Well that’s something you can ask him yourself: The Repercussion of Dave Lombardo is a masterclass tour hitting Allans Billy Hyde stores in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney this October. Lombardo will discuss his Rhythm Mysterium Art Collection, show never-before-seen footage, demonstrate his new Paiste REIGN 22” RUDE Power Ride cymbal and participate in a candid Q&A forum.
“At a very early stage in Slayer’s career I felt it was important to expand your horizons,” Lombardo says of his musical versatility. “I like to create new sounds, not just do the same thing over and over. I have always felt I had more to offer then just one style. Reinventing and challenging yourself is a good thing… especially in music.” One of Lombardo’s earliest influences was Led Zeppelin – music he used to drum along to even as a little kid, substituting boxes for percussion long before he owned a drum kit. “I didn’t really have a drumming mentor,” he explains. “I feel the various, diverse records I acquired were really my inspiration when I was a teenager.” Those records generally leaned towards the heavy and atmospheric, from Led Zeppelin’s more bombastic moments to the darkness of Black Sabbath, on through KISS and then to punk and the new wave of British heavy metal. “I don’t know what it is that draws me to heavier music,” he says “There’s something about minor chords and a powerful drum sound… I’m very much attracted to minor chord structures. The energy you feel from listening to those particular note combinations gives you the feeling something bad is going to happen… I like that tension and anxiety in the music. It feels dangerous.”
With such a diverse catalog of performances, its no surprise that Lombardo doesn’t necessarily default to Slayer when asked to select a track that he feels sums up his approach to the darker side of drums. “Is there a particular Slayer track? Not really. I would choose a song by Grip Inc. like “Hostage” or Testament’s “Fall of Sipledome.” When presenting a drumming masterclass like the ones he’s presenting in Australia, Lombardo fields questions of all sorts from attendees. “Some of the themes or questions are technical but a lot of them revolve around my history with various bands and requests to perform parts of songs I’ve recorded.” There’s also plenty of gear talk. “I just replaced my old Roland TD 10 V Drum unit with a newer TD 20X. I’m going to start incorporating electronic sounds to my repertoire… Staying creative!”
PHILM’s new studio album (their second) is Fire From The Evening Sun, which will be released on the band’s new label, UDR, on October 9. “PHILMs first album, Harmonic, is still an amazing work to me,” Lombardo says. “It’s improvisational and raw. It was my first time producing an album and I am very proud of it. The new album is a completely different animal. It is again produced by me, but mastered and mixed by a couple of musical giants, Tyler Bates and Robert Carranza. I believe this album has a daring, callous temperament about it that really sums up our mindset right now. No improvising, no fluff. It’s heavy and in your face from start to finish. You may think you know what PHILM is, but you don’t. If you haven’t seen us live, you have no idea. We thrive on being out of our comfort zones and want fans to take that ride.”
For a full list of tour dates, visit www.allansbillyhyde.com/lombardo.
