Rhythm Jan 2000
Waking up the Neighbours.

As one of the most in-demand and experienced players on the US session scene today. 
Mickey Currys discography reads rather like a who's who in the world of rock and pop.
Bryan Adams, Hall and Oats, Carly Simon, Elvis Costello, Steve Winwood, Los Lobos, 
Tina Turner, Debbie Harry, Roy Orbison, The Cult, Alice Cooper and Celine Dion 
are just a few of the artists that have called upon his services -both in the studio and in the live domain 
- over the last eighteen years.
It was at the tender age of six, after seeing Ringo Starr perform with The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan 
Show, that Connecticut - born Mickey first ventured behind the drum kit.
By fifteen he’d secured an evening job recording jingles and commercials in a local studio, 
and was gigging regularly with his two brothers in their band, The Wreck. 
Soon after enrolling at college to study music history, Mickey realized that there wasn't going to be
enough time to fit in full- time study with his burgeoning drumming commitments, and consequently 
he made the decision to pursue a career as a session musician…
Currently out on the road with multi-million selling Canadian rocker Bryan Adams,
Rhythm tracked Mickey down for this exclusive interrogation during the band’s recent sellout visit
to the UK.

Rhythm: This tour is very different for Bryan Adams, because the band is now a three piece with Bryan himself playing on bass and Keith Scott on guitar. How has it all been going?
Mickey: It’s been a blast, and we really are having a ball. Bryan is great bass player with amazing groove and feel, and as a rhythm section we work very well together. Keith is a fantastic guitar player, and if we all keep simplicity in mind when we are playing everything works great. I haven’t really had to change very much from what I was doing before, but because there is less going on now I need to fill out the sound and cut back on notes in certain places.

Rhythm: How long have you been working with Bryan?
Mickey: I’ve been recording with him since 81 and playing live since 87. It’s a very comfortable gig, and I’ve had the chance to do lots of great things with him.

Rhythm: To what extent do you get involved with his song writing process?
Mickey: Bryan pretty much has everything done by the time he gets to me. The songs are written, and most of the basic drum ideas are already there, I get the opportunity to throw some things on and play around a bit, though - it’s a good formula and suits his style of working.
The most important thing with Bryan - and it’d simplest thing - is to keep time and keep it well. It’s one of the most important roles a drummer has - especially when it comes to the pop world, where you have to play around the vocal, and most important thing is the song, not the drum part. Even though you’re not out there to solo though everything, you can still have a lot of fun.

Rhythm: Like so many of your American counterparts, It was Ringo Starr’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that first inspired you to pick up a pair of sticks, wasn’t it?
Mickey: Yeah. We were living at my grandmother’s house and my six brothers and I had been listening to The Beatle on the radio. My grandmother refused to let us watch them on television - in America at that time they were real freaks, with long hair and the suits, and music that was so forward and different.
There was something about their songs that touched everybody, and I think it scared the older more conservative generation. I remember my parents and my grandmother watching the show in the living room while my brothers and I were fighting to look though the keyhole. I don’t know what it was about the drums in particular - there was just something about the backbeat and the way the cymbals washed that got me.

Rhythm: Are you a self-taught player?
Mickey: I would play along to what I’d hear on records, so I was teaching myself, but I was also having lessons at school with my music teacher, Mr. Tarantino. He was fantastic and really encouraged me. He taught me to read and I learnt my rudiments, and it was all very normal really - I’d play baseball or soccer and then I’d go and play drums.

Rhythm: In addition to Ringo Starr, which other drummers have had a big influence on your playing?
Mickey: Charlie Watts, Mitch Mitchell and then the seven j’s - Jo Jones, Joe Morello, Jim Chapin, John Bonham, Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner and Jeff Porcaro.
They said it all, from 30’s all the way though to the present day, and still inspire me now.
I love the fact that they have a gift that I'm lucky enough to get. I can watch them and learn something - each guy has his own little thing and it’s kind of cool to take things and use them yourself. Drummers are very receptive to that - it’s not a competition, and there is real camaraderie.
Everyone has something to contribute and it’s great when you get in a room with other drummers - it’s like being in a private club.

Rhythm: Have you had the opportunity to meet any of your heroes?
Mickey: I met Joe Morello and Jim Chapin on the same day at a modern drummer
Festival and it was thrilling.
I’ve met Ringo a couple of times and I told him I was his biggest fan. He just said “no your not, I am” Very Ringo don’t you think?

Rhythm: I know you didn’t get the chance to meet Jeff Porcaro personally, but the opportunity to see him play live with Steely Dan left you reeling..
Mickey: I’ve never had a drummer affect me like that live - it was just incredible to see and hear him. What he was doing wasn’t complicated, but the simplicity. The intensity, the control and the aggression he displayed without speeding up or playing really hard was breathtaking. You knew that he knew so much more than he was playing - he had so much technique and his chops were amazing, but only used them when he absolutely had to for a particular song or groove.

Rhythm: You personally describe yourself as “very limited in terms of technique”.
Mickey: I know how far I can do with something before I screw it up! As long as I know that I’m ok, and - technically speaking - I think we all have our own level. I really admire players like Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Gladd and Dave Weckl - they have amazing technique, and once again they only use what they absolutely have to. Steve Gadd, for example, is an amazing solo player, but at the same time he can play the simplest time and it’s magical.

Rhythm: Even though you always took your drumming very seriously as a youngster, you were unusually determined to keep all your options open in terms of other career opportunities.
Mickey: Like every other American kid, I wanted to be an astronaut! I was always a school kid, though, and I made sure that my grades were good and I kept up on everything. Most of the guys I knew who were playing music had decided that they didn’t care about education. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do - I wanted to finish school, go to college and play drums. At that stage I didn’t really think of drums as a career - I just knew they were fun and that they would always be very important to me.

Rhythm: Securing a part-time job recording jingles and commercials at the age of fifteen must have been great experience for you.
Mickey: That particular time and experience was very important, and I learnt so much. Because of it, recording has always been comfortable for me, rather than high-pressure nightmare. When you are staring out, it can sometimes be incredibly disappointing to hear back what you have just played.
You’ll think something is really good, and then you find out you’re speeding up and slowing down, the fills and sound are wrong… but ultimately you just learn from these experiences.

Rhythm: When you made the decision to quit your music history course at college to concentrate on drums full-time, what musical projects did you get involved in?
Mickey: I was tied up with a local band in Connecticut, the scratch Band, and we ended up working every night solid for five years, Oh boy , we worked a lot!
We played bars, theatres, big halls, you name it, and to be playing and getting paid to basically learn so much was fantastic - it was a brilliant training ground.
We worked out of a recording studio too, so I had access to that environment at the same time. I was only 24 when I left the band, but I learned so much in my time with them.

Rhythm: So what was the next stop?
Mickey: I’d left The Scratch Band because I didn’t really feel that I was progressing - I wanted to be a studio guy, and I knew that I needed to work with different people and play on more records. I started going into New York and Manhattan, and one of the first bands I worked with was Tom Dickie And The Desires. They were a really good pop outfit, and we recorded at Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix’s studio - which was very cool. I started to spend a lot more of my time in New York, and gradually word began to spread, people began calling me and the work started to come in.

Rhythm: Over the years you’ve worked with an amazing list of artists, haven’t you?
Mickey: To be absolutely honest, I don’t know how you get to work with different people, but I do know that in this business a lot of it is definitely word of mouth.
In American, there are so many great places to go too, if that’s what you want to do - Los Angeles, New York, Nashville…

Rhythm: How did you get the Hall And Oates gig?
Mickey: While I was working on a Tom Dicky session, Tommy Matolla - who managed the and Hall And Oates - came down and asked if I would be interested in finishing a Hall And Oates album.
While I was working on that, Bob Clearmountain called me up to say he’d got some demo tapes from a Canadian guy - Bryan Adams - and would I be interested in doing his album. Then after I’d finished that Daryl Hall asked if I would go on the road with them and I was like Yeah!.
It was just the way things worked out and I was very lucky because to me it wasn’t just work.

Rhythm: And what were The Cult and Alice Cooper like to work with?
Mickey: The Cult were great - it was a hoot, slamming through big rock songs, and Bob Rock produced the first two albums I did with them, so it was fantastic having him in the studio with us. As much as I wanted to I never did get to play live with them.
I did Hey Stoopid with Alice Cooper, and those two weeks were probably the funniest time I have ever had in the studio, He knows everyone and has the best stories, So it was a real blast.

Rhythm: What advice would you give a drummer who’s going into the studio to do a session for the first time?
Mickey: It’s always a bit weird when you don’t know what you are going to be asked to do, or what is expected of you. I think you just have to communicate with people - if they are aware of what you can and can’t give them, it usually works out. But you really have to remember that people hire you for you - I get jobs because people have a preconceived idea of how I play and what I can do on their records. So that’s really nice, when you walk into those sessions they say “just do what you do” and one or two takes later you’re done.

Rhythm: Do you have to turn a lot of work down?
Mickey: Now and again. Not because I want to - I hate not being able to play on something - but Bryan keeps me really busy. And with touring so much at the moment, when I am finally get home I am only there for a short while, and I want to spend time with my family - my private life takes precedence.
I think a lot of younger kids who play drums have a very glamorous view of life on the road. In reality we travel around, we don’t really sleep properly and it’s hard work, and the older I get, the harder it is!
But kids don’t get that - I know I didn’t at their age , I just wanted to be Ringo.

Rhythm: But do you still get the same buzz when you play live?
Mickey: Oh yeah every time. We all get butterflies, and we are like kids - giggling and acting goofy. It’s still great fun and I feel just like a kid - all I ever really want to do is play drums.

Rhythm: Which three albums would you recommend to young players?
Mickey: Any Billy Cobham album is essential for any drummer, but Spectrum is the one that sticks in my mind - just for the shock factor of hearing the guy play with that speed, discipline and dynamic. Then any Beatles record - to learn how to play pop songs.
A bit of Aja by Steely Dan 0 there are different drummers on different tracks, and of course Steve Gadds playing is pretty scary…And Cream too - Ginger Baker has to be in your collection. Disraeli Gears is an incredible album for rock drumming - Ginger wrote the book, and is untouchable.

Rhythm: If you could work with any musician, past or present, who would it be?
Mickey: There are so many! Jimi Hendrix, definitely Eric Clapton - he’s another of my all-time favourites. Or some older guys like Duke Ellington or Count Basie - one of the really cool big band guys.

Rhythm: Finally, what ambitions do you have for the future?
Mickey: Retirement! But of course, I’d miss playing live.
Seriously, I just want to keep doing what I am doing for as long as I can.

As a kid I dreamt about playing Madison Square Garden or Wembley, and here I am now playing the arena for the eighteenth time in my career… But I know when I get behind my kit tonight it’s going to be just as exciting as it was the first time round - I’ll feel like I'm 23 again and ready to take on the world…