Lucca July 5, 2009 - After a long chase, we finally got to have a meeting with the most uncatchable drummer around. Weīre talking about Carter Beauford, the engine marvelously driving one of the most inventive and genuine bands in the music scene: The Dave Matthews Band. The occasion comes with the highly awaited gig in Lucca, which brought the band back to Italy after about 11 years, with a tour promoting their amazing latest release Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King.

The meeting is set for 5 p.m. on the side of the stage. I am taken into an ancient buildingīs astonishing room where, besides the unbearable heat, we have the chance to meet the band leader Dave Matthews, whoīs politely answering a few journalists (who actually hardly manage to boost the conversation).

Just while Iīm enjoying this show, a member of DMBīs staff calls me aside and leads me straight into the dressing room: air conditioning, middle-eastern-style, a delightful silence and an unbelievable peacefulness. We move the last curtain away and, in a soft light, I can finally see Carter who already knows about the interview. Heīs busy texting a message on his mobile, and heīs never seen me before, but still he hails me with an incredibly infectious smile. We joke about his text message and we start chatting. Apart from his kindness, what really impresses me is his incredible enthusiasm, just like an excited beginner. Heīs a true fan of drumming, drummers and music, as well as of his own band! Weīve got 20 minutes, which easily become 45 as we find ourselves in a continuous exchange of views. It felt like talking to a friend, so excited about his stories on music and drumming. Heīs like that, he doesnīt spare himself even when itīs about spelling out his own views and opinions, but always politely and showing great respect for the person heīs speaking to. Carter is definitely the most lovely and sympathetic person Iīve ever met; rather than an interview this is a very intense conversation in which we delve into things and we could have gone on and on, had we not been interrupted.

As I step out of the dressing room, Carter keeps talking and making eye contact, with that incredible smile we all know. A wonderful memory Iīll always keep, of course...until we meet again.

Carter, why did it take you so long before coming back to Italy?

(laughing) Itīs something we had been looking forward to for a long time. Let me think...we were here in....

..1998..

Thatīs right! A long time ago, too long! (we stop for a minute, so that he can send his text message)

I must confess Iīm quite excited about your gig tonight, especially after listening to your latest album, which I believe is one of the best ever.

So do I.

In this new record the sound of your drums, and your drumming, are really in the foreground, more so than in previous records. I know Rob Cavallo is deeply in love with the way you play.

You know, we always tried to focus on drums in our music. When I listen to what Dave, Stefan and Boyd are doing, and LeRoi when he was there - and believe me, I always listen to them - I copy what theyīre doing. We usually cut the noisiest and most spontaneous bits away in the final recordings for production reasons and I find this quite disturbing because people wonīt get to listen to those moments which are pure musical interaction. This time it was quite different because we tried to focus on every instrument, especially on drums, and every instrument of the drum set. Thatīs why in this record you can listen to all those moments I was talking about earlier. Iīm so happy about this new album, because everyone was so concentrated and could make their own contribution in terms of creativity. We were all on the same wavelength, heading in the same direction, and everything worked out perfectly.

Getting more into detail, I must say the way you play hi-hat in this record is absolutely terrific. Kind of going in and out of the groove, but actually being always there. Itīs a strange feeling, itīs hard to explain.

I know what you mean. Itīs something Iīve heard from many other drummers, and I literally fell in love with that style. I believe that syncopation and that kind of "broken" playing can really shake the rhythm. You know, a 4/4 groove does fit some songs. But others need that hi-hat playing to establish that musical conversation with the band but also with the crowd when Iīm on stage. Thatīs the important thing for me. Thatīs how you can make it more appealing. If youīre having a conversation, always using the same words, then youīll always be saying the same things again and again, and it gets boring. Thatīs why you need creativity to make it more interesting. People are more willing to pay attention if your conversation is interesting. Thatīs why I like that way of playing. Steve Gadd has always been one of my favorites together with Dennis Chambers and many other drummers who played that way. I took after them, giving my own interpretation, using my own musical language. Thatīs why I play that way a lot.

Itīs something unpredictable

Yes, unpredictable

I must confess I find this quite exciting. Just to reassure you… Iīm a drummer not a journalist, so we speak the same language. (Carter bursts into laughter and gives me a fist bump as a sign of approval).

Letīs keep talking about your style. It seems like itīs evolving hand in hand with your sound. It just comes naturally...

Yes it does! It comes from experience. I used to try to emulate my heroes; people like Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham, Tony Williams and Lenny White. That was the sound I wanted to get but I just couldnīt. You know, trying to sound like someone else is the most difficult thing ever, because thatīs their sound and it comes from their personality, and I was not perfectly aware of this at the beginning. Over the years I realized that I was slowly developing my own musical identity and my own style, by getting through their style. It just happened and thatīs what I am now. Itīs a wonderful thing, but I always try to go ahead and make my next move, trying to evolve and find my own new direction. I always try to be aware of whatīs happening around me and I donīt want my drumming to sound flat. I want it to be my signature sound, but at the same time I need to move ahead. Obviously, I like to keep some things unchanged, so that they can be part of a unique and personal voice.

This is an interesting point. I realize every record has a new sound, nevertheless your main peculiarities just remain the same, you remain the same, you keep on the right track, evolving step by step.

Thatīs right, I agree!

I think this is a great gift

You know, I find this very exciting. Over the years Iīve listened to many great musicians, each one with his own voice. Consider Pat Metheny or Miles Davis. You can identify them at once, even when theyīre not playing their own instrument. A classic example is Michael Brecker; he could suddenly put down his tenor saxophone and play the EWI, which is a totally different electronic instrument, but you can tell for sure thatīs Michael Brecker, beyond any doubt. You may as well hear it coming out of a computer, youīll always be sure thatīs him. Iīve always said to myself: "I canīt wait to reach that goal with my style and my sound", so that people will say "Hey, thatīs Carter!", even if I try and play in a slightly different style. I always practice on this, trying to reach that level.

Itīs like when you listen to some demos and you are able to identify which producer or artist has programmed those drum tracks

Thatīs right!

Being the DMB fan that I am, Iīd like to talk about that special connection between you and Dave, I mean all those nods of approval during live performances

Yes, always...

Iīve already asked Dave about this, but I want to hear your personal opinion (Carter laughs out loud). Is it about combining two different styles? What do you reckon?

Yes, youīre right. You know, when we started as a band, twenty years go, Dave and I used to live together, he was my roommate and we had a lot of things in common. It was incredible! When I met him I thought it was so weird that we were so similar. We were like brothers, very close to each other and itīs always been the same on stage. Iīve always listened to his playing and singing, which Iīve always found incredibly unique. I said to myself "Wow, this is perfect for me!". ‘Cause Iīve always been into that syncopated style, shifting the beat, taking one to get out then put it back in place after a whileī. We always try to do this, we take something and we mess with it to make our music more interesting, and when we get there we make eye contact and fist bump. Itīs hard to explain. But I must confess itīs the same with all the guys in the band; it just happens more frequently with Dave because weīve spent a lot of time together, both in personal and musical terms, we know each other so well, both on and off the stage. We like and dislike the same things, weīre just like twins and this is almost weird, itīs almost scary (laughs). Thatīs how I see it, and itīs rather funny, especially when we have to face a musical problem on stage. Itīs always interesting to see how each one of us deals with it and whether we manage to make something good out of it. Lately weīre concentrating hard on this. Occasionally some new songs even come out of this kind of situation. It wasnīt that easy at first, because we were still trying to get to know each other musically, but after playing together for 20 years, itīs much easier and it gets more interesting and funny. So when we fist bump itīs just because something wonderful has happened between us; we look at each other and think "Iīve heard what you did, that was cool!". Sometimes we even do this while weīre still playing, just because we want to express our mutual approval. Fist bumping at the end of a song just means "Letīs do it again!". Itīs really funny and I love every single moment in these situations. We started doing this twenty years ago and itīs been like watching a baby grow up; we sowed the seed, we saw it sprout and now weīre watching it grow and I think itīs not ripe yet. Weīre not even close, we still have lots of things to do and this will take us a long time...what a wonderful feeling. I feel itīs a long way to go, so many things are yet to come as far as music is concerned, and I think I can speak for all the other guys. We just want to take our time and wait until time is ripe for this greatness to explode. Lots of good things are going to happen, weīre just scratching the surface.

Iīm glad to hear that…But letīs change the subject: you are very popular in the US, and undoubtedly a big part of this success is due to your many live performances over there, while you are less known in Europe where your gigs are less frequent; so will we see you more often here?

Of course. The last two tours hit just some European cities because we wanted to try and see how it was, and the feedback from the crowd was great. We believe this was our best tour so far, because it was also the biggest one: we decided to add more gigs in Europe; the response was unbelievable and it came completely unexpected. We thought "Hey, somethingīs happening here" and insisted on it as much as possible. I think itīs going to be the same as in the States someday. I have good reasons to believe it will happen, we must concentrate on Europe, give it the attention it deserves, just like we did in the States years ago. Itīs gonna be hard, but thatīs how it goes when youīre looking for something good. Weīre ready for this challenge, we met a lot of people here who are real fans.

Iīm sure youīll win this challenge...

So am I! We had a great response and the number of fans is increasing day by day, due to an incredible word-of-mouth phenomenon. Many people who attended our shows are telling their friends, so there are lots of people working for us, our fans! Youīll see, itīs going to be great!

And I also think that the fact that you are famous in the US because of your constant live presence is a very positive thing, especially times like these, when people become famous without any groundwork and the necessary foundation to last over the years… You should be an example to other bands.

Right! I agree with you. This is the key to everything, and this is why we want to come here and play more than weīve ever done. There are a lot of bands that appear on the scene like a flash of lightning in the night and than last very little, and I think it is because they didnīt work right, they didnīt plant the seeds. You have to play and do your best, you have to plant the seeds and make sacrifices, then all this work can pay off and bear fruits. Fans will feel your motivation, will make you feel better and they will become devout fans.

Carter, letīs go back to the new album; I know you recorded it mainly in two stages, last year and at the beginning of this year. How did it go exactly? Were they two different sessions under many aspects?

Actually, there have been three recording sessions. The first time, I met Dave: he showed me some of his ideas and I immediately fell in love with them. This happened in our studio, in Charlottesville, Virginia, where we played our first jam sessions and we got in touch with his ideas, to see what could come out. There was LeRoi, too, and, together, we began to play a little and to try out all the ideas we had. Then we went to Seattle and we started putting together some stuff, and it was there that it all really began to take off. We realized we had a lot of good stuff to work on. We allowed a lot of room for creativity, writing and jam sessions, developing the songs until they were ready to be recorded. We really were on the same wavelength; then we moved to New Orleans, we played the songs together in their entirety and at last we recorded them. At that point Rob Cavallo was with us, who put magic on our tunes, and, suddenly, we were holding the record in our hands. There have been great people working for us and all going in the same direction; everybody, even the cooks in the kitchen, helped us build this wall and have been witnesses of the evolution of our work in the months we were there. Everybody witnessed the creation and the development of this songs, that in the end formed a single great record that we handed to the whole world. It was something incredible, everyone put a lot into this album, and you can hear this when you listen to the CD. Fans will never be fooled by our music, we gave everything we had to make this record. Here we talk about us, our hearts and what weīve been through in the last twenty years. You can hear all of this in our music: you can hear Charlottesville, Seattle and certainly New Orleans. You can hear our friend LeRoi, recently passed over, he is part of this music, too. You can hear the ups and downs and everything weīve been through together, you can find all this. Another thing that impressed me is the effort that Dave put in the album cover. Itīs simply incredible. When I saw it for the first time I was speechless, because I imagined the time and the effort it must have taken to draw those fantastic pictures. I believe it took days, weeks, maybe even more to make what appears like a real story. If you look at it carefully while youīre listening to the record, it can really take you far away; itīs a great aspect of this album. But I want to insist on this point: this is not it… Thereīs more waiting to happen. Youīll see.

Great!

As I was telling you before, we are just scratching the surface, many things will still happen. Unfortunately, we had to pass through the bitterness of the loss of our friend LeRoi, but sometimes itīs like this. Sometimes you wake up and see the light. When this things happen, you pass through many incredible moments that allow you to learn a lot; but you really have to pass through this to learn, and I think that, at last, we have understood some things. Youīll see, there is still a lot to tell…

Itīs really interesting, from my point of view, to see you play with your left hand on the hi-hat and the ride on a right hand set, maybe because I play in the same way…

Ah, this is really interesting…

Sometimes, I see you doing something even more interesting, you cross your arms.

Exactly! Yes, I do that sometimes…

As, for instance, in īCrushī; the point is that everything remains always very interesting, the phrasing in particular …

Yes, I really care about the phrasing, it may be the most important thing. Sometimes, when I cross my arms, I see and hear widely different things far from the open handed style. Depending on what I want to say in that particular moment, I decide to play open handed or with my arms crossed. Iīve got a basic structure and, depending on the song, I use one of the styles. Besides īCrushī, I also cross my arms in īPigī…

… and also in īStayī…

True! You can really hear on which song I cross my arms. It happens sometimes, when I want to do something really different. It depends on how I feel and what I want to express. When you cross your arms thereīs a whole different feeling. I could even do it on every song, but I prefer playing with my style.

Can it also be that you naturally play some tunes with your arms crossed, instead of open handed?

Yes, sure. But, again, itīs all based on the feeling. Sometimes itīs also because some things are easier that way. If we take īPigī, for example, Iīve got to tell you that the syncopations of that groove are much more natural if I cross my arms, even though I can also play it open-hand. Maybe it happens because I am very lazy (big laughs)! Itīs very funny to mess up a little with this stuff, itīs the magic aspect of being a musician. Looking for the biggest challenge there is, being able to be creative, this is the most important thing. To try to understand how creative you can be and be interesting for the listener, and especially for yourself, so that you donīt get bored. I get crazy when Iīm bored; but Iīve got to say that in this band I donīt have the time to get bored, because, talking about music, so many wonderful things happen that you donīt have the time to get distracted. As long as Iīm with my brothers from the band, then Iīm fine.

Does it happen that you see a drummer playing in a more traditional way, crossing his arms, and you are fascinated by those ideas and style and you try to take them into the open handed style, so to create something new? It happens a lot to me…

Yes, always. Itīs an important part of what we do, because you listen and play in a completely different way. When I play open handed, my right hand plays the role of the soloist, because I can reach any tom or cymbal, and I can play what I want, while my left hand can keep playing the hi-hat or the ride, and the snare drum at the same time. I use my right hand also for the accents on the splash, for example, or on other components of the set, perhaps not playing anything incredible, but just to underline certain parts. This is the reason why, years ago, I changed my style and I started playing open handed, because it felt well, and it allowed me to do much more. I can still play with my arms crossed, it requires more effort but surely it creates new possibilities as regards creativity, because it allows for a different feeling, and all seems different. Sometimes, when I play with my arms crossed, it seems like Iīm not playing, itīs like itīs another drummer playing!

Itīs like an extracorporeal experience…

Yes, itīs true, itīs just what I was thinking of! Itīs exactly how you feel. It makes you feel alive and honest with yourself, avoiding a precise path. Because this is the risk you run, that you might always end up playing the same stuff, with the same style in every song. Then suddenly you cross your arms and say: īah, ok!ī. And you can really feel it, you can feel the difference.

Carter, I really hope that you can release a DVD of this tour: I am really curious about seeing you play live, because the new album is one of my favorites, together with Before These Crowded Streets…

Iīm sure weīll make something out of this European tour, because weīve never done it before and because now the band is playing like never before; it all works perfectly well. Weīve played some good concerts in England and France and in Montreux, the other night. Yes, youīll see that something will come out.

And, please, donīt make us wait so much for a new album…

(laughing) As I was saying, the other night we played at the Montreux Jazz Festival and it was a great concert: I know it was recorded in HD, video and audio; Iīve seen a little bit of the recording and—I assure you—it was absolutely incredible, and the sound was clear, perfect.

We want to see it!

Everyone wants it to be released! Iīve talked with the guys: we own the rights for the video and the audio, and this is good, because we can release that stuff when and how we want. Iīm sure that that concert is going to be released.

- SET UP -

DRUMS & HARDWARE

Yamaha:
- 20" x 18" bass drum
- 8" x 8" tom
- 10" x 9" tom
- 12" x 10" tom
- 14" x 12" tom
- 16" x 16" floor tom
- Yamaha(Prototype) 14" x 6,5" snare drum
DW 9002 Series double bass drum pedal
DW Hardcore beaters
DW 9000 hi-hat stand
DW Kick drum trigger
10" x 6" Purple Titanium Dunnett snare drum
13" x 7" Titanium Dunnett timbale
timbale LP
Hand Percussion Remo

DRUMHEADS

Remo Clear Emperor sobre Ebony Ambassador
Powerstroke 4 Kick Drum

DRUMSTICKS

Pro-Mark Carter Beauford Signature Series Hickory 5AB

ELECTRONICS

Hart Electronic drum pads and triggers

CYMBALS

Zildjian:
- 14" K Dark Crash Medium Thin
- 20" A Custom Flat Ride
- 20" A Projection Ride
- 13" Hi-Hats (K Dark Custom Top & Z Dyno Beat Bottom)
- 6" Zil-Bell
- 18" K Dark Medium Thin Crash
- 17" K Prototype
- 10" A Custom Splash
- 19" K China 20" over a Oriental Classic China
- 8" A Splash over a 10" K Splash
- 9" Oriental Splash
- 20" Crash of Doom
- 14" K China with 4 rivets
- 18" K Prototype
- 14" ZXT

BIOGRAPHY

The story of Carter Beauford started one evening when his father, unable to find a babysitter, decided to take him to a Buddy Rich concert. Carter recalls that thatīs when he decided playing drums was all he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Carterīs father was a trumpet player, and he has inspired his son greatly in choosing a career as a musician.

Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, Beauford played professionally for the first time at the age of nine, in a fusion band led by Big Nick Nicholas.

His involvement in a fusion band called Secrets (in the same period he was also the drummer in a show by pianist Ramsey Lewis, for the TV network Bet on Jazz) was very important, because one of the regulars at their concerts was Dave Matthews, who a little later would involve both Beauford and LeRoi Moore (saxophonist of the band) in developing a bit of material he had written. Carter recalls having found Matthewīs music very interesting and being fascinated by the way he wrote.

Before he knew it he was already in the studio (along with a very young Stefan Lessard) recording some songs they wanted to show their friends, just to see the reactions and opinions of the people involved. It was an immediate success, and from then on history tells of the journey and the exploits of one of the most popular and original bands on the planet: the Dave Matthews Band. When the live gigs of DMB became more frequent, Beauford stopped being a drummer for Bet on Jazz. In the following years, Carter Beauford has participated in several albums with artists such as Santana, John Popper, Victor Wooten and Robin Andre.

DAVE MATTHEWS TALKS ABOUT CARTER BEAUFORD

During the press conference with Dave Matthews I had the chance to ask him about the incredible understanding that exists between him and Carter Beauford. Daveīs eyes suddenly lit up and he told me:

"I must say that for this new album, but also for other things we have written before, some songs were created thinking about how Carter would play them, and came out of improvisations we did together on other occasions. When I write my songs Iīm always very excited just thinking about Carterīs interpretation of the song. A great example of what Iīm talking about is one of the new songs in this album, which is called īSevenī. Itīs a very complicated song, because of the changes in tempo, but he made everything so fluid, made the music so simple and easy that it makes you want to dance, instead of complicating it further. Heīs a very intelligent musician and a craftsman of his instrument. There are many musicians who are able to show everything they can do, but there are not very many who can make you understand what they are doing".