Taylor Hawkins
Taylor Hawkins
Oliver Taylor Hawkinsis an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters. Prior to joining the band in 1997, he was the touring drummer for Alanis Morissette on her Jagged Little Pill and Can't Not Tour, as well as the drummer in a progressive experimental band called Sylvia. He currently moonlights as "Animal" in "The Muppets Do Christmas On Broadway." His cousin, Kevin Harrell, introduced him to Dave Grohl after camping with him for several...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDrummer
Date of Birth17 February 1972
CityFort Worth, TX
CountryUnited States of America
When I was a kid, of course I wanted to be the fastest, the loudest and the one with the biggest drum set, but obviously my aspirations have changed a bit since then.
The records that I grew up listening to had feel, and the drummers that inspired me - like Stewart Copeland, Neil Peart, Phil Collins and Roger Taylor - all had their own voice and individual style.
Why go on vacation when work is so much more fun.
The one thing I do know is that I'm the best Taylor Hawkins drummer there is, and that is all I can hope to be. And when it comes to music, musicianship and skill, there is no such thing as better or worse because so much is personal opinion, and I can see that now.
The drummer is stereotypically the dumb guy. Maybe that's why I always respect drummers who do more than drum.
I don't take breaks, man. In the past, I used to spend my free time getting in trouble, and now I spend it working on my music. If I'm not playing drums with my cover band, Chevy Metal, I'm working on songs for myself.
In hindsight, if I could go back in time and relay a message to my younger self, I would tell him to work on his time keeping, and that the job of a drummer is not to be the one that gets noticed the most on stage, or to be the fastest, or the loudest. Above all, it is to be the timekeeper.
I always thought if I had a band it would have the energy and feel of early Police, since that's where my roots are, and then the harmonies of the Eagles, and the technique of King Crimson or something like that. Fast, up-tempo, beat-the-hell-out-of-the-drums, because that's my style. Energy, but sophistication, rhythmically and melodically.
'Boy,' 'October,' 'War,' 'The Unforgettable Fire' and 'The Joshua Tree,' those records, they're part of my musical DNA and structure.
The Alanis Morissette tour, everybody thinks that was all sitting around, lighting candles and talking intelligently about synergy and big words. That band was so gnarly. We were such scumbags. Alanis had no idea. We were like Van Halen.
I love Donna Summer, and I love ABBA. I love late 70s disco. I love the Bee Gees. I just love that period of recording.
In the studio you can auto tune vocals, and with drums, you can put them on a grid and make them perfect. I hate that sound. When someone hands me a record and the drums are perfectly gridded and the vocals are perfectly auto tuned, I throw it out the window. I have no interest in rock music being like that.
I like stuff that sounds big and full and makes your head trip and your body react.
I don't have perfect pitch. My drums sound like a drummer, not a drum machine.