Neil Peart -- The Latest News

For a few years, Stuart Copeland has been hosting "wild jams" at his Sacred Grove studio. These jams have included musicians such as Snoop Dog (Lion), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Les Claypool (Primus), Larry Lalonde (Primus), Stanley Clarke, Andy Summers (The Police), and Neil Peart.

Now Copeland has released a new jam, "A Little More Noise," with Peart and Danny Carey (Tool) on drums. Other musicians include Matt Scannell (Vertical Horizon), Matt Stone (South Park/Book of Mormon), Mike Dolbear, Thomas Lang, Dave Elich, and Aaron Sterling.

Copeland wrote in the YouTube description:

Some new drums arrived so Peart and Carey came over to lay heavy hands upon them. Scannell and I banged out any old riffs while Stone chimed the gongs.
Couple days later four MORE drummers dropped by and took up the horns. The piano was an afterthought.

Copeland also posted this Tweet:

Count 'em, EIGHT drummers at the Sacred Grove: http://t.co/ETImityTlf pic.twitter.com/wFe1HUcALF

- Stewart Copeland (@copelandmusic) February 16, 2015

Labels: Sacred Grove, Stewart Copeland

Great interview with one of my favorite drummers.

Stewart Copeland on The Police, drum solos, Rush, double bass pedals and more | MusicRadar.com

Here's one of the most interesting passages:

By the way, just curious: What did you think when Rush added some Police-type elements to their music in the early '80s?

"I had only heard of it. I didn't actually listen to Rush albums, and I couldn't tell you one from the other -- although Neil is a good buddy. [laughs] We agreed to disagree on certain things, and it is a measure of his greatness as a human being that he is completely over whatever my feelings might be about Rush.

"This truly is the case: He's never heard me say a wonderful thing about his band. He's read a few comments that I wish he hadn't read. In unguarded moments, things tend to slip out. Musicians tend to be snippy about one another, and I'm generally not. I generally love all music and all players.

"There was a time when bands like Rush were the epitome of what The Police were theoretically against, which was an overemphasis on musicality. Our ethos in the early days was about the primal scream and that musical technique was a distraction from that mission. There may have been a few comments that I might have made regarding Rush's position on that debate, and it is really, really to Neil's credit that he's over that debate. And we get along great."

Thanks to Rushisaband for the head's up!

Labels: Stewart Copeland