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The Trap Set with Joe Wong

Every Wednesday, Joe Wong talks to a different drummer about life as a drummer.
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The Trap Set with Joe Wong
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Now displaying: 2018
Dec 26, 2018

We're closing out the year by revisiting a pensive conversation with one of the greatest drummers of all time, Steve Gadd. (This episode was recorded in 2015 and originally released in early 2016.) Thanks to all of you for making Trap Set a big success in 2018; here's to 2019!

Dec 19, 2018

This week, a fascinating bonus episode with Bill Cardwell--drum builder and co-founder of C&C Drum Company. Dozens of our guests have played Bill's drums; get to know the deeply compelling person behind the instruments.

Dec 12, 2018

Illinois band Hum created an expansive sound world, and Bryan St. Pere’s drumming is the beacon that guides the listener through thick fields of distortion. Bryan tells Joe about: his fascination with Bugs; loving Neil Peart so much that he used Pert Plus shampoo as a child; coming from a “family of struggle”; having a tightly wound temperament; why recording Hum’s landmark albums was excruciatingly painful; and how the band dynamic has evolved, now that Hum is back in the studio.

Dec 5, 2018

Jason Gerken likes to party. He also has the unique ability to make unexpected musical choices sound natural and powerful. Jason tells Joe about: why his parents tried to prevent him from becoming a drummer; working with beloved KC bands Shiner and Molly McGuire; his day job managing a bar; a brush with death; learning to work through negative self talk; and an impending Shiner reunion.

Nov 28, 2018

Nabil Ayers was born into a deeply musical family and began playing drums as a toddler. Eventually, he toured and recorded with bands such as The Lemons and The Long Winters, his experiences as a drummer serving as the foundation for what has become an impressively multifaceted career in the music business. Nabil tells Joe about: being raised by a single mom; getting his first drum set from his uncle, free jazzer Alan Michael Braufman; the few interactions he’s had with his biological father, Roy Ayers; getting arrested and charged with a felony; co-founding Seattle record store, Sonic Boom; his career as a record executive; and his budding interest in writing.

Nov 21, 2018

Kevin Haskins's spare, hypnotic style laid the foundation for goth luminaries, Bauhaus. He tells Joe about: growing up in Northampton; seeing bands like The Who and Led Zeppelin; how the burgeoning punk scene gave him confidence to pursue music; playing the now-classic "Bela Lugosi's Dead" for the first time; the sense of devastation he experienced after the breakup of Bauhaus; working with subsequent bands such as Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets; and passing on his love of music to his children. Check out the new Bauhaus release "The Bela Session" out this Friday, 11/23.

Nov 14, 2018

Aaron Sterling's percussive prowess would have gotten him plenty of work during the golden age of the recording studio, but his attention to sonics and ability to self engineer make him a quintessential studio drummer for the modern paradigm. He discusses: overcoming social anxiety; working at California Pizza Kitchen; his largely unwavering musical confidence; how he built his career without compromising his values; and musical empathy.

Nov 7, 2018

Parker Kindred has a supernatural gift of musical intuition. His intensely imaginative, lyrical playing style imbues the music with a deep hypnotic subtlety. Joe joined Parker in his Williamsburg apartment to discuss: being “inside one’s body”; why identifying as a drummer makes him feel like a loser; working with artists such as Joan As Police Woman and Jeff Buckley; and what he would ask other versions of himself if he could travel through time.

Oct 31, 2018

Rob Ellis possesses the dynamic touch of a concert musician, the ferocity of a punk rocker, and the compositional sense of a New Music luminary; but it's Rob's extraordinary capacity for musical empathy that make him the perfect collaborator for iconic songwriters ranging from PJ Harvey to Marianne Faithfull. Rob tells Joe about his early memories in 1960s California; his Navy officer father, whose death at an early age cast a shadow on Rob's personal development; attending an elite public (boarding) school, wherein he was head choir boy; helping Polly Harvey become PJ Harvey; and the process of mending strained relationships with his family.

Oct 31, 2018

In this bonus mini-episode, Rob Ellis discusses his struggles with alcohol and the decision to become sober. Be sure to check out Rob's introspectively intense full-length episode, also available this week.

Oct 24, 2018

We're hard at work on new episodes, so this week, we're revisiting one of our favorite conversations with Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips. Steven has a new podcast of his own called Sorcerer's Orphan. See you next week!

Oct 17, 2018

Brendan Buckley’s omnivorous musical taste, disciplined approach, and granular attention to detail make him well-suited for work with artists such as Tegan and Sara, Roberto Carlos, Volumen Cero, JJ Lin, and—for the last 20 years—Shakira.

Brendan tells Joe about: growing up in New Jersey, his tiger mom, what it takes to play a choreographed pop gig night after night, improvising with Damien Rice, how losing his sister at a young age shifted his outlook on life, and his permissive but careful style of parenting.

 

Oct 10, 2018

Bill Bruford’s instantly identifiable sound and brilliant sense of composition made him the defining drummer of the progressive rock movement; but at age 60, after four decades in the music business, Bill unceremoniously walked away.

Bill tells Joe about: being a young jazz elitist; "leveraging himself sideways" from an upper-middle class family to the seedy life of a musician; doing a lot with “a modest amount of talent”; the creative dynamics of Yes and King Crimson; how he achieved his signature snare sound; retirement; and earning a doctorate from The University of Surrey. During the course of the conversation, Joe and Bill also christen a new band, Wongford. This is a can’t-miss episode with one of the all-time greats.

Oct 3, 2018

Rat Scabies and his influential band, The Damned, were integral members of the fledgling UK punk community. Rat's controlled bombast earned him comparisons to Keith Moon and Mitch Mitchell. He and Joe met in Soho to discuss: Rat's post-war childhood in the outskirts of London; his father's job as an underground soft porn merchant; his theory on geography's key role in bands; the inner workings of The Damned; and his quest for The Holy Grail.

Sep 26, 2018

A classically trained percussionist, Fay Milton possesses an adventurous compositional sense and keen sonic sensitivity that helped Savages become one of the most exciting, critically-lauded bands of the last decade. Fay and Joe met in Soho, London, to discuss: why there is hope in the darkness; the lack of surfer dudes in Australia; Savages; Fay's new Project, 180db; and the desire to have children amidst the instability of a life in music.

Sep 19, 2018

Woody Woodmansey propelled the legendary Spiders from Mars to international stardom and helped the post-war generation escape the prison of banality. Woody tells Joe about growing up in Northern England; his life as a plumber and factory worker; how fate led him to discover music; writing music and touring with David Bowie; craving uncertainty; living a life of excess; and re-defining himself when the magic carpet of rockstardom was pulled out from under him.

Sep 12, 2018

In this Bonus Episode, The Slits bassist, Tessa Pollitt, sat down with Joe after a recent screening of "Here to Be Heard", a documentary about the band.

Sep 5, 2018

Nate Wood has a gift for mastery when it comes to the mechanics of music; but he also possesses a creative clarity that transcends mere virtuosity. He talks about growing up in a musical family; his theory of genetic determinism; his approach to learning instruments; and how his new project, Four, might be his salvation when the robots rise to annihilate the human race.

Aug 29, 2018

Ryan Pope's metronomical groove and uniquely memorable beats helped The Get Up Kids become one of the most influential rock bands to emerge from the Midwest during the 1990s. Ryan tells Joe about: his incredibly close relationship with his brother/bandmate Rob; growing up Mormon and losing his faith; re-defining himself when the band ended its initial run; and his life as a serial entrepreneur.

Aug 22, 2018

Formed in 1990 in New York City, Quicksand drew inspiration from the energy of their native hardcore scene. Powered by drummer Alan Cage's dexterous groove, the band's angular compositions ushered in an influential new strain of heavy music. Alan tells Joe about: growing up as a mildly mischievous kid on Long Island; the formation and creative dynamic of Quicksand; working as a labor organizer when the band broke up; his fear of becoming a father; and becoming a father!  

Aug 15, 2018

Adam Topol's formative years were spent listening to Kiss and punk rock, but he soon discovered a lifelong passion for jazz and world music that influenced his diverse career. He tells Joe about growing up in Lake Tahoe; his self-taught entrepreneur father; why art and academia feel at odds; why he never thought that he could make a living playing music; getting sober; his connection with deep Jack Johnson; and starting his percussion company, Roots EQ.

Aug 8, 2018

The Arctic Monkeys started out as more of an aspiration than an actual band--its members were teenagers who had just started playing their instruments. But--after gaining some online notoriety--the band was catapulted to massive popularity, releasing a string of number one albums in their native UK. Matt Helders talks to Joe about: growing up in Sheffield; struggling with feelings of "unearned" success early in the band's career; evolving as an artist; the thrilling fear of writing his solo album; and working with the great Iggy Pop on his acclaimed Post Pop Depression album.

Aug 1, 2018

On this episode of The Trap Set Live, Joe sits down with Chico Mann and Geoff Mann to discuss: musical parents (Geoff’s father being the legendary Herbie Mann); early influences; the first records they purchased with their own money; their tenure with Antibalas; the genesis of their current band Here Lies Man—which combines Afrobeat-inspired rhythm with heavy psychedelic textures; and parenting.

This episode was recorded live at The Amigo Room at Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs, CA.

Jul 25, 2018

Lucky Lehrer's ferocious and agile style helped Circle Jerks become standard bearers of the nascent SoCal hardcore scene. He tells Joe about growing up in LA, his love of jazz, studying at UC-Berkeley, discovering punk, and his current creative focus--improvised comedy.

Jul 18, 2018

Formed in Philadelphia in 1983, The Dead Milkmen created a downright hillarious sonic universe that stood in stark contrast to their hardcore punk contemporaries. But it's a genuine, heartfelt emotional core that makes the band's classic body of work stand the test of time. Drummer Dean "Clean" Sabatino charts his journey from local hero, to major label big wigs, to father and graphic designer, to part-time punk.

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