Fury Rocks recently conducted an interview with KISS/ALICE COOPER drummer Eric Singer. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Fury Rocks: In the '80s it seemed that a lot of drummers wanted to be fast and faster like Dave Lombardo (SLAYER), for example. What do you think about it?

Singer: I call it the "Drummer Olympics." It's like who can be the fastest human in the race. I gotta say, there are some amazing drummers nowadays. I think the reason is that nowadays they have much better tools to learn from than when I grew up. At that time we didn't have DVDs, videos, MTV and all these instruction tapes and private lessons. Now you can go and take lessons from some of these drummers by buying their instruction DVDs, using computer programs. Now you have all this best information available to you. These kids have a lot of great learning tools nowadays. I also realized that I never had the ambition to be faster than everybody. That is not important to me. I leave it up to the guys that enjoy it. When I see it, I am blown away by these guys' fantastic technique. I admire what they do but it is not something that I aspire to do.

Fury Rocks: You grew up during the beat generation. In that time, the drums were recorded with only two microphones and the sound was, let's say, slight. Nowadays drummers have much more possibilities. Where do you see further capabilities?

Singer: I was influenced by a lot of '60s music, but probably more by the '70s stuff. I was born 1958 so by the time the early '70s were around, I was a teenager. That's the age when music has the most impact. Well, I think everybody should explore whatever different styles and technologies that they like. For me, I still like the idea of just playing real drums and live in a band. In some bands it works good with backing tracks or loops, you know, especially in bands like those of MADONNA and BEYONCÉ. Something like this would have these really big productions on record and to reproduce it live you almost have to do it. And also they have everything with the lights synchronized with the computers and with the dancers, it is very important to keep in. To me, one of the most important things in rock 'n' roll is the human aspect. You know, playing the instruments and keeping it real and live. The beauty is, sometimes you are not having such a good night and you make mistakes. But the great thing is, when you play the next show you have the chance to make it better or try something different and experiment. And that's the beauty of playing live drums. To me, you can't reinvent the wheel. I mean, a drummer is basically a drummer. The function of a drummer in the band is to hold the beat and to provide the rhythm. A drummer like Terry Bozzio really took drumming to another level and created it more to an individual voice of an instrument, he has done some incredible things like making drums an instrument that is not just only there to keep time. But that's not the kind of drummer I am. I enjoy just playing live in a band and doing my part of creating this chemistry of sound.

Read the entire interview from Fury Rocks. 


The acclaimed history of Finnish symphonic metal superstars NIGHTWISH, "Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006", will soon be available in a new, improved English edition through North American publisher Bazillion Points. Pre-orders are being accepted now for books shipping with limited metal badges on December 31.

In this remarkably revealing official biography, author Mape Ollila charts the rise from village student project to global stardom, gaining unprecedented access not just to the members of NIGHTWISH past and present; but also their families, their loyal and lewd crew, their peers, their critics, and countless other insiders from the NIGHTWISH adventure. The book lays bare the creative firepower and personal demons of songwriter Tuomas Holopainen; the unique talents and traits of guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and bassist Marco Hietala; and the true reasons behind the 2005 departure of vocalist Tarja Turunen — in the band's words and hers.

Along the way, the band struggles with religious protesters, fortune-tellers, naked crew members, health problems, shady promoters, out-of-control fans, and the growing pains of an ever-steeper rock star learning curve. Happily ever after or not, these unique Finnish personalities are brought to life in this journey. For longtime fans and newcomers seeking the backstory of how NIGHTWISH came to where they are today, this is rare public airing of the mysteries that exist... Once Upon a Nightwish.

The 352-page paperback has been revamped by Bazillion Points from earlier Finnish editions, and features extensive corrections, with 32 pages of rare color images dating back to the dawn of the band, and a complete list of international concert appearances from the entire Tarja Turunen era, all on exquisite 100gsm paper with a glossy folding cover.







Judas Priest Commited To Nostradamus Performance

JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford has told FMQB.com that the band is "absolutely committed" to doing an elaborate stage show where it will play its new concept album, "Nostradamus", in its entirety, but it likely won't happen until later in 2009.

"We talk about it constantly, and that's what we’re going to do at the end of the world tour sometime next year," Halford said. "At the back end of the summer, we're going to wind up the regular tour. Then we'll go straight into production for the 'Nostradamus' show and we'll probably do a DVD to go along with that. We'll more than likely launch it in London or somewhere in the U.K., because that's our home base. Then we'll see what happens. My gut feeling tells me that once it's been delivered, everybody will want to see it and feel it live, and that might entail taking it to a lot of places around the planet. It's going to be great. It's something we've been looking forward to doing for a long time after actually making the record itself. The next step is to perform it in its entirety, which we've never done before."

Read more from FMQB.com.