Nobody going to beat my car
It’s going to break the speed of soundSina’s videos have been viewed by millions of people from all over the world. In fact, the video of her drum cover of the Dire Straits classic, “Sultans of Swing,” has been viewed almost 40 million times.
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| Sina |
Without further ado, here’s part two of my conversation with Sina.
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2 or 3 lines: I recently heard an interviewer ask Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, which classic rock drummers were his favorite. He picked John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Ian Paice of Deep Purple, Neal Peart of Rush, and Phil Rudd of AC/DC. You've covered songs by all of those groups – do you agree with Ulrich’s choices? Or would you substitute Keith Moon of the Who, or Ginger Baker of Cream, or someone else?
Sina: I can not really answer this question. I never really had a list of my five favorite drummers. It kind of exists in my head, but the names change almost every day. Also I think it’s really unfair to rate drummers that way. Each and every drummer of a famous band was the perfect choice for that band, otherwise the band would not have become famous. Take Ringo – he might not be the most amazing drummer on the planet but I seriously doubt the Beatles could have found a better drummer for the job. The Beatles wouldn't have worked with Keith Moon, and the Who would not have worked with Ringo.
2 or 3 lines: I know you are a big fan of Jeff Porcaro, who is best known for his work with Toto, but who was also a legendary studio drummer who recorded with an incredibly diverse group of artists – including Steely Dan, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, and Carly Simon, just to name a few.
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| Jeff Porcaro |
Sina: If I had to name my favorite drummer, it would be Jeff Porcaro. This is not only because of his work with Toto – although this was how I became aware of him – but also because he has proven that he can find the perfect drum part for every single song he has recorded in his career. And that’s a lot of songs!
2 or 3 lines: I want to ask you about Keith Moon, who is my personal favorite of all the great drummers of his era. One rock critic has written that Moon is “soloing all the time” when he plays. We usually don’t think of drummers as soloists – their primary job is to keep time for the rest of the group – but I would say that Moon is clearly functioning as the lead musician on “I Can See for Miles,” which is just an amazing record. Tell me what you think about Keith Moon.
Sina: Keith Moon was an amazing drummer and he was perfect for playing in the Who, but his style of playing would not have worked in all bands. I also really like listening to him and I really enjoy covering Who songs. I admire Keith's way of thinking in melodies instead of only focussing on the rhythm. He also was able to completely lose himself in the music, which helped him to not only find the perfect ideas for a song but also play with this incredible energy everyone can see when watching and hearing him play.
2 or 3 lines: Have you covered “I Can See for Miles”? If not, why not?
Sina: I don't know why I haven’t covered that one yet. Of course, I can not do every song at the same time! I guess “I Can See For Miles” was never my favorite Who song. It’s also not the most popular one on YouTube, so the opportunity has not presented itself yet.
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| Ginger Baker |
2 or 3 lines: One thing I noticed about Ginger Baker of Cream is that he seemed to use his toms a lot. For example, in “Sunshine of Your Love,” he went 40 seconds using just his toms and bass drum – he never hit a cymbal during that entire time.
Sina: There are a lot of things that set Ginger apart from other classic rock drummers. I am no expert on the subject, but I think he wanted to find new ways to accompany a song. You can hear a lot of very innovative ideas when listening to him play. His playing also always seems perfect for the particular song he is playing at that moment.
2 or 3 lines: One of my favorites of your videos is your cover of Deep Purple's “Highway Star.” You seem to be turned a little to the left when you are playing that song, and there are times when you are playing so fast that you sort of have to reach behind yourself and hit the right-hand cymbal without looking at it.
Sina: Hmmm, I don't really know why I did that to be honest. I know where my cymbals are, so I do not have to look anymore. I guess because of the tempo of that song I did not want to turn my head all the time. It would look like I was watching a tennis match!
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2 or 3 lines: How long did you have to practice before you were ready to record “Highway Star”?
Sina: I did not have to put a lot of time into this. I had already played this song with a band before, so I knew the basic structure. I tried to copy the basic feel and groove of the original recording but I did not play every fill exactly like it is on the record – I just played what came to my mind.
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“Highway Star” is a mind-blowing recording. It’s six minutes long and played at breakneck speed – listening to it is exhausting, and I can only imagine how challenging it was for each and every member of Deep Purple to get through it – including Ian Paice, one of the best rock drummers ever.
That makes Sina’s drum cover of “Highway Star” all the more remarkable. She’s a petite young woman, but her drumming on ‘Highway Star” is VERY physical – it’s almost shocking how powerful her performance is.
The video utilizes split screens as it progresses. We go from one view of Sina, to two views, then three – at the four-minute mark, there are five different views of her drumming.
That may sound like overkill but it’s not. The standard head-on camera angle is good, but the overhead view and the stage-right view reveal additional aspects of her drumming.
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| A split-screen view of Sina |
I found the views of her feet particularly interesting because you never see what a drummer’s feet are doing when he or she performs.
I was a pretty good pianist back in the day, and I could handle playing the foot pedals of a church-type organ while my hands were occupied playing the keyboards as long as the pedal part was simple.
But I find it mind-boggling to watch Sina’s Chuck Taylor low top-clad feet as she plays – they are working quite independently of each other, and also quite independently of her hands, and I’m not sure it my brain would ever be able to handle that.
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There’s not much for Sina to do during the first 35 seconds of “Highway Star,” but then all hell breaks loose.
I love the sequence that begins just before the one-minute mark, which is where the first verse ends and the chorus begins. Sina mixes supersonic drum fills (usually with her eyes closed) with attacks on her cymbals that seem to come out of nowhere – watch closely at 1:08, when she is turned slightly to the left concentrate on her snare, hi-hat, and left-side cymbal, but somehow manages to reach almost behind her body to nail her right-side cymbal three times.
But enough of my yakety-yak. Better that I just shut up and let you watch Sina’s “Highway Star” drum cover for yourself.
Click here to watch Sina covering “Highway Star.” (That video has had over five million viewers, and it deserves to have five billion more.)
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