Web Version - Drum Workshop

PHOTO BY ROB SHANAHAN
As much as the affable Mr. Wackerman
wouldn’t want to be typecast or be put
in a box, we can safely categorize him as
a drummer’s drummer. His genre-defying
career has seen him touring with established
pop icons such as James Taylor and Barbra
Streisand, as well as exploring new ground
with legendary masters like Frank Zappa,
Allan Holdsworth, Steve Vai, and his good
pal Terry Bozzio, along with so many others.
To say he’s performed at a high level for so
many years is a gross understatement. His
reserved demeanor and effortless playing
have kept him working and garnered the
respect of his peers but, for the reasons
previously mentioned, some would say
he’s underrated. Classifications and labels
aside, he’s as noteworthy and prolific as
he’s always been, while continuing to blaze
new trails and make his memorable mark
as a drummer, recording artist, composer,
and producer. We caught up with Chad
to talk about his latest endeavors and his
longstanding history with the company.
Scott Donnell: Talk a little bit about your
experience in the early days of DW.
Chad Wackerman: I met John Good in 1982.
He had auditioned to be the drum and bass
tech for the ’82 Zappa tour. John took the
drums that I was playing at the time and put
new bearing edges on them, packed the lugs
with foam, took off some internal lacquer
and made them sound much better. It was
obvious to me that I should have him build
me a new kit after the tour.
My first DW kit was a burgundy lacquer
set. The snare was a 6.5 x 14” brass timbaletype
shell and had a strainer that was a part
of a luggage lock! I still have that snare. The
other drum sizes were: 16x22” kick, 9x10”,
10x12”, 12x14” rack toms, with 17x16” and
Chad WackermanOVER
THREE DECADES
with
DW
A
17x18” floor toms on legs.
In 1982, DW was a two-man company.
Don and John had one employee, Fonso,
to help assemble bass drum pedals, which
they would then sell to Gretsch to pay their
rent. I loved the kit John built for me, but
we went through some modifications to it,
changing the inside lacquer and then the
head combinations. They had shells and the
lugs, but I had to buy rims and spurs from
other companies, because they were not
tooled-up to make those parts yet. John’s
head combination used coated Ambassadors
on top and the Evans Hydraulic heads
for the bottom. This was the kit I used on
Allan Holdsworth’s, Road Games and Metal
Fatigue records and was my touring kit for
many years. The drums had a more focused
and contained tone than other drums that I
was using. I found them to be a dream in the
studio.
I actually met Don Lombardi at a drum
clinic that I did in Santa Monica, CA when I
was thirteen years old. I knew about Camco
drums and I heard that Don had bought the
tooling when Camco went out of business.
Soon after, I bought my first DW kit in 1982
and became an endorser. Don was very keen
to have me try out the various experiments
they had been working on. I used some of
these on local gigs and on the road. They
included the boom/straight cymbal stand, the
various versions of the 5002 double pedal
and the cable hi-hat. We even experimented
with rack systems back then.
SD: How has your career grown with the
company?
CW: When I started with DW, the endorsers
were John Hernandez, Nick Ceroli, Burleigh
Drummond, Colin Bailey and myself, to
A
and counting
by Scott Donnell
name a few. When I did clinics we had to
have a store order a kit, John would build
it and they would work hard to send it out
in time. Everything was done one step at a
time. I spent a fair amount of time educating
people about the drums and how they made
my life so much easier in the studio. They
are custom, handmade kits; to this day, DW
kits have so much thought, research and
passion behind them. I found that Don and
John had the same passion about drums that
I had about music, and playing DW allowed
me to feel even more comfortable because I
was so happy with the tone that I was getting.
My career has definitely grown as DW has
grown. I worked very hard, but also got some
good breaks. Playing with Zappa when I was
twenty-one was amazing, and it allowed me
to gain credibility and respect among other
musicians. Playing with Allan Holdsworth
also allowed me to play as myself and still
get noticed. At the same time, I was able to
get into session work, start my solo career,
record my CDs and DVDs, play at drum
festivals, perform masterclasses and clinics,
and DW has always been supportive.
Some years later, we trialed a
masterclass tour where a student could sign
up for three masterclasses, one with Larry
London on recording, one with Jim Chapin
on hand technique, and one with me on
drumset reading and stylistic versatility. The
classes were scheduled one month apart, a
kind of travelling school. You can see that
Don had education in mind even back
then. Now, that concept has expanded into
drumchannel.com.
One thing that really grew DW’s
business was when they put out the first DW
American Dream video. They made it as a
free promo piece for stores to play in their
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