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John Dolmayan likes to play drums a whole lot more than he likes to talk
about how he plays the drums. Better qualified is System of a Down bassist
Shavo Odadjian, who relishes the privilege of watching Dolmayan perform from
two feet away, night after night after night after night.
"John is very steady and on the money," Odadjian says. "His tempo is perfectly
on. He doesn't change speeds, know what I mean? He hits really hard, which I
love, because I hit the bass really hard. There's a lot of drummers out there,
they could hit a thousand hits per sound but not keep the tempo. He can do it
naturally."
SOAD make no secret about their deep respect for each other as people and
players, and Odadjian and Dolmayan certainly reflect that mindset.
"When it
comes to art, I like to collaborate, and having someone like John is a gift as a
bass player. We all get along, but him and I just have a special bond. We
started off with music and became good friends. He's the best drummer I've ever
played with, and I'll play with him until the end of time. A great foundation of
a rhythm seciont is knowing each other. A lot of bands form and they do what
they have to do. We do what we want to do, which is be a strong team."
According to Odadjian, jamming is the active ingredient that makes this rhythm
section's luv rise. "Look at a band like Deep Purple, that bass and drum combo
was amazing, and that band had amazing jams," he points out. "For us, it's more
important to jam - you don't know what we're going to do next, and it just
works. He's not the most technical player, but that's not a diss, because
neither am I. He's more of a Bonham than a Neil Peart. Peart is technical, but
Bonham didn't care if he hit a tom or a snare next, as long as he hit it right.
That's what John is, my Bonham. And I'm his John Paul Jones."
Inset article from
Drum! magazine
March 2006 issue
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