Gene Sennes – An Interview with OP Callaghan

Gene Sennes.

In the early 90’s my band and I found ourselves in need of a drummer. I knew several local players, but they either had steady gig and were unavailable, or just weren’t the right fit for The Decadent Royals. Fortunately, Dave Shachne and Norman Kee were familiar with the legendary Gene Sennes, a former bandmate of Dave’s in French Letter. The addition of Gene on drums not only elevated our band musically, but unified us as a band. Gene’s drumming is direct, precise, and without “theatrics”. His restraint behind the drums is unparalleled; along with a trained ear, impeccable timing, and a musical knowledge that not only plays to the song, but supports the song and makes it better. Gene is not only a gifted drummer, but a talented songwriter, engineer and producer. Outside of music, Gene’s sharp wit and gift for storytelling is infectious. He’s surely a renaissance man, so without further adieu; please welcome The Drummer Of Love, Mr. Gene Sennes!

RRX: How did you get started on the drums?

GS: My father was a musician and bandleader, so when I was growing up there were always cats at the house for Musicians Union business, rehearsals or a hang. I would go downstairs during and after rehearsals, and always dug what was going on with the drums and bass. I’d go to bed at night and hear the band playing through the heating ducts.

RRX: Tell me about your first kit.

GS: A beautiful blue Rogers kit that my father bought for me. I loved it. Every time I see a Rogers kit in a drum shop, whether it’s at Parkway or Steve Maxwell Drums in Manhattan, it brings me back.

RRX: Tell me about your blue Yamaha kit.

GS: Oh man, that was a Pearl kit and it was stolen, along with a Pearl free floating snare, and Paiste Signature cymbals. Donnie at Parkway recently told me that he still keeps an eye out for it.

RRX: There’s a special place in hell for instrument thieves! Who were some of your earliest influences?

GS: My father took me to see Buddy Rich play when I was young, that was incredible and I was pretty much awestruck at that. Some of the drummers I dig in addition to Buddy are Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Joe Morello, Matt Cameron, Roger Hawkins, Charlie Watts, John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Danny Seraphine and Ringo Starr. I could go on and on with this question, but I won’t.

RRX: Tell me about your first band/gig? How old were you, and where was it?

GS: There was a group of kids and when we were around 14-15 or so, we’d get together and jam. We ended up playing a few gigs, school dance things if I remember correctly. I ended up playing with some kids who were older and already out of school and even though I was under age the gigs were in bars.

RRX: Talk about your other bands, gigs, etc.

GS: This could get a little crazy, so I’ll give you the abridged version. I recorded the demos for the Dronez album at Arabellum, that session led to playing and recording with Sara Ayers and Dennis Herbert with AKA etc. I started working with Buck Malen in French Letter and a number of his side projects. I played with Mark Gamsjager in his pre-Lustre Kings bands and with Johnny Rabb. I started doing sessions with Greg Krohel at the Clubhouse and at Sound Design in Brattleboro and got to work with great bass players like Sara Lee who was with the B 52’s at the time and T Bone Wolk who was with Hall and Oates at the time. I got asked by Randy Ciarlante to audition for Rick Danko’s band. Randy couldn’t do the gig because he was touring with Jim Weider. Unfortunately Rick passed away before that happened. I played with Jonathan Richman, was in the backing band for blues cats like Snooky Pryor and Pinetop Perkins when they passed through town to play blues festivals. Pinetop was sick and couldn’t play the gig so they replaced him with another cat from Muddy Waters band. I filled in from time to time with Ernie Williams and also did a few Newport gigs. I worked with Bert Sommer with Johnny Rabb and Eddie Angel when Bert was trying to get another record deal. I covered a Lark Fest gig with Ed Hamell’s band on 15 minutes notice after meeting him about 30 seconds earlier. His drummer got sick just before the show, so I was on the gig. I met the rest of the band when I walked onto the stage. I didn’t know any of the material so I said give me the time signature, tempo and cue me. I played with Billy C Farlow and Commander Cody, and have done gigs with Graham Tichy, Rob Beaulieu, Ian Carlton, Chris Busone, Mirinda James etc. I had played with so many bands that when I had a night off and went out the doormen at clubs thought I was playing there. Finally I settled down a little and joined the Decadent Royals, if you can call that settling down. I just recently played with Johnny Rabb at a benefit in Troy with Scotty Mac and Joe Mele in the band. I’ve been out to sit in with Family Tree a few times, and that’s just great. I plan on doing more of that. There’s nothing better than hanging with friends and playing.

RRX: Put together your dream band.

GS: Ray Brown on bass and McCoy Tyner or maybe Ahmad Jamal on piano. If it was a rock thing, probably Paul McCartney on bass and Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck on guitar. I’ve always been in multiple bands so my dream band is multiple.

RRX: Tell me about your current set-up, drums, cymbals, sticks, etc. Any roto toms or gongs? Favorite heads?

GS: DW drums, Paiste cymbals. I’ve been a Paiste guy for years. I’ve got Paiste 2002’s and Paiste Formula 602’s. My nephew laid a pair of early 60’s 602 hats on me that are beautiful and also a couple of 602 20” rides with rivets, one of them is vintage and sounds great. I’m digging the rivet vibe. I use Vic Firth and Vater sticks. I use Evans UV1 coated heads. I like the bass drum wide open with just a felt strip behind the resonant head. I really think drums should ring out, so no muffling for me on any of the drums. I’m a sound man’s nightmare.

RRX: What would you be doing if you weren’t a drummer?

GS: My father was a bass player, so I probably would have picked that up instead. I just can’t imagine not playing music.

RRX: Have you ever been arrested?

GS: Define arrested. A good lawyer knows the law, a great lawyer knows the judge. That’s the key to avoiding legal trouble. My encounters with law enforcement have pretty much gone like this “license and registration…where are you playing next?”

RRX: In addition to myself, who are some local drummers that you admire and respect?

GS: Al Kash, Lee Harvey Blotto, Dave Calarco, Matt Niedbalski, Jeff Prescott, Joe Daley, Gene Garone, Leo Kachidurian, Chad Ploss, Brian Melick, Steve Candlen, Pete Vumbaco, Pete Sweeney, Jason Bittner, Mark Foster, Bob Halek, and Rocky Petrocelli to name a few off the top of my head. All these cats bring something different and I always enjoy listening to them.

RRX: What are you working on now?

GS: I’m working on a project with Norman Kee, your soul brother from the Decadent Royals. We send demos of songs we’ve written back and forth and then get together to recut the demos we like most. We plan on recording with Dominick Campana producing, and releasing material in the near future.
Recently I got a hold of some music by my fathers band that was recorded in the early to mid 60’s. The tapes were found in a closet and were in real good shape. The guy found the reels tucked away, had them digitized and sent them to me. So I was able to put on headphones and play with my father, which was an amazing experience. Pretty cool, but here’s where it gets better. My nephew is getting the reels, taking them to the studio and loading them into ProTools. Then we’re both going to cut drum tracks. I’m really excited about this project. My father’s band was dynamite so I’m going to have to put some work in.

RRX: That’s a great story man. What a nice find. Anything else that you would like to add?

GS: Thanks for including me in this great series of articles, man!

RRX: Always a pleasure, and let’s find those stolen Pearls!!

RIP Blackie Onassis of Urge Over Kill