Rim Shot

Where are you from ? peabody, massachusetts

How old ? 38

Where do you live today ? new york city

Musical family? Can you talk about your brother, is he musician too ? no musical brother... my father was a professional horn player back in the 40's and 50's, now retired and still playing for fun.

Was your environment good for you to become musician ? i would say so. aside from my father's musical background, there was always a variety of music being played in the house. my father was listening to stan kenton and maynard ferguson, my mother was into classical and my older brother and sister were listening to bands like iron butterfly, elp, yes, the james gang, steppenwolf, the who, etc. on top of that, we had a piano for tinkering on as well.

Did you study music and do you (still) have a "master" (in the traditional sense) ? although i did take some lessons in the very beginning, i'm primarily self taught, with exception to my studies with gary chaffee, the master.

Was drums your original instrument ? yes. i've dabbled with others and play piano and bass fairly well, but it began with and will end with drums.

Could you tell us your "journey" from the begining until today ? Your carreer ? the journey began when i was 13 and requested drum lessons as a birthday gift, having decided on drums from hearing two drum solos in particular. 1) in a gadda da vida by iron butterfly and 2) toccata by emerson, lake & palmer. the lessons were very short lived, as i wasn't very interested in practicing rudiments and the fundamentals at the time and really just wanted to sit down with headphones on and play to my favorite records. so i did exactly that for a few years on my own before searching out and studying with gary chaffee for about six months. from there i chose to move to london in pursuit of a professional career. i chose london over los angeles and new york because of my love of english progressive rock, as well as being heavily into simon phillips. london proved to be the right place, as i stayed for the better part of 8 years working with a variety of artists including steve howe & steve hackett in gtr, marillion and mike oldfield to name a few. it was chance meeting with joe satriani that prompted me to move back to the states when he extended an invitation to join the satriani trio. new york city was my choice and 9 years of touring and recording with joe were the result. in and around my association with joe, i worked with many artists such as aretha franklin, alice cooper, frank gambale, steve lukather, mick jagger, bernard grimaldi, joe lynn turner and others. for today... i'm in manhattan with a state of the art recording studio called skyline studios, which has catered to the likes of eric clapton, david bowie, sting, steely dan, paul simon and many others. i'm recording full time as a session drummer, having recently done recordings for 'fuel' (sony 550), 'oleander' (republic/universal), 'amy fairchild' (lava/atlantic), 'einstein too' (soso) and most recently for 'swim' (mca) and 'shimmerhead' due out this fall.

How do you manage to mix so many different styles ? i think it's probably just from having listened to and been influenced by so many different drummers and different styles of music. i'm one of these guys that if you ask me who my influences are, i could easily write a book! and that's not an overstatement... there are so many drummers that hit me, john bonham, simon phillips, andy newmark, vinnie colaiuta, terry bozzio, dave mattacks, phil collins, jeff porcaro, mel gaynor, steve gadd, bill bruford, peter erskine, steve jordan, keith moon, barriemore barlow, prarie prince, willie wilcox, jerry and rick marrotta, manu katche, anton fig, tony williams, chad wackerman and the list goes on...

In what field do you feel the more natural and confortable ? i feel comfortable if i'm playing great music with great players. it's that simple. doesn't matter to me if it's heavy fusion in odd time or a simple pop back beat, as long as i'm in a good surrounding, i'm happy and comfy.

Some anedoctes about your "adventures" with artists such as Aretha Franklin ? there are many, especially with aretha, since i was definitely the oddity there. one funny moment was a night on stage when aretha not only forgot my name, but completely forgot to mention 'the drummer' to the audience. everyone got acknowledged but me. i thought, "oh well, that's a sign if ever i saw one, i guess the end has come". when the gig was over, the musical director came to me and congratulated me on finally being a full member of the band. meaning that aretha did that to everyone at one time or another, so now i was solid and definitely one of the guys...

Is your sound more depending of the equipment you use, the style of music or the musicians you're playing with ? i'd like to think that my sound is part of my personality as a player and therefore is consistant throughout. but, obviously the equipment, music and other players will have some influence, however large or small, on the overall situation.

How do you see the couple Bass & Drums ? i think it's very important and has to be a good marriage for every situation. although, that doesn't necessarily mean that the drummer and bass player have to play all of the same hits to lock up. imagine if bill bruford and chris squire were told that they had to line up all kick drum hits with the bass line or visa versa. bruford would have had the fastest single kick on the planet, or squire would have played only choice creative notes in various places. so, it just means that they have to work well with each other, playing together or against each other.

Who is you best (bass) partner? to this date i'd have to say that english session player, phil spalding is still ranking high on my list of favorites to play with. and although i've never actually played with him in the same room, i did play on a record where i laid down drum tracks to some finished material that anthony jackson had played bass on. needless to say, that was an easy groove to fall into!

Your dream partner ? unfortunately jaco isn't around anymore... i guess tony levin comes to mind first, as well as geddy lee and nils orsted pederson.

Who are your "models" in that field ? i love the chemistry between bonham and paul-jones, and of course star and maccartney, collins and rutherford, mattacks and pegg, levin with marrotta, bruford and katche, bruford and squire, erskine and pastorius.

Your favorite records and artists ? records: again i could write a book, but here's off the top of my head: avalon (roxy music) the wall & animals (pink floyd), discreet music (eno), houses of the holy (zeppelin), joe's garage I, II & III (zappa), fantasia para un gentilhombre (joaquin rodrigo), revolver (the beatles), the pros and cons of hitch hiking (roger waters), spyboy (emmylou harris). artists: zeppelin, floyd, beatles, zappa, genesis, peter gabriel, todd rundgren, joni mitchell, jeff beck, weather report... etc. etc. etc.

Do you tune your set a particular way ? not particularly, just to what sounds good to my ear or by request of a producer.

Are you interested by the way you're miked ? absolutely, if i have a say in it. if not, it's on the engineer or producer. I see that you have installed a studio at home.

Could you describe it? actually it's not a home studio at all. skyline studios is a state of the art professional recording studio. we've got a 1000 square foot main room with 4 isolations booths, a neve vr60 with total recall, automation and flying faders, 48 tracks of studer analog, 48/96 tracks of sony 3348 and studer 1/2" digital, as well as a full 5.1 protools outfit. then again, with amount of time i do spend there, i guess you could call it my home!

How about some personal tricks, any "signature" fill ? don't know if i have any personal tricks or signature fills... i do know that people have commented on how i use my left hand as a lead hand for hitting cymbals in different places and moving around the kit unconventionally. i guess that, and playing off/against the beat are probably a couple of signatures that i do unkowingly.

In a recording studio, are you easy working with machines, do you prefer to record live or overdubbing ? i love and prefer working with clicks and machines. i actually find it more liberating playing to a click, but i'm comfortable in both situations. the only time i find myself not recording to a click are by request of a producer or if i'm replacing someone elses drum tracks after the fact and no click was used initially. as for recording live or overdubbing... i like both for different reasons. if i'm playing with good players, i don't mind playing live at all. but if i'm in a situation where i feel i'll work better on my own, then i'm happy to play first alone or to overdub later.

What are your next projects, both as a session man, a solo and a demo artist ? as a session man, i just finished a record for a great new band on mca called 'swim' (though the name might change), i'm in the studio at the moment recording the debut cd for a band called 'shimmerhead' that i'm co-producing along with steven haigler. as a solo artist i just released my second disc called 'einstein too', which i believe will be out in europe through cargo distribution. for demoes, there are two artists here in nyc that i'm producing (and playing on), the broken poets and andre fratto. both of which i hope find placement with labels.

Are you involved in any design ? not sure what you mean by that... i designed a line of cymbals for sabian called 'sonix' and i have a signature stick made by kit tools, if that's what you're talking about.

Could you describe precisely your set up (or set ups) including sticks and gloves ? they vary from gig to gig. most of the session work i do is done on a small set up, as producers tend to not like large kits taking up too many channels and i feel i can do what i need to do with the basics. there's the 4 piece set of 24" kick (recently now using a 26"), 12" rack and 16" floor, usually with a 5" X 14" brass snare. cymbals are 22" ride, 17" and 19" crashes and 15" hi hats, all sonix. the 5 piece kit is 24" kick, 10" & 13" racks and a 16" floor, same sanre, with the same cymbals adding an 18" china and a 10" splash. then there's the monster kit with two kick drums and everything else surrounding me... i suggest checking it out on my website at www.jonathanmover.com, as it would fill a whole page if i had to write it all out! the sticks are jonathan mover signature model by kit tools, the heads are by evans, the electronics are by hart dynamics, the mics are by neumann and sennheiser, the in-ear monitors are by sensaphonics, and there are no gloves... except for playing golf!

Is there a "family" of artists playing on the same instrument, of the same brand ? there's a small family of drummer friends i have that include my very close friend simon phillips, as well as dave mattacks, anton fig, andy newmark, dennis chambers and kenny aronoff.

Any advise for beginners and professionals? give it up, i don't need the competition!... just kidding. advice would be to be prepared. meaning, show up early, have adequate equipment in good working order, be versatile, know the material or be ready to learn on the spot, and have a good attitude and personality that will allow you to get along with everyone.