Van Poederooyen is staying on after the October Devin Townsend Project/Periphery tour to present clinics in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth in association with Thump Music (who have previously presented tours by Townsend, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Guthrie Govan and more). The clinics aren’t just about drumming: they’ll be a masterclass on music and life within the music industry, with anecdotes and musical tips as well as observations and strategies that can help anyone to achieve their goals, whatever they may be. “You have to visualise it and you have to believe it,” Van Poederooyen says. “A lot of people saw the movie and read the book The Secret. I thought it was well done and everything but I think they focused too much on ‘Just visualise it! It’s going to happen!’ No, man. You definitely should visualise, you definitely think about it and believe in yourself but holy crap, you’ve gotta bust your ass. You’ve got to open as many doors as you can, and never quit.”
So what can we expect from Van Poederooyen’s masterclass? “I’ve done clinics in the past and they were a lot more geared towards drummers, right? You go to a drum clinic and you expect to learn about drums. And I’ve been to so many clinics now and there’s nothing wrong with doing it that way. But I want to reach out to any musician – never mind musician but music lover. So I’ll play drums and talk about drums, but how I’m going to approach this clinic is to show them, for example, touring and health. Thirteen years ago I had a back accident. Couldn’t work out, started eating really bad compared to how I’d always eat healthy. I got unhealthy and long story short, I’d go out on the road and man, I’d be gassed halfway through the set and my focus wasn’t there. Even though I could still play the show alright, I’d get offstage and I’d feel terrible. This is something that can apply to a broad spectrum of people, not just a drummer.”
“The other thing is my positive approach to anything I do,” he continues. “How I succeeded in the music industry, which can be applicable to anyone in whatever they want to try and do and accomplish in life. These are the types of things that I want to share in the clinic, but at the same time I’ll play songs from various bands – Devin Townsend Project, Terror Syndrome, stuff like that – that will tie into the clinic. I don’t want to give away everything that I want to do but it’s not just going to be geared towards drumming: it’s going to be about life in the music industry, drumming and life in general.
Van Poederooyen will also discuss musical equipment endorsements – how they work, what the artist can expect from the company and what the company can expect from the artist, or, more accurately, what they can do for each other and how they can work together. “I”m endorsed with Zoom Electronics because I use them for all my drum cams. As far as the drums go, there’s Pearl Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Evans drum heads, Regal Tip drum sticks, Alesis Electronics, Trick pedals, Audio Technica microphones, and a company called DrumDial which is a great tool for helping to speed up the process of tuning. Every single one of those endorsements I use in every single gig and I’m extremely grateful to have them. A lot of people have gone in with the thought ‘Oh endorsements, they’re going to give me stuff.’ But it’s not like that. It’s about give and take, and the reason I have such a good relationship with my endorsements is because I’m constantly on my Facebook page advertising them, letting people know why I use them. That is huge for them. There are a tonne of artists who never think of doing that. Those are the guys who end up getting dropped. You just can’t expect to get endorsed and think you’re doing them a favour. It’s a two-way road.”
“I’m excited to just be coming to Australia,” Van Poederooyen concludes. “This’ll be the first time I try this new format of making it applicable to any music lover. And there’s a meet-and-greet for everyone. We tossed the VIP idea and if I’ve got to stay there for five hours to meet everyone, I will. There’ll be tonnes of great giveaways as well but the bottom line is I want everyone to be educated, motivated and inspired.”
Tour Dates
November 2 – The Gov, Adelaide SA
November 3 – Wesley Conference Centre Theatre, Sydney NSW
November 4 – Princess Theatre, Brisbane QLD
November 6 – Gasworks Theatre, Melbourne VIC
November 8 – John Inverarity Theatre, Perth WA
