Becoming the Living Dead Drummer: An Interview with Nick Mason
Growing up, Nick
Mason watched Joey Kramer, Lars Ulrich and John Tempesta absolutely shred as
the drummers of Aerosmith, Metallica and White/Rob Zombie, respectively. When
Mason began playing music in the early 1990s, these bands shaped his approach
to song structure and sound.
As the early 2000s
came along, Mason found A Perfect Circle’s Josh Freese and learned that not
only was he the band’s drummer but he was featured on records for bands such as
Evanescence and the Offspring. The same goes for Kenny Aronoff, who has made
records and toured with Smashing Pumpkins, John Bon Jovi and Celine Dion. That
was how Mason decided that he wanted the same with his drumming career.
Mason would go on to
become known as the Living Dead Drummer and work alongside artists such as Street
Drum Corps, TUFF, Shania Twain, Corey Feldman and Nik West. He has also made
guest appearances on GLEE, MasterChef, Cartoon Network, Showtime, FOX and ABC,
and has done corporate work with NIKE and Jameson Irish Whiskey.
With all these
credits to his name, it might be a bit of a surprise that with any big decision
came some apprehension.
“I’m a
creature of habit, especially when I find something that works,” he said. “Change
can be a little difficult for me, so anything that could disrupt my routine
causes me to think twice. While it’s hard to pull the trigger, I almost always
do and rarely regret it… I feel that my instincts are also well tuned. I can’t
think of any time where I said no to an opportunity and regretted it. If I say
no to something I always find out later that I dodged a bullet.”
The same can be said for his teaching career. When he was a teenager, he thought it would
be fun to get a job at a music store and applied to one near his home. He was
told that they weren’t looking for anyone to work behind the counter but were
in need of a drum teacher. He had only been playing for seven or eight years,
and didn’t feel confident enough to take the position. Thankfully, this wouldn’t
be the last teaching offer.
When he was a freshman
in college, he found Grizanti Music and stopped by after class to check it out.
He went with the same approach for asking to work behind the counter and was
met with the same drum teacher offer. This time, he accepted.
He ended up working the
sales floor selling instruments while building up his teaching practice and
even crossed over into instrument repair before growing his teaching schedule and
expanding into other stores and music schools in surrounding areas. Grizanti
Music closed in 2005 and the owner, Mary Grizanti, passed away earlier this spring.
“[Grizanti] set
me up with the teaching career I have today,” Mason said. “Because of her I
found a passion I never knew I had and have been providing drum lessons for
nearly 20 years.”
Mason is currently the Senior Drum Instructor and Show
Director of School of Rock in southern California. He tries to bring as much
real-world experience to his lessons as possible and has found a way to tailor
each lesson to the students’ playing levels, musical tastes and goals.
“Not everyone wants to be a rock star,” Mason said. “Not
everyone is going to put the love and care into his or her instrument, and some
are going to go above and beyond expectations. I’ve had to try and gauge that
over the years and use it to tailor the lessons to the student. It’s a
practice, so I’m always learning and growing from that.”
Nick Mason not only continues to learn and grow with new experiences but gives equal opportunities to those interested in following his footsteps. As the Living Dead Drummer, his impressive career shows no signs of stopping.
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