD.com: If you had to stop drumming, what would you want to do with your life?

Chris:  Go back to playing guitar!!haha  If I had to not play music I would just go into another area of music like recording or something.