DIRK VERBEUREN - Started with a violin

For noen år siden jobbet undertegnede med en artikkel om den franske undergrunnsscenen og i den forbindelsen kom jeg i kontakt med Dirk Verbeuren, trommeslageren i Scarve. Mannen var meget behjelpelig og kontakten har fortsatt siden den gang. Siden han er en meget dyktig trommeslager, måtte han inviteres til å delta i vår Blast Beast serie og her kan du lese om hva han har å si.

ET - When did you start to play the drums?
DIRK - I started hitting cardboard boxes with wooden rulers around age 14, but I don't know if that counts! So I'll say 16. 

ET - Why did you start playing drums?
DIRK - Sometime around 1990 if I'm correct. I picked up the violin when I was 7, and played some guitar and piano as well. But rhythm attracted me more. I became obsessed with drums and playing fast after I got introduced to thrash and death metal.

ET - How old were you when you got your first drums/drum set?
DIRK - 16. My parents bought me a second hand Maxtone kit with no resonance heads, and a friend of mine gave me an old kick drum so I could play the double bass. I played on that crappy sounding set for 4 years.

ET - How often do you practice?
DIRK - Not as often as I'd like. The ideal would be at least one hour every day, but there always seems to be too much other shit to take care of.

ET - What kind of equipment do you use? Which equipment is in your ears the best?
DIRK - I use Tama drums & hardware and Meinl cymbals. Both of those brands offer top-notch quality stuff. In my ears, the Shure E5 in-ear monitors are perfect.

ET - Which qualities do you think is most important to succeed as a drummer today?
DIRK - To be all-round. This business takes a lot of perseverance and hard work. Also, absorbing as many styles of drumming as you can is definitely a plus. There's a lot to learn in different musical genres.

ET - Have you ever played a solo during a gig?
DIRK - Not as far as I can remember. A lot of solos are boring, and I don't feel ready to do a good one just yet.

ET - If you haven't become a drummer, what would you most likely been doing?
DIRK - Something else music-related, or something involving animals (not sex, haha!)

ET - Do you workout a lot?
DIRK - I have a daily routine that I try to keep up. Just some simple exercices to stay in shape, because it's easy to get lazy.

ET - Do you have any special rituals you have to go through before you enter the stage?
DIRK - Usually I play on a practice pad for about twenty minutes, and I warm up my wrists, arms, shoulders and ankles. I also recently bought a practice pad for the double kick which I plan to take with me on tour. 

ET - Before we end this, you now have the opportunity to challenge another drummer to take part in this series. Pick a drummer and explain why?
DIRK - I'd like to pick fellow Belgian Gert Monden from In-Quest. I saw them live in 1993 and he blew my mind with his creative playing. I've followed that band ever since. Gert definitely deserves some more recognition!

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