Sick Drummer Magazine

Keep up with Richard here:

myspace.com/richardchristy





Richard Christy was inspired to play drums after hearing Alex Van Halen's drumming in the Van Halen song "Hot for Teacher" at the age of 10. His skills were honed while living in a storage garage over a period of years in Florida. Since there were no neighbors to bother, Christy could practice his drumming well into the night without the worry of someone calling the police.

Richard has played in many bands, including: Iced Earth, Burning Inside, Death, Incantation, Demons and Wizards, Acheron and Control Denied. Richard joined Death after meeting Chuck Schuldiner in a bookstore while the band was looking for a new drummer, after the departure of Gene Hoglan. Richard recorded three albums with Death (The Sound of Perseverance released in 1998, Live in L.A. (Death & Raw) 2001, and Live in Eindhoven, also 2001) and one album with Control Denied, The Fragile Art of Existence released in 1999. Richard played on the albums Horror Show, Tribute To The Gods and The Glorious Burden from Iced Earth. Richard most recently played drums for Caninus.

Richard Christy Interview:

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

Richard: 10 years old, although I did play on Cow Feed Buckets for a few years starting around age 8.

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

Richard: Yes I joined the school band when I started 5th grade at the age of 10. I played snare drum for a year before moving on to the drumset. I played in drum corps starting at age 10 and played in drum corps up until high school graduation. I consider drum corps a huge influence on my playing and I still practice to several different drum corps solo books to this day.

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

Richard: Bobby Jarzombek, Mikkey Dee, Sean Reinert, Shannon Larkin, Alex Marquez.

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

Richard: Derek Roddy, Rick Colaluca from Watchtower, George Kollias from Nile, Gene Hoglan, Fred Estby from Dismember, Robert Sweet, Chris Efthimiadis from Rage, Dave Lombardo, Pete Sandoval, Kim Ruzz, Nicko McBrain, Chris Adler, Jason Bittner, Chris Pennie, Dave Culross, Mike Smith, Paul Mazurkiewicz, Joey Jordison, John "Stumpy" Pepys, Van Williams, Vinnie Paul, Matt Byrne, Matt Thompson, Mike Portnoy, Kyle from Incantation, Rikard Stjernquist from Jag Panzer, Kent Burnham from Banshee, The Rev from Avenged Sevenfold, Mars from Coffin Texts, Fredrik Andersson from Amon Amarth, and many others that I can't think of right now off the top of my head.

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

Richard: Amon Amarth-Twilight of the Thunder God, Coheed and Cambria-No World For Tomorrow, King Diamond-Deadly Lullabies Live, Wrathchild America-3D, Rage-Perfect Man

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

Richard: I jump rope for about ten minutes with ankle weights on, do pushups and situps, and practice with heavy marching drumsticks on a practice pad for about an hour.

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

Richard: Yes and it is a huge influence on my playing, I practice the book Stick Control by George L. Stone every day and also I have practiced a book of NARD snare drum solos almost every day since high school.

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

Richard: I have two Pearl drumkits, one is a black Pearl Prestige Session nine piece and the other is a Pearl Custom Z eight piece drumkit. I also have a Pearl Drumrack. I use Sabian cymbals, mostly the AAX series, I use Vater 3A Fatback Drumsticks and Vater Practice Pads, I have a Roland VDrum Pro kit, I use Aquarian Drumheads, and I use Axis A Longboard Drum Pedals.

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

Richard: Try to practice at least an hour a day or more if you can.

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

Richard: Alex Marquez with Malevolent Creation in August of 1992 at the Outhouse in Lawrence, Kansas on the Complete Control Tour with Obituary, Cannibal Corpse and Agnostic Front. His double bass and incredible drum fills blew me away and became a huge influence on my playing.

SD.com: You have done many different things with your life thus far... What would you say has been your greatest achievement?

Richard: My greatest and proudest musical achievement is playing on the Death album The Sound Of Perseverance in 1998. I've been a huge Death fan since high school and I've always admired Chuck as a musician and songwriter. He also became my best friend and I have such great memories of creating music with him. I love that ten years later fans still write me and say how much they love that album. We worked really hard on that album, practicing several hours a day for a year and I think the drumming on that album is the pinnacle of my drumming career.