Arthur Scott Verner – An Xperience Interview

Arthur Scott Verner – An Xperience Interview – by OP Callaghan.

Happy March, all y’all!  This month, we are lucky enough to talk with Arthur Scott Verner, a fabulous drummer and studio owner, who got his start playing a real-life game of Grand Theft Auto!  He’s a super-talented guy who has worked with some of the best that the Capital Region music scene has cultivated. His newest endeavor is Jupiter Queen, a killer band featuring my friend Eric Braymer on guitar. So let’s welcome Arthur Scott Verner!

RRX: Welcome, my friend! Thanks for being here today. Tell me how you got started as a drummer.

Arthur Scott Verner: When I was 13 years old, I got busted for stealing a car. (Ironically, this is also how I learned to drive a car.)  I was sent to Camp Nueva Vista, which was a juvenile delinquent “rehabilitation” camp in Perth, New York. There I met Herb Summers, a counselor and, unbeknownst to me, a drummer. One evening, we were talking, and he said come and check out this snare drum. He started playing on a beautiful late ‘70s Tama snare, and my eyes just lit up. Herb looked at me and said, “Do you wanna learn how to play the drums?” I said,  “Oh yeah!” He gave me a set of sticks, a practice pad, and started teaching me rudiments.  That started it all.

Herb Summers is the reason I’m a drummer. Herb currently owns Olde Saratoga Stave Drum Company and is an amazing craftsman.  I own one of his custom 13/8 Stave River birch snares.  It’s amazing.  I am truly and forever grateful to have met Herb.

RRX: That’s great! Did you take any other lessons, or were you self-taught after that? Tell me about your first kit.

ASV: Took a few lessons from Peter Boras from Downtime (early ‘80s band in Albany), and I think Mark Foster was part of that, too.  Hard to remember. My first drum kit was a Stewart red sparkle 20” kick, 12” tom, 14” floor tom. Soon to be replaced by a ‘70s silver sparkle Ludwig kit with (2) 20” kicks, 12” and 13” toms, and a 16” floor tom. I sold that kit to Phil Lanz, who eventually sold at least half of it to Pete Donnelly from The Figgs.

RRX: Very cool! Do you come from a musical family?

ASV: Neither of my parents played music, but everyone else in my life is musical.  My wife, Kim, is a classically trained violist and has a degree in music.  My older daughter, Lily, plays guitar and bass and writes songs.   My younger daughter, Luca, is a professional stage actress and singer and has performed in over 50 youth and professional musical theater shows in the area.  Many people know my brother Jamie, who is an amazing local drummer.   We’ve been in a few bands together, the most notable of which was Queer For Astroboy.  My family has spent many Friday nights out in my studio, playing and jamming together.

In addition to drums, I’ve been the bass player and sang harmonies for QFAB.  I’ve also been writing and arranging my own music for decades. I’ve been either the bass player or the guitarist in a few bands that featured my music.  Most recently, I sang lead and was the guitar player for a band called Grey Sky Sunday.   I love the creative process of writing and recording songs.  As an engineer, I find that sometimes it’s just easier to write and play all of the parts myself when I’m getting the initial ideas down.  And then I’ll bring in others to play the finished parts on an album project or when we play out live.

RRX: Tell me about some of your earliest musical endeavors.

ASV: My first band back in high school was a southern rock cover band, learning all the classics such as “Whiskey Rock-a-Roller” and “That Smell”.  We were a two-drummer band at the time, which was pretty cool.  The mother of our bass player got us our first gig at the Last Chance Saloon on Lower Central Avenue in Albany.  She called down to us in the middle of a keg party and screamed, “Get upstairs, you’re playing your first gig.”  We were all pretty drunk already, but packed up our gear and headed out.  It was pretty hilarious, but we played and had a blast.

I’ve played drums in bands that cover a wide range of musical styles.   I’ve been in southern rock, country, rock, Grateful Dead, and Ramones cover bands.  I’ve been in original bands that ranged from punk, new wave, and early alternative (such as Birds of Prey and Hand Held Moon), power punk/alternative with QFAB, and harder rock/stoner rock with Catching Flyz, Grey Sky Sunday, and now with Jupiter Queen.

RRX:  Any particular gigs that stand out?

ASV: One of my favorite experiences was playing drums with Andy Morse’s “Andy the Music Man” Band at the Gathering of the Vibes.  It was my first experience playing a larger festival.   We were playing Andy’s children’s music, but then it morphed into a family-friendly Grateful Dead jam. I brought my family and had to tell our kids not to expect to get carted around in golf carts and get to eat in the “artist” tents when they went to music festivals as they got older.

I also got to check off a “bucket list” gig for a musician growing up in the area, and had the opportunity to play LarkFest with QFAB.  Moby went on the same stage later that day.

RRX: Tell me how you came to start drumming for Jupiter Queen.

ASV: I initially started working with Jupiter Queen as the sound engineer and producer of their last album, “Benighted,” which was recorded at my recording studio, DMS Studios in Clarksville, New York.  I had already known Mike Langone for more than 20 years through the local music scene.  We’d previously played together when I was the drummer, and he was the singer for a Ramones cover band, Loud and Fast.  He’s just a positive spirit.   Last August, after we finished their album, they asked me to jam with them a few times.  You just know when things click.  I really appreciated how each member brought ideas to the table, and everyone plays off of these new ideas.  No ego. Not trying to take over the writing process.  This is a band that truly writes collaboratively and listens to each other.

RRX: They’re a great band, and I’m excited to see you play.  What are you using for a kit?

ASV:   In Jupiter Queen, I’m currently playing a Premier Genista kit 24,13,16,14.

RRX: Are you a drum collector?

ASV: What drummer isn’t a drum collector, to some extent?  Currently, I have seven snare drums, including my Olde Saratoga Stave 13×8 river birch, Pearl 14×6.5 Dennis Chambers signature, Pearl 8×14 maple concert, 14×6.5 Pearl free floater, Ludwig 14×5.5 Premier Genista, Tama 14×6.5 metal snare.  I also have a second kit for the studio, which is a Pearl BLX Birch kit 22,16,10,12,13.

RRX: Excellent! Tell me about your studio, DMS.

ASV: I started DMS Studio in 1990 in my basement at 689 Clinton Ave in Albany.  Those who recorded with me in the early days may remember loading in and out of the studio from the street through the basement windows so the bands wouldn’t have to drag their gear down my long, narrow steps to the basement.  Back then, I was recording on an 8-track analog machine and a 24-channel Mackie board. I made so many cool records and demos in that basement and have great memories from that space.  I moved the studio to the loft area of my barn in Clarksville in 1999.  Over the years, I’ve recorded so many great bands and artists, and made so many friends in the local music scene.  Some of the bands and musicians include the Staziaks, Arc, Andy “The Music Man” Morse, Mark Oldendorf, Jeff Gonzales, Blase Debris, Chris Jacobson/Untaymed, Mordwolf, The Tradition, Zac Leftler, Held Under, Kill All Betrayers, Downer, Sugar Eater, Grey Sky Sunday, Subduing Mara, Coal Palace Kings, QFAB, Great Day For Up, The Day Jobs, Monster X, The Disenchanted, Police Line, and Jupiter Queen.  I’ve recorded rock, rap, RnB, country, folk, polka, and spoken word.  I’ve worked on hundreds of singles, album projects, and demos. It’s been a wild ride.

RRX: Amazing! So many great artists. That’s an impressive body of work! Any horror stories?

ASV: I can’t recall any nightmare situations because of the artists, though there have been a few train wreck gigs over the years. But they were few and far between.

RRX: What is your approach with Jupiter Queen?

ASV: It’s interesting being a drummer and an engineer. I’ve struggled with how to do both on the same project.  In the last six months, I’ve been practicing/playing every day, and my goal moving forward is to grow to become a better drummer and to evolve with Jupiter Queen writing, recording, and performing songs.

RRX: When is the next gig?

ASV: Jupiter Queen is playing March 1 at Empire Live and April 9 in Boston at The Middle East.  We are working on finalizing some other dates, including a summer Doom/Stoner Festival at Putnam Place.

RRX: I can’t wait! Thanks for doing the interview, and best of luck.

Check out Jupiter Queen on March 1 at Empire Live, and don’t forget the Dustin Mele Benefit on March 7 at Revolution Hall in Troy.

 

 

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