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 Prog4you.com invites you to an exclusive
interview with
Rod Morgestein.
Rod’s professional music career began 27 years ago as a founding member of the
groundbreaking group the Dixie Dregs. Rod’s unique, dynamic and musical drumming
style has led to Rod’s winning the Best Progressive Rock Drummer award in Modern
Drummer Magazine’s Reader’s Poll 5 years in a row (1986-1990) and Best All-Around
Drummer (1999), earning him a permanent position in the magazine’s prestigious Honor
Roll.
After the Dixi Dregs disbanded
temporarily in 1983, Rod joined forces with Steve Morse and bassist Jerry Peek, and
formed the Steve Morse Band. They recorded two albums, at which point Rod found
himself at a crossroad in his career, as Steve Morse joined the reforming group
Kansas. “I was ready for a musical change and to try something both new and
challenging.”
Within a year of moving to New York
City in 1986, Rod met Kip Winger and Reb Beack, of Winger. Two months later, they
got a record deal and the rest was history.
Their self-titled debut album in 1988 sold over two million copies worldwide,
earning the band a platinum album in the U.S. and gold albums in Japan and Canada.
It also led to an American Music Award nomination for Best New Heavy Metal Band.
This album was followed by In the Heart of the Young and, once again,
platinum and gold awards were in the offing, coupled with non-stop international
touring.
The band ceased activities in 1993 and Rod continued to work with Kip Wingers solo
projects. 1997 also saw the self-titled debut release by the Rudess/Morgenstein
Project, an instrumental progressive power-duo, featuring Rod and Dream Theater
keyboardist extraordinaire Jordan Rudess.
Rod has worked with other collaborations such as jam band Jazz Is Dead that
features creative improvisations of the music by the Grateful Dead. Platypus,
whose two recordings feature John Myung (Dream Theater), Ty Tabor (King’s X) and
Derek Sherinian (Planet X) and offshoot of Platypus is Jelly Jam, a power
trio featuring Rod, Ty Tabor and John Myung.
In addition to his recording and touring credits, Rod is very active in drum
education. He is currently an Associate Professor of Percussion at Berklee College
of Music in Boston, Mass. Also, his highly recognized instructional materials
include videos, audiocassettes and books. His most recent offering is Drum Set
Warm-Ups, touted as the definitive text for developing and improving all
aspects of drum set playing. Additionally, Rod has been a columnist for Modern
Drummer Magazine (U.S.), Rhythm Magazine (UK), Sticks Magazine (Germany) and is an
international clinician and involved with product development for Premier Percussion
(Rod Morgenstein Signature Drumheads), Sabian Cymbals (Signature Tri-Top
Ride), and Vic Firth Sticks (Signature Sticks and Isolation Headphones),
with whom he has been and endorser for many years.
This interview picks
up where his career is currently at with the current collaboration
of Ty Tabor and John Myung of Jelly Jam. Interview by Iggy / webmaster P4Y
Iggy: I know you’ve been involved with all sorts of musical styles from Rock and
Roll, to Jazz, Blue Grass, to Folk, and of course Classical influences.
What would you say is your favorite style of music?
 Rod: I don’t want to sound like I’m being diplomatic; I think I enjoy everything
equally, because after you do anyone thing for a long time, you can’t wait to do
something totally different. I have always tried to do each thing totally different.
I have always tried to do it authentically as possible. Meaning for instance,
playing in a band like Winger. I don’t always approach it in the same way like
playing with the Dregs or with Rudess Morgenstein Project. I don’t take the prog
approach because I don’t want people saying, “What the hell is that kind of a
drummer doing in a heavy metal band”. It’s more like I want to try to be true to the
style, yet in my own way kind of throw in the occasional left curves – so that
someone who’s actually tuned in and listening will go “Man, I never heard that in
that particular style of music”.
Iggy: It's an interesting way to look at it. Excellent.
Rod: So up until the point that I got in Winger, my career was really in the Dregs –
Fusion.
Iggy: Since 1977, right?
Rod: Yeah!
I know it’s hard for some people to believe, but I have just as much fun playing in
Winger as I have playing with the Dregs.
Iggy: So you just love playing the drums.
Rod: I love playing music, and I love-playing music that’s good. So for anyone who
try’s to make the argument that progressive music is better than straight ahead
metal, or straight ahead metal is better than Jazz. To me, these people are missing
the boat. It’s like there is really good stuff in every style, and there is crap in
every style.
Iggy: I want to touch base on the new Jelly Jam record, on Inside Out Records, and
the defunct Platypus group.
Rod: Okay.
Iggy: Was there a reason why Platypus split up into two groups?
Rod: I say one of the biggest reasons was direction difference. When the Platypus
project came together, everybody met at my house. That’s where we rehearsed for both
Platypus records and for the Jelly Jam recording. I had met Ty Tabor maybe twice
over the years. I knew Derek and John a little bit, but not very well. So the only
two people that knew each other well coming into the first get together were Derek
and John, because they both played in Dream Theater. So we got together and started
talking about what we wanted Platypus to be. Derek immediately wanted the direction
to go into Jazz-rock Fusion, a la Dixie Dregs. If he had his way, it would have been
all instrumental/ fusion / progressive record. I, on the other hand, came from the
point of view that most of my career has been with instrumental fusion music.
Iggy: And you wanted to go in a different direction.
Rod: I wanted something more vocal oriented – certainly can have progressive
elements in it. I would have been happier to have an album filled with vocals. So we
went ahead and did those two records that we’re all really proud of and excited
about. But I guess you could say that if you want to have a criticism. Maybe it’s
like, what did the band want to be. Ultimately, we kind of disbanded, because of it.
Now it’s interesting because the other offshoot of Platypus is Jughead, which turned
out to be a real pop Beatlesque record. So I’m not going to speak for Derek.
Iggy: I have not heard that album.
Rod: It’s all vocal and very Beatlesque.
Iggy: But on the other hand, I have the Jelly Jam. and I noticed that the biggest
difference with Jelly Jam, was the departure of
Derek Sherinian and the keyboards. Is there a
reason why the keyboards in general were left out of the album?
Rod: Yes, when Platypus split into two other bands; Ty, John, and I said hey let’s
see what kind of concept we can come up with as a three piece as opposed to finding
another keyboard player.
Iggy: Now how would you describe the new Jelly Jam sound? It’s really a great sound.
Rod: To me, it’s an interesting combination of straight ahead rock, pop tunes,
combined with an undercurrent of musician under pitting.
Iggy: Would you also include a little space rock in it?
Rod: We definitely wanted to have a bit of that seventies spacey jam vibe to it,
which clearly is there. But I think what really immerged from this thing is an
interesting combination of what we think are melodic accessible tunes that have some
really off the wall interesting rhythms. So, if you’re just a casual musical
listener, I think you can listen to it on the surface level. But if you’re a
musician, there is a lot of stuff to sink your teeth into.
Iggy: Who did the phenomenal mixing job on the album? It sounds absolutely great.
Rod: Thanks. Ty did that.
Iggy: Excellent job.
Iggy: Do you feel a special chemistry with the new band?
Rod: I absolutely do, and a big part of it is that some special friendships have
emerged now that we worked together these three times, and we really look forward to
those two weeks every year or so that we get together to just hang. It’s a very
interesting approach. They come to my house, we rehearse there and we go up to this
really cool studio outside Poughkeepsie, New York.
Iggy: What’s the name of the Studio?
Rod: It’s called
Millbrook sound studio. It’s in
a beautiful part of upstate New York. The studio is in a converted barn. That also
has living quarters attached to it with three bedrooms a kitchen and a recreation
area. So you have these grown men hanging out for a while. Getting up together
making cappuccino in the morning and drinking wine at night. Smoking cigars, going
out for some really nice meals. It’s a real bonding kind of environment and it’s
very conducive to recording.
Iggy: Do you share writing responsibilities with Ty and John?
 Rod: Yeah, it’s another reason why I love this band. We kind of came together each
with fragments of musical ideas and then just jammed them through until songs
emerged. Particularly on this first Jelly Jam recording. It was really exciting for
me because two or three of the songs were written around drumbeats. I kind of
composed drumbeats in my commuting up to Boston from New York. That’s where I teach
at Berkley College of music. I set the car on cruise control, and kind of freeze up
my hands and feet to jam to the steering wheel and the floor. So I came up with a
couple of different grooves in the first track. “I Can’t Help You” then also on the
track “I Am The King” and “The King’s Dance” that really funky off the wall kind of
thing. If you heard the drum beats by itself, it might be kind of difficult to
figure out where one is. But what was so great about what Ty did with it; is he kind
of put a very sing songy melody on top of it with corded notes, which kind of helped
define the time. So you have this off beat syncopated drum beat underneath this
melodic catchy tune.
Iggy: I like what you did with the “No Remedy” song.
Rod: Which Track is that?
Iggy: Track #2.
Rod: Oh yeah, that’s
another I just started playing like a sudo reggae kind of beat in seven.
Iggy: It really kicks!
Rod: In within seconds, Ty just started playing.
Iggy: I love that and you really notice the drums in it, it’s one of my favorites
songs, including “Nature’s Girl”
Rod: Yeah that’s track #4, and that was John saying hey guys check out this riff,
cause he has tons of just two and four measure riffs.
Iggy: The riffs came out really nice on that track. Each one of you is an
accomplished musician in his own way. I was quite impressed with John Myung’s bass
playing. He is absolutely phenomenal.
Iggy: What would you say would be your favorite track off the album?
Rod: One that is really close to my heart, is the very last track on the album. “
Under The Tree”.
Iggy: Awesome track.
Rod: Because, I wrote the music to that.
Iggy: Outstanding track.
 Rod: I was strumming on an acoustic guitar and not being a really accomplished
guitarist. But I strum enough of a guitar to where I can come up with what I think
are some interesting parts. So it’s weird presenting a guitar-oriented song to
accomplished guitarist like Ty and John. It felt a little weird. I took a deep
breath and said, “Okay guys, here goes it”. It was Ty who said this song shouldn’t
have a drum set on it. He said, “I hear it more with building it with a lot of
different percussion on it”. It seemed like a pretty novel idea. So for the song, we
put sheets over all the toms to kind of deaden them. So they sound more like
tu-tu-tu-tu-tu.
Iggy: That’s a very interesting technique.
Rod: I used these
vicfirth sticks which are called
maraca mallets. They’re like tympani mallets, but they sound like maracas when you
shake them. Thing is, when your hitting the drums, you’re also getting perfectly in
timed maracas. You don’t have to hit the drums with every stroke. Just imagine if
you were going da, da, da, da, da – with the sticks but only hitting the drum like a
da-di-di - da-di-di- da-da-da your still getting the maracas going chi-chi-chi-chi-…
Iggy: So you were experimenting with that.
Rod: Yeah.
Iggy: So this album is full of experimentation.
Rod: Absolutely, you know when you have a new band, there are no set expectations
from the listener other then, God, I wonder what the guys are coming up with? You
can experiment and no one is going to say, hey, why doesn’t this sound like the last
record?
Iggy: It was fresh, a nice approach to music.
Rod: Thank you.
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