Music's Elite Seat // Episode 7 // Rich Redmond

Speaker: Dan Lewis  00:01
This next installment of Dan Lewis in conversation with brings you the master of portfolio Korea's Rich Redmond, Rich has played on 26 number one selling singles and has been playing with the country phenomenon Jason Aldean for the last 20 years. Amongst playing every major TV show and gig around the world with Jason, Rich also speaks for corporations. He's an author of Drum Books and has his own podcast, the Rich Redmond podcast, which I would definitely advise checking out. I speak to Rich from Wales whilst he's in LA. And I can honestly say just what an incredible conversation, incredibly motivating, inspiring to anyone who will listen, as he obviously has a background and now a career in motivational speaking. We cover his life in his career to date, his advice on just about everything, and his philosophies on life itself. Rich, if you're listening to this, I'd like to personally thank you for such an energizing insightful conversation. And hopefully, we'll cross paths one day, I'm sure we will. And I hope you all enjoy as much as I did. Thank you so much. So Rich Redmond, how are you, sir?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  01:08
How are you, man? Good to see you. Thanks for having me.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis 01:10
Thank you. So worldwide pandemic, almost a full year to the day since everything started closing down, especially this side of the world. How have you been? And what have you been doing?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  01:22
Well, man, it's great to be here. Yeah, it's depends on how you frame things. Like for me, I knew I didn't want to really be the same person a year later. And so, I mean, things are different. I got a deeper tan. My hair's longer. I went out and I got a Nike, if there's any runners out there, or folks that just want to like, track their calories and miles traveled, I got this Nike running app. And it's really cool. And it's, just like a running app for dummies, you just press start. And since one year ago, I have ran 850 miles. So, if I didn't run those 850 miles the way my girlfriend cooks three meals a day, I'd be huge, right? So, you know, the idea of, taking time for yourself, lots of water, I drink coffee and tea, lots of good vitamins. You know, for the first time in my life, I've had a full refrigerator and three meals a day. And you know what that's like, because you're you travel full time for a living, we have this thing called catering. And so, you get up in the morning, and you have access to three or four meals a day. And so, when I come home to Nashville, maybe I'm only in Nashville 48 to 72 hours. And so, for a long time being a single guy, you're it's like, well, I'll just… you order in or you have your nice spots, you can get something healthy, pick it up, or I'll just load up the refrigerator with a bunch of green juices. But this has been a real treat, I spent the year taking acting classes online, and auditioning for a million like indie films and commercials, and keeping the podcast going. I'm up to 108 episodes on my podcast, I wrote a TEDx talk, I took a couple of professional development classes, got the sticks in my hands, I fly to Nashville all the time to do recording sessions. So, you know, just keeping that ball rolling so, you're creatively engaged when the call comes in, it's like, hey, Redmon El Dean, we got the call from Live Nation, I'm ready. I got the stamina to play the 90 minutes show. I'm feeling good about myself. I'm in a good headspace to do that. So, I know there's a lot of people suffering out there mentally, financially, this is just one of those things that you can't control. And the best way to handle it is just, you know, with positivity, and gratitude and humility and just try to do what you can control the things that you can control, because we can't control this.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  04:03
Yeah. I mean, firstly, congrats on, everything. Oh, thank you, sir. I first heard your name from Mike Sleeth. Who's with Shawn Mendez’s bass rock drums. Yes. I did a podcast with him a few years ago. And he was like, I was like “are there drummers out there that you'd love to meet.” And, other drummers you aspire to and stuff like that. He was like rich Redmond, and I was like, Oh, great. And I was I didn't know much about you at the time. But he was like, “this guy does like everything.”  
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond 04:30
That’s sweet. I'd love to connect with him. That's great.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  04:33
Yeah, I'm sure he would. I'm sure he'd love that. And he probably maybe come on your podcast.
 
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond 04:39
I would love that. You can connect us. That would be awesome. You are the connector.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  04:42
I would love to do that. Yeah. And so yeah, congrats on that. Congrats on the podcast. You're like the definition of a portfolio career, which I love. And so, one of the things I love to know and love to ask the people that I have on this conversation series, you're accomplished in so many areas like speaker podcaster or drama. And something I like to do is get people to kind of give me like a blueprint of from where they started to where they got now. So, I'm sure you're familiar with the Steve Jobs, Stamford address where he says you can only connect the dots looking backwards. You can't connect them looking forwards. So, what do your dots look like?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  05:18
Interesting Yeah, I'll have to revisit that. You're talking to a guy that's 50 years old. So, when I started playing drums in 1976, 1977, it was a different world. And by the time I got good at my craft, and started, studying more and playing in bands, and when I really went, I probably went professional in 1988. That was like, usually when people go pro around 18 years old, you start getting paid to play bar mitzvahs, and bar mitzvahs and community centers and nightclubs. And yeah, raves, you get out there and you start making some money to do your thing. And that was a different world. And then the 90s hit with all the Doc Martens and grunge and I survived all of those things. Somehow, I had a vision for myself, where it was almost like I kind of used a drummer like Gregg Bissonnette as a model, because Greg could like read a movie score date, he could play on the soundtrack to friends and he can go out and rock with David Lee Roth, play Brazilian music with Tanya Maria Big Band jazz with Maynard Ferguson, I said, that guy will always be gainfully employed his entire life. And he'll even get around the ages of our industry, which is, the music business is a very youth-oriented business.
But if you have the right skill sets, and you can speak that language, and you've got a great reputation, and you can work with people with a smile on your face tech direction, you'll always work in this. So, I wanted to have those skill sets. So that was very important to me. And for me, it was just drums and drums, drums and drums forever. And then when I realized, wow, I have a teacher's heart. I started teaching and then teaching became writing for magazines and then doing the motivational speaking. And then it was like you know what happened this like thing that just keeps nagging at me the universe just keeps saying, “Rich, you're a salesman, you could be in a toothpaste commercial, or you can emcee or host a live event.” And then you just start doing these things. And then your bag of tricks just keeps growing. It doesn't mean I don't love playing the drums. I'm just trying to be smart about this. The music business is changing so much in the way people value creativity in the arts, people will pay 499 for a fart app on their phone, but they won't pay 99 cents for a piece of music that somebody slaves over for 10 years of their lives so that the arts have been devalued. So just trying to be smart and saying I want to keep a roof over my head, how many other cool things can I do that are in the world of education, and entertainment, and how those things can kind of converge. But I still feel like you got to get good at something first, like getting good at the grunt the drums and being able to turn heads and being be able to be consistently hired is a great way to break the ice to people to say, hey, I'm interested in doing this, this and this. And then people will take you seriously doing those things. Because they've seen that you have the gumption and the fire and the desire and the persistence to get good at something.
So, I don't know what the model would be for today's kids. I feel bad for kids that are 19 years old that are going to college and studying the drums and they're doing it online and they can't get together with other people because music as you know, being a cruise drummer, it's so social. You know the guys in your guys and girls in your band. I mean, you just with each other, what 16, 17 hours a day now doing shows, you know?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  08:44
Yeah, so it was drums first, and then everything kind of followed on from that.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  08:50
Yeah, just keep adding bricks to the pyramid there.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  08:55
Yeah. And so how did the Jason Aldine gig come about?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  08:58
Okay, so that was that's all relationships. I speak a lot about this, with this crash philosophy that stands for commitment, relationships, attitude, skill and hunger. So, attitude is so important there but really relationships and all these things, all these commitments really, they all kind of influence other and cross pollinate. But I think the creative arts are all about people. And so, I met our guitar player, Kurt Allison in 1997. We were playing together, he introduced me to a young man named Tolly Kennedy, who's our bass player in 1999.
We started working with this young recording artist named Jason Aldean, who at the time really wasn't even really a recording artist. He had a publishing deal and he was interested in getting a record deal. And we just rehearsed with him so much and played on his demo sessions and did showcases and jumped in vans to go take the music to the people. And then when he got a record deal in 2004, he was like, that's my band. I got my band. I don't need to do auditions. I already liked these guys musically. I already liked them. He liked us personally and professionally. So, it was like a no brainer. And we've been playing music together for 21 years now. So was there an audition, not in the sense that like, “hey, be at SCR at 12:10pm with your sticks,” like a cattle call audition that they would have in the 90s. It was more just like; I had a skill set. I brought the heat. Those guys recognized it, we liked each other, and we just stayed together. Which is hard to do.  
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  10:32
And many years and mnay accolades later, here you are.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  10:34
Yeah, man. I had, black hair like you when I when I started.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  10:40
I'm going gray man.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond 10:41
But you know what, I got a little cue from the universe. The other day. I went about I went and got a bunch of new headshots with me with the salt and pepper hair. And I said, Great. Now I can show people that I can easily get to the salt and pepper. But now I don't want to go quietly into the night I think breakout that the box color, man.
 
 
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  11:02
I think you've rocky man. I think it looks great. If that's what I look like. But if that's what I look like in the future, then I'll be happy with that.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond 11:09
Oh, man, I appreciate it.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  11:11
And so, skill set, like you talked about skill set is a big one. So, what sort of skills do you think earns you modern drummers’, country drummer of the year three for three years?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  11:21
Oh, man, well, those are great things. And they look great on one sheet or a bio, but music is really, I don't consider it a competition thing like, like sports, it’s a thing, it's just like, you want to do your job. And if your peers in the industry, recognize you for your hard work, it's always a great thing. But there's so many great drummers in Nashville, I mean, I can list them off, there's 30 or 40, top name guys.
And some guys have been working the road for 20,30 years, other guys have been playing our records for 20 years, some guys are like myself, we kind of swim in both waters, which is kind of fun, but there's just so many amazing qualified drummers in Nashville, but I'm just out there, man. And I think I'm visible, people are people are like, “wow, I see that guy in the award shows and I hear him on the radio.”
And that was always a goal of mine is I wanted to hear myself on the radio and travel the world on someone else's dime. And you know, it was it was kind of like a mission statement, kind of like, Show me the money. It was like, Jerry Maguire kind of like a mantra. And it kind of can help you guide your and shape your course. But the things I like to talk about, with drummers being prepared for things is   you know your rudiments, you can read, you have good techniques, so you can express yourself, you have a good touch, so you can create a good tone on your instrument, then the coordination to be able to do four things at the same time, then be able to play a myriad of styles. So, your rock your jazz, your funk as the big three, but then in there, you've got like, Latin world, reggae, reggae tone, you got it all the little sub genres. And then being able to play with a clicker without a click and make it sound good. Be able to program loops, be able to handle some percussion, overdubs, some percussion. And, then just know some of the ins and outs of the music industry so you can survive this thing, because the music industry is really the Wild West. So, if you can do all those things, I think you're giving yourself a better chance of success. I do a lot of teaching. And sometimes I'll hear guys, and I'll say like, send me a video of you playing with this track or whatever. And they got good posture, and they got a good sound, they can lock with the track, but they don't know how to read music. And so, a lot of times, I'll teach guys and be like, “look, we'll do online lessons. And I'll hold your hand and I'll make sure that you can get all the way through the TED read syncopation for the Modern Drummer book.” And by the time you get to the end of that book, you're going to have this skill set that's going to help you so much. So, if you do go to the cruise ship, and you've got to read village, people's YMCA, and it's all written out, you're golden. Or if you go to a recording session, and somebody says, “we're going to cut the song” and there's no chart and you have to scribble out your own chart. There's a bunch of figures (makes sounds with mouth), you could write it out this massive skill set. I can't encourage reading enough I Matter of fact, I'm teaching reading levels three and four and Musicians Institute in Hollywood, and I get all these great kids that are have great feel they're playing like the System of a Down tracks. And I'm like, great. Can you read it? You had to and they're like…. that's what we need to focus on.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  14:24
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I mean, especially in in my job. That's pretty much the gig. It's like, there's no way you can remember 250 different tracks in two clicks, tracks and charts. Yeah, like you said, Yeah, sometimes there'll be a track that people will want to do that we won't have a chart for so you chart it yourself. You know, so it's like is super important. I think I always in my mind, I think, you know, this is nothing bad to say on people who learn and they don't read. But I think it's the equivalent of learning how to like speak and articulate from TV and film rather than the written word. 
I kind of find similarities in them both like when you learn to read music, you learn how it's constructed so that you can construct, whereas something whereas if you just hear it as a phrase on a TV show or a film, you don't learn how they constructed it, you just know what they've said, so that you can repeat what they have said.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  15:21
Yeah, it's just filling in the gaps so that once again, you don't have an Achilles heel, you know, I mean, it's like you're wanting to fix as many chinks in your armor as possible soon as your marketing.
Where did you get your training? Did you study? 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  15:36
I did. I started playing drums when I was about 11, I’m 27 now and I started playing when I was about 11, to get out of math class, I hated math. And a kid came in one day. And he missed most of the math classes, I was like, “where do you been?” And he was like, “I've just had a drum lesson.” So, I was like, no way is that even a thing? This is back when, like, music was really encouraged in schools. And so, I was like, I'm going to do that now then. So that's how I started. And then I obviously loved it, fell in love with it. But I've always had teachers throughout my life.  
I had a teacher that, was my first teacher. And then I went up and up and up, and, and then I went to Newcastle in England to study my undergraduate. And then I went to London to study my masters in music. And then I had a year where I was just auditioning, and then I ended up on cruise ships. But yeah, so it's always been that thing of like, drum education is like learning drums through that through that medium, as an outside of that, just like, this obsession with, wanting to be as the best that I can possibly be through like techniques.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  16:49
Yeah, man, you're doing good and you're gainfully employed, man, it's like, I always thought about doing cruise ships. It was really, really funny. We have a funny story with me. And Jason Aldean rhythm section. We used to call each other three kings. And it's like one night, we had too many Irish coffees. And I said, why don't we call ourselves… because I'm kind of like the marketing guy. So. So I was like, let's call each other that kind of like the three kings. And we all before we met each other, got hired to be in the lead, like the main showroom on the brand-new Disney Cruise Line. And our bass player took the job. And me and Kurt didn't take the job. But if we had all taken the job, we would have met each other two years earlier, in a cruise ship showband. The universe is like, no, don't do that. He made a bunch of money. Then he got married. He lost all his money. Then he met us and then we then we started working with together.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  17:48
Yeah. It's a great way to live. I'm so grateful for carnival. Like you said, the universe has a funny way of kind of like directing you. And so, all the major things that have happened in my life, the universe has, like guided me for it. So, like a bunch of failed auditions that I was auditioning for, I had to like fail those in order to get carnival. If I'd got those, I'd never would be with Carnival now.
And I'm so grateful for them. And I'm hoping that in a way it will happen in the future where it'll be it'll guide me like that as well. Sometimes in your biggest setbacks, or the time sucks, and you're, you don't know what to do. But then something comes along you like; this is exactly why the setback happened.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  18:30
Yeah, and probably with you, being your age and being single and having that accent. You're probably having a great time.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  18:40
I mean, yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah. And so, you have your after your musical accolades are just astounding. Most people, including myself aspire to the things you have done. And I've been very lucky to have people on the podcast that have done some really great things. You've done some of the biggest TV shows, well, the biggest TV shows on the planet, stadiums, award shows everything like that. 
Did you put that out there to the universe that this is what you wanted?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  19:11
Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I had a mission statement along with that was like I wanted to, I wanted to hear myself on the radio, see myself on television and travel the world on someone else's dime. So, it was like a statement, right. And then I had another statement that said, I will be a top call touring and recording drummer based in Nashville. And so, these are really like important things to write down. And they're really important. It's very important that you write them down. And then you can look at these things. And it's something that kind of like, propels your life forward. But I know I always knew I was going to do these things. It was just a matter of when because I tell people, you know, Jason Aldean is my bond. Oh, he’s, my sting. He's my Mellencamp. He’s, my Billy Joe. He’s, my Elton John. These are all these drummers that played in those and those with those artists. They had such an interesting close relationship with their front man and as a drummer, we're only as good as our front man and the people that we surround ourselves with. So, I personally wasn't going to stop until I found that individual. So, thank God, I found him and also, because he changed my life. And also, it was good that I didn't quit the music business because I didn't meet him till, I was 29 years old. You know, sometimes, there are seasons of your life and things are supposed to happen when they're supposed to happen. But a lot of people give up on the dream way too early. And if you give up, then you take yourself out of the running, and you're at the back of the line. So just realize that if you're listening to the podcast, and you're creative, that this is a marathon, it is not a sprint, and you just have to celebrate all these little victories. Like even in the world of me, just like in the last six years, tackling Hollywood, just getting to the point where I can do two auditions a day is like a major step in the right direction, just getting connected enough to get the auditions, through my reputation through my representation’s reputation, to get in the rooms and get those opportunities. Next step is booking a lot of these things. So, it's the same thing. Like there's so many parallels between Hollywood and the music business and other areas of the creative arts. And it all comes down to people and opportunities and being patient and being prepared for those opportunities when they come.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  21:23
Yeah, this is the first time I've spoken to a like motivational personal development speaker. So, this is hugely exciting. I absolutely love that world. Like some of my favorite speakers are like Les Brown and Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, like I love listening to those guys. So, this is huge.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  21:41
I love Les because he's like a preacher man. I mean, he's got that preacher background. Yeah. And it's just like, you hang on every word.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  21:49
Yeah. And he had no… what I loved about him, I'm sure you've been there in your life where, you know, you get the job. And that's what you put out there you put into the universe where you want universe gives it to you and then a part of you feels like imposter syndrome start to creep in, as you know, as the human nature of it. What I loved about Les Brown, and what I love, and what I will always love is that he had no formal qualifications at all to do what he does, which is what they thought people needed back then to do that job. He just had a passion and a voice and, he is Les Brown, and that dedication, determination to do it, which I think is just such a lovely message to people like, you don't always have to feel that qualified for the job in order to do the job.
 
 
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  22:37
Yeah, fake it till you make it. I mean, there's something to that. I mean, it's an oversimplification, but I just let people know that what you want is on the other side of your fear, and fear could be jumping into a pool of sharks and the blood is in the water and you go headfirst with a smile on your face, you're like, “I'm going to swim with the sharks”, taking drum lessons with the with the guy that teaches at the community college or at the corner music store is a great way to get started. But eventually, you're going to want to study with Dom Famularo or Kenny Aronoff or Sean Pelton or Freddy Gruber, you're going to want to study with these guys just like me taking an acting class at the corner, acting studio, in bum, backwards, somewhere in the middle of America is not going to be like taking an acting class in Hollywood, where everybody, every waiter is trying to get something done. And they're trying, they're so ambitious, and they're trying to achieve something. And so, by being around them, you rise to the occasion, and it makes you better and you everybody can lift each other up. It's like my band, we're totally accountable to each other. We'll come offstage. And they'll be like, “what happened on the second verse of the sixth song? And do we want to do a trashcan ending on that song? I thought we were going to do a nice tight,” and we talk about it, and then wait, and then the next night, we can fix those things or address those things or make things better?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  24:01
Yeah. I'm wondering about what you've just said about the life timeline. If you're going to be in this industry, you're going to have to meet, when you first come out, you should be professional within three years, then next, then next, then next and what I love is that life is never ever like that. You know, like, you met Jason Aldeen when you were 29. I didn't start I didn't even turn pro until I was 26 or 25, I think. Which in my mind when I first started, I would see, when One Direction were as big as they were. Because I'm an aspiring I want to be a pop musician. When I saw their drummer Josh Devine playing the biggest stadium tours, I think he was in his very, very early 20s. And so, I naively was like oh, well, that must be the standard for you know, blah, blah, blah. And then as I started, you know, as I'm older and I got more educated, I was like, it'll happen when it happens. I've got life goals, like Glastonbury  Pyramid stage. And before I was in a bit of a mindset of like, well, I need to do that before I'm 30. But it's like Why? There's no, there's no need, like you said, it's a complete marathon. So, I thought I've just touched on that I really like…
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  25:16
I mean, it's good to also keep your, there's there is a thing called lifestyle and in these kinds of, like, lifestyle, life design, really where it's like, you want to keep yourself open to every opportunity that comes your way. And sometimes that involves making decisions like staying single, not having children   in your 20s. And it's like giving yourself more time for these things. Because once that happens, the focus has to end and rightly so be on the family and the health of the child, you can't be like, no, I'm going to go out with this band that’s got tons of potential in a van, because it's like, your baby needs shoes, right. So, something that's something to consider as well. And it can be a little painful, because, some of my friends who put their career first are now like 55 years old, and they never had any kids. So, it's really hard to have everything in life, you have to kind of prioritize kind of things and just kind of go after it. and be patient.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  26:17
Yeah. And I think the universe will always do what's best, I think. Another one, social media and the modern world at the moment, for all the amazing things that it can do, like Connect, like, right now, like, connect me and you we would never have had this opportunity that social media or, or ways to do it. But it also, I think kind of slightly encourages this, like filtered lifestyle of, you know, so for me, for example, it'll be easy for me to go on the ship, do my contract, post pictures of me at the beach, in the best shape of my life. And then I could come home and be like, oh, yeah, it was the best and it is the best thing that's ever happened to me. But, but obviously, it doesn't encourage people posting the parts of the job that aren't that great. So, I was just wondering for you, what parts of the job I think that people don't generally talk about that much.?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  27:13
Interesting. Well, my thing is, I try to put a positive spin on, like everything I'm doing and the whole idea with social media is trying to find that tribe of people, those true believers, they're going to be with you no matter what. And you know, you find a common interest with. So social media could be something as simple as me posting pictures of my love of avocados. Or it could be me posting my crazy love affair with palm trees. I could tell you all different types of palm trees, their history, what countries they came from what set like how long their lifespans, I am obsessed with palm trees. I love sitcom comedies, like I'm not going to stop until somehow, I could be the one of the douchey friends or the douchey husband on a sitcom. It's like a fantasy of mine, even if I just do it for one day.
And then I had another friend tell me they're like, yeah, you never post like the behind the scenes like ridiculously hard grinding work you do to say prepare for a gig, you'll just show the picture of the venue and the beautiful drums waiting for the crowd to come in. And but you didn't show the you learning this charting the 60 songs at night, the night before, post the picture that and I'm like this, but, I mean, we're drummers. We're in the music business. We love our lives, man. So, it's like a cool thing to share. And I think that if you worked really hard and suffered on Paleo Diet on a cruise ship for six months, you should show yourself Yeah, man. And be proud. Be proud of it. man.
That's what I say it's kind of like, own these things and put it out there. And I think people obviously spot respond more to positivity, the negativity, it takes twice as much energy to cultivate and maintain negative thoughts. So that's why I say why do we even do that. But we have to fight it as human beings because we're wired for negativity, because back in the day, we barely lived at 30 years old. We didn't have modern medicine. We're trying to keep the fire lit. We are running from saber toothed tigers and woolly mammoths. And, and like I said, we were dead at 30. So, we are Oh, we didn't trust anyone or anything. And we're looking over our shoulder so we can survive. And that's like in our DNA. So, we really have to fight our negative thoughts to try to stay on track with the positivity.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  29:32
Yeah, that's a great answer.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  29:35
I don't even know if I answered the question, though.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  29:36
I think sometimes, like the sacrifice of the job is, is a big thing for people. So, you know, people see us do these incredible jobs without realizing we have guests come on the ship. And it's so funny. One of the most common questions we get is like, do you guys live on the ship? And it's like, yeah, of course you
live on the ship. We don't get a lifeboat to a hotel every week, we live below the waterline. Yeah. And so, it’s interesting people's perspective, they see us on stage, but then they don't necessarily associate that with being there, for the full duration for the six months, and I'm sure it's the same on tour.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  30:17
Yeah. I mean do you get cabin fever? Or no, because you're always like, getting dropped off at these Sandy spots?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  30:26
Yeah, I think, it's like you said, we get to play drums for a living. This has been my dream my whole life. And so, I try and never take that for granted. You know, especially, it's more reinforced now, since we've been off the ship. Because you get into routines, and it becomes normal life. And so, I think, sometimes you will, because if you're not on a very big ship, there's only so far you can go but like you said, you're in most days, you're in a different country every day, you know. So, it's like, you know, you'll be in the Bahamas, and then you'll be in Jamaica, and then you'll be in Mexico, all within one week. And that's just the same repeating thing. I think one of the hardest parts about the job is, you know, when you are kind of, because the contrast of seven months, I think when you're maybe like five and a half months in on a Tuesday, then it's kind of like, right, we have to find other ways now to really get geared up for… but the nice thing about the ships is that we have new guests every week, so they bring a new energy every week as well. It's like having a new show every week, you get different guests every week.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  31:35
So, who are your guests? Like, Suzanne Somers comes on with?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  31:41
No, I mean, the actual guests as in like the people who come to cruise so we, we play in a rock band.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  31:47
I thought you were talking about the artists. Yeah. So, what's a typical working day for you? What's your schedule, on the ship?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  31:58
So, before we go with up in the studios, and we learn the songs, and that's a nine to five every day, for a month, and then they send you to the ship. So then when you get to the ship, the first couple of weeks it’s kind of like what I would imagine tour prep is like where you're kind of first few gate dates on tour, you're just kind of sounding things out and, and things like that. And then the average day, I would say, you get out if your imports maybe have like breakfast, and then you get off wherever you're ported. So, one of our one of my favorite places was Cuba, we got to go to Cuba on one of the contracts. And then so me and a bunch of my friends would go and talk Cuba together for the day, we'd get back to the ship before, like for our on-call time, which is like an hour before with the guests. And then I would go to the gym, I'd have a workout, then I would eat then I would like shower and change. And then I would go and warm up every day for at least an hour before every night. Yeah, get my wrist and stuff warmed up. And so, and then we play maybe like 8 till 12. So, we'd have for 45 minutes sets. And then you'd have like 15 minutes in between each one. And then probably the crew bar in the evening.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond 33:19
Like, nice. Yeah, that's where all the real action is.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  33:24
Yeah, exactly. And that's kind of what you do then like, every day for like six months.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  33:24
you have to try not to spend your profits on all the all the drinks.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  33:29
Luckily for us the drinks come at cost price.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  33:33
Okay, so it's way below
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  33:34
Yeah. So, it's like what they pay for it, we pay for it, rather than like the added stuff. Yeah. What about you guys, so on a Jason Aldeen tour, what is an average day for you guys?
 
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  33:44
So, the tour bus come screaming into town anywhere between like six to nine in the morning and a lot of times I'll be like shaving on a on a moving tour bus and then a host will pick me up from like high school or college or Qatar center music store. I'll do some sort of a mid-day event. And then I'll come back have some lunch, do soundcheck with my band. Then there's a workout in there, doing admin and all my businesses trying to keep the lights on. And then we'll all go to catering together. Then we'll do some sort of like unplugged show for all these VIP folks where I'll play like a cajon or a gen bay or a cajon with a pedal. And that's fun. And then we have 90 minutes to hang out. And so, the bands kind of like vibe and listen to music, they might be having some cocktails, I got the practice pad out, stretching, we clear the dressing room out 30 minutes before the show. And that's when the band really gets the vibe together. And then I have to do a kind of like a quasi-motivational type cheers thing that's got to be different every day. And then we go to the stage. It's like follow this flashlight kid and we go on 9:25 to 11pm 11:01 I'm wiping the sweat off my head. We hang out with each other on such a high, you know, no one's going to bed before one in the morning, usually 1:32. And it just depends on what I have the next morning. I get sleep when I can. COVID has been great for sleep. I've been getting eight hours every night. And that is for the first time in my life. Or at least in a very long time.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  35:25
Yeah. I'm like, does it ever become…  it did for me on the ship. Before I got to the ships, I was like, “oh my god, you know, I'm going to live it every day”. And I do but it does become normal because it has to otherwise, you'll just be like living in this frenzied state. But like that tour, 30, 40, 50 60,000 people, does that ever become you walk on stage? and you don't think this is like, madness.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  35:53
No. So, we come out, we'll come out like 10 minutes before kind of like side stage. And, you know, the   DJ, DJ Silver's doing his thing, and the folks are in a frenzy, and they're getting all ready to do whatever they're going to do, because it's about to pop off. And then there and then the lights go down. And it's like, follow the flashlight, I go up to the drummers, I high five, my drum tech cut the ears and you're double checking everything, swing some gator, a couple spins. And then it's like it's like, what? This is amazing. Yeah, everything that you did all your para deals for[ 36:28] you know, as a young man.
Yeah, so hopefully that never goes away. I'm hopefully I'm going be relevant in for the next 20 years and keep doing something special like that. Because, I like playing, events and jazz bars and recording sessions. But there's nothing like that thing.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  36:54
Yeah. I mean, I think even from the short time that I've been speaking to you, I think you'll be relevant until you're like 80s 90s. Like, just from what the vibe, the energy that I get, and so, to think that's the only way to go out. And so, you mentioned earlier on as well. It's really interesting, actually. Because I think when I was a bit younger, I thought that just like one drummer did everything. So, they do touring, and they do the studio work. But quite often, that isn't the case. I was speaking to a few other drumming friends, and they were saying, I play on the live tour, and I was like, oh, so you just play what you played in the studio on the live on the live show then. And they were like, no, I didn't play on the, on the album. So, there's clearly like a distinction in some of those things, but you do them both.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  37:46
Yeah, well, it's especially in pop music, because so much of pop music, like my good pal Mark Showman, he's very capable of playing on any Pink song he needs to play on. But Pink might have 10 different producers on a particular record. And most of them like working with programmers and they’re in their, Pro Tools. And so, and it’s just been such a different thing. Now, at least in Nashville, classic rock music moved to Nashville. So, we ran with that ball, where it's like live players on the studio floor. And then starting in the 80s and 90s. in Nashville. Yeah, there was the guys that kind of went out and work the road. And there was a small collective of guys kind of like the A team that kind of like the Wrecking Crew that played on everything. And then as Nashville started to change and open up with me, starting in 2003, I was in a band called Rocheleau. And we played on our own record. And then that led to me doing the Aldean thing. And, of course, we played on every track for Aldean, on every award show, every music video, it's been so great to be involved in something like that. And there's so many guys that are qualified to do the studio and the road. But sometimes it just comes down to the artists camp to their philosophy, to what the label wants, what their producers comfortable working in. And my advice would be just to try to be do as many sessions as you can with as many people as possible and do as many live gigs with people as you possibly can. And that word will get around and you'll cultivate a reputation. And then before you know it, that reputation will precede you and then it's on you to exceed the expectations of your reputation. And it's just this kind of ongoing thing. But am I grateful that I get to go in the studio with my best friends make something it's going to exist for all time? Yeah. And then get to go out with my best friends and go out and take that music and bring it to life and have that visceral interaction, that high form of communication with the audience and share that moment together and impact those people and change those. It's awesome. It's it satisfies two different sides of my creative personality.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  39:56
Yeah. And so, do you approach every studio session as a blank canvas, or do you have certain like things that you will run through?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  40:06
Yeah, definitely the blank canvas like so you know, first of all, it's like having the tool so if you get called to say like, work on say like a Nashville demo session where you're booked from 10am to 1pm. And in that amount of time, you'll probably record anywhere between three and five songs. So, the pace is very, very quick. So, you want to have a nice overall good sounding drum set. So, for you is that a 20, or 22 or 24. So most likely, you would pick a 22. And then for the style that you're doing in Nashville, you're going to have either a 12 and a 16, or a 13 and a 16. You're going to have some good all-around symbols that will work for a lot of different styles. Pop country, you could play them a little bit softer for the traditional thing. Then you might want to have a collection of snare drums where it's like this is my spin doctor snare drum. This is my bottom snare drum. This is my gad workhorse drum. This is my Mick Fleetwood roomer’s baseball bat and the birthday cake. So somehow you can get those five different sounds and get them very quickly. And then you have the tea towels and you have brushes and you have rods and you have a chain that you can hang on assemble for rivets and then you have a little system where you can program loops and then you have some quick basic overdub, things like shake your tambourine, maraca, congas bongos, and you can get to this stuff and you're super organized. You're like a Boys Scout. You can cover a lot of things. So those things are always ready to go. Then I'm sassing out the situation. I'm looking at the artist in their posse. And the songwriters, are the suits from the label there? Who's the engineer? What sounds is this room known for? Who are the other musicians on the studio? I'm like a psychiatrist and a conductor all at the same time.
You got to learn how to read the room. For a Jason Aldean session, it's the same cast of characters same studio, same eatery, same players, same engineer, we know each other inside and I was like, hey, rich, how you doing this guy? Pete Coleman did all the Blondie records in the Pat Benatar records and he did my Sharona for the neck. And so, he's coming from that like working in LA in England in LA. He brought that skill set to Nashville he goes “Hello. Good to see you next get the sounds” and he's uh, you know, so we get he does his thing. And I go on, there's like, pitch, just give me the phone. Just the snare love them. Okay, kick snare hats. Just the Tom's just symbol, symbols and kick, give me the whole thing love. And he goes great head straight. As usual. I'm going out for a smoke, boom. And then I meet him outside and he's smoking, we have our coffee. And then the musicians come in the charts get passed out. We're making history, we've got this down to a finely tuned mechanism. It's amazing. So that's kind of like home base. And then any other recording session I do is kind of like, we cheat on each other. But when we cheat on each other, we get that new experience. And as a result of that new experience, we can bring that experience back to home base. Yeah. And then Los Angeles, Tony in Los Angeles, the sessions that I've done are more painstakingly slow, because traffic is so bad and people are just like, let's hold up, let's hold up for the whole day. You know, drum sounds at 10am means not drum sounds at 10am, it means you arrive at 10am your mill about and you have some coffee and you start getting some sounds and at least in my experience, but I'm sure if you know Bernie Dressel or Vinny or Alex Akunia, you are one of these guys that are doing all these Marvel soundtracks. That's like big business. You know, you're at Capitol Records. There's 100-piece orchestra with the CMT timecode on the back. I'm sure that's more, that type of thing, which is, which is what I would love to get into because that doesn't exist in Nashville. So, I'm kind of looking at my next 20 years. So, what I've been doing is I've been looking on IMDB. So, I look on IMDB.com, and I look up movie composers. And I've been just cold emailing movie composers and be like, hey, you don't know me from Adam. But I played on a couple of number one songs. And I can read and I can play styles. love to meet you sometime. Can you keep me on your list? And sometimes it's like crickets and other times. It's like, “oh, cool, man. Yeah, when this opens up, let's go get some coffee, or I'll save your number.” Just kind of putting yourself out there is something that people should be open to.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  44:33
That is amazing. That's probably one of the nicest stories I've heard, especially coming from someone who's so, you've achieved so much if it's so very easy for you to sit back on your laurels and think, , I've done it, I don't I don't need to be approaching these people, they will come to me blah, blah, blah. You know, but yeah, but they don't know and so it's so nice and you know it’s like difficult to but like you said, it's difficult to put yourself out there and to just like, email someone I have to do with this with this series, no one knows who I am. And so, when you reach out and you're like, I'm so and so, you know, it's always a no if you don't ask, so, it's so nice. Just you, you still do that now?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  45:18
Yeah, because, Steve Gadd is, you know, 20 something years older than me. And he came up in the time in the music business, which was all velvet ropes and budgets and cocaine and studio. And like, and so, you know, it's nowadays the music business just isn't as healthy and sometimes, people might know me in Nashville. They're like, yeah, that you can hire that guy to do the country. Rock boom, bap thing like he's going to do the job for you. And, and people come to me in that city. That's easy.
Now in Los Angeles, you know, they don't know me and TV and film. And so like, what am I going to do? I'm going to either just sit around wishing for those people to call me or if I can just kind of nudge them a little is poke. poke them a little be like, Hi, I'm here. I exist. I want to work with you. I want to play on your next horror film. Yeah. Can I can I make some creepy sounds on your next horror film? Can I act in your next horror film? Yeah. Can I do the voiceover for your next horror film? What can we do here? How can we work together?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  46:21
Yeah, I absolutely love that. And it's inspiring. Because sometimes this level, you know, they'll come a day where I leave carnival. And then I will be also set then sending out emails and things like that.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  46:35
But the best time to do it is right now. So, Dan, like you're on the ship. Be Kind of like, because the best time to get another job is when you have a job. Right? So, don't so be pinging people and be like, hey, you know, you're at Abbey Road next month, can I pop by? You know what I mean?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  46:57
Yeah. And so, it's nice, because sometimes people feel like awkward or that they can't, like just message people. Like sometimes the questions I get even with the people that I've had a conversation with, they're like, how'd you, do it? And it's like, well, most people have a contact page. On that on their websites.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  47:15
Well, who, who are the big session drummers in London right now? Is there a guy still? is his name Jeff, Dougmore? or Jeff but it's spelled JEOFF.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis 47:26
I'm not sure.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond 47:26
You see one of the big Okay. See things change so quickly? Yeah, I know, what the big session drummers are.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  47:31
There's a big fix. I think he plays for Dua Lipa he played drums for Dua Lipa. And now he manages a bunch of other very, very up and coming music acts in the UK. So, I think it's about like, hopefully establishing contact with people like that, you know? Oh, yeah. And just offering your services and things like that. But yeah, there are a few. There are a few I'd imagine and yeah, this is such a lovely way. The podcast is such a lovely way of like getting that introduction. And, like I actually I've met two guys, I've done them. I don't know if you know Jake Summers, he plays for Luke combs.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  48:07
Very well. Yeah, we did a whole year or if not two years with him opening for us.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  48:15
Yeah, so I did one with Jake and I managed to meet Jake in London when he was with Luke. And then Mike Sleeth they It was so weird that Shawn Mendez played a gig in Swanzey, where I live in Wales.
And it was like Radio One BBC Radio One big weekend. So, then I asked him to say I know you're in Swanzey. Like, if you're free after the show, or whatever. So, we then it was so surreal. We were watching 30 Seconds to Mars, like standing next to each other. It was the it was the weirdest thing.
It's always nice to get to meet people in person. And yeah, I just got off Broadway as well. But, yeah, that's great. Yeah, but yeah, it's just like you said, it's about putting yourself out there. Like you're never going to, it's never going to happen if you ask for it.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  48:58
Now, you got to get out and shake trees. And, and also, another thing that's that I've noticed is, you know, we all are such a text society, because it's so efficient. But there is something so cool about picking up the phone and calling an old friend or calling somebody that you may be met at an event a couple months ago, but you're taking the time and the energy and the action to kind of move that relationship in a forward direction. And not everybody is doing that. And so, I think that's a really cool thing to kind of try to keep alive.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  49:31
Yeah. And the nice thing is, like, I'm sure with you as well, that I put no pressure on the podcast. So, like the podcast episodes happen as they happen, my drum life is my main thing that I focus on, you know, so it's nice that there's like, there's no, there's no time pressures, like no one's saying, you have to have an episode every week.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  49:51
If you wanted to build it, it's good to do consistently one every week. So, my advice that you didn't ask for is, it's like, what I do is I pre filmed them. So, like, this month, I'm filming like 12 episodes, and then you put them in a queue. And hopefully you're not talking about things that are like super current events, and you just can kind of like drip them out. So, you're way ahead of the curve. And that way, you can always put out at least one episode a month because when I was doing I had a podcast called pick Rich's brain, and people loved it, but sometimes I'd only do like one a month. And people were like, I love the episode, but your schedule sucks. I want one every week Redmond and so I got hit. I got hit to that. And it really does make a big difference.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  50:37
Okay, so if you've got any friends that you would be up for it, then let me know.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  50:43
Yeah, man. Well, Instagram is so great, because you could just send a message to any drummer in the world and be like, hey, Simon Phillips, and most likely the guy's going to hit you back.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  50:50
Yeah, that's kind of how I how I do it. Sometimes what I do is I scroll through like YouTube, IMDb. I go through Wikipedia. And I'll just think of an artist. So, I think like Lady Gaga, and then I'll go into a Wikipedia page. And under the section of like touring, it'll usually have the band. And so, I just select because, it's not exclusive to drummers, I just find, I gravitate towards drummers, because obviously I am one myself.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  51:16
Yeah. Well, a great way to meet other musicians. And let's face it most gigs, like I love the community spirit that drummers have and this fraternity and brotherhood that we have, and we do recommend each other things. But most likely you're going to get a job from a music director, a band leader, a bass player, guitar player, keyboard player, the chick dancer, the background singer, it's going to come from one of those folks.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  51:40
Yeah. So, it's about being in those circles as well as just the way and so you see about Mick Fleetwood and you're out in LA with, I believe Dave Weckle, and Vinnie Caliuta. And some of like the giants of this industry. Have you met these guys?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  52:00
Let's see. I don't know if I've ever officially like met Weckle or Vinnie, like because sometimes they're at events and there's thronged by guys. And a lot of times I'll go to the Hollywood pro drum shop has a Christmas party every year and it's so great. It's like the who's who, your Querque bees are there and, your, my buddy, Jason Sutter, and my friend Stu that runs the Musicians Institute. And we're all just kind of like, hanging in and mingling. And it's like, unbelievable. It's the same thing in Nashville. It's like it's that drummer thing, or it's just thick as thieves. But I have yet to meet Vinnie or Weckle. But I know Yeah, a lot of the guys, the Bazios. And they're here, man. They're just cool at Thomas Lang's of the world. And the thing that I remember about people is, if I've ever slightly starstruck, I just say, look at these people pay taxes, and they poop. And they put on their pants one leg at a time. So go over there and talk to that guy. And if I can tell that they're the type of personality where they wouldn't introduce themselves, I'll make the effort. And then you just go over, you're like, Hi. I mean, it's like if you've got a smile on your face, and you're enthusiastic, man, that stuff will transcend language barriers, cultural barriers, when you're coming towards somebody with a firm handshake, and a smile on your face. You're halfway there.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  53:26
Yeah, yeah. And so, do you have Do you have any drummers that you would love to meet?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  53:33
Who have I not met? Oh, everyone's like, you really need to get Stewart Copeland on your podcasts because he was one of your first influences. And you really need to get Alex Van Halen and you're like, look, I've got a list of my along with all the drummers that I want to get on. But obviously, Stuart's a little bit of a recluse he I think he lives. I think he lives in Beverly Hills.
And Thomas Lang is good friends with him. So, I could probably shake some trees there and maybe get the Stewart Copeland and Alex Van Halen, I could probably get his drum tech on. But he's a very reclusive individual. And plus, recently, with the passing of his brother, he's probably not in the mindset right now, to go out and do any kind of interview. So, some people he just like, you know, I'll probably never get that guy because he just doesn't do interviews.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  54:15
Yeah, yeah. I love how you have those contacts.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  54:20
Well, it's so funny. It's like, remember, it used to be Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Now it's like one degree of anyone. It's like somebody that you meet in real life or via social media is somehow connected very closely to somebody that you want to meet. It's like, I want to have john Stamos on the podcast. I made a list of all the drummers that are actors and actors that are drummers. So, your Michael Chiklis is and your Dana Carvey is and your John Stamos and, and so it's like I know a dude that teaches John Stamos drum lessons. So, it's like I could shake the tree and most likely, John Stamos and I are going to be having a conversation
 
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  55:01
Absolutely love that I would love to meet Nick Fleetwood. He is a huge fan of mine. I'd love to meet him.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  55:07
Yes. Oh yeah, we did. I hate to cut you off it said Zune lag. But we did an I heart thing two years ago and it was, it was our band, Panic at The Disco, and then Fleetwood Mac, and I swapped side stage Fleetwood Mac, and so, Mick Fleetwood comes off stage. I don't know. This is so strange, but it's so spectacular and reminded me of James Brown, but whoever his handlers tech or whoever was, after he came offstage, they gave him a towel, right? And they gave him a cape, some sort of a cape. And he put on this cape, and I can't wait to ask him what the hell that's all about. But it was just like, I mean, we're talking extreme rock star-ism. So, like the limo was ready to go. And all these guys with flashlights and towels and cold water and capes, it was awesome.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  55:58
I think when you have a cape guy, you've made it in this industry, right? But that's a huge [word not clear]
I love Mick Fleetwood; Steve Jordan is another one of mine. Oh, yeah, for sure. Benny grab from Germany. Like people like that Jojo Mayo. I've met Jojo Mayo Clinic, he was bigger than mine, because I'm obsessed with hunting. But I've been so lucky on this podcast alone to meet some incredible people. And so, I'm sure you have had some incredible people.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  56:27
People, you say, “hey, do you want to come to a show?” And just people are always just like, Yeah, man, because we're on zoom. But it's just like, I don't know. It's just cool. It's very flattering. And so most people say yes, man, you just got to have the gumption to ask them.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  56:43
Yeah, I usually find that I send maybe like, for every 30 emails, I said, maybe 10 will get back and maybe three will do it. So then if you figure out your ratios, then you need to spend like 300.  
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  56:56
Okay, so who, so who's like, who said no?
Speaker: Dan Lewis  57:02
I don't think they said no, I think they just didn't respond or didn't. When you're messaging, some people are like, incredibly kind of like, I'll never forget Gavin Harrison replied. And he was like, it's not really like, it's not really my thing. But I wish you all the best with it. I hope it goes really well. and stuff. So interesting. Yeah. So yeah, I remember, like those people more than the people, I think I send so many emails or messages that sometimes I'm going to come back and I'll be like, I forgot I even reached out.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  57:37
But some people are just not timely with their emails, response time. It's like, if there's any advice, I can give you there. It's just like, just go ahead and respond right away. Because then there's people are getting so many emails and so much spam nowadays, that it's easy for that thing, even if you don't mean it to it just gets lost in the shuffle. So really, there's no, you know, you got this device in your hand. So even if you're like, on the job, in the kidnapper, there's no excuse.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  58:05
So, what would your advice be? For me personally, this is something I never really asked, I never asked a personal advice, this is a big deal. You should do that. For the podcast itself. Usually, eye contact that I find the most responses I get through a contact page. And that's mostly what I've got replays from, and then we set up the podcast through there. Well, how would you, you know if they don't have a contact page through their site, and they've only got you can message them on Twitter? Or how, like, how do you do it? So that so that they'll respond to it?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  58:37
Yeah, I think that sometimes you might have more success, not even doing the contact page and go ahead and do that. But it's like, there's something very powerful about Twitter has the personality of like, a water cooler talk, so you're in the office, there's a water cooler, and it's kind of like that conversation microblogging. So, so say, say, some celebrity drummer, you enjoy his, you follow their page, and then you just reach out, you're like, hey, Jojo Mayer, I was just got up the nerve to ask you. And then see, you know, see if, and then. And then that was so such a bad joke. There's also the dirt, you know, DMs on Instagram, or just I don't know, I've had the best response there even with like, actors and comedians that are like, yeah, you know, usually go through my management, but you sound like a great guy. I'll do it. You know what I mean? And then next thing you know, it's great. 
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  59:32
Yeah, cool, because obviously, like, I think the more I do, the more people will want to do it. It's that like, snowball effect, I think, because obviously, I've got six out I think he'll be the seventh. And so, it's, it's about trying to build that,
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  59:48
Then you then you drop, you drop Jake's name, you drop my name, and if anybody cares that they will, they're more likely to open the door up to you, and then you just keep building on it, building on it and building on it. The main thing is to not stop. Because in the podcasting world, most people get to Episode 20. And they realize that there's no money in it. And it's, it's a time suck and they quit. And that's really trying to get to 100 episodes. And then I found that once I got to Episode 100, there was like a massive shift where people are like, hey, this dude is not stopping. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so, it just builds on it.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:00:27
Yeah, I was fortunate enough to do it with Seth Roush as well.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:00:31
Oh, yeah. Seth is great. Seth is kind of like he's a massive family, man. He's got these model looks. And he's got he's a family man. And he just doesn't get out. And I never see the guy. But occasionally, I'll see him on tour. And I kind of watched his rise through the ranks with Gary Allen and all these up-and-coming acts and he just did it right. He sounds great. But he's like an international man a mystery. Like when I'm out and about I never see him. Because I think he's got six kids. I'm like, Yeah, I would be trying to keep that all together.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:01:02
Yeah, I remember he said that. I was I was shocked by what a nice guy like you said like, modern looks like he's got he's got it.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:01:10
He's a he's a human coat hanger, it's like, I'm so jealous because he's like a foot taller than me. And he's just like, razor thin.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:01:16
And how tall are you?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:01:18
I am five, seven. But I tell everybody, I'm five, eight.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis 1:01:22
Nice. So how tall is he?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:01:26
Oh, Seth has got it. I don't know. Maybe? I don't know. What is he? 5’10? 6 feet? I don't know. Everybody's taller than me. When I meet somebody that's shorter than me. I really like kickstand in their face.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:01:42
Yeah. And so, you will have just kept this career alive. I can probably already answer this through just your charisma and everything else. But how have you how do you keep a career alive like you have?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:01:55
Well, there are there's a lot of factors you got to keep, have your skill set, always be growing, but have whatever it is that you do have that always be fine tune and spit polished up. And, realize that there's all sorts of factors in the music business. Like I said, it's like, clothes don't make the man but there's like fashion changes and stuff like that. So, it's good to keep up with that stuff. It's good to stay in shape. It's good to stay mentally tough. It's good to always be developing professionally and meeting new people because people are the gatekeepers to all success in any career in life.
And like I said, just always be growing like be studying with people I haven't been studying. Ray Luzira is in Nashville and we have like this kind of like, like all drummers, we have this mutual admiration society, he's like, we'll do it. I don't play country and I'm like, dude, you could tour it's classic rock, you could totally do this. And, and, and I'm like I would… I know a lot of Ray's like little melodies and stuff, and I totally stolen him. But at some point, I might want to go over and be like, look at for once and all, for once in my life, I want to finally get my double bass speed, like just crushing. And he would probably be like, Alright, dude, just your heel. Here's the kind of shoes I wear. I want to 12 hours a day with the metronome. Like he would have the answers for me, right? I just yeah. So, be open to those kinds of things.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:03:29
Yeah. So, it's kind of being like an avid student always grow, always look.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:03:33
Always grow, at the very least be listening to not only the history of popular music and where we have gotten our influences and how it all went down. But also trying to keep up with the crazy kids and you know, Jason Sutter, and I Jason would be great for the podcast. He's a dear friend of mine. 
Marilyn Manson Smash Mouth, Chris Cornell, he's talking about this new language that exists with this up-and-coming generation of drummers because Jason and I we study Big Band, we study classical, but really like our favorite languages more than being…, you know, just kind of like driving rock. Like we love that thing. Like 70s inspired. And he's like, you listen to these crazy kids today. It's all 32nd notes broken up all over the kit, like everything is lightning fast. And it's just like, that's not us. Like somehow along these 50 years, this new language emerged, and we could try to kind of play at it, but it's like, I don't hear that when I get out of the bed in the morning. I don't hear all that. I'm playing a song. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not hearing that stuff in my head. It's a brand-new language. So, it would behoove me to kind of like, maybe shed that stuff a little amid then part of me is like, I don't know. Do you like it? I don't know if I like that language. Maybe I'll just keep speaking this old language. I don't know. But I think that I think it's Good to like, be always growing, stay positive change with the times, but still own your thing and make sure that that thing is spit polished up at all times.
 
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:05:09
Yeah. And that's so interesting, as it leads me perfectly into my next point, in a world of like on limited resources for drummers now, you know, like, the last guy, I spoke to Tom Marsh, he's with Lana Del Rey. And we had an explanation about that, when drummers were way, way, way back in the day, you know, Vinnie Colaiuta, was famous for saying like, he just did stick control for like, two years. And then he moved on to another book, but they were only like five books out, so it was like, and there was no internet. So, you couldn't learn everything was listened to on the radio and things like that. But now we have unlimited possibilities. And I just finished reading Benny Grabs efficient practice for musicians, but next, and his advice is willful ignorance too. So just practice what like you just said, practice what you like and what you're focused on, because you'll get taken away by too many things that are cropping up. What are your thoughts on that?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:06:06
Hmm, well, kind of with that Gregg Bissonnette, be great, be good enough to cover a lot of different styles. But ultimately, you're going to have a thing that you gravitate towards like so if people put me in that same category as my heroes like the Liberty de Vetoes and the Kenny Aronoff set and the max Weinberg's, they're like, he's a big beat, arena drama, like I’ll take it, but then at the same time, if somebody calls me for the reggae gig if I got a sub for somebody on Family Guy, or doing a subclass, grab tribute band, or I've got placing classical stuff or cover for you on the cruise ship, like I literally can do those things, right? so have your bases covered. So, you can go in a lot of different directions. So, you have the skill set to attract more opportunities to yourself, but at the same time, you're going to have this thing with this lane that you're in where it's like this thing just comes totally naturally. As far as resources out there. Everybody has an online drama school now like you can get drumchannel.com and there's the Thomas Lang drum school the Gregg Bissonnette drum school drumeo is a great resource. Mike Johnson like all these different things you can put together and then if there's a great guy in your area that knows jazz brushes, kill it. Like I said, I want to take Double Bass Lessons with radios here. You put that all together then as far as books, syncopation for the monitor drummer Ted Reed, stick controlled by George Lawrence stone, realistic rock by Carmen Apasi, the new breed by Gary Chester. Jim Riley's modern styles book, Jim Riley's national number system book, maybe my book fundamentals of drumming for kids, because it works for a five-year-old and also works for a 50-year-old man that acts like a five-year-old. That's a good start for a lot of things. Because that way you're going to get, you're going to cover your reading, you're going to know how to learn and read a number chart, you're going to be able to use all four limbs. Like one of the things in my book fundamentals of drumming is as I get. I've seen professional drummers that play on records. And literally, they can't go boom, boom, boom, and go against that with the high end, yes. They get all crossed, their wires get crossed. And I feel like you should be able to play two and four on the highest quarter notes on the highest up beats on the highest eighth notes on the highest splash on 1 or 3, splash on two and four, against any beat in the world. And so, like that's what these books like the new breed in my fundamentals book will do. So those are kind of like a good kind of library put together as far as books, but also realize that books aren't the answer to everything, you're going to have to get out there and play with real musicians. Because that's like where a lot of your growth happens because the bass player is going to be yelling at you, dude, every time you go to the build, assemble you drag or the band leaders like every time you do a fill, you come out ahead of the beat. And so, you need to get this feedback from people so you can see how you really play music. Yeah,
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:08:59
Yeah. great advice. always of course. Yeah. And so, I watched one of my favorites I don't know if you know who Zane Lowe is. He known is a don't get us wrong. He's New Zealand is a New Zealand host for BBC Radio and now he's moved to Apple beats and he does like very famous pod like interviews with like Ed Sheeran, Adele, like the biggest names on the planet. He did a series with Kanye West. And one of the things that Kanye West touched upon was he found it incredibly difficult to stop being pigeonholed from being a rapper to being a to being taken seriously in fashion. And so, I would love to know if you found any difficulties in diversifying your career.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:09:43
Totally. Because people, people a don't want you to be successful in one thing. And then if you are successful in one thing, he tried to change, evolve, expand and grow. They're like yeah, good luck with that kid. Hollywood's a tough town or oh yeah, another motivational speaker. You're going to act or like, what do you do? And isn't it like, like negative Nellies haters, they're all out there, and you just have to go boldly into the night and just keep pressing forward. I know that there's going to be some sort of an outlet for the Rich Redmond show. The way has not been revealed. But if I just stay in my lane and I keep doing it, I keep the quality super high. And I keep building and getting better and better guests and keep getting better and better in my interview skills. Something is going to happen. So, you really, if you have haters, you're doing something right. Right? And, and if you're going to grow, evolve and change, which is what we want to do, because you make great wine from taking the grapes and making something beautiful out of it. If they're on the vine, they're just rotting. Right. And we don't want that. So, we got to take that we got to turn it into something. So, the idea is just to be passionately persistent, no matter what. Yeah. Love that. Yeah, man. Oh, well, guess what? I got it. Oh, I'd say I was going to say I got to go interview Jimmy Livino. He's the bandleader for Conan, Conan O'Brien's late-night band for 20 years. And so, in 16 minutes, I'll be interviewing him.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:11:19
Okay, how many have we got time for?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:11:26
You could probably hit me with two quick questions.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:11:28
Okay, cool. Where would you love to see the rich Redmond show go?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:11:33
Well, I'm open to whatever. Like I mean, I've had offers already for it to go on to video on demand services VOD. Like, you know, your Apple spires, sticks and all that kind of stuff. Amazon Fire sticks and I'll and I'm like, well, you know, then it's just bragging rights, you're like, you still have to tell people like, look for me on channel 497. You know what I mean? It's like, I think I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing in that lane. And growing it until more really high-quality advertisers start knocking on my door and or somebody comes and does the Joe Rogan thing is like, we'd like to purchase this. You know what I mean?
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:12:07
Yeah. And lastly, what advice do you have? We've touched upon so many pieces throughout this. But if you could consolidate advice for anyone wanting to be a pro drummer, motivational speaker, author, actor, what is it?
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:12:24
Okay, so how do you get to Carnegie Hall practice, right? So that the sooner you can find your passion, the sooner you can really roll up your sleeves and get after it, those 10,000 hours, the Malcolm Gladwell theory. So, the sooner you know what it is that makes you happier in the process, hopefully makes other people happy, the sooner you can start working. And if you're super passionate about something, it never feels like hard work, which allows you to work even harder. And the harder you work, more opportunities, events, places, people circumstances will cross your path to cultivate success. So, I would just say find out what makes you happy. And even if it's a thing where you're like, well, that doesn't, how am I going to make money doing that? Luckily, my parents were like, “you're going to be a doctor, you're going to be a lawyer.” I was like, “I'm going to be a drummer.” And they're like, okay, well, you love that I can see that makes you happy. And you're you have a good kind of natural ability towards it. And so, thank God, they supported me. But say you're a young kid, and your parents aren't supporting you in that decision. You owe it to yourself to do what you want to do with your life anyways.
And when they see the progress that you're making, your parents will eventually come around.
When you're at the end of the thrust, and you throw your parents your drumsticks, I've done that. And I said to myself, this could be the last time this ever happens. And you go to the end of the thrust and your parents are in the audience, you got a tear in your eye, you're covered in sweat, and you throw the drumsticks to your parents, and they get to see their child's dreams come to fruition. That is heavy man. But anything you want to do; you can do it. I'm telling you, you have to have that belief in yourself, first and foremost, until you believe in yourself. No one else will. And if you can, yeah, it's really smart to invest in Bitcoin. It's really smart to invest in buying homes, but you have to invest in yourself first and foremost, right? So, I would say work really hard, as soon as possible with a smile on your face and be unapologetic about what you want to do in life. And you will get there.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:14:41
That is amazing. What a way to end. Thank you so, so much. Thank you.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:14:46
Thank you, Dan. I appreciate it. And to all your listeners out there, man. I keep supporting this show, man. You're doing a great thing. Oh, check out my show.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:14:53
Yes, everyone. Check out the rich Redmond podcast. He has incredible people on his podcasts and he is a great podcaster himself. And so, one day I hope we will meet. I'm sure we will, I’m sure the universe will do that for us.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:15:09
We will make it happen, my friend. This stuff will all go away and we'll meet in foggy London town. We'll go to some 600-year-old pub and have fish and chips.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:15:19
Sounds good to me, man.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:15:21
Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Sue, man.
 
Speaker: Rich Redmond  1:15:29
Hey, brother, let me know when this comes out.
 
Speaker: Dan Lewis  1:15:32
I will do, I'll tag you on all my platforms. Okay, have a great thanks, man.