OOC:I figured I focused too much on Jimmy and needed to further develop Kit and Davey because outside of TDB I'm a pretty serious RPer so I decided to do an interview with Kit, probably will for Davey today too if not, tomorrow.

DM:I'm here with drummer Kit Saunders from Prog master The Nimrods.We're going to jump right into questions, what equipment do you use?

K:I use a Pearl Export series kit.It's actually my first drum kit and I just added to it, seeing as it was the only kit I had for a while I kept it in mint condition, the only thing I changed was the hardware.It's black with gold lugs and hardware which looks awesome.Originally it was just 1 12" rack tom and a 16" floor tom with the 14" snare and 22" bass drum but I've since added another bass drum,another floor tom which is 18" and 3 extra toms which are 13'",14",and 15".I use a mix a cymbals actually,I'm sponsored by Meinl but I use Sabian as well and a few Zildjian in the studio.The cymbals I get for free from Meinl are an amazing ride cymbal wish a huge bell the whole thing is like 22" and the bell is like 8 or 9",I use 4 crashes but one is a crash ride,3 pairs of hi-hats, one opened and one closed,2 China,like 8 splashes but they're little and from Sabian,and that's about it.I also use Vic Firth extreme 5A sticks and Axis pedals.

DM:A lot of people notice your skill when it comes to playing, how do you react to this?

K:I think it's cool that people look up to me,but it's just because I practice.I mean I play fast,but the majority of my early career was playing hardcore, it was sort of a necessity.A lot of my skill comes from other drummers and listening to music in general,I'm a guitarist as well, or at least one decent enough to write songs.I can build a lot of my parts around other parts,actually in The Nimrods we build our songs off of each other.Jimmy or Davey or I will make a guitar part, and off of that I make my beats I'm sort of a perfectionist when it comes to that,Davey builds his bass lines of of the drums and Jimmy throws in his vocals wherever we left room.Playing music helps me play too, basically I think if people just did what I do they'd probably play better than me.

DM:What do you think is the most important aspect of playing the drums?

K:Two things; making your parts fit right, and groove.If you can add a nice groove to a song,it can make the song sound so much better, it doesn't even have to be good!I got a lot of recognition in the underground when I played in hardcore bands because some would sound insane in the worst ways and I'd add some nice groove to it and the songs would sound better,more solid.Making your parts fit is so important.If drums don't fit in a part they never will and you can't make something outrageous.Otherwise and AMAZING song could sound like crap.I rarely drum in clean parts of a Nimrods song and if I do it's very simple, nothing technical whatsoever, rarely even fills.And usually I'll start with trying to make drums fit just to make sure I'm not fucking up the song by not playing.Overplaying is awful I used to do it a bit and it ruined some parts but I make sure I don't now.

DM:Who are you main influences?

K:Well This will have to be sectioned of haha.In more classic rock:John Bonham and Keith Moon.Bonham for foot speed and grooves,Moon for fills and energy.For Death Metal:Gene Hoglan,Vitek,and Mike Smith.They're all super technical and intense,well Smith isn't too technical.For black metal:Frost from Satyricon, such fast feet he has ,he's just insane.For Prog:Martin Lopez,Danney Carey, and Tomas Haake. They all have amazing polyrhythms and technique!

DM:Favorite drum albums?

K:Aw this'll be fun.Unquestionable Presence from Atheist,Symbolic and Individual Thought Patterns from Death,Nemisis Divina from Satyricon, Obzen from Meshuggah,anything from Decapitated,and I'm gonna throw in 10,000 Days and Lateralus from Tool.

DM:What made you start drumming?

K:Well I started on guitar, and I started to really enjoy drumming on albums and I couldn't really play that fast for hardcore so I started drumming, eventually I got good at it and stuck with it.I really liked being able to hit shit haha.

DM:Do you have a practice routine?

K:At home yeah but not on tour.Basically at home I practice 3-4 hours a day.The first hour I'll work on my double bass and blast beats,the second hour I'll play polyrhythms and a lot of tribal stuff,and the third sometimes more I'll play along to some songs I like, usually a few albums actually.I really like playing Tool or playing music from my old hardcore days.

DM:How fast can you play?

K:Well I don't like bragging or showing off and I rarely play this fast but I can play 300 bpm which is exactly 5 notes a second, I do go that fast in a few parts of songs but I think it's stupid to need to go that fast.On most Nimrods songs my average is a good 180-220.I'm rather comfortable doing that.

DM:Davey and Jimmy have been know to be the primary songwriters, how many songs do you write?

K:I usually write 2 on each album, Jimmy writes 4-5 and Davey writes 3-4.It's because I'm not as good at guitar as either of them and usually I don't focus on the whole song itself and focus more on the feel of the song.However between the 3 of us I'm probably the most versatile because neither of them are very good at drums.

DM:What kind of songs do you write?

K:I'm the most aggressive person in the group.I write the faster,heavier songs.You know the really brutal but easier songs that are very rhythm oriented, that's my job.I can bang 'em out pretty well too.

DM:Do you play guitar at home?

K:Yup!Everyday!Only for about an hour though, I have a few acoustics and a few electrics,Jimmy usually gives me one for my birthday,I really like vintage ones even though they aren't good for metal, my favorite is a beautiful 1960's strat that sounds great.

DM:Now for early life questions haha.What was your life like before The Nimrods?

K:Well, I was born in '82 so I'm 3 years older than Jimmy and Davey.I have a big brother named Alex and a little sister named Maya.I'm a German/Finn and unlike Jimmy and Davey I don't speak Swedish which is why they usually speak it for private reasons.I've lived in Berkeley my entire life and my family moved here right after Alex was born.I've always like music,when I was 12 I started guitar and when I was 14 I started drums.I always liked fast stuff, first it was faster hard rock like Guns N Roses and like pop-punk shit like Green Day,Blink 182 that stuff, I hate Blink now though Barker is so overrated.I always wanted to be a musician so I'm very grateful that I am.When I was little I was REALLY hyper which would explain my like for speed.My parents thought I stayed that way even ass a teenager, but that was the meth haha I'd grown out of being hyper by then.When I joined The Nimrods I started listening to metal more and more until I started playing more metal, though I already could play double bass because I used ti with other bands that where like hardcore times 10 and too fast for one foot though I probably could play with them using one foot now!I think my childhood was good,my parents drank a ton but they weren't abusive or anything,they're German haha.I actually did well in school contrary to popular belief.I made good grades and excelled in math.I was always good at thinking fast that's why we use polyrhythms,we think fast.Now I'm with The Nimrods and it's the best time of my life it's just what I love doing, and yeah I'm a bit wild but mainly it's the music,I channel my wildness into it.

DM:Well that was in depth, thanks for the interview.

K:No problem

Edited by user 17 February 2010 10:39:18(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Kit:Already heard it haha, she's got FAST feet!

Kate : Hahaha, Dean Fat-Fucker, I remember him .... he pissed on me when I was 12. Funny guy. :P
OOC : No page-stretching or I'll give you instructional fast-fucker!

OOC:Anyone else wanna comment?