TAMA Artist Interview

Jason Bittner

Shadows Fall

TAMA :You have devoted a good deal of time to formal studies and training on drums and percussion. What initially drew you to the instrument, and at what point did you decide you wanted to be a professional drummer?

Jason : When I got Kiss “Destroyer” in 1976, or whenever it was. I think that’s when I decided… I had already been banging on pots and pans since I was three. I think once I was introduced to Kiss, that’s definitely what made me want to be a drummer.

TAMA : When did you actually start taking lessons, and when did you get your first drumset?

Jason : I started taking lessons in third grade, and I got a drumset when I was in fifth. So I played on the pad for two years before I even had any kind of kit.

TAMA : Can you walk us through your development as a drummer, and describe what you gained from private lessons, playing in jazz and percussion ensembles, and your studies at Berklee College of Music?

Jason : Well, the quick synopsis is… from school lessons and school band and stuff like that, I learned how to play in an ensemble. Well, the first and foremost important thing is learning how to read music, obviously… learning how to read music, learning how to keep time, and then by playing in band ensembles, learning how to play in an ensemble situation, which is totally different from playing off on your own. As far as the school band lessons went, it was pretty straight forward, Breeze Easy book 1, snare drum stuff, and then my middle school band teacher was primarily a saxophone player but was actually a pretty decent drummer. So if I had a free period or two, I would always go down to the band room, and he’d sit with me and show me a little lick or fill or something, and it just impounded on my knowledge of playing. Each little thing he’d show me, I would sit there and practice for a half an hour afterwards… and each little thing that I learned became a part of my playing vocabulary, so to speak.
And then high school and jazz band and stuff like that just gave me my first insight into playing other different styles of music rather than rock and heavy stuff. You learn how to lay back and play for the music, which is the most important thing of being a drummer… knowing when to play and when not to play. So my last year of high school, I was taking private lessons with a gentleman named Don Bush, who graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music, who was definitely primarily a jazz drummer. And he got my reading up to par and got me more associated with theory and stuff like that, in order to prepare me to go to Berklee, which is what followed my senior year of high school. And my experience there was incredibly important for me, because it got me learning different styles of music, it got me learning Latin feels, it got me learning how to do jazz comping and syncopation and stuff like that.
So the biggest thing I got out of Berklee was definitely learning how to branch out from the rock guy mold into playing other stuff. Granted, I’m still primarily a heavy bass drummer, and that’s the kind of stuff I like to play, but it’s good to keep your mind open and to learn different styles. So it just prepared me for what was gonna lie ahead. Plus, it also prepared me how to become friends with the metronome or a click track, and not fear it.

TAMA : So that’s when you really focused on playing to a click?

Jason : Yes, Berklee was when I really started working with the click more. And it wasn’t because it was a Berklee-imposed thing. It was the period in time when I was really working on my stamina and consistency with double bass, so the easiest thing was to practice with a metronome daily so I could gauge my progress.

TAMA : As you talked about, you’ve studied a variety of styles over the years… were you always most interested in playing rock and metal?

Jason : Yup.

TAMA : So you never considered becoming a jazz drummer?

Jason : Nope.

TAMA : When did you join Shadows Fall, and how did that come about?

Jason : I joined Shadows Fall toward the end of 2001. They had been going through some drummer problems for quite awhile. They had let go of their previous drummer, but went through like a year of not being able to really find anybody permanent. They couldn’t find someone who really fit the mold. Now, they had auditioned a bunch of prominent drummers, and there were a few of them that are still on the scene today… you know, notable players. But they just couldn’t find the right guy… it was either a guy that could play double bass great, but didn’t know how to have a rock feel. Or a guy who could have a rock feel, but didn’t know double bass that well… or a hardcore drummer who couldn’t understand the concept of metal or what not. It was just varying things. They were finding guys that were good, but they weren’t finding the “perfect person” for the job… until I walked through the door, apparently, because I’m still here almost five years later (laughs), which is a good thing. But when I was contacted about auditioning, I thought about it at first, and at that time I was going through a lot of personal issues in my life… my mom had just passed away, and I didn’t really know if I wanted to jump back in a van and go on tour again. I really had some things I was just trying to work out at home. And then a few months passed by, and they contacted me and said they were still not having any luck finding the right drummer, and asked if it would hurt to just come down and jam a little bit. So I’m like, “no, it won’t.” So I learned five tunes, went down and jammed, and never left.

TAMA : So it just clicked right away?

Jason : Yeah. I think we knew from the get-go that it was definitely working, so to speak.

TAMA : What was the writing and recording process like for The War Within?

Jason : Pretty painless. We wrote that record pretty much over the course of 4 or 5 months, when we got home from Ozzfest 2003. Once January 2004 came around, we knew we had a record that was going to be due quite shortly. So we just pretty much took all our energy and focused on that, and wrote the best possible record we could write… which I think that we did a great job with. I was extremely happy with the end product, as were the 260,000 so far that have bought the record, so that’s a good thing. It won a Modern Drummer Reader’s Poll award for me too, so I obviously must have done a good job. The writing process was fairly easy. We’re pretty hard on ourselves when it comes to writing – we’re going through the same kind of moments right now, as we write our new record. We’re constantly refining stuff, and sometimes I think we overanalyze ourselves a little bit too much, but I guess that’s how you come up with the best product you can… by refining it and refining it until it’s done. So the recording process was fairly simple.
For the most part, and I’ve done this with all the records we’ve recorded, I pretty much learn my parts, and go in and do them by myself to a click track. It all goes back to the Berklee training, playing with a click and being able to be comfortable with it. For me, it’s easier to go in and work with a click and do it by myself. Number one, no one else has to be there, and I don’t have to work around anyone else’s schedule. Number two, if someone screws up, that someone is me… I have no one else to blame it on. It makes it a lot easier for our recording process.
We learned that when we were writing and recording The Art of Balance, because we just did it on a whim one day. So once we finished that record, that’s how we started doing it. So back to the recording process, I just practice all the stuff by myself at home to the click. If I can do it at my basement at home, there should be no reason I can’t go in the studio and do the same thing. So that’s what kind of adopted the last number of years as far as recording our records. I go in, I do it either by myself to a click, or I go in and have Matt put a scratch guitar down, just so I can listen to something and not make it so sterile. But, we’re definitely not a band that records together… I always go and lay it down first, and then they come in and layer over the top.

TAMA : Do you use a click when playing live?

Jason : Not live. I don’t use it live because I like the music to breathe, which I believe it should. Live, you should have the room to have a little bit of freedom, whether you’re gonna push or pull the tempo… or once mistakes happen, and they will, at least you’re not relying on that click to put yourself back into perspective. However, there are songs that I feel should be played in the specific tempo they were recorded in… whether it’s a fast song, and there’s a pattern that is comfortable to play at one speed and is not comfortable to play at another speed…or if I’m really struggling to play that part, even if it’s a only a few BPM change… then I’ll just put the click track on to start the song off to get the actual tempo. Or in other aspects, when there’s a song that has a groove or something that needs to stay at that groove tempo and not fluctuate, because we all know that everyone has a tendency to play faster live because the adrenaline is flowing and what not.

TAMA : Shadows Fall has been on the Ozzfest tour a couple of times now, first as a second stage band, and then again as one of the main stage headliners. How do you like playing the huge rock festival?

Jason : I love Ozzfest, personally. I like it… well, I’m weird with Ozzfest, and those who have been on it will probably understand. That tour can be anywhere from 8-10 weeks, and anybody that’s been on the road knows that sometimes there comes a point while you’re touring when you just want to go the hell home (laughs). Especially if it’s a period of time that’s 8 to 9 weeks long, that’s quite extensive for a tour with no breaks. Even if the tour takes a break, cause Ozzfest does take almost a week break in the middle, we don’t take a break. We still stay out, and we do one-nighters or whatever we have to do to fill those spots… we don’t get a week off to go back home. So in reality, what I’ve found is that the first seven weeks are incredible and you’re loving it, and the last two weeks are like, “oh god, when are we going home… I’m tired, I don’t want to do this again.” Because, as I said, it’s a long tour. Most tours, generally, are 4 to 5 weeks, so with Ozzfest, you’re really combining two tours into one.

TAMA : What do you do to stay physically and mentally fit in order to play such high-energy shows night after night?

Jason : Depending on the tour and the shows, I work out… a couple other guys in the band work out, too. I use to lift heavier, but I’ve kind of not done that in the past number of years, because drumming is more important to me than trying to be a body-builder. So I work out just to stay in shape and keep my body toned, because I do feel it helps with my playing. If I feel stronger, I actually play better… I’m sluggish if I’m not working out sometimes. However, there is a happy medium that you have to find, because if you work out too hard, then your muscles are exhausted and you can’t go on stage and do what you’re supposed to do, and that’s perform. So, you have to find that medium. I also do yoga, and that’s a really good thing that helps my playing. Getting in a half-hour to an hour of just plain stretching everyday really helps.

TAMA : Do you do any warming up on pads or anything like that?

Jason : Yup, I warm up for a half-hour on pads… double-kick pad and a snare pad. And I do cardio, too. I’ll either run or use an elliptical machine.

TAMA : Can you outline your Tama drum kit for us?

Jason : Yeah. Well, I’ve ordered a new kit, so I’m waiting on that.

TAMA : Is that a Starclassic Maple or birch?

Jason : Playing birch, yeah. I go back and forth, though. My kit that I have set up at the rehearsal room is my maple kit, so I’ve been playing the maple kit and the birch just as much. My birch drums are set up at home, my maples are at the rehearsal studio. So I play both the same amount of time per week.

TAMA : What do you usually use live with the band?

Jason : Generally, I’ve been using the birch shells, but you know what, that might change. I might take the maples back out on the road, but you never know, I might end up using the bubinga on the road… I have no idea yet.

TAMA : What do you like about the maple, and what do you prefer about the birch?

Jason : As far as the birch drums go, for heavy stuff and for metal, the attack is necessary. And the attack you get out of birch drums is not the same that you get out of maple. Maple, I find, has a rounder, warmer tone in the toms and the kick drums as well. Whereas the birch has a more focused attack, especially the toms… there’s more of a cutting high-end to them, that cuts through really well in the mix for the kind of music that we play. However, both types of wood sound great. I tend to tune my kits the same way, whether it’s maple or birch, and they both just sound incredible. I think it just goes back to the fact that I played birch drums for so many years, because the first pro-line Tama kit I bought was a Superstar in 1987. So I played birch for a good 14 years before I bought my first Starclassic kit, and the first Starclassic kit I bought was a Performer. So, I’m just so used to that sound, you know. But I’d always wanted maple drums, so when I finally got a maple kit, it was like okay, this is definitely different. I mean, you can tell the difference, without a doubt.

TAMA : Do you use the same sizes in both?

Jason : Yup. Two 18x22’s, the racks are 9x10, 11x12, 12x14 and 14x16… all suspended. I have a 16”x18” floor tom on my left, and generally, for the most part, I use the 6.5x14 bell brass. That’s been my main snare of the last two years. I mean, I go back and forth… I’ve got an arsenal of snare drums. I just have a real bad snare drum fetish. But generally the one I’m using is the bell brass, and if I want something that cuts a little bit more I’ll use the 4x14 bronze piccolo. I like that piccolo because it’s not as annoying sounding as a piccolo can be sometimes… it’s definitely got the warmer characteristics of a wood drum. Actually, that’s the drum I use on The War Within.

TAMA : You mentioned that you tune your maple and birch kits the same. How do you like your drums tuned?

Jason : Generally, I tune the kicks to feel tight enough where I can get a good response, but not too tight to where they’re choked. I guess the easiest way that I can explain this is that I hear a sound in my head… and the easiest way to replicate that sound is to take a Tama TensionWatch, and put all the lugs at around 55 or so on the batter side, put them around 40 on the resonant side, and put two EQ pads inside with an Evans EQ3 head, and there’s my kick drum sound. For the toms, I tune those by hand, and generally they’re as low as they can go without rippling. And then I tune the bottom head just a little bit tighter than the top. Snares, generally, I tune moderately tight… and I like to keep my snares nice and tight against the resonant head as well.

TAMA : Your impressive and creative double bass playing is a big part of your style. What kind of pedals do you use, and can you describe your bass drum technique?

Jason : (laughs) That’s funny. Well, ideally I use the Camco pedals.

TAMA : That’s the same response we got from Charlie Benante.

Jason : I know. Charlie’s a very good friend of mine, and we have a lot of things in common, and that’s definitely one of them. As you might know, I just filled in for Charlie a couple of months back. Anyway, it seems like me, him, and John Blackwell have been the purveyors of trying to keep the Camcos alive. So that’s what I prefer to use as of today. I’ve been using that pedal since 1983 so it’s becoming very hard for me to change. But there’s the problem of them not being made anymore, so it makes it a little stressful on guys like Charlie and me… because, if we only have 2 sets of pedals left for the rest of our career, it’s not really a smart thing (laughs). Knock on wood, I’ve never had too much of a problem with mine, aside from maybe the spring loosening up and coming off, but that’s not big deal, a little duct tape holds that on. But it’s just a very smooth, comfortable, easy-to-manage pedal, that’s the thing that I like about it. There are not a lot of adjustments on the pedal, and that’s what I like the most about it, because it’s either you set it up like this, or you don’t set it up at all. Whereas on the Cobras, there’s so many different things you can do with it. And sometimes, it’s a blessing and a curse at the same time. But it’s funny that you ask me about that, because I just played Mike Portnoy’s kit the other day, and he’s got Rolling Glides on his kit and it started me thinking that they feel kinda comfortable, maybe I can get used to them. So I threw them up on my kit at the house to practice yesterday, and they felt pretty good. So, that’s why when you asked me that question, it’s real hard for me to say what the hell I’m using right now, because I don’t really know.

TAMA : In addition to the band’s success, you have really made a name for yourself in the drumming community, winning MD reader’s polls, and playing last year’s highly regarded Modern Drummer Festival. What would you say has been the highlight of your career thus far?

Jason : On the band level, number one would have to be getting nominated for a Grammy this year. That by far was something I never thought we’d be hearing, so I almost fell off my chair when I heard that. So that’s definitely a great accomplishment for the band. For us to sell over a quarter of a million records on an independent label is quite a feat, as well.
As far as drumming highlights go, taking the band out of the equation, the biggest things in my career have been the Modern Drummer Reader’s Poll awards. That’s something I’ve been dreaming about ever since I was a little kid… and playing their festival. That was definitely one of the biggest achievements in my career. It was so intimidating and so nerve-racking, but it was a great experience. I was scared the whole entire time until I was done, I don’t think I relaxed until I was literally finished. But that was great, playing the Drummer Live event in the UK this year was a great time, and playing PASIC this year was fun. And just in the last 3 months, I’ve had two other great drum moments… being able to fill in for Charlie with Anthrax for a few shows, and then the other night, Mike Portnoy and I just had a giant drum jam on stage at a Dream Theater show. So those were definitely two remarkable moments as  well.

TAMA : What is next for the band, and what else do you have in the works?

Jason : We’ve got a record coming out in June, it’s our last release for Century Media called Fallout from the War. And that’s gonna be 6 new songs, 2 B-sides that we re-recorded that were Japanese releases off our old records, and 3 cover songs. So it’s basically a full-length album. I’m gonna be on the upcoming Drum Nation 3 record that Magna Carta’s putting out… a solo instrumental tune on that. And I’m gonna be writing some columns for Modern Drummer, which I’m thrilled about. Then we got a summer tour coming up for July to August. And then we’re gonna start recording the new record in the fall. And I’ll be doing any clinics I can fit in there as well. Oh yeah, and also I’ve got a drum book coming out as well, around October. Joe Bergamini and I are doing a book of transcriptions of some of the Shadows Fall material off the last three records. So I’m really looking forward to that.