In the wee morning hours of 2004, Jason Bittner put on his slippers,
leashed the hounds, and left his Albany, New York home to pick up the
latest issue of Modern Drummer. “The fans have spoken!” is what Bittner thought upon recognizing the winner of MD’s Up & Coming drummer category, as voted by the readers. He
had topped the poll, and, obviously, couldn’t be more pleased. A year
later, the fans would speak again, awarding him Best Recorded
Performance and Best Metal Drummer. Jason is a humble man, and all of
this attention was getting the best of him. Then, in 2006, the popular
Shadows Fall drummer took the Best Metal honors again. Can you say happy as a heart attack?
“I’ve been fortunate to become respected in the drum community, which
is really flattering,” Bittner says, recalling his poll-topping status.
“The readers poll is something that I hold dear. And with it comes a
level of introspection, wondering just what I’ve done to make these kids
enjoy what I do. It also adds a lot of pressure. I felt that I really
had to step it up for our next album.”
The answer to Jason Bittner’s introspection, gratitude, and determination is
Threads Of Life, the new Shadows Fall album, their major-label debut. Following such impressive efforts as
The Art Of Balance,
The War Within, and
Fallout From The War,
Shadows Fall’s latest shows the nu-metal genre coming of age. The band
has broadened their scope without sacrificing essential ingredients like
speed, power, profundity, and some truly incredibly drumming.
A former computer operator and left-handed drummer who plays a righty
kit, Jason Bittner is living the dream. He hangs out with Charlie
Benante, Mike Portnoy, and comedian Andrew “Dice” Clay. He’s a busy
clinician, and when he has time teaches privately to students enamored
of his machine-gun, double-bass attack, two-handed ride cymbal approach,
and four-stroke-ruff drum tattoos. And most importantly, he’s a member
of one of the fastest-rising bands in the world, Shadows Fall.
Beyond typical nu-metal essentials like “Terminator” double bass
drums, alien aggression beats, and head-rattling tempos, Bittner
understands the power of the pulse. His work on Threads Of Life
is a lesson in metal groove, two words that once bordered on the
oxymoronic. A trained drummer who studied jazz and Latin at Boston’s
Berklee College of Music in 1988 (and who played in jazz and marching
bands in high school), Bittner brings a sense of humanity and soul to
Shadows Fall’s carnivorous metal mayhem, referencing his heroes–Stewart
Copeland, Charlie Benante, and Gene Hoglan–to give life to music that is
sometimes the antithesis of simple heartwarming sustenance. But make no
mistake, Bittner still blasts.
As seen in MD’s Festival 2005
DVD, Jason Bittner plays so much drums it’s hard to know where to
begin. His double bass drumming is revered to the point that some have
claimed it’s all a machine. His double-handed riding technique, along
with his penchant for splash cymbals and titanic four-stroke ruffs,
makes his metal palatable for prog rock and jazz lovers alike. But
Bittner, a veteran whose stints with Stigmata and Burning Human have
made him as much an object of affection as derision (on some Internet
chat rooms), doesn’t stop at playing in Shadows Fall. This year the
drummer releases his first book, a hardcore CD with Burning Human, and a
double drumming appearance on Mike Portnoy’s new DVD, In Constant Motion.
Speaking with Bittner from his home in Albany, New York, the
thirty-something drummer is grateful to be recognized for his
contributions to the art. Responding to questions while tidying up his
practice space for a lesson with Andrew Dice Clay, his love of drumming
and music is obvious. The vagaries of heavy metal stardom may rise and
fall, but thanks to the readers of MD, Jason Bittner’s head is perpetually in the clouds.
MD: The new Shadows Fall album,
Threads Of Life,
shows musical growth for the band, and your drumming is more fluid and
in command than ever. What prompted the growth spurt on both counts?
Jason: I am very skeptical
about my playing. I’m always wondering, “Is this good enough? Can I top
that? Will the fans like it?” I’m constantly driving myself crazy with
it. I was really confused with what I wanted to do with my drumming on
this album.
The Art Of Balance [2003] got me some exposure. On The War Within
I was more comfortable and the guys were writing songs tailored to my
drumming. I calculated my parts to where I had the fills memorized. I
played everything but the kitchen sink on Fallout From The War–that became my drum album. I played my fastest double bass yet. So I wondered, “What am I going to do to make Threads different?”
We wanted to bring in more melody and concentrate more on the songs.
It wasn’t me thinking about playing faster double bass to top the last
album. The fastest song is 195 bpm, which isn’t my fastest. But I think
my drumming is more professional. Our producer, Nick Raskulinecz [Foo
Fighters, Rush, Velvet Revolver], asked me to think more about the
songs, not the drum parts. And that’s how I improved; I took a step back
and thought, How are the drums going to sit in this song?
MD: You are as conversant with your hands as you are with your feet. Your “Double Bass Crash Course” (
MD Festival 2005 DVD)
covers all the numbers, and it’s logical. But how do you direct someone
to turn that into something musical and not merely an exercise?
Jason: That comes with
experience, applying it to your own situation. I’m giving you the tools,
but you have to explore your own musical boundaries. Everything in the
Crash Course is very simple, some basic exercises that are easy to
figure out. It’s just repetition. When I get into the syncopated
grooves, the 16th notes, and the different footings, I’m not thinking of
those in a musical way, but as a dexterity exercise.
I have to practice double bass constantly to keep my chops up. What
threw me off was playing broken patterns and realizing I couldn’t do
them with only a right-foot lead. You have to mix the footings up. It’s
trial & error, and it’s about developing other exercises to allow
you to play double bass with more ease.
MD: You play heel-up, but
your heels are closer to the ground than many drummers who use that
approach. You play with the balls of your feet. As the tempo rises, do
your heels go higher off the ground for more speed?
Jason: In the last couple years, my heels have come down. I still play heel up, but lately I’ve been working with Flo Mounier’s Extreme Metal Drumming 101 DVD. He is very fast. I work on his speed exercises.
Flo has you playing a tempo for a minute, non-stop, and you do it
heel-up and then heel-down. I noticed on the slower tempos that there
was a difference between how it sounded when I played each way, but when
I got faster I didn’t feel much of a difference. And when I play
faster, I can let the pedal do the work. The power also shifts from my
legs to my ankles. So my heel is pretty close to the ground most of the
time.
Read the rest of the interview with Jason in the May 2007 issue of Modern Drummer available at your local music store,
online, or where ever fine magazines are sold.
http://www.moderndrummer.com
Roy
Burns has done it all—and done it well. He’s held the throne of
numerous big bands. He’s established himself as an in-demand studio
player, teacher, and clinician. He’s written numerous drum
instructionals. And he’s one of the founding members of Aquarian
Drumheads.
