A new Ben Pirani single dropped today on Colemine Records. “More Than A Memory” is one we played on the road all last year before cutting it. They even gave me 4 bars! Buy the digital single on Bandcamp HERE.
Here’s a snippet:
In the age of Covid, the summer ain’t about much musically but a higher electric bill. But behind the scenes there’s some stuff happening. Most important, the completion and submission of The Du-Rites’ fifth LP, A Funky Bad Time, for manufacturing. 12 slices of pandemic-fueled, nasty funk. Album will be released in November. Pablo and I are both inspired and excited, which many musicians aren’t these days and understandably so. But you take it when it comes. Pre-orders begin in October. So for now, we’re just getting all the boring stuff together. Stay tuned. In other news, I recently jammed with Ben Pirani and The Means of Production for the first time since March. We grooved responsibly (masked and distanced) and it further proved there’s nothing like playing with other musicians. Here’s a brief clip of the jam session as a bit of “content” (I hate that word) to hold over till The Du-Rites’ album roll out and other things in September. Stay safe!
In the summer of 1990 I bought Lord Finesse’s Funky Technician tape on Jamaica Ave and memorized the whole thing in about a month. 30 summers later I’m proud to be playing some drums on his new project, Motown State of Mind, out today! And as someone who grew up on my mom’s Motown records, to have my work on a record with a Motown label brings it all full circle. To work with people and pillars who’ve been inspiring me for 30+ years doing what I love most is one of the main reasons I’m still in this crazy business. Having my name next to Willie Hutch in the credits don’t feel bad either. And all the talented folks involved in this project. The tune I played on is called “Now Is The Time” by Sisters Love, originally appearing in the film The Mack.
Watch the mini-doc about the making of the album:
So The Du-Rites recorded two tunes for a 7″ single back in the winter and submitted them for manufacturing. In the time it takes for a vinyl record to be pressed (3-4 months), we’ve seen the passing of Kobe Bryant, a fire destroy the plant that supplies the vinyl record industry with its supplies, a global pandemic and total shutdown unlike anything I’ve seen – with a surreal and painful daily update of the casualties, many of whom inspired us musically and/or we knew personally – and the final blow of long-standing police brutality and racism knocking America on its ass.
And with all that, our new release, “Jheri Curl” b/w “Du-Vibrations” is not reflective of turbulent times. Actually, the opposite. But that’s what can happen when you release music in this format while the world moves in real time. Or, with a positive spin, maybe our ode to the greasy 1980s hairstyle (that’s yet to go retro) is the well-needed funk release from all the turbulence that you actually need?
Click here to listen for yourself (Bandcamp). If you dig it, you can buy the 7″!
The B-Side is funky, too. And a glimpse of where our upcoming fifth album was going before the world went dark and took our music with it.
Streaming crowd: “Jheri Curl” is also on Spotify and Apple Music. “Du-Vibrations” will be there in July.
New music from The Du-Rites on Friday June 12th! The “Jheri Curl” b/w “Du Vibrations” 7” (and digital) will be for sale on our Bandcamp. It’s both greasy and funky! Here’s a brief video clip of the making of the b-side, “Du-Vibrations.” See you in two days!
Here’s a routine I use to warm-up sometimes. It’s essentially a fun montage of well-known/classic drum riffs that I run through to get my brain going. From Kool and the Gang to Paul Simon to Al Green to Lou Donaldson, there’s some iconic drum grooves in there that have helped define music over the last 50 years. I cite some of the original nuances as well as adding my own transitions and idiosyncrasies to glue it together. Enjoy.
It’s gonna be a very greeeezy summer. Fire up your activator and make your way to the Soul Train scramble board for some new Du-Rites funk. “Jheri Curl” b/w “Du-Vibration” 7” drops in June! Pre-orders begin at The Du-Rites Bandcamp on June 5! Streaming/digital on June 12. Stay tuned!
Sat down with Hip Hop Has Soul (h3soul.com) for a video interview about my time in music from the beginning through now. Watch part one of the two part interview on YouTube:
Did a quick interview with DJ Skeme Richards of Nostalgia King about how I’m operating musically during the pandemic and the age of social distancing.
After 4 drum break libraries and 6 years of frontin’ on producers requesting one shots, “social distancing” has inspired me to take on the arduous task of curating a library of high quality one-shots from my arsenal of drum sets, snare drums and assorted cymbals and percussion. The engineering, nitpicking, gruntwork and trial and error of creating a one shot library requires time – a lot of it. And with our current global health crisis keeping all of us indoors, I was finally able to laser focus and put in the necessary undistracted hours to come up with 100 killer sounds for your beat-making/composing needs. 31 snare drum sounds, 17 kick sounds, 21 hi-hat/cymbal sounds, 9 tom and percussion sounds + a bonus folder of a 22 of the kicks, hi-hats and snares run through an Akai S-950 sampler for a 12-bit sheen (courtesy of sound designer, Bullyfinger) – it’s all there!
Chopping up drum breaks isn’t for everyone, and part of being a working drummer is catering to the needs of the artist and producer. Combine that understanding of drums from the perspective of the drummer, engineer and producer – you get The Wild World of One Shots! Now I can go spend April working on boring yet essential practice pad exercises. Enjoy.
Buy The Wild World Of One Shots exclusively at THE DRUM BROKER