Brian Zink – An Xperience Interview

Brian Zink – An Xperience Interview – by OP Callaghan

When I was 9 years old (and still had time to dream), I mailed a letter to the Ludwig drum company. In my letter, I explained to them that I was an aspiring young drummer who was interested in playing Ludwig drums. I painstakingly edited this letter multiple times, making corrections, revisions, and even including an illustration of myself playing Ludwig drums. I mailed my masterpiece out and waited. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally received a large envelope from Ludwig. Inside was a letter, thanking me for my interest, and some sheet music with basic rudiments. Last but not least was the Official Ludwig Drum Catalog for 1978. This complete listing of all the Ludwig Drums, configurations, colors, finishes, and artist profiles captured my imagination like no other publication. I read through every page, multiple times. Ludwig Big Beat, Pro Beat, Octoplus, Quadraplus, Rock Beat … sweet fancy Moses. I fell asleep multiple nights reading that catalog. Now, this was the ‘70s; an era of the Bee Gees, conversion vans, Grease, and the last Who performance with Keith Moon. For Ludwig Drums, it was the introduction of the “Tequila Sunrise” drum set, an acrylic kit in yellow, orange, and red. This drumset graced the cover of the catalog and was simply mind-blowing. Never before had any manufacturer of fine percussion instruments (or s**t to hit) presented something so original, so dazzling, or beautiful as the Tequila Sunrise kit. This month, I would like to introduce a drummer who not only has great chops, great time, is a truly wonderful guy, but who was also literally raised under a Tequila Sunrise. Please welcome to Capital Region Time Keepers, the incredible (and newly married!) Mr. Brian Zink!

RRX: How did you get your start behind the kit?

BZ: I’ve been playing my entire life. I had a drum set in my bedroom from basically day one. It was a beautiful Ludwig Tequila Sunrise Vistalite kit that belonged to my dad. I just kind of gravitated towards it and eventually started to try and play along to KISS records, gradually started jamming and chipping away at it until I could badly play along to those songs. Eventually, I moved on to more complicated records, drummers, and concepts, and have stuck with it ever since.

RRX: Are you formally trained, or did you take lessons?

BZ: I had initially started self-taught, by playing along to all sorts of records. However, I lucked out that I had a great music program at my school, and the drum instructor was another fine local time keeper, Andy Hearn, and he was my first real drum instructor. That’s where my formal training started and where my journey with lessons began. He really did a great job teaching me the fundamentals and starting me out without any bad habits. There is still so much practical advice he’d given me that I use today. I studied with him from 5th grade all the way up through 12th grade.

However, I really took an interest in taking lessons with as many people as I could, realizing pretty early on that I could gain a lot of different insight and advice from studying with different drummers. I’d gone down to the Drummers Collective when I was 15 and met a ton of great teachers there that I studied privately with for many years after that.

Then, when I was about 13, I unknowingly met a teacher (and friend) who would change the direction of my playing and career. I just so happened to walk into Drome Sound (R.I.P.) and saw a poster on the wall to take private lessons with Jason Bittner. I’d just seen him on the cover of Modern Drummer and figured he was coming through the area doing some private lessons for a day or two on a clinic tour or something. Fortunately for me, that wasn’t the case. He lived locally, and so began the now 22-year relationship we’ve had. I was a drum student first, then a serious drum student, then subbed for him in a project or two while he’d be on tour, then his drum tech, and now a peer. Happy to report that he and Tony Tirino (both featured in this article previously) are the best men at my wedding, so I’d say I’m in good hands!

RRX: Who were some of your influences as a young drummer?

BZ: My biggest drum influence, then as well as now, is the professor, Neil Peart. I can’t think of another drummer who has had a more significant impact on my playing and musical ideology from an early age onward. That said, I think there is a lot of merit to the notion that a player’s sound is ultimately the combined sum of all their influences, so even early on, I tried to be open to a lot of different music and the drummers who were playing on it. Peter Criss, Art Blakey, Steve Smith, Dave Weckl, Jason Bittner, Stewart Copeland, Steve Gadd, Terry Bozzio, Danny Carey, Buddy Rich, Carter Beauford, and the list goes on and on. I lucked out that I had a subscription to Modern Drummer for the last few years it was an actual physical magazine (pre-digital publication), and it was an absolute treasure trove of knowledge and introduced me to a ton of drummers and music I probably wouldn’t have discovered on my own.

RRX: Do you come from a musical family?

BZ: Not per se. No one besides myself in my immediate family plays an instrument. My dad can play drums, but I didn’t really mine the aptitude as much as he would have or would have liked to, I think. However, one of the greatest things about my family while I was growing up was their introduction to so much good music, and furthermore, bringing me to shows. They took me to my first show when I was 4 years old (Rush at the Knickerbocker Arena on the Counterparts tour in 1994, not surprisingly) and really did a great job bringing me to anything and everything worthwhile that would come through the area after that, especially if there was a great drummer involved. For example, I may have convinced my dad to sneak behind the stage with me at a James Taylor show to try and meet Steve Gadd. Believe it or not, that proved to be a successful venture! I have the pair of sticks he gave me as proof that this actually happened. So, while they aren’t musicians in that sense, they certainly had an impact on me musically and the direction I eventually headed in.

RRX: Tell me about your first drum kit.

BZ: My first kit was a five-piece Tequila Sunrise Ludwig Vistalite kit. All classic big seventies sizes; 24” Kick, 18” Floor, 13” and 14” racks with the matching snare. Happy to say I still have it. It survived a house fire in 2014 and doesn’t look too bad considering, thanks to Chris Toma. Thank you, Chris! I’ll hang onto it forever at this point. Such a cool kit, still functional, and she’s been there for the whole ride! Plus, if you’re not playing Bonham triplets on a Ludwig Vistalite, are you even really playing Bonham triplets?

RRX: You are not! What are you playing now?

BZ: I’ve been a Pearl drums and Zildjian cymbals guy for years. My main rig for The Accents is a Pearl Session Studio kit (Birch/Mahogany shells) in this beautiful black sparkle finish. One up, one down. Basic four-piece setup. 10” tom, 14” floor, and a 20” kick. I use different snares for different rooms and gigs, depending on what will work best. The main one I have been using of late is a Pearl Music City Custom snare made by Pearl’s master craftsman, Ron DePew. It’s a 6.5×14 Solid Maple with a center inlay of figured maple between two Macassar ebony inlays. It’s a beautiful instrument and sounds unreal! The cymbals also change depending on the gig, but always Zildjian. I also use Remo drumheads, Vic Firth sticks, and my trusty DW 9000 pedals with cool purple sparkle grip tape on them! I’ve used that set of pedals for the last decade and a half at least, and they still feel the best.

My setup for when I’m playing the metal stuff is considerably larger. 6” and 8” Concert toms. 10” and 12” racks. 14” and 16” floors, and a bigger 22” bass drum. Way more cymbals, but still all the same brands. More fun to play, less fun to set up at venues.

RRX: Are you a drum collector?

BZ: Yes, but in a functional sense, so says me anyway. I’m sure my wife (or soon-to-be, depending on when this is published) would say otherwise. I buy gear with the intention to use it, and I do use almost all of it. Even some of the more “collectible” items I have are in rotation. I’ve always felt like drums want to be played, not sit on a shelf. Obviously, some gear inevitably sees more action than other gear. I have my favorite snares or rides or hi-hats that are my go-to stuff, but having options, especially if you’re playing in a lot of different rooms or situations, is imperative to sounding right on the gig or in the studio.

RRX: Tell me about your first band/gig.

BZ: The first band I remember playing in was with two kids I went to high school with, called Kids In Play. Pretty creative band name for a bunch of teenagers, so I thought. That was my first time being in that situation and getting to record stuff I actually came up with my own parts for. It was short-lived but a good experience. I’ve had a few different “first gigs” that stand out to me. My first gig filling for Jason with Sludge Factory. My first gig and tour with Battlecross. My first gig in Europe. My first gig with the Accents. I’ve been fortunate to work with some pretty cool people who have kept me working, and in this business, that’s a good thing. Always better to have more first gigs than last gigs, I think.

RRX: And who are you playing with now?

BZ: My main gig since 2021 is with the Accents. Locally, they surely don’t need an introduction since they’ve been active in the area since 1958. Benny Cannavo, the founder of the band, was the drummer. His sons, Joe and Frank, who have been in the band most of their lives, run it now. When he retired from playing, the band managed to get quite a who’s who list of local talent on the throne. Given all of that, I feel like in many ways I’m upholding a very important legacy by being the drummer in that particular band. It’s a very different gig than the one I had prior to it.

I’m also the drummer in Battlecross. Thrash metal out of Detroit is only a little bit on the opposite end of the spectrum from a wedding dance band. I toured with them from 2014 up until our final “we’re actively on indefinite hiatus starting now” show in 2022. Hopefully, the stars will align in the next few months, and there’ll be some new music sooner rather than later.

RRX: That would be great! Who influences your playing now?

BZ: Presently, I’ve been on a massive Vinnie Colaiuta and Sean Reinert kick. I am someone who ingests music retrospectively, for the most par,t I’ve come to realize. There are a plethora of great drummers who have material from decades ago that I’d somehow missed or didn’t give enough time to growing up. It seems like every year, there are a handful of records I’ll discover or rediscover and really deep dive on, critically listen to, and take influence and inspiration from.

The two big ones this year have been Death’s “Human” and Sting’s “Ten Summoner’s Tales.” Kind of an ironic dichotomy when you think about it, given the two records’ overall vibes. However, Vinnie and Sean are both players who could kind of do it all, and are truly what can be considered drummers’ drummers. I’m sure Vinnie is a bit more of a household name than Sean for a lot of drummers, but both had such tremendous ability inside and outside of their respective genres. Such great feel, intuition, groove, tastefulness, creativity, execution, and so much facility on the kit. I think people forget that Vinnie was on a Megadeth record, too! Both have had a major impact on what I’ve been playing a practicing this year for sure. I can actively hear it seeping into my playing.

RRX: Incredible players. I love Vinnie’s work with Zappa. If you could play drums for anyone, who would it be? Put together your dream band.

BZ: First and foremost, I’d put Rush back together in a heartbeat if I could. That’s a dream band for me. I don’t even want to sit in. There’s only one guy for that as far as I’m concerned, and it would be a treat to see them live in their element just one more time. Just one more mind-blowing drum solo!

That said, there’s a ton of bands or artists that I’d love to sit in with, though; Steely Dan, Slayer, The Grateful Dead, John Coltrane, Oasis, Alice in Chains, Marcus Miller, Van Halen … I could go on forever.

RRX: Well, your wish is coming true! Tell me about your favorite gig or performance so far.

BZ: I’ve been fortunate to play a lot of great shows over the years, so narrowing it down to one is really difficult. My first time playing with Battlecross in New York City was pretty cool. We were direct support for GWAR on their 30th anniversary tour, and we played the big room at Webster Hall. My parents came out to the show, and it was the first time seeing me in the band.

We played a great set, and Pustulus from GWAR came out and played Pantera’s “F**king Hostile” to close our set. Video is still on the interwebs if anyone wants to see it. The thing with the New York City fans is that they have seen it all, so the bar to impress them is pretty high when you play there. They were super into it and really fired up, and it was a special night for me. There’s a bunch of them! That said, my favorite gig is always the next one!

RRX: Any gig Horror Stories?

BZ: There are always little things that can take you out of a gig. Gear issues, a disarray of endless cables leading to everywhere and nowhere on stage with no organizational thought put into it whatsoever for the drummer to just have to walk over, physical issues and pains. But those are pretty normal things that can crop up from time to time, and you learn to accept them, adjust, and rise above. The two things that come to mind are opening the mainstage at Knotfest back in 2015 and my second gig with Battlecross the same year. The Knotfest gig went great from a playing standpoint. It was one of the biggest shows I’d played up to that point, and we really played great. Truly a great experience. The issue was when we were loading off the stage, and I kindly asked a few stagehands not to touch a few specific pieces of gear (my snare in the case), only to turn around seconds later and watch someone pick it up, the snare fall off the stand, then proceed to roll down a flight of 10-15 metal stairs side stage, and eventually come to rest on a landing at the bottom. The sound it made on the way down was indescribable. Needless to say, I was not so happy a camper.

The other is my second gig ever with Battlecross. As I stated earlier in the questions, I got offered that gig on 10 days’ notice, and it was a bit of a whirlwind, to say the least. Our rehearsals and first show went pretty great, all things considered. I wasn’t naive enough to think I had it mastered by any stretch of the imagination, but at least knew the ability to pull the material off well was somewhere in there. The next night, we were playing in Milwaukee, and during the second song, I got off from the band. The issue was, the material wasn’t in my muscle memory yet, and so I started thinking while I was playing, which is dangerous territory if the stuff you’re playing is rehearsed enough to be automatic. It snowballed, and we drifted further apart. We got back on eventually, but I was rattled. We start the next song, and the same thing happens. I was so obviously in my own head, and it seemed like that happened in most of the songs that night. It was excruciating and seemed like it went on forever. To date, if anyone asks, I can say, with certainty, it was the worst gig I have ever played in my professional career. I was too inexperienced and not as seasoned as I am now. I was so mad at myself, which was

obvious to the other guys, and they cut me some slack, reassured me they had picked me for a reason, and knew I could do it. We moved forward, and I can say, with a great sigh of relief, I’ve never had a gig that’s come close to that ever again. In hindsight, it was a crucial learning experience for me at a very pivotal time in my development, and I learned a lot from it.

I also got super sick on a tour in Europe for like two weeks because of a sandwich I decided to eat in Hungary. I sensed before I ate it that something was amiss, and I was starving and ate it anyway. Of course, I was throwing up for days after that and still had to do the shows. Not a job you can really call in sick to after all. Nothing worse than being sick on tour, especially in Europe. All that good food you can’t eat. At least I managed to keep it together for the shows, and that’s really the most important part.

RRX: Ugh! I’m so sorry! Any future plans? When is the next gig?

BZ: The immediate next big gig on my schedule is my wedding on 10/18. I’ve played so many weddings with the Accents at this point that it’ll be a welcome chance to attend one and not be on the bandstand. I also just so happen to be the groom in this case.

Beyond that, the Accents are busy year-round, and we have gigs from now through December and are already booked into 2026. I have some pretty substantial studio work coming up in December and January that I’m working on right now. Some really cool prog-metal stuff. It’s a fun challenge because it’s an album’s worth of material that spans all sorts of genres, dynamics, time signatures, and feels, and is keeping me busy insofar as writing. Most exciting of late, I’m also hoping to get some new Battlecross material worked on and begin the file sending process between now and the end of the year, too!

RRX: We’re looking forward to it all! Thanks for being here, and congratulations on your wedding!!

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