Drummer Peter Lust Jr. of award-winning Southern California rock group The Feisty Piranhas, recently announces his endorsement by the world-renowned ZILDJIAN Cymbals Company. “It’s an honor for the band and I to be endorsed by the world’s legendary cymbal manufacture ZILDJIAN,” says Lust. “Their excellent product line and dynamic range of cymbals will bring a new level of sound for the bands’ upcoming new album releases.” Kirsten Matt, ZILDJIAN cymbal Artist Relation Liaison on the West Coast, adds, “We are excited to welcome Peter and the Feisty Piranhas to the Zildjian Family and look forward to working together in the years to come.”
The Feisty Piranhas are past multiple-award winners at several of Southern California's yearly music awards shows. ALL ACCESS MAGAZINE recently spoke with Peter Lust to ask how he has been; “keepin’ the beat” these days…
AAM, (Debra Stocker): What attracted you to playing the drums?
PL (Peter Lust) My mother was a piano player and opera singer. When I was very young about 4 or 5 years I started to bang on the kitchen table with my hands and with the knives and forks, because I did not know how to play piano and wanted to follow my mother. My father’s solution to this noisy headache was to buy my inexpensive drum kit and put it in the dungeon of our house. We lived in a 350 year old house in Montreal that was once a Hudson Bay trading post and it had some very soundproof dungeons in the basement. This started my drumming life, and since then I never turned back.
AAM: What sort of drum exercises do you do to keep your chops up?
PL: I have about 10 drum pads with 3 different types and sets of sticks with each drum pad. Most of them are by the TV’s, in my travel luggage, in the studios, in the kitchen and even in my truck and cars. SO whenever I am watching TV or sitting around not doing anything and when traveling I always have pads and sticks to practice with. That being said, I try to practice pad at least 1-3 hours per day, playing different rudiments to keep the hands loose. I also am utilizing my feet during the times I use the practice pads practicing rudiments with them. By doing this, whenever I get on the kit to actually play I have kept up with the important parts of being a drummer. I get on the kit when I am at the studio at least once every 2 days and play full sets to the computers. This simulates the real environment and the other musicians and the pace and intensity needed to actually play and live show.
Most importantly I always have a metronome near to me. I drive my family crazy because I sleep with a metronome. As crazy as this sounds it is fundamentally important because to play drums at the highest level you need to have a clock in your brain that functions on its own. The clock needs to be trained and maintained solid. This is my solution for decades now and it seems to work for me.
AAM: Your choice of drums, sticks and cymbals and why
PL: I use a variety of drums depending on the situation, live performances, recording records or rehearsals. ON drums I am endorsed by FORD Drums. www.forddrums.com They manufactured a specific PIRANHA Series drum kit for me and the band and I always will play them at live performances and they are my main kit in the studio. However when it comes to recording a record sometimes a verity of different drum types are needed to get the optimum sounds. This is a calculation based on the type of song that is being recorded, from punk to reggae to pop and rock. I have several in my tool box, from the Ford kit, to Yamaha Kicks, DW toms, old Ludwig’s and the list goes on.
ON drumsticks I am pretty much stuck on Promark Millennium II (747) series type’s sticks that are made from very hard Japanese Oak wood. I like these sticks because I end up not being a ‘chipmunk” and the stick gives a very warm and solid sound. They are a little heavier than most hickory type sticks and harder to play with, but once you get the hang of it the quality of sound is superior.
ON Cymbals, I have all Zildjian Cymbals for recording and live performances. Zildjian cymbals have a unique sound balance and quality that ranges from hard and intense to soft and subtle and the quality of the material they use in their product is superior to everything I have used in my 35 years. There are close seconds to Zildjian which are also good in their right, but for me, our records and Feisty Piranhas music the Zildjian cymbals have been superior.
AAM: Have you ever had any serious problems happen when you were performing? Like break a drum, head or cymbal etc. If so how did you handle it?
PL: I have had many significant snafus happen on live shows. A Matter of fact every live show brings its own technical problem. But being a technical drummer I never have had heads break or cymbals break. This is because you need to learn what intensity and dynamics is and play right on the brink of it. In this way you are controlling the sound. The biggest problems that occur relate to sound in the monitors. Every event venue is different and the sounds are different and trying to find the balance of correct sound to the venue is a fine balance. The best and really only solution I have found is to rehearse the songs the way they need to be played, memorizes each part of every song and when everything breaks down go back to fundamentals and play what you rehearsed. In the end if some technical snafu happens it may not be perfect but the audience will still see a great show and won’t know the difference and the live performance will be consistent. Remember practice makes perfect.
AAM: Do you think the drummer, or being in the back sometimes causes you to get over looked or slightly from a press point of view
PL: Every drummer needs to understand that the most important thing in a live show or record is the song, record or overall live show. The drummer is just the foundation of the music and has an important behind the scenes role of keeping the ‘concrete’ of the house. Every one steps on you and does not think about you, but without you no house will stand. SO if press passes me over, well that’s OK. If the song is well liked and the fans and audience scream and applaud for the singer and guitarist and bass player, that’s what I wish for. I know that my job was done right. An important lesson to all that are trying to come up as a drummer, is be humble, know your instrument, keep the foundation and that is the job that you were supposed to do.
AAM: Would you recommend drums as a choice of instrument to any young readers thinking of becoming musicians?
PL: Being from a very musical family and having such a talented son who has the ability to write music and lyrics and be a singer, having a mother who sang opera and played piano and having a brother who writes books makes me realize that each individual needs to find the instrument that makes them feel satisfied. As a young musician I tried many things and in the end I stuck to drums because I liked banging on the kitchen table. SO the moral to story is very simple. If you are going to play drums, it is no easy task; you must stick to it, believe in it, trust yourself and be persistent. No one can play instrument seriously if they pick it up for a day or month or even six months. You must have a lifelong view of it and with that vision drums can be a great choice and you can have allot of fun too
AAM: What do you love most about playing the drums and why
PL: No One has ever asked me that before and it is humbling to speak the truth. But at this point in my life the main thing I love about playing drums is the ability to play with my son, support him in his endeavors as a musician and this in itself gives me the deepest satisfaction that any father or musician can have. When you are putting your efforts, blood seat and tears into the help of another person, well there is no better satisfaction.
AAM: Any thoughts or feedback about electronic drums?
PL: Electronic Drums are OK for what they are. Basically I only look at electronic drums as an extension of what real drums or acoustic drums are. They allow the ability to include synthesizers and unique sounds that have been preprogrammed. I would not recommend electronic drums for the young drummer trying to learn how to play a complicated instrument. This you need a true acoustic set. But if you want to include allot of cool sound effects to add to what you are already doing then electronic drums are great for that.
All Access Magazine would like to “Thank” Peter Lust for taking the time to answer a few questions for our readers, especially “drummers”, and remember just like Peter said, “practice makes perfect”!
Check out more thefeistypiranhas.com & myspace.com/piranhastudio
