 24 March 2019 - by Suzanne Turner Name Liz Turner Where are you based? Naarm, Melbourne. I grew up in the far south eastern suburb of Narre Warren and moved to the inner north in 1996 for the live music. How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I started drum lessons when I was eleven years old. That was 33 years ago! I’ve been playing live in bands since I was fourteen, so about 29 years. My mum’s side of the family is really musical. My aunty is a music teacher and my mum can play loads of instruments and sing really well. Growing up in the outer suburbs, my sister and I were exposed to a lot of heavy metal music. My drum teacher was a jazz teacher. He taught with the Alexander Technique, which taught me that you can push through things that are really hard by keeping calm and breathing through them. I wanted to play the drums because it was so meditative and as a crazy teen, I found that keeping rhythm helped me feel mentally stable. There was no way my sister and I were going to play in the church band like our cousins. So we formed a band with some local punk boys doing Dead Kennedys and Fugazi covers. Then we started a feminist grunge band called The Bobbitts with guitarist Bonnier Mercer and singer Leah Rigby. Do you play any other instruments? I’m also a vocalist / front person. What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? I play drums in BODIES with Joel Morrison and Swiss Kalkan. We released an album in 2022 called Ghost Hoaxing and toured a bit. I also currently play drums with If So Why and I’m the lead vocalist in Eunice and the Footes, a climate apocalypse themed punk band with my sister Suzanne Turner and Moz and Fudge who were previously in a band called Shit Tatts. What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? Prior to playing in BODIES, Joel Morrison and I were the vocalists in The Assassination Collective. I also drummed in that band, sharing kit duties with Matt Gleeson (The Stabs). The members of If So Why were previously in Lost Talk, a band with three drummers. I’ve also drummed with two fabulous all-women bands - pop rock band Remake Remodel and country band Royalchord. I was previously the lead vocalist in Jihad Against America, featuring Monika Fikerle on drums. I’m also part of Sonic Agenda, a project lead by Janelle Johnston featuring the Rah Rah panels and performances by women and non-binary punk performers. Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about? I tend to write the music, lyrics and drum parts for the bands that I front. So at the moment I write the songs for Eunice and the Footes. I wrote a lot of the songs for The Assassination Collective in the beginning. Then that band became very collaborative. And I worked with the guitarist from Jihad Against America to write the songs for that band. With the bands I’ve drummed in, I’ve always written my own drum parts, aside from the few times I’ve replaced previous drummers (yes, exploding drummers, like in Spinal Tap, it’s a thing). But when I’m drumming, I rarely write lyrics or music for the songs.  5 Feb 2022 - by Suzanne Turner What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run? With drumming, I approach my collaborative role like lending a skeleton. It can be quite selfless to contribute to another songwriter’s material. I love watching musicians who can do both: lend structure and support other people’s songs; and then separately lead their own bands. I’m so lucky to be in a community where many people are part of multiple musical projects – some of them they lead, some of them they participate and contribute but don’t lead. I like doing both. And I like being part of multiple musical projects at the same time. It helps me be a better player and performer. This is just a theory. But I wonder if the Spinal Tap exploding drummers phenomenon is related to the fact that drummers are often expected to selflessly lend the skeleton, with no prospect of being in a leadership role. So I think that as a drummer, it’s even more important that I have leadership roles in other projects. It levels the playing field a bit. It makes it enjoyable to sit in the back whilst drumming, because next week, I’ll have to step up to the front. I feel there is no risk that I will explode, Spinal Tap style. Because I know and love my dual roles. Just a hunch. Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? CLAMM, Springtime, everything with Jim White, The Misanthropes, The Dacios, Sarah Mary Chadwick, Affordable Repayments, Ad Interim, anything with Max Ducker, Thomy Sloan and Lucy Waldron, Bat Piss, Horace Bones, Midnight Oil (as always). Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? I have loads of favourite drummers! Most of them are local! Monika Fikerle from the Misanthropes (previously Love of Diagrams and the Sea Scouts), Mike Jordan from Paul Williamson’s Hammond Combo, Carl Pannuzzo from Checkerboard Lounge. Shauna Boyle from Cable Ties is brilliant. Jem from DEAD. I think actually Jim White (Springtime, Dirty Three, Cat Power, etc) is my favourite drummer. I love these drummers so much because they are accessible and I can go and see them play. Stuart Copeland from The Police and Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil have both given me an appreciation for playing pop. How would you describe the kind of music or projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs? I play punk. It can be hard to reconcile this with jazz training. A lot of my lyrics are quite confrontational. With punk, you can really take the filter off and say things that are a bit inappropriate to say at work or with family. Anger can be really powerful when it’s expressed in an interesting and appropriate context. Punk allows us to highlight the systemic violence that makes people really angry. I think this is really important. We need space to be articulate, furious and pointed about injustices. I also try and bring sharp humour to issues that can otherwise seem very serious. At the moment I’m trying to write dark, climate apocalypse songs about the class divide. “Fuck your north shore Sydney mansions. Fuck your islands Richard Branson.” “Barnaby Joyce, don’t get run over by a rolls royce,” that kind of thing. Lyrics like this might seem harsh. But actually I think a lot of people understand that billionaires are the ones who have gotten us into this environmental mess. Most people want a nice environment with clean air and a future for their children.  11 Jan 2019 - by Stephen Smith Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises?
No. I try hard to not be drunk before I drum. It interferes with my brain’s ability to communicate with my hands. I used to warm up by air-drumming, using the ball of my hand as a point of rebound. But I know my songs so well now right now, it’s muscle memory. Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? No, I’m personally terrible with social media. I don’t hate it, I’m just highly unskilled and not very good in that zone. Selfies make me feel a bit too narcissistic, but unfortunately that’s how social media algorithms work. So as I don’t post a lot of selfies, people don’t tend to see a lot of my posts! I’m talking in an echo chamber (Hi mum.) For me, word of mouth from the people and the community who see my bands creates a reputation. Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? No. I pay the bills with my work as an environmental educator and I also have a scholarship for a PhD about youth participation in disruptive climate activism. So these things keep me busy and keep a roof over my kids’ heads. My musical projects take place in venues that don’t pay large guarantees, this version of punk is a bit niche to make a living. I’ve recently started giving drum lessons and am able to take on more students at the moment. Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? Supporting Midnight Oil. What kit/cymbals/gear do you play? I mostly play a hybrid kit that includes a bright blue 24” vintage Rogers kick, coupled with silver sparkly rack and floor from a 1970’s Premier kit. I love my 18” Ziljian Symphonic French crash that is actually one half of a set of orchestral cymbals. I play at 20” Ufip ride, which is really quite dry. My snare is a loud, cranked up remo. I’m trying to get a sound that’s quite heavy and loud but also warm and jazzy. Yes, hard to reconcile. What piece of gear would you buy if money were no object? A vintage Ludwig kit with Bosphorus cymbals. If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be? The men are not better than you. Don’t let them be more visible than you. Get yourself in the position where you can join the bands you want to play in, including the amazing bands.
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 Photo by Andrew Bromley (@andybromm) Name Alice O’Sullivan Where are you based? Melbourne How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I started playing drums back in primary school. I think it’s universally agreed that drums are just the coolest instrument (sorry not sorry), and young me wanted to be a part of the club. I was fortunate enough to have some great mentors over the years who supported my playing. Do you play any other instruments? I’m not too shabby at guitar and had lessons for a few years back when I was still in school. The lessons weren’t quite for me, and once I started taking drumming more seriously, I decided to actively self-teach (and didn’t do such a bad job I’ll add). What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? My biggest commitment now is with my band, All Regards. Our genre is not quite pop-punk, not too heavy either, so we like to say its grungy-emo-punk (take a listen and you’ll hear what I mean). On top of that, I’m drumming in a surf rock project called CHEAP-SKATE. We recently scored a tour with the Smith Street Band which has been heaps of fun preparing for. As I’m writing this, our first show of the tour is on Friday, so fingers crossed! I’ve got a few other things in the works, but not enough to start touting them yet! Hopefully soon, though. Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about? In All Regards, we definitely all contribute to the song writing process. Whether that’s bringing forward lyrics, a cool guitar riff or a theme to write a song around, all the band members are writing. Outside the band, I still have songs and ideas I’m working on. Not all of them fit the heavier genres or the vibe of All Regards, so hopefully they’ll come out in the future. As for shows, we are doing a lot more support slots these days which has been great – playing for bigger bands and interacting with different crowds to who we usually see. At the end of 2021, we held a headlining single launch for our song, ‘Where Were You’, which we pretty much organised all ourselves. It was a huge success, we sold out Last Chance in Melbourne and had an epic night. Hopefully we will get to run some more headliners again soon.  Photo by Andrew Bromley (@andybromm) What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run? I think active collaboration is essential in making good music. I like to say I’m a ‘yes girl’ – if someone suggests an idea, I always want to say yes and try it before dismissing it. If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back or take it in a new direction. I always want to revise and try improving something until I’m in love with it. After all, when is your first attempt ever going to be your best? Since gaining experience recording in the studio, I’ve learnt a lot about the whole process and can now identify ways to make a song better, add layers and keep it engaging. Who are you listening to/who’s music are you enjoying right now? I’ve been trying to listen to a broad spectrum of artists recently to cater to my various projects and things happening behind the scenes. I’ve been doing a mix of keeping up with contemporary artists, but also diving into the archives. My top three at the moment are;
 Photo by @ActFourPhoto (Beth Morrison) Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises? Anything that makes my hands confused is a good start. I like to pick something challenging, then work my way to nailing it. I try to find these on YouTube or look through some old drumming books I’ve collected over the years. At the moment, my warmup consists of a run through my rudiments, then some chop-building work. I’ll play around with paradiddle accents and 5 or 7 stroke rolls to create interesting accent patterns. Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? Social media, and in particular Instagram, is the hub of most of what I do in terms of promotion. I like to keep the band page active as well as my own, letting people know where and when I’m playing. Sometimes I think no one notices, but I often run into people and the first thing they ask is ‘How’s the drumming going?’ which is kind of nice. To be honest, I think word of mouth is really powerful as well. I always like to strike up a conversation about music and find that if you can connect with someone about that, they will often be invested in your own music journey. Even better when they make an effort to come see a show, I always appreciate that. Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? All Regards has done some amazing shows with local bands I’ve admired for a really long time. The most exciting part for me has been and continues to be our growth. From a band struggling to muster a crowd on a Thursday night, to playing to a sold-out venue alongside some promising Australian acts is unreal. I am eager to see what comes next. If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be? Do your rudiments! (Unfortunately, this still applies today). Other thoughts/info I’m excited have joined the Big Sound Percussion team last year. It has connected me with so many other drummers and the community that has been created is so amazing. You can find them on Instagram @bsp_drumsticks and their sticks stocked in any good music store. Website The best place to stay up to date would be my Instagram, @ali.osully https://www.instagram.com/ali.osully/  Name Mina Cannon. Where are you based? Yugambeh (Gold Coast), QLD. How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I’ve been playing drums since I was around 16-17. I always knew I’d grow up to make music, but as a young girl I thought my options were either singing or playing guitar, both of which i’m pretty bad at, haha. I got my first kit on a whim, and it’s been pretty uphill since then. Do you play any other instruments? I don’t, not yet, maybe that’ll change one day. What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? At the moment, VOIID is the main. I do have some stuff in the works for the future, but you’ll have to wait on that. What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? I have played in another band, Sun Serpent Gully, who are currently on a hiatus and hopefully returning soon! My first band ever was called Viral Eyes, which I was only in for a hot minute due to the rest of the band being from Sydney. I played my first ever show with them though, and I had a lot of fun.  Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? At the moment i’m really loving Gel, Lingua Ignota and Ballista. As for more local bands though, i’m digging Blind Girls, who just released an LP ‘The Weight of Everything’. Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? I have a lot of favourite drummers! But the drummers who inspired me the most to start playing would be Vinnie Paul and Matt Cameron. When it comes to inspiration though, I get a lot of that from watching local bands and my friends killing it. How would you describe the kind of music or projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs? I feel like I’ve done a lot of diverse stuff in music so far, with VOIID we get to do a bunch of different stuff like fast punchy punk songs to slow shoegaze-y kinda feels, it’s cool to have that fluidity and creative leeway. And then with other projects I’ve been involved in, I get to play on the heavier side - Sun Serpent Gully was a doom metal band, I had a lot of fun with that. Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises? I’m pretty bad at sticking to a routine when it comes to warming up honestly, I just fuck around. I find it hard to keep my mind on a particular exercise when really I just want to play songs I love to warm up. Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? I definitely don’t make a living from music as of yet as much as I’d love to! Right now, music is obviously the passion, but it doesn’t pay the bills - I work full time as a Legal Assistant. Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? We’ve only been around Australia as of right now, but my favourite place to go is Tasmania for sure. I grew up there, so it’s cool to go back and play for family and old friends from school. The last time we went to Tas we ended up staying at (and then shortly fleeing from) a haunted hotel, that counts for cool, right? If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be? I actually think about this a lot, which is weird because I don’t really have an answer. Drums was the only thing I was ever really easy on myself with, and went at my own pace, I’m usually pretty self critical. Maybe that’s why drums stuck with me, because I was never an asshole to myself about it when I was younger and let myself have fun. I guess the only words close to advice for my younger self would be “stop trying to play ‘shattered’ by Pantera, the neighbours are getting pissed.”  Name
Natalie Grasso Where are you based? Perth, WA How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I’ve been playing drums since I was 9 years old, so around 13 years now. My cousin was doing lessons at the time and is a really amazing drummer so I guess he inspired me to pick it up and I started lessons with him. Do you play any other instruments? I don’t play any other instruments in the traditional sense but I DJ and produce music both of which can feel like picking up a different instrument at times. What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? At the moment I mostly drum for an artist called Jewel Owusu. She’s an pop/indie/alternative R&B artist who's actually one of my closest childhood friends. We started making music together in early 2020 with her writing and me producing and then later in the year we formed a band and started playing her tracks live around Perth. What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? I have played drums for another artist called Princess Khanya when she needs a fill-in drummer. I’ve played a few cover band gigs over the past few years with different singers and played at quite a few jam nights in Perth but otherwise I haven’t played in many other projects. I grew up playing a lot in church which was what really helped me learn how to play with a live band and to an audience. Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about? As I mentioned before, I’ve had a lot of involvement putting together Jewel Owusu’s live show playing drums and helping arrange the songs to be played live. If the show requires a duo set I’ll usually DJ for her too. I also produce songs for other artists and make remixes as part of my DJ work. What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run? Collaboration has played such a key part in my music projects over the past few years. The way that Jewel and I work together collaboratively works so well for both of us because we get to play to our strengths. Usually she sends me a demo where she's already written the chords and the lyrics and then I can program the drums and other instrumentation that's needed. Going into production with a drumming background I sometimes struggle with the music theory aspects of producing music so that's why collaborating with Jewel who’s good at that has helped so much. Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? I love R&B so I always find myself listening to artists like Snoh Aalegra, H.E.R and Ravyn Lenae. Over the past year I’ve been really into a UK artist called Pink Pantheress who blew up on tik tok. She does really chill drum and bass music which I never thought I'd be into but have been vibing a lot to. Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? I would say Chris ‘Daddy’ Dave and Karriem Riggins are up there for my favourite drummers. I’m really into hip hop so their grooves and feel are my favourite to listen to and try to emulate. I love their style of trying to play like a drum machine in the style of J Dilla’s productions. Questlove also inspires me with his pocket and because he's a successful DJ too so I feel like I relate to that aspect of him. How would you describe the kind of music or projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs? Most of my projects would be considered R&b/Hip hop/Neo-soul. With a lot of my projects I’m always interested in trying to do things with a fresh take and make them sound new and current. A big part of this is trying to incorporate more electronic sounds and loops with a SPD-SX in shows. I feel like this is a unique perspective I have as a DJ and producer. Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises? I usually just try to stretch out and warm up my hands and arms beforehand. I use the sticks to help stretch and shake out my arms which I learnt from a Tony Royster Jr video. Then I try and do a few basic rudiments on my stick bag or cymbal bag for resistance. Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? Social media plays a huge role in promoting myself as an artist. I’ve connected with, built relationships with and ended up working with quite a lot of people through it. I’ve found that making content like drumming reels has been a really effective way to promote myself as an artist. Meeting people at shows has also been a really important part of promoting myself though. Even meeting with people I've connected with online changes the dynamic completely and helps build relationships way quicker. Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? I don’t rely on music for income. I work part-time as a youth worker which I rely on mainly for my income and I like to look at music work as a bonus to that income. I feel like it takes a lot of pressure off and helps me enjoy my music projects solely for the experience not for the money. Sometimes if I want to make a big purchase or am feeling tight on money I'll do a few mobile DJ gigs like parties and weddings which are usually a pretty good way for me to make money from music. Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? I haven’t been on any tours or anything like that yet but lately i’ve been really grateful for the last few shows we’ve done because we’ve had great crowds who brought the vibes. We recently did a single launch for one of Jewel’s latest songs and the feeling in the room was like nothing i’d ever felt before. It was really cool to be in a room playing music I love and have put a lot of effort into to people who were really vibing it. If you could give your younger drumming self some advice, what would it be? Practice foot exercises a lot more. I struggle to this day to incorporate as many double kicks in my fills and grooves as I would like haha. Website I don't have a website but my instagram for my music projects is @namesake.mp3 |
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