Dave Lombardo (Testament, Slayer)
Transcript of INTERVIEW WITH Dave Lombardo on Hot Sticks Drum Show below.
Plus, see more about Dave Lombardo on the “Adventures of Power” Official Site.
Ari Gold
Okay, hi, everybody. I'm gonna turn my phone volume down so we don't have an echo. So hello Dave. As some of you know, my name is Ari Gold, I directed the movie Adventures or Power which is about air drumming, Neil Peart is in it. And you know, it's a big extravaganza about the absurdity of not having a drum. And I'm here with Dave Lombardo, who not only has drums. That's an echo, apparently. Okay.
Dave Lombardo
I got it was me......okay.
Ari Gold
And I'm so honored to be talking with someone who, as I said, yesterday, I feel a little bit like Mike Patton must have felt when his high school demo was turned into, you know, a completely insane and heavy record last year right before locked down. But it's an incredible honor to be with you, Dave. And to get an opportunity to talk about drumming and air drumming and all the different projects you've been involved in and the way you've been such an influence on several generations of drummers and musicians. So nice to Nice to meet you.
Dave Lombardo
Likewise, I'm honored to be sitting here with the master air drummer.
Ari Gold
I am in the Guinness Book, it's my my claim to fame in life. I'm in the Guinness Book for air drumming. Yeah. But yeah, I've you know, I've been thinking a lot about how you know what I wanted to talk about with you. And one of the things that's so beautiful about your, your drumming is you seem to be you seem to go into another state, another state of like, your when you're drumming, first of all, watching you, I feel like I'm watching a camera that sped up doesn't seem possible. But yeah, but you're you're you have that you have a total relaxation in your core. And then your limbs are, are doing something in Santa love to you know, just ask you if you can describe if you can, as politically or unpolitical as you like the state of being that you get into as a when you're drawing.
Dave Lombardo
Well, the way I've experienced it is I would connect it with like, or compare it to a runner, or an athlete, that or even a boxer that is psyched before a show. You get into this mode of the adrenaline starts pumping through your body. Your heart rate jumps, several BPMs before you even started playing when I'm sitting in hotel rooms, you know, several hours before I'm already my adrenaline's already kicked in, and I'm going through the parts and you know, everything is just getting ready for that moment on stage. I think that mental state that I get into is it has to be the endorphins or you know, obviously it has to be the endorphins, the the adrenaline, and it just puts me in this zone. And like I mentioned a boxer, when you have the like in the Rocky movie where it says you've got the iron Tiger, you know, like, you're there, you're ready to go, you're focused. And that seems to where I go, but it seems like it happens naturally. It's like I'm just there and I've only realized that recently in my career recently within the past few Two years, you know, so that I've realized, you know, this has this thing that happened. And it's euphoric. For me, it's it's a musical place where I mean, addicted to it, I've noticed during this pandemic, that it's the one thing that I miss the most everybody, you know, yeah, you can, you can play drums, you know, your, your studio, your room, your garage, and listen to music, but nothing is like, being on stage. And feeling the heat of the lights, connecting with the drums, the power of the speakers resonating behind you, your monitors, you know, the echo in the studio, or I'm sorry, the venue. Just everything is just like, it all comes together at that moment. And it's almost an explosion and the end of the night, it takes time to come down from from that, from that musical high. And you just, you embrace it. You love it. And
Ari Gold
yeah, I mean, as far as addictions go, you know, you know, it keeps you keeps you in shape. And, and, you know, this, the release of advances of power supports music cares. And so we're, you know, we're trying to help people deal with addictions that aren't so healthy. But it's, you know, the way you describe being on stage is, you know, it seems like a wonderful place to be I think runners get that I get that surfing, in my own way. And it's anything that brings you to an extreme state of presence. You know, I was actually in Cuba and I know, you know, your Cuban, although you left when you're two years old, but I know you've still feel emotionally connected to to that country. And I was in Havana and past there was like a ground floor apartment or like the kitchen was like, basically almost in the street. And there was a guy in his underwear. It was like a really hot night, in his underwear with Tim Bala's like jamming, like going crazy on the tomatoes, to a television, the television was playing some like Cuban band, and he was playing along with it. And his wife was sitting in a folding chair, just kind of like fanning herself and nodding and like that was his version of getting in the zone is, you know, jamming on the tamales in his underwear. And, you know, we all have our own way of doing that you happen to be, you know, a drum King, and you do it in front of many 1000s of people, but some people do it in front of their wife and a folding chair. But performing is performing
Dave Lombardo
that that to me would be as exhilarating, as exciting, if that was because I'll never forget being a kid in in my room with my drumset in the corner of the bed, you know, and then I have my stereo and another corner and a little dresser and cranking up my cereal and playing along. And the feeling I have on siege. I was feeling that
Ari Gold
room. Yeah, I mean, this is, you know, I I've always asked because I made a movie about air drummers and Neal peered and I of course talked about your drumming before he did the movie. And he said that, yeah, he was playing magazines on his bed. He had laid out a bunch of different magazines on different pillows. And he would beat them until the color covers fell off. And yeah, everyone would you say?
Dave Lombardo
I did that with books with books, different thicknesses of books. I would lay him
Ari Gold
out and to create different tones and tones. Yeah. Did you set up because of your famous double bass drumming? Did you set up books on the floor to to create different? No, you hadn't invented that yet? I was only a single bass drummer ethics. Okay. Okay, well, you had to start somewhere. You're gonna move to triple triple feet soon enough. If anyone's gonna do it, it's gonna be you. Although, you know, have you ever have you seen Terry bozos? drum set? Oh, God. Yes. He has like, all the all the notes of the scale in bass drums. So he can go in a circle and play you know, C C sharp, D D sharp e in a circle. It's crazy. Yeah,
Dave Lombardo
I heard I heard he could perform a Miles Davis song on his drum set, which is phenomenal.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah. So you I mean, you know, obviously a lot of people think of you because of you know your pain. Hearing thrash metal but you know you've also you play with John Zorn. You play with Fred Frith you play with a lot of really interesting experimental I mean you know obviously Mike Patton is also in that kind of Nether World between like hardcore and you know almost intellectual experimental music do you what what's what do you prefer? I mean, I guess I can't say what you prefer because you love playing but like, how does one nurture the other I guess would be a way to phrase it
Dave Lombardo
where, let's say a band like suicidal or misfits or any, you know, like a metal band or rock band that we play with where you have where you play a setlist consistently every every night, except for Fantomas he would pack we would change the set around every night we've we have a set for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, all different setlist and he said let's let's say Saturday and say oh, let's do Tuesday. So it'd be the Tuesday setlist. So flip it around, which would make you will make it really exciting. But we're a band regular band would play the same setlist every every night. Bands like like working with zord or Bill Laswell. And performing like the avant garde improvisation style of music. You know, I look at that as being a cleansing almost from the the the the concert same setlist every single night. So when I interject, like one of those shows, you know, two or three times a year of improvisation, the show I would feel like it's a cleansing. It's kind of reset button for me for drumming. So then when I go back to the normal, you know, setlist bands that I would play in, whether it's misfits, suicidal or even jetcost it would become more fresh. It'll be we bring in some ideas from the performance from a, an improv performance, I would bring it in to the to, to a live show, like for example, the more structured setting
Ari Gold
so when you play, you know, if you played was going to refresh yourself and then you got to do I don't know suicidal tendencies. Many tour tour where, especially when you're playing music, that you know other drummers lay down tracks in the studio decades ago. How much can you bring your fresh spirit your improvisation into that? Or how do you find that middle ground between being Dave Lombardo which, you know, obviously, a lot of fans will be like, Oh, this, this band just got three times as good and he's blowing ever and it's out of the water and there's some like weird flak, you know, like, but you also want to respect the original recordings. So how do you how do you how do you how can you be yourself in that
Dave Lombardo
there's always there's always a little section, you know, a little part in the song let's say it could be a drumroll. It could be a little bell hit in between a break, you know, just something to show your personality and dislike a little spurt, just a little pizzazz, a little sprinkle of salt, a little pepper, little garlic. It's, that's how you do it, but you still keep the respect of the original recording in relation with the misfits, where the songs you know, have a very structured sound or a very structured songwriting style. There's really not much room but where I will add my stamp would be like Dave Lombardo Sam would be in. In the beat in the rhythm, you just make sure Bing it Every time that it's just point, you know, every change every single every symbol hit.
Ari Gold
Yeah, I mean you're you're a hi hat work is obviously a big part of what makes you special and the, the way you're able to be incredibly fast and at the same time in a pocket, which is not something a lot of people know how to do. So
Dave Lombardo
it's that risk. Yeah, yeah. So
Ari Gold
that makes sense. And then occasionally a Phil, you can you can be Dave even, even though it's an older track. I mean, your fills are so interesting, too. I have heard some people describe them as like, feeling like they're running backwards. Is that something that you that like you learned? I mean, is that a bill billboard influenced you at all with that, because I, I feel a little like flavor of early Sabbath and some of those some of that kind of architecture of a film.
Dave Lombardo
I absorbed so much in my, in the early years of my, my drumming, that billboard definitely was a, an influence.
Ari Gold
But can I just interrupt for one second? Can you turn down the volume on your phone? Because I think your phone and your iPad might be feeding back to each other? It's Oh, the phone volume is off? Yeah, okay. Yeah, I'm not sure what it is. You know, no one's gonna die. There's a little echo, but the people will survive. Oh, I don't know. It's like, it's like we're in a stadium. I hear that. Okay. Yeah, so sorry, I didn't draw your billboard. Sorry. I cut you off. But yeah,
Dave Lombardo
there's there hasn't been somewhere along the line that that, that his style influenced me, I don't know, particularly where I remember purchasing the album paranoid. And listening to the album, consistently through my high school years, my early, let's say ninth grade. And then, so I would have been probably 75 since six.
Ari Gold
That would have been like, when they when that kind of metal was even, you know you what, so you would have been slightly scared of that metal and intrigued by it at that age as you were to be a kid. And so like, the speaker is like melting into the carpet, and it's going to go down all the way to hell.
Dave Lombardo
I remember one time, visiting a friend in high school visiting his house and he played we sold our soul for rock and roll or Led Zeppelin album double EIGHT in his bedroom, and his mom would bang on the door. That's the devil's music. I'm like, Yeah,
Ari Gold
that's awesome. Yeah, I mean, an adventure is a power. There's the girl that my drummer character falls in love with it is deaf, and you find out she's lost her hearing at a rock concert. And her mother is a hardcore Christian. And accuses her of dancing the devil's music when she sees me air drumming to hell bent for leather by tunes. So yeah, I mean, it was a real thing. I mean, I have to say, when I was a kid, I was a little scared of Slayer. I was a little scared. And that fear is is part of what like when you're an adolescent, but fear is what becomes the attraction. You know? Like it like a horror film or whatever. It's, uh, I mean, how much as a drummer, like, not just, you know, back then, but like, now working with pattern and how much do you think about the lyrics that are going with your drumming? does it cross your mind? Or? Or is it influenced what you play or not really?
Dave Lombardo
Not really. It does. Sometimes, depending on the line, and where it falls in the song. It'll gravitate, you know, it'll, it'll lift the song for me a little bit. Maybe I'll hit the drums a little harder, because it's saying this particular line, whatever it may be, and it'll, you know, it'll drive me a little bit more to be a little more aggressive. You know, whatever the line, you know. It's sometimes that's yes, definitely boosts the drumming.
Ari Gold
I mean, I can imagine it'd be more like in a little break when the singer screams something and you use that as your like motivator to come back in on a one or whatever, you know. But you ever write lyrics? No, never tried. I mean, you do art I you've done on visual art, so you've branching out into maybe visual art. You're an articulate guy, maybe it's time to like, force one of your bands to like put some Lombardo lyrics in there.
Dave Lombardo
Yeah, I kind of stay away from that, you know, I focus more on the you know, the structure, the composition you know, music make sure it flows and you know, musically for me, that's, that's my forte. That's where I like to.
Ari Gold
I like to dabble. Yeah, yeah. So why did you are you doing any visual art these days? Or is that like a thing? I don't know. If at one point
Dave Lombardo
No, I just did that. Rhythm mysterium which was through seeing for where we photograph. They photographed me with with these six sets had lights in them and something with the exposure of the camera. I'm not too sure how many did it but
Ari Gold
let's be honest, it's kind of a it was kind of a Burning Man art style. I know. That's not necessarily you're seeing flying sticks. Right? Have you been to Burning Man?
Dave Lombardo
No, I haven't but I mean DJ.
Ari Gold
Oh, yeah. So okay, so your DJ set? What's What are you going to what's going to be in your in yourself in your DJ set? For your headline but
Dave Lombardo
you can't even imagine what my iPod was once my five now my iTunes consists of so it's it varies from many many different genres.
Ari Gold
Is there a genre that you will not listen to or play? Um and Willie Nelson doesn't count as country as its own category. Entry always comes up Yeah. Well, it does because like, you know,
Dave Lombardo
country you know, which is the Willie Nelson it's the Johnny Cash.
Ari Gold
You know, Waylon Waylon Jennings
Dave Lombardo
it's so many the classic guys you know those kinds of great
Ari Gold
dirty ones.
Dave Lombardo
But you are country I can't get
Ari Gold
into it. Yeah, I have trouble with it too. So So bend like dead cross and then mixing that with Mr. Bungle you know, so you have like a couple patent experiences what's what taught what sides your personality get to play out in these different packs that you're in now? Like, do you guys put on different hats in those different outfits? I'm sorry, what do you guys put on like different personalities when you're playing in those bands? Or is there like a power dynamic shift because then cross
Dave Lombardo
across obviously the Mr. Bongo music was written you know before you know I was ever in the band. So there was you know, a set some structure. So I just gave my personality and my my spirit with dead cross, it's a little more personal. Debt cross has more of my creativity. When we write the songs it's usually the guitar player and I go into the studio and we improvise and we just get creative and try to find the most brutal drum rhythms and guitar chords and structures that we can and we record those and kind of piece them all together and a create these little bodies of work so I believe dead Cross would have more of my my my personality or my spirit,
Ari Gold
right? For now, I mean, because you're you know, your full cranking Member Mr. Bongo now so you can the next recording. Right? Right. Yeah, I mean, I the the craziness of sort of the flavor of that feels like it would be fun to present anything. Anything goes as long as it's fucking insane. Right? Yeah.
Dave Lombardo
And Mr. Bungle it's amazing because those, you know those songs was were influenced by anthrax and Slayer. And so I could relate to those to that body of work. And it's, it connects and resonates, you know, with,
Ari Gold
with myself whether we might need to change the subject to suicidal because rod Diaz is in the chat saying hi.
Dave Lombardo
Hey, Rob, with
Ari Gold
core I know, I know. And so and I interviewed ray. So, you know, rah, if you're out there listening, you have to like, poke ray in the nose for me. But that's, that's awesome that you'll be with corn. Yeah, that's really No, he can't I can't hear what he's saying back but I'm sure he can hear us so, so high, they're raw you you are you are raw and raw. So I, I'd love to know if you have any advice for drummers or musicians? Because obviously a lot of people watching right now or, you know, admirers of yours and aspiring to be great. And what do you have any, like, anything you've learned that you could share with people?
Dave Lombardo
Um, well, I've been, you know, my career has, has gone up and down, and I'm not on the merry go round, I'm on the roller coaster. So it's a bit exciting. Not saying the merry go round isn't what I find the roller coaster a lot waiting because you, you go through a lot of experiences that if you were in a band, for the same band, many years, you don't get to experience the low points. And some of those low points are difficult at times, but they also creates character and you know, if they can do skin, so you can go through anything. So my advice is, you know, through through my career, and everything I've experienced is to never to always be happy. Play music at whatever level you're at. When I left Slayer, in 2013, I found myself going from huge sages, huge crowds, to playing with another band that I had at the time, you know, in front of small clubs. And so I did that for several years, and then slowly got back up, you know, suicidal, then I got into the misfits, I created death cross now and Mr. Bungle. So it's, it doesn't matter where you play, even if you're air drumming in your room, even if you don't have a drum set, as long as you're playing it feeling that music. That is, I feel the most important element in being happy as a musician, you have to be content with, with, you know, when life is giving you at the time for me, you know, like I said, I've gone through it. Yeah, some people. Oh, yeah. He
Ari Gold
said, people hit that bottom, and they don't, they don't do what you did, which is you keep playing and if you're playing for a small club after playing a giant arena, and that's why there's so many people who, who love you is because you're not just amazing drummer, but you're actually a testament. And that's could be a Testament reference. But now you're a testament to, to resilience. But yeah, I mean, the adventures of power is about someone who has nothing, he has no drums, he's gonna lose his job. And he tries to make something out of out of that. And it's a comedy. It's ridiculous, but it's a powerful message. And then there are link up with MusiCares, which has been really helping people during the last boat, always, you know, it's been helping musician for a long time, but particularly during this really hard time when, you know, touring musicians, but also roadies, and you know, people may sort of not the big marquee names of the business really struggling to survive either with addiction or just food insecurity or whatever. And so, I want to encourage everyone to support MusiCares if you've got any spare, spare cash, if you've watched the adventures of power on Amazon Prime or buy it on Vimeo, it will support MusiCares with their earnings so watching the movie even for free on prime is helpful. But do you have any MusiCares stories that you be comfortable sharing or?
Dave Lombardo
Well we Mr. Fungal I believe Mr. Bumble, we, I believe we released T shirts, or maybe was get crossed. I don't remember early on in the pandemic early 2020 Man that feedback is insane.
Ari Gold
Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure how to stop it. I mean, we could put on headphones if you have headphones maybe that would stop it. Do you have any nearby? Yes. Alright, so whoever's we're singing a song right now this isn't radio silence. It's just we're gonna get headphones and see if this fixes it
Ari Gold
okay, you would think that musisz a world class drummer and a not that world class director would know how to use testing testing testing not working over here. Can you hear me?
Ari Gold
What happened? Testing again? Oh my god, did I lose you? Can you hear me? Hold on a second. I believe in myself. The Instagram people can still hear probably but
Ari Gold
not nothing. Does our tech to their tech guy No, it's I can't hear you. Dave, John I think on mic is working. Well, in order to stop an echo, we stopped everything.
Ari Gold
10 Can you hear me? Dave? Can't hear him. You know, maybe if you can hear me, we'll sign out and sign back in.
Ari Gold
We're going to sign out and sign back in. Hold on a second. I'm going to turn this off, folks. If you can hear me and then I'm going to start it again. There we go. Okay. I guess we'll live with the echo. Echoes rule. I think we're live in. Hey, didi. Just DeeDee Can you let me know if it's live? Or live? Okay. Sorry about that, folks. And Instagram. You guys get to that was a little backstage excitement. Oh, there's so many comments in the Instagram. Let me just see if it's keep it going. Okay, so people don't want us to leave. All right. Okay, good. Dave, we have grown so I got to take a picture again. You're still a godfather of drumming. San Antonio, Texas. I know. There's just a lot of comments. I'm just switching to my phone for a second. See if there's anything I want to I want to hear about your point of view of the first dead cross show at the Casbah. Oh, wow. That's just reading a comment on the on the Instagram. We're doing simulcast on Instagram folks. It's high tech.
Dave Lombardo
Wow, that was brutal. We were we had just written I don't know what seven eight songs at the time. And it was. It was exciting. It was one of those evenings where, you know, we knew how was going to break loose. We just went with it. Just just went off and played as hard as we could You know, it was a small sweaty club. And it was a lot of fun to say the least. Yeah, I mean, what there had to have been minimum 200 people, maybe less. It's was great.
Ari Gold
And that 200 people on that end. Yeah. So that was you getting back to your roots, right?
Dave Lombardo
Yeah, that was that was, you know, the bottom of the,
Ari Gold
of the roller coaster. Right. But let's look at slightly like when you first when you founded Slayer, you were playing to 12 people probably in your high school. So
Dave Lombardo
Slayer play this bar. My mom drove me there. We put my drum set in the back of her car in the trunk. You know, it was like a 71 Pontiac Vinter look like a nova. And so we fit the drums in there. And she drove me I had to have been 716 17 years old. And and there were there was nobody in the crowd. I think my mom was just sitting on the side somewhere. And they were about four or five bikers by the pool table. And you heard them scream, you know, scattered. Or. Right. You know, so yeah, I mean, we've all been there. And it's just it's part of, you know, growing up. And, and being a musician.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'd love to, I don't know, do you go to Cuba? Do Are you allowed to is your family blocked? Like, what's the?
Dave Lombardo
No, no, I went there in I believe, might have been 2018.
Ari Gold
Okay, that's around the same time I went. Yeah. 2018.
Dave Lombardo
It was early 2018 in January, and then I returned in May. April May, with suicidal suicidal played a couple shows.
Ari Gold
Oh, really? How was that?
Dave Lombardo
phenomenon? It was great, man. You know, they don't get that kind of entertainment. Yeah. Too often. And when we played there, it was it was great. You know, you play there for free? Yeah. Oh, cuz they don't have money to pay. So you just, you paid less. And thankfully, my my viewer he, you know, he paid for all the flights and everything. And he fulfilled the dream of mine. Wow. Was to display in Cuba.
Ari Gold
He did that for you. Oh, for himself. Yeah. But for him. Yeah. But But I mean, you inspired it.
Dave Lombardo
But yeah, he saw that I had made that I had gone there. It might have been January 2018. And, you know, shortly after we had booked two shows that
Ari Gold
were in Cuba did you play
Dave Lombardo
we play would have been open which is you know, East. It's a province ease that we played.
Ari Gold
Someone saying Can Dave mute his phone? Are you sure? Did you turn the volume down again, when we started again?
Dave Lombardo
Volume is down. As well as my volume is down and the microphone for the actual app is off. There's a line through it. The only thing that's left for me to turn off is this microphone.
Ari Gold
Okay, it's okay. It I think our text is saying that it's working. It's all good. It's all good. Okay, we've got a we've got a red flag and the flag has dropped so yeah, I was Santana cumin. I'm trying to remember. Carlos Santana. No, no, he's Mexican. Mexican. Okay, but he had a big Cuban influence in his stuff in the 70s.
Dave Lombardo
Actually, he recorded the song by people pointing. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah. And then, and then he medley eyes that with something else that kind of more psychedelic I think. But I know it's like the mid 70s Stuff like Moonflower I don't know if you ever listen. Yeah. Okay. So I, I have a special connection to that record because my mother was dating Bill Graham, the rock music promoter who I manage Santana in the Grateful Dead and, you know, people who some people know who he is. But she dated him in the 70s and then later dated them again, they actually died and she died in a helicopter crash with him. So but and Santana played at the funeral. So I have this like, very deep connection to him. But also when I was four, or I think I was four, they were recording Moonflower. And my mother went to the studio and she described coming back and saying that they had like, done, like 40 takes in what because they wanted to live track everything. They didn't want to do cuts, but they had to get the right take and they would just do take after take after take after take after take and then. And Santana was apparently complaining because Bill Graham was like, We need another deck. Because Bill Graham actually grew up, you know, after he escaped the Holocaust as a kid and he grew up and outside New York, his birth as a lover of music was Cuban music. And that's what got me first she got into Cuban music, he got to dancing, then he got into rock and roll. And that's how the whole kind of scene happened.
Dave Lombardo
That's kind of the same path I was on. My parents would were obviously listening to send me a cruise, FIFA point, a venti morning, all these, you know, Latin artists, and I did all my keeping friends and my mom and dad and hang out with and you know, and they would obviously have kids, and we'd all get together and just rage in the streets and stuff. And when we would go to these dances and parties, you know, because that's one thing he was like to do is party and have a good time, listen to music, dance and all that stuff. And, you know, we were everybody was into dance music in the 70s. And, and I was the only one you know, amongst the group that was into sampling Sabbath. I was kind of, you know, familiarizing myself with American culture.
Ari Gold
And this is before full on the rain.
Dave Lombardo
Yes. Oh, yeah. Because my brother got me into Zeppelin Led Zeppelin to he played for me, Moby Dick. And, and also cream with Ginger Baker.
Ari Gold
Get my friend I live half a block from the guy who made the documentary about Ginger Baker, and got you know, hit in the head with with a cane. Like a like a metal came by Ginger Baker in Africa.
Dave Lombardo
I hope to be like him when I like ginger
Ari Gold
style. I think it's better that you're a decent human. I mean, Ginger had his at his good points and bad points, let's just say, of course. Yeah. But, um, but ya know, I know, he, I know. Well, you were influenced by a lot of trios. I mean, and Mitch Mitchell and, and, you know, because the guys who could hold it down and trio, we're not just getting a backbeat they were giving the whole you know, if it was an orchestra would be the, you know, the timpani and the the cymbals and the triangle and the snare and everything. And they, the trio guys have that, to Copeland has that, you know. And it's cool that those were, I know, those people influenced you, I've read some interviews with you where he talks about
Dave Lombardo
magic, there's magic in a tree, I mean, it is the bare bones of a band. Base because when you're when you're in a trio, the drummer when when the guitar drops out and start playing goes into a lead, you need to pick up that energy compensate for that drop. So, you know what I've learned from Black Sabbath Creed zeppler. That, you know, you you elevate the excitement by you know, when you go into to your ride cymbal, when you go into a lead, and you know, it just elevates the sound, it's so beautiful. And when when a trio captures that, that energy or that that element in their playing. It's, it's beautiful. It's fantastic recently worked with with Dave Grohl, and something you know, told me to dive into old Nirvana and watch videos. And that was one hell of a trio when they went off on stage and jamming really into the music. You know, they were one The tide is bad, but it was so good. And for some reason, it never occurred to me, you know, about Iran and eat a tree. I knew it in the back of my mind, but to watch them perform, they really they captured that. The beauty of a trail.
Ari Gold
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. I never saw them play live I was this close. Show up. Oh, really?
Dave Lombardo
Yeah. I was gonna see them in a parody zone in Amsterdam in 1991. And,
Ari Gold
yeah, it didn't show you was like in bad shape or something
Dave Lombardo
in play. And then I was leaving on a plane go home the next day. And I missed them and basically scheduled for the day that I was leaving.
Ari Gold
Yeah, my. My great show that I could have missed but didn't was actually was Jane's Addiction at the stone in San Francisco. On Broadway. In front, there was like 20, maybe 25 people there? And oh, yeah. I mean, yeah. So if you think the singer, the singer means nothing to you. It ain't nothing. To be there. What?
Dave Lombardo
He's lucky to be there.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Well, in this case, he was barely there. And we It wasn't clear that he was going to get on stage. And when they did pigs in Zen where he like, improvise as a kind of rapper song in the middle of it. And then the album, he's like, you know, I know about pain and Ward being called. And in this show. Like, we're like waiting. What's he going to say? He kind of stumbled up the stage. And he goes, it's like, done it. Done it. Then he goes, anyone see the Dodgers game? Like, what is this? Is this the poetry we were waiting for? But there were 25 people. So it was like, you know, like, you remember the stone? You must remember the stone, right? It's a little club. That's long gone. But like, but yeah, I mean, it was it was a small club, and it was mostly empty. And I guess they were already pretty big in LA. So he was probably like, wondering why he came up to San Francisco and play for 20 people. But I was one of them.
Dave Lombardo
It must have been a great show.
Ari Gold
It was it's well my favorite part was how bad his rap was in the middle of that song because
Dave Lombardo
that's a great album.
Ari Gold
It's a great album. Really good too. Yeah. Yeah. Steven Perkins is awesome. Got drummers got it got a real style of his own. No one drums like that. Yeah. Are you doing any work with Apocalyptica anymore? Is that sort of ancient history? Or?
Dave Lombardo
No, I haven't seen saw them when I was in Europe some time ago, at some festival, but we haven't seen each other in a while. So I don't anticipate anything in the future. But you never know.
Ari Gold
You never know. Apocalyptic plot plus, I didn't know the New York Philharmonic.
Dave Lombardo
Right. That's a great idea. No, actually, you know, I was the first drummer they ever performed with. I was doing a drum workshop. Like this little festival in Europe. And they were playing a show either the next day or the same day I can't remember. And they asked me hey, you want to play south the heaven? You know Slayer something heaven with us? Yeah, let's do it. And you know, this was before. Phantom us this was before. anybody knew I was into experimenting.
Ari Gold
Oh, wait, so wait, mid 90s wasn't a Phantom was like, late 90s. When that started?
Dave Lombardo
Yeah, late. 90s.
Ari Gold
So you were with Apocalyptica earlier than that. So yeah, I didn't realize that.
Dave Lombardo
Yeah. Wow. So that was and then after it worked. You know, I think and don't quote me, I'm pretty sure that after they saw that and heard that there, cellos and drumming you know, actually work. They they got their new drummer and, and they it's been nonstop since.
Ari Gold
Right? It's good. They got a new drummer who got to be intimidated by the the path you carved through that.
Dave Lombardo
He's He's really good. I really liked him. Very nice guy, great drummer. And we've worked together, you know, since he's been in the band, because we did some recordings and he was there so
Ari Gold
yeah, great guy. And or do you see yourself doing any more like art pieces? I know you did like one for Matthew Barney. You do. And those who don't know the Matthew Barney is a experimental filmmaker, slash artists who creates these very long, epic metaphorical films with strange creatures in them very strange. He dresses as like the kind of like a setter from a nightmare. And Dave did a an epic drum track for him.
Dave Lombardo
Actually, we also did a video you might be able to find it on YouTube, Matthew Barney April Bardot. We, he, you know, we entered a studio. And he said, I want to, I want you to do a drum solo. And we're gonna film it. And he had a vocalist there. I can't remember the vocalists name at the time. And so he wanted to create this really bizarre video in a studio. But he said, I want to bring in beads, actual beat, you know, with a beekeeper and let them loose in this vocal booth and record the bees around this microphone. So he put the queen bee on the microphone, and then all of a sudden, all the bees swarmed around the microphone. And they recorded it. And the musical director for the movie in the video, he sampled he sampled the bees on a keyboard and use the
Ari Gold
ball set as like, like guitar sound. But it was B C, you know, wow, that sounds really nightmarish and wonderful, very nightmarish.
Dave Lombardo
It's funny. They have the beekeepers, that camera. You know, the camera team. Everybody was in B suits. And I was in a black T shirt. I had this crazy wig on. And because I think I had short hair at the time. So they wanted me to look like I was in the 80s. And so they said okay, well, the beekeeper came into the room. He said, Whatever you do, just don't swap the beads. And I kept my head like a dog trying to understand what you're saying. And I said, Wait, I don't have a bee suit in how do the bees not know that? I'm not swatting them. So I thought it was gonna get stung. But I did it. But oh, the drug the vocalist for corn. Jonathan Davis was sick in the neighboring studio. And a bee got in through the vents and went into the studio and started back.
Ari Gold
Fucking perfect. I love that it went up and attacked corn. Were you brought? Does he know that you're to blame for this B? That you like the B was trying to get away from you?
Dave Lombardo
Nobody in the in our studio that's done. But his Jonathan means his engineering.
Ari Gold
Oh, the engineer did? Yeah. Oh, okay. I thought it was just the thing or didn't get stung. Somehow, like a singer getting stung. It's funny an engineer getting stung is I feel bad. Yeah. Why is that? You know, because the singer, singers tends to be, you know, shocked. A extrovert is getting a lot of attention. And it's funny to get a big welt on their neck when an engineer is already kind of hunched over.
Dave Lombardo
They don't have to hold drums around.
Ari Gold
Yeah, yeah, that will be annoying if they just hold this. Yeah. By the way, the Instagram we have an Instagram Live limit of an of an hour which we're this is one of the longest interviews ever done. It's really fun talking to you. But in order that our phone people don't get cut off in the middle of a sentence. Maybe we'll sort of wrap it up or we or we can say goodbye to the Instagram people because they may it may just get sliced by, by the system. But so let's, let's say are our well I'll say the one thing that I would like to say the most important thing is that it's incredible honor to talking with you. It's so fun talking with you, you're you have such a simple mind. And, you know, the jokes about drummers drooling out of both sides of their mouths is definitely not true.
Dave Lombardo
Read some of these comments, you know,
Ari Gold
are you seeing them now? Well, no, I
Dave Lombardo
mean, my phone's a little star.
Ari Gold
Oh, anyway, people. Well, Instagram people are saying don't stop, but we'll we can leave it on at some point. It's going to cut off in the middle of a sentence. So we don't want you to think we're rude so we can keep talking until it just cuts off. Okay. Ask the question people like ask the questions we're asking. Okay. I'm scrolling there's a lot of compliments I'm looking for question marks the person who wanted me to ask you something. Oh, anyway, just in case we get caught off is Dave Lombardo. I'm Ari Gold, I directed Adventures of power the air drum movie with Michael McKean from spinal tap and Neal peered and it's a beautiful, ridiculous comedy you can watch for free on Amazon. And when you do so, money goes to support MusiCares and supporting musicians in need, and you can learn more about that at Air drummer.com. That's my little spiel. And then people are saying, okay, Dave Lombardo movie. Well, I'm talking about movies, besides the Matthew Barney thing, and I know you did. So a little bit of soundtrack work you are you interested in cinema? That's a question off of Instagram.
Dave Lombardo
I love creating music, to pictures. It's, it really helps, you know, to that it sets a you know, sets a scene. And I recently composed music for for a movie, for these for it's called the most cool thing was free keys, which is about metal bands in Cuba. You know, just going through the air every day, you know, strife and, you know, hardships, and, you know, the bands, you know, some of the members of the band were arrested and put in jail for several years, you know, for playing metal music, you know, they were looked down upon. So that was a real treat for me to do, and that's going to be out real soon. I just got word that it's going to be out on,
Ari Gold
you know, what are they? What kind of metal were they playing? I mean, Russia, okay. Oh, yes, of course, for us metal
Dave Lombardo
bands called Zeus and it's really cool. I mean, I had a lot of fun doing that. The and I hope to do more I just helped out with adding drugs to Dark Knight death metal, DC Comics you know, cartoon comic book, this whole comic book series and they have a soundtrack to it.
Ari Gold
And you're you're composing for to playing drums or combination with drums
Dave Lombardo
for it. Yeah, Tyler Bates, a dear friend of mine. He would send me like like some drones some, like just like, backdrop news. And, and then I would create over it and he would give me the you know, kind of a synopsis of the story. I would try to envision that and then play along to it. Then create my drum patterns. You know? So I did that. I worked on Thunder Force this last year and 2020 It's a Melissa McCarthy and Tom tickets. Spencer movie. And that's released that's on Netflix. I worked with Scott Ian on that.
Ari Gold
Oh, wow. And Phil Eisler Did you compose music or will you fill
Dave Lombardo
nicely composed music and and then he was send us you know the stones, the rough tracks and then we would recreate them and record them at the studio.
Ari Gold
That's pretty sweet as a composer like Colin Dave Lombardo and Scott yen to lay down some some
Dave Lombardo
cool was Melissa McCarthy had a slayer shirt on theory. And okay, that was awesome. And the
Ari Gold
I just did a music video for some punk kids that I met on Venice Beach. homeless kids who are going to be I think this video is going to blow up and I hope it blows up. But they were wearing Dead Kennedys and suicidal shirts. So I'm like, All right, I gotta tell Dave that there's like some suicidal fans living out of their car bunch of black kids actually and then bring that up because they're like we have to prove that punk is black and and and we're gonna bring we're gonna bring black back the punk and punk back to black and they're like, but anyway, they've got the last shot you see suicidal written right down running on guys are so awesome. Yeah.
Dave Lombardo
I love you know, seeing some of those you know, like the best. And you'll see a slayer patch, you'll see a testament patch. You'll see. You know, he's Willis Apocalyptica. And you'll see all these bands as i i played in that band.
Ari Gold
You played in most bands? Let's be honest. What bands have you not played in?
Dave Lombardo
But yeah, misfits as well. It's just, it's just really cool. I'm really proud and happy to be part of such an amazing generation. And it's, it's surreal, in a way for me because I grew up admiring bands like, making and, you know, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest. You know, so many of these, even, you know, Zeplin, cream and Jimi Hendrix and all that. And then it seems like now, I've kind of like, um, like, part of that kind of cycle or general part of the newer generation musicians, you know, that are kind of carrying the torch.
Ari Gold
Yes. You get to you get to be, you get to be in multiple generations. It's, it's nice. Because you're because you're still innovating and still branching out in a million directions. I did someone's asking, speaking of like, one of your branches. I just pulling this pulling this question, but grip Incorporated. Favorite record? What's your favorite record from that? Project? Someone wants to know.
Dave Lombardo
Yeah. Power of inner strength was great, because it was my first record after I left Slayer to the second time I left Slayer. I, you know, created this band out of nothing. And you know, chose all the musicians. And I discovered the singer who unfortunately passed away in I believe 2008. And, you know, it was it was phenomenal. It was a great time. However, the string Nemesis with amazing solidifying, Incorporated, it's those songs. Pretty awesome man and listening back. They still blow me away. But it really tears into my heart. Because Gus is not with us. He's not with us anymore. And it would have been great to reunite that band. And, you know, do some of the shows and festivals and yeah, you know, today, but yeah, great band.
Ari Gold
Well, you got fans, you got fans here bringing them up. So that's nice. Let me see. I'll pull another question. I don't know how you feel up there about certain. I mean, do you want to talk about you can say you don't want to talk about, you know, losing. Hanuman
Dave Lombardo
is one of the keys next to Gus. Incorrect, Incorporated. And this is another was a terrible loss. You know, it's unfortunate, you know, how it all happened. And, you know, to this day, you know, I miss him, you know, I communicate with his wife. And, you know, she knows how I felt about Hanuman. And how Hanuman felt about me. And, you know, he's just, he was an amazing Trailblazer. You know, he, he hardly, he hardly knew how to play guitar when I first met him. And some of the best Slayer songs that you could have ever imagined. And he's, he's definitely best.
Ari Gold
Yeah. On a more cheerful subject, someone's asking and I'm wondering if it's rod Diaz himself, someone's like, what was it like working with Rod Diaz? I'm wondering like Is that raw, like pretending to be someone else being like, How handsome is Rod Diaz when you're standing next to him?
Dave Lombardo
You know, rods is great. He and I joined suicide
Ari Gold
at the same time. Oh, really? I didn't know that.
Dave Lombardo
First rehearsals were, you know, we were the new guys in the band. And he's awesome. He's, he's great. He's a great guy to hang out with great personality. Great player. Yeah, you know, we really connect on stage. There's some sections in suicidal songs, where it's just drums and bass. And man we lock in, it's so sweetly this we're in a pocket. And with with punk music is fast. But you know, there's still a pocket there's still you know,
Ari Gold
groove works. Yeah, suicidal tendencies has always been, you know, had that groove. You know, there's Southern California, they've got they've got the gotta groove a little bit. They're not just like act I find a mix. You know, the mix of these lyrics and what you talked about how you're not so much thinking about the lyrics but with suicidal like, you know, they deal with death, they don't deal with death by going into the golf house and putting on the kind of like, death thing instead, it's like, actually talking about death, talking about depression, talking about like, being in a really dark place, and not hiding in the kind of metal trappings and there's something so beautiful to me about Mike Niro's lyrics and the way his brutal honesty about the way he's feeling is mixed with this like hardcore. Talking. No. Bullet Train of energy. To me, it's such a such a beautiful combination. Yeah, man. He, you know, he's really, it's very uplifting. Yeah, exactly. positive message because you acknowledges the dark you can't have the darkness. I mean, you can't have the the lightness without actually acknowledging the darkness. Like, Bill Cosby was always like the, the the perfect dad, everyone. And like, even back when I was a kid, I was like, I don't I don't trust that guy. He was all sunshine. I'm like, where's the shadow? Like, there's something missing here. So like, someone like Mike Muir, like, he shows his shadow, and then you know, that, that the spirit is good? Because he's like, Hey, here's the fucking shadow.
Dave Lombardo
You know, I had a conversation, Mike and I got on the phone the other day. And we had a great phone for like, an hour or so. You know, he, he said, I said to him, I said, Man, you know, I'm looking really looking forward to playing again. And, you know, there's there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And he said, he started laughing. He's Dave. I hate to disappoint you. But that light at the end of the tunnel is a training reality check, you know,
Ari Gold
again, perfect. Yeah. You're Yeah, that
Dave Lombardo
he's a he's a realist. And, you know, we may be optimistic, but he knows how to really you. Just
Ari Gold
yeah, but I mean, I can imagine like, there's been no one. If I was on a boat, you know, in the middle of the ocean, fighting to survive, like, you'd want to have Mike, in that boat with you. I think, you know, I had never met him. I also I mentioned this to Robert, but my sister is Nazi skinhead boyfriend in high school was beat up by the numbers of suicidal tendencies at a show in the 80s. Which, you know, was all right with me.
Dave Lombardo
Well, story, person brief Incorporated. We played a show up in Detroit, and a bunch of skinheads show up, and, you know, they're all doing their Nazi salute and everything. And, you know, he was British, you know, he's English. Born raised, you know, scarred in England. And he and he chased those Nazis out of the club at the bottom of his mic stand holding is my standard got off and just when you see these guys running, and Gus GCM with the mic stand out the front door, and then coming back and finishing the song. Oh, my God, that's beautiful. My view from from my drum stools is the most amazing view.
Ari Gold
Yeah, you You're like safely protected, and you can see everything,
Dave Lombardo
not during a suicidal show. I'm not safely protecting suicide, OSHA was once my might be, or brings up the the audience on stage. And, you know, there's times where, you know, some of these, some of these people dancing and jumping around, and there's so many people on stage that some people fall onto the drumset. But some there was this one guy that was doing it on purpose. And,
Ari Gold
like, I'm like stage diving, but instead of on the people, he was diving into the drumset, a lot of
Dave Lombardo
stage just dancing around. And he was he was acting students, you know, and not being respectful of the gear on stage. And he was purposely but not on purpose, but not on purpose. Yeah, falling off my drum kit. And it was one time I just stopped playing and just don't for him. I missed. But that was like the one moment that I I lost. Dude, stop being a jerk. Yeah. But yeah, it's, it's great. It's exciting. I miss it. I miss it so much.
Ari Gold
Well, when are you so when you do what's what's your life? What's in your in your horizon for life plank? Oh,
Dave Lombardo
I have two shows in Chicago in September. With Mr. Bungle. We're playing the Riviera. On the seventh tee that I believe. And then on the 19th or 16th, and the 18th. I'm not too sure. And then we're playing. The first date is at the Riviera in Chicago. And then the second date is Riot Fest. With miss with Mr. Bronco, and then October I'm playing aftershock festival. Friday, I'm playing with suicidal. And then Saturday I'm playing with the misfits.
Ari Gold
Nice. Yeah, that's that you'll be back. Dave's back. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. And you're still someone's asking what size snare are you working with? I want to like give someone the technical questions. I'm sure there's plenty more but that one popped up. What besides snare do you use?
Dave Lombardo
Tama five and a half by 14? hand hammered. Bronze, bronze snare, I believe. Exactly the same one for years. It's gold. And you hit it. And you hit it. And it's got these little strings underneath?
Ari Gold
Yeah, yeah, as an air drummer, I play I tend to play DW air drums. Because in Adventures of power, they only gear you see is the DW stool that someone tries to get me to sit in because but I'm like, I believe that a real air drummer doesn't use this tool, but it is a DW store. And so I've been kind of buddies with that. That crew for a bit, but um, yeah. Sponsored air drummer can do whatever he wants. I might I'm open to a sponsorship with symbols. I'm just saying for air symbols. You know, anyone out there as a symbol company?
Dave Lombardo
Yeah. I think they
Ari Gold
are symbols. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And do you have any new misfit stuff coming up?
Dave Lombardo
Oh, yes, actually, I'm getting together with Jerry only next weekend
Ari Gold
to like, write or record or
Dave Lombardo
we're gonna do some, some little miscellaneous recordings. And we're going to go over the set for shits and giggles. Just to get ourselves back into shape, and have some fun. Somebody's gonna be down for a week and really looking forward to that. And so, I mean, we're still a ways away, but it's good, you know, just to get reacquainted.
Ari Gold
Right. Or, you know, you've been How have you been keeping in shape? You know, in terms of chops? I know. It's not the same as playing, you know, at home versus on stage, but
Dave Lombardo
it's not the same. I try. Yeah. Nothing. Nothing compares to have those guitars.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah, playing live. I mean, I tell that to actors to you know, an actor will rehearse a scene in their living room. For you know, however many they can rehearse it and learn it's a monologue for if they worked for 12 hours, and I'm like, Just go and go out and do it again. straight in front of 10 people or in front of whoever's walking by and you'll, those 12 hours, your body and your voice in your mouth will remember more if you're doing in front of somebody in one hour than you would in 12 hours. And
Dave Lombardo
I can I can imagine that. Yeah, I mean, and it's a lot of mental work, you know, I believe that a big part of rehearsal is, is going over it in your mind.
Ari Gold
Well, you have like, now you have a catalogue of like, so many bands that you play in like, God, it's like, you gotta be Bob Dylan in terms of like, the number of songs.
Dave Lombardo
I know, 37 misfits. So dancing is able to call them out. Hey, I want to do this one. I have to know it.
Ari Gold
Right? Instantly. Yeah. My job.
Dave Lombardo
And that cross, you know, there's probably 1014 1012 Maybe 1213 songs, maybe plus some covers that we do. And then Mr. Bungle and it's suicidal.
Ari Gold
So a lot of songs,
Dave Lombardo
but you know, a lot of muscle memory, you know, or not muscle memory that, you know, you see your brain like that, I believe, you know, helps a lot in it as you get older.
Ari Gold
Yeah, that's something I talked about with Neal peered. We went when we released the branches of power, we're raising money to support music education. And we were talking about the fact that music education for kids, helps them with math helps them with all these other subjects in the school programs that are getting cut. They're like, Oh, we don't need music education is like you. I mean, it's not about making the next Dave Lombardo. That can happen. It's about the fact that if you play music, you engage with music, your brain is going to be stronger and everything, it's gonna be stronger. When you're 90, and it's going to be stronger when you're not. For me, it's going to beat your brain is going to be stronger when you're 90 and when you're nine, if you're playing music,
Dave Lombardo
yeah. Yeah, my mom, she's, she's 89. And she reads every day, and she still read. And although our bodies you know, obviously, you know, she's frail and, but her mind is so sharp, you know, she remembers so much and does not suffer from any kind of dementia, or anything like that. You know, it's, it's, there's something there to be said, you know, reading and I believe listening to music, memorizing music, memorizing patterns, you know, it's I think it's beneficial. Long term.
Ari Gold
Yeah. All right. Well, so I'm glad to hear you. We'll be back out in full force two bands in one weekend in October. Yeah, it's nice to good life.
Dave Lombardo
And then maybe, maybe there's something going on in December.
Ari Gold
But I can't talk about so what Yeah, wow. Okay, so that means there is something going on. If you can't talk about it, that's a good sign.
Dave Lombardo
Like four other albums that I'm gonna be releasing. I don't know how soon I've completed. Three, I believe there's gonna be three releases that are complete. And I one day I'm almost done
Ari Gold
with so and you can't say who they're with
Ari Gold
Shania Twain, I know. I just let the cat out of the bag. Shania Twain. Oops, what should I oops. They want someone saying people want a Dave solo album with guest musicians. Think about it. If you need a guest, air drummer, let me know be happy to like do a duet with you.
Dave Lombardo
After I saw the movie, there's some potential there.
Ari Gold
And I've done some light I did. I did you know I did eventually power but also done live shows I did. Played in front of 7000 people in Finland. I did hot for teacher. And in those I did a 62nd cut of sovereign future all legs in a squat. Like you know double bass, two arms. Those 60 seconds My heart was pounding like I had. I had run a marathon. My heart is pounding for four hours after that 1/62 guy. There's a joke in the movie that air drumming is a lot harder than drumming. Then real drumming because you have to. You don't have anything to bounce again. So you're using all the strength to like pushing both directions. So you know just saying putting it out there if you need it, let me know. So maybe we'll wrap up. And let me just scroll to see if there's any emergency questions from from fans. Someone's going to there's a lot of hellos from South America from Argentina and Brazil. I have seen a lot of you got a lot of fans in that continent. So and Chile Yeah. Someone just know someone saying no, don't go Zorn sore Jorn? Yeah. Well, okay, so look, we got we, I think we can, even though people don't seem to be enjoying this, maybe we'll, we'll sign off because it's been a nice, long talk. So what can I say? You know, follow Dave Lombardo on Instagram. If you don't already, I'm I'm Ari Gold. I'm at Ari Gold on Instagram. I'm on the Modern Drummer account right now, because Modern Drummer has been co sponsoring this initiative to talk to drummers talk about drumming, talk about air drumming and hindrances to power and raise awareness of MusiCares. So, once again, please go to musicares.org and donate and watch advances of power on Amazon for free. And Amazon will sends me money and then I send it to MusiCares. So, you know, and it's a great movie. So it says Dave Lombardo. And Neil Pierce said, In a word, yeah, in two words, fuck yeah. And then again, he's in it. So he had the right to do that. But by the way, did you ever hang out with Neil peered
Dave Lombardo
never met you regret in my life. You know, I really wish I could, you know, met the guy. He's a genius was a genius. He was a trailblazer. You know, his style, his sound. You know, I, I first heard rush when they released movie pictures. Because I was, you know, I was in high school at the time when that album came out. And anything prior to moving pictures, I really didn't, you know, get into because I was, I was in a higher main Judy's buddies.
Ari Gold
They seem to Prague for you or something.
Dave Lombardo
It was just a little different for me. Yeah. And, you know, but I appreciate it. I mean, I bought the CD, you know, I have a compilation, Rush compilation. And, you know, I studied it, listen to what he was doing. And, you know, like, all drummers, you know, when you listen to something, when a drummer is very special and unique, you absorb and you take from that. And he definitely had that, that magic to you know, go beyond the speakers and, you know, hit the person or the drummer to the you know, the upcoming drummer listening to him inspire
Ari Gold
them. Yeah. Yeah, brain massage. His drumming is like brain massage for me. He, we did a drum off I don't know if you've seen it's not in the movie. But after the movie, which makes a big joke of an air drummer trying to play Tom Sawyer. We did a live we filmed a performance of of me, air drumming right next to him. Real drumming, Tom Sawyer, and I put on YouTube and like, there were so many people there like a lot of people loving it. But a lot of people like it was their life dream to do that. They're like, Who is this is all here. Join me next to meal period, I should be doing it because he would joke about he'd say, like every show, he'd look off and on one side there just be like this row of people like doing every single hit. Like my character does, but it's so
Dave Lombardo
perfect. At least for me moving pictures. And Tom Sawyer was the perfect song to eardrum. I remember when that was released. You know, there was a bunch of people in high school but you kids, you know, friends of mine, you know, they have a little boombox, you know, I'm playing the cassette. And everybody thought, oh,
Ari Gold
yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Dave Lombardo
He did. He he. That might have been the beginning of airtronic. Movement.
Ari Gold
Well, I mean, I do a lot of your drumming happening to Led Zeppelin for sure. I mean, I like ramble on like the you know, the the kick drum off beat on ramble on It's good. I mean, I was dreaming that before I got into Russia, I think you have it actually. Public. In public. Yeah. Maybe in public. Yeah.
Dave Lombardo
To show that, hey, I know this part.
Ari Gold
Right, right. Yeah, it's true. It's true.
Dave Lombardo
It's, you know, it's a terrible loss. Life sucks, you know? Yeah.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah, he was a, he was a really sweet, amazing, generous person. And so, you know, influential to me as a person as an artist. And like, when he mentioned, the power came out, and like, nobody cared because we did this tiny, no money, and it was like, and he was like, so encouraging. He was like, this is your, you're an artist, and you remind me of when Ross was starting out, and like, you know, it was, he knew what to say exactly the right time when I was feeling punched in the nose by like, you know, making a movie and nobody gave a shit, you know? Like, so yeah, he's an adventurer, actually, if you can, if anyone's watching wants to go to air drummer.com. We have, we have lots of mentions of Dave Lombardo. You're on multiple pages. We have pages for for a bunch of the bands you're in. It's like, because you're in most bands. Websites gonna get big but but yeah, so and there's a Neil Pierre page as well, where I have the videos that I made with him. So people want to watch that are there for free. But, but yeah, he was a beautiful soul. Beautiful soul.
Dave Lombardo
I hear. That's what I hear from everyone.
Ari Gold
Yeah, when you hear it from a lot of people, you start to realize it's probably true. And if you hear that somebody's asshole from a lot of people. It's probably true as well. I'm sure you've met some of those do. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So we will sign off. People are willing to say goodbye. This whole time, please ask about the new dead cross album, please.
Dave Lombardo
Well, we're still waiting. You know, I'm still waiting for Patton to wrap up the vocals. You know, he's got a lot on his plate. He's working on a lot of stuff. So some of these things they take time
Ari Gold
and take time. Yeah. Okay. You know, patience, folks. Patience.
Dave Lombardo
Patience. Yeah, yeah. Time.
Ari Gold
In time. There we That's the perfect closer for interview is your air drumming. You're making a little pun. Yeah, it's working. Alright, so thank you all so much. I can't believe how many of you stayed on for how long this was an I wish we were all getting a beer or those who don't have a beer or getting a lemonade. And see you on the road. Go check out Dave's multiple bands hard to keep track of them but catch you. They want to Dave's got it.
Dave Lombardo
I'll be there. I'll be in your town.
Ari Gold
And love from Russia too. That just came through.
Ari Gold
Yeah. Yeah. So really great talking with you and catch you. Catch you somewhere.
Dave Lombardo
Thanks, Ari. Make sure to hit us up if I'm ever in your town.
Ari Gold
I will and and I'll send you this punk video, because I think you're gonna find it super inspiring. Love this. Yeah, it's the singer's name is yummy. So cute. And she is a badass, and she's a true believer.
Dave Lombardo
So what's the name of the band again?
Ari Gold
Yumi so ...well right now it's just her and her friends. That basically her name is yumi. And she goes by yumi So cute. I mean, she doesn't have a following yet. But I'm, I'm going to I'm taking it upon myself to the video is amazing. So I'm gonna be posting it next week on my you know, everything my Instagram, Ari Gold and and she's putting together one two. I know it sounds unconvincing, but like I think she's gonna be a star. I believe. Yeah.
Dave Lombardo
I can't wait to check it out. Yeah. This is the video you were working on. You worked on right.
Ari Gold
I started that. And then I was biking down Venice Beach and I saw her like screaming into a microphone in front of a U haul. And I pull my bike around and like there were all these kids like, just going crazy on the parking lot. I mean, not that many like 20 of them, but their style was amazing. They were like, you know had you know Dead Kennedys misfits and and so I stopped and asked what was up and you know, she gave me her kind of like mission statement of what she was doing. And she had come out from Texas and some of them from Cleveland. And she was living in her car and she was trying to bring punk and bring punk to the black community and bring black to the punk community was there sort of like, what she said, you know, like and she's just kind of on fire. And it was backing tracks. It was just a recording, you know, Word to the wise in advance. But I think she'll have a bad soon enough and yeah, just when you see the video, see, it's like, you know, sometimes you meet someone you're like, you know, your eyeballs fall off. And so anyway, I was like, Look, I'd love to help you. Any way I can. Let me make a video for you. And so, so I'm cutting it right now. Because actually, it's caught. I'm just doing the color. I wanted to be like, look perfect, Jordans? Yeah, let me know. I will. Catch you later. Such a pleasure.
Dave Lombardo
pleasure talking with you. Hey, folks, remember Musiccares. You know, go on there and help them out. They help musicians. I know many musicians that have helped during this pandemic, and it's a great organization, and definitely
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