Derek's comments on the following drummers are highlighted in LIGHT YELLOW.

Buddy Miles
Buddy Miles Express US Tour 1987-88

Buddy has the most natural groove out of all the drummers that I have worked with.

He used to call me "Mortimer" for some reason. He said to me, "Mortimer, you always have to hear the train in the background for the groove, chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga."

He used to tell great stories about Jimi Hendrix, and all the crazy shit that they used to do. It was my first time being on the road, and Buddy was a great musical mentor.
I would love to go tour with Buddy again just to feel that pocket.

Tommy Aldridge
Alice Cooper Tribute Humanary Stew (Triage 1998)
Ozzy Osbourne Tribute "Bat's Head Soup" (Triage Records 1999)
Blue Murder Japan Tour 2004

As I mentioned earlier, It is very cool to see your name next to your musical heroes on CD credits - it is even cooler to be playing with them on stage.

Tommy was the drummer on the Blue Murder Japan tour that I did in April 2004. Tommy has a great energy when he plays, and has a great sense of humor, always cracking southern tinged one-liners. I love looking over seeing that mop of curly hair. I had goosebumps when John Sykes introduced "Mr. Tommy Aldridge on the Drums" for his solo - It reminded me of Ozzy announcing him on the "Tribute" Live CD w/ Randy Rhoads.

Carmine Appice
Brad Gillis - Gilrock Ranch (Guitar Recordings 1994)
Vanilla Fudge Live 1993 (Rhino Records)

I first met Carmine during the Brad Gillis "Gilrock Ranch" sessions in 1992.

We became friends, and Carmine called and asked if I wanted to play on a "Vanilla Fudge live record." Carmine had acquired the rights to an old Vanilla Fudge live master reel, he replaced everyone in the band but himself on the tracks...

Anyway, I quickly learned that Vanilla Fudge's signature keyboard sound was a Hammond B3. I had no idea that I was committing such musical blasphemy. I once introduced myself to Tim Bogert as the scab laborer on that Vanilla Fudge CD. His eyes lit up, and he pointed at me "You!" he shouted half-laughingly, and half-disgutingly. We laughed about it afterwards.

So it was time for me to cut B3 tracks. Carmine asked me," Have you ever played one of these things?" I said no. He said, " OK, don't worry, you just play and I will work the knobs and pedals." So there was my introduction to the world of Vanilla Fudge, and the Hammond B3! I see Carmine around LA all the time, he is for sure one of the pioneers of hard rock drumming, as it is documented that John Bonham was influenced by Carmine....and if you missed the document, Carmine will gladly remind you himself!

Gregg Bissonette
Explorers' Club Age of Impact (Magna Carta 1998)

I have been a fan of Gregg since he was in the David Lee Roth band.

The Jughead album that I did with Gregg, his brother, and Ty Tabor was very pop oriented, so we didn't get to burn together. Gregg is a great player and a great guy. Hopefully, we will get
a chance to play some more adventurous music in the future.

* Greg's dad is his drum tech.

Vinnie Colaiuta
Alice Cooper Tribute Humanary Stew (Triage 1998) Aerosmith Tribute (Triage Records) "Rag Doll", Prince Tribute (Cleopatra Records) "Baby I am a star!"

Bob Kulick called me and asked if I was interested in playing on a Prince Tribute record. I asked who was on the session, and he said Tony Franklin, and Vinnie Colaiuta.....Oh only Vinnie Colaiuta! I readily accepted the offer.

I go to the session the next day, Vinnie walks in with a pair of sticks (he just walked in from another session and was going to use the house kit ). Vinnie listened down to the track "Baby, I'm a Star" one time. He scribbled a few notes, and then we played the song down.

I remember looking at him as we were playing and saying to myself, "Derek, you are playing with the very best!" he nailed the track in one take, stayed and had a sandwich, and went to another session.....unreal!

It is a fact that Vinnie does more drum sessions than anyone in Los Angeles if not the world.

Jimmy DeGrasso
Alice Cooper Monsters of Rock in Brazil 1994; Wayne's World 1991; Alice Cooper's New Years Eve shows in 1996, 1997.

Jimmy and I came up the ranks together. I first met him through Al Pitrelli in 1988 He was Playing in Y&T when I was in cooper, then he was in suicidal Tendencies when I was in Dream Theater. We played maybe 10 sporadic shows together in Alice Cooper.

Virgil Donati
Derek Sherinian - Planet X 1999 (Magna Carta)
Planet X - Universe 2000 (Inside Out)
Planet X - Live From Oz 2002 (Inside Out)
Planet X - MoonBabies 2002 (Inside Out)

After playing with him one time, I knew that i had to start a band around his amazing talent. In all my years, I have never met a more disciplined musician.

The thing with Virgil, is that it is hard to distinguish how much of his greatness is "the gift," and how much of it is a result of relentless discipline. I suspect it is a product of both. I am proud to be able to work with him, as I think that Virgil will rise to drum legend status in the years to come.

Rod Morgenstein
Platypus - When Pus Comes to Shove (Inside Out 1998)
Platypus - Ice Cycles (Inside Out 2000)

I was a huge Dixie Dregs fan since I was 16, so working with Rod was very exciting for me. Rod is very nice in his demeanor, but when he plays his kit he is an animal. Rod has serious groove and he hits like a hard rock drummer- a very rare combination.

I enjoyed working with Rod on the two Platypus CD's, and would enjoy doing something else with him in the future.

Jonathan Mover
Alice Cooper Trash World Tour '89-90.

Jonathan Mover taught me the nuts and bolts about the music business. After I was hired by Alice Cooper, Two weeks into rehearsals we were auditioning drummers. Jonathan came in and was hired immediately. Jonathan was like a big brother to me, and showed me the ropes of the sideman business. I have played on two of his Einstein CD's.

Simon Phillips
Emerson, Lake and Palmer Tribute (Magna Carta 1998)
Derek Sherinian "Inertia" (InsideOut Records 2001)
Derek Sherinian "Black Utopia" (InsideOut Records 2003)

I have been a huge fan of Simon Phillips since I was 16 years old. I first heard him on Jeff Beck -"There and Back," and then on Michael Shenker "MSG."

Since then he has become one of the top drummers on the planet. He was recently voted in Modern Drummer magazine in the top 25 drummers of all time. This is an amazing honor, considering that the polls was from the readers, and included ALL styles.

I e-mailed him in the summer of 2000 and asked him if he would be open to writing with me, and playing drums on my new solo CD. The first song that we wrote was "Inertia" and both of us were excited at the results. He has a ProTools Mixplus studio that is the exact same set up as mine, so I would bring my hot swap hard drive to his home studio which is about 10 minutes from my house.

Simon has fine tuned his drum room to get awesome sounding drum sounds. As we would complete a song, Simon would lay his drum part to his satisfaction, then I would take my hard drive to the Leopard Room, and do all of the overdubs... a very cool way to make records.

To me, Simon has it all goin' on. He can shine playing rock, fusion, straight ahead jazz, or whatever style that he chooses. He is a great writer, and he is a master in the studio both on a performance, and engineering level.

It has truly been an honor for me to have been exposed to a guy like Simon, because THAT is how you learn and become a better player ... always surrounding yourself with cats that are more seasoned than you are.

Since "Inertia," Simon mixed Planet X "Live From Oz" and produced and mixed Planet X "MoonBabies." He also played drums on my third solo CD, "Black Utopia", which he also Co-produced.

Mike Portnoy
Dream Theater Awake World Tour 1994-95, Touring into Infinity 1997-98
Recordings: Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons (East/West 1995) Falling into Infinity (East/West 1997), Once in a LIVEtime (East/West 1998)

I think that Mike Portnoy is the heart and soul of Dream Theater. The guy has great live energy spirit. Mike is earning a lot of accolades in the drum world, and is influencing a lot of young drummers.

Eric Singer
Alice Cooper Trash World Tour '89-90; Alice Cooper Hey Stoopid World Tour 1991; KISS Revenge US Tour 1992; Alice Cooper's Summer 1998 Tour.
KISS - Alive 3 (Mercury 1993)
Ramones Tribute (2003)

I first met Eric in 1990 when he replaced Jonathan Mover for the Alice Cooper "Trash" tour. Eric was also responsible for getting me the KISS gig.

We used to stir up so much shit on the Alice tours, it was like two eight year olds running around wreaking havoc. Eric has one of the great drumming resumes in the rock 'n roll. He is a hard hitter, and very fun to be around.

* Eric and I Co-wrote "Axis of Evil" on my CD, "Black Utopia" .

 

Brian Tichy
Billy Idol "Kiss The Skull" tour
Derek Sheirnian 3rd solo CD (InsideOut Records 2003) Rhythm Guitar

I started working with Brian as a writing partner for my solo CD,"Black Utopia" in 2002. Brian's main instrument is drums. He has toured with Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, and currently with Billy Idol. Brian's main passion is playing guitar. He fronts his own band Ball playing guitar and vocals.

An ex-Berklee student like myself, Brian is a great songwriter who has the same rock influences as I do. We had so much fun writing for my solo record.

When a keyboard slot opened up for Billy Idol, Brian set up the audition for me, which worked out great.

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