Back in February, I had the chance to catch up with Glen Marhevka, who told us the group had just finished recording their next record. Fast forward to now, and drummer Kurt Sodergren was able to give us more of an update! Their next record will be coming out next month, and the band couldn’t be more excited to share their latest work with everyone!<\/p>\n This time around, we did something a little different. I opened the forum to our Facebook fans to get some of their questions for Kurt answered! Read on to find out what our readers wanted to know, who’s in Kurt’s top 3 drummers of all time list (as well as mine), and what we can expect from their next release!<\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Tell me a little bit about the upcoming record, \u201cRattle Them Bones\u201d!<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Well, the record comes out September 4, and it\u2019s pretty cool. It has some traditional New Orleans jazz, ballads, covers. It has a little bit of everything all the way from the 20\u2019s to the 40\u2019s. It\u2019s a cool record! I\u2019m really excited about it. I actually just got my copy, but I can\u2019t show it to you [laughs].<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> [Laughs] Damn! You guys were in the studio in January, right?<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Yeah.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Can you tell me a little bit about the recording process?<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Well, we started off with the rhythm section, laid those parts down, and then after that the horns came in and did their parts over it. We tried to get as much of it done live as possible. The rhythm section records all together in a room, and then Scott and Josh did the bulk of the producing. Josh arranged all the horn parts. It was a lot of fun.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Getting into some of our fan questions, our friend Dahflow wants to know when you started playing the drums, and what turned you onto them?<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> When I was a really young kid, we\u2019d go to a beach house in Ventura every summer. We went to someone\u2019s house that was kind of like a flea market\u2014 there was just stuff everywhere, and there was a full drum set set-up in there. So I sat down, and I could play a basic beat on it. I couldn\u2019t convince my parents to buy it then because money was kind of tight, but then I got home, set up a bunch of pots and pans, and then played that.<\/em><\/p>\n My grandpa played in a big band, but I didn\u2019t really start out trying to play that kind of music. I was into Led Zepplin, Kiss, the Police, stuff like that. When I got into high school, I started renting drum sets. I found out that you could do that, so I\u2019d rent one and then friends and I would play parties on the weekends. I didn\u2019t really start taking lessons until I got out of college though. When I was in college, I tried to practice, but I lived in an apartment, so as soon as I started playing, I got it from all sides [laughs]. People would bang on the doors and walls, so that didn\u2019t really work.<\/em><\/p>\n But when I got out of college, I started taking private lessons. I met Scott shortly after that, and we started playing music together. The band has kind of been my music school. I didn\u2019t really have a lot of experience playing swing and jazz, but I got it quick, and I started focusing on that. It\u2019s been a long and crazy ride, but it\u2019s been great.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> What drew you to swing?<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> My dad had a lot of cool old records I used to listen to, but I was more into rock and punk rock. It was really Scott\u2019s idea to start playing swing. I was really surprised because this was about the time Nirvana started exploding, so it wasn\u2019t really the choice of most people, but I thought it was a good idea. I thought we could put more of our young energy into it and get crazy rather than be traditional. I wasn\u2019t really that hip to how to play it that well, so I figured I\u2019d bring some stuff to it that normally wasn\u2019t played. I think that gave it a crazy kind of energy. Obviously since then I\u2019ve been studying it a lot, and I kind of wince when I listen to the things I used to play back then [laughs]. But I do think it added a lot to the energy and in some ways, really the overall appeal.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Absolutely. Sometimes you have to break out of that mold to do something worth paying attention to.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Exactly. It\u2019s been done before, so if you can put a different spin on it, that really keeps it fresh.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Who are some of your influences?<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> John Bonham, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, those are some of the biggest ones. And I don\u2019t know if you know this, but Bonham is actually an amazing jazz drummer as well.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Absolutely! I\u2019m a huge Bonham fan. I would have to say that it\u2019s tough to pick a favorite drummer, but he\u2019s definitely in my top 3.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Me too. I actually am in a Zepplin cover band, and we don\u2019t dress like them or anything, but we do play the music.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> That\u2019s so fun!<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Yeah, it is. It\u2019s pretty amazing to hear him play. I watch this DVD I\u2019ve got of him playing, and in his solo, he quotes Max Roach, which is pretty incredible to watch. The guy just had such an incredible knowledge and wide scope. It\u2019s amazing.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Totally. I have to tell you, it is so funny that you just listed those three drummers, because our next reader question comes from Gary Redmond, and he wants to know who you think was the better drummer\u2014 Buddy Rich or Gene Krupa [laughs].<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> [Laughs] Oh, no way! I\u2019d say Buddy Rich was a much better drummer, but Gene always looked like he was having more fun. He had a great stage presence, and he was an amazing player too. I think he was super musical, but he always had that smile on his face.<\/em><\/p>\n Buddy Rich though, he just killed it all the time. He\u2019s just perfection. I like him, but I wouldn\u2019t say that I study all of his chops because he\u2019s just on such a different level than me. But I like watching him just to be amazed. I read a pretty cool biography on him written by Mel Torme, and it was just super incredible. It was about how he started when he was two or something crazy. He just had such a natural gift.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I\u2019m going to have to give that a read.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> It\u2019s a great book! Even if you don\u2019t like music or drums, it\u2019s just extremely well written and a lot of fun.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I don\u2019t play drums myself\u2014 my boyfriend is the drummer, and I play keys. But, I still have my top drummers. I think I\u2019d have to put Dave King at the top of my list because he\u2019s just ridiculous, then Bonham, and I think Steve Gadd has to be my third.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> I love Steve Gadd too.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I think he\u2019s just the classiest drummer ever.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> I agree. In fact, I\u2019m a little jealous that I didn\u2019t just name that off for you on my list. I was kind of put on the spot with that [laughs]. Steve Gadd is definitely in the top 5 for me as well.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> I think I\u2019m just impressed by how little he can play. I feel like the ability to keep it simple is more impressive than anything else. He can just lay back and keep it so simple.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Yes! He can sit there and play simple shuffles that I can play, and then it sounds completely different! Just where he puts each beat is so deliberate and different. The sound that he gets out of his drums is just so different.<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> The guy just lives in the pocket. End of story.<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Yes, yes he does [laughs].<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> Another reader question we\u2019ve got that I myself am very curious about, but Tamara wants to know, if you saw them in the audience, what person would make you most nervous?<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> [Laughs] Steve Gadd definitely! Jim Keltner probably. Those two would definitely give me the jitters. Peter Erskine as well\u2014 he\u2019s such a great educator. I actually saw him at a benefit in LA. There was a big band set up with a bunch of A-list players from the local 47 in LA. We went up and played a few songs on their equipment. The drummers that were going to come up and play with the big band where sitting in this bull pen directly behind the drum set. So the drummers there were Peter Erskine, and then the drummer from the Hollywood Bowl!<\/em><\/p>\n I have a bunch of Peter Erskine videos, and so when I walked up and saw him, I just thought, \u201cDamn it!\u201d [Laughs] So I went up and said hello, told him I was a huge fan, and then I went up and played, and I really don\u2019t remember any of it. It was trial by fire [laughs].<\/em><\/p>\n He was extremely generous and kind to me when I got off stage, but man, that was the most nervous I\u2019ve ever been. He was literally directly behind me. He\u2019s such a stickler for technique and his videos are really great. But man, I probably broke all the rules of his videos that day. But I guess the energy was there!<\/em><\/p>\n CP:<\/strong> [Laughs] I\u2019m sure it was! What are you most looking forward to about coming back to Anthology this weekend?<\/em><\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> We love it! Anthology is so much fun, and it\u2019s in such a great part of town. We\u2019re bringing our surf boards into town too, so I\u2019m hoping for a few nice waves. But yeah, we love playing two shows, and I\u2019m really looking forward to playing some of the new music. We\u2019ve been rehearsing, and it really sounds great. I think people will love it.<\/em><\/p>\n Special thanks to Kurt for taking the time out for us, and to our loyal readers and Facebook fans for their great questions! Be sure to put on your dancing shoes, and swing the night away with BBVD! WHAT: <\/em>Big Bad Voodoo Daddy<\/strong><\/em> An Interview with Kurt Sodergren of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy By Casey Pukl Swing kings, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, have quickly become a staple of the Anthology calendar. A crowd favorite, these guys always bring their a-game. Back in February, I had the chance to catch up with Glen Marhevka, who told us the group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1442],"tags":[11512],"class_list":["post-6910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artists","tag-artist-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32880,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6910\/revisions\/32880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/6375_107819543934_7097822_n.jpeg\" "\\"6375_107819543934_7097822_n\\"")
<\/a>Swing kings, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, have quickly become a staple of the Anthology calendar. A crowd favorite, these guys always bring their a-game.<\/p>\n
\nBig Bad Voodoo Daddy on Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWHEN: <\/span>Friday, August 3, 7:30pm & Saturday, August 4, 7:30 & 9:30pm <\/strong><\/em>
\nTICKETS: $12-$66 <\/span>Buy Tickets<\/a><\/em>
\nMORE INFO: <\/span>Artist Profile<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"