German Sticks Interview, May 2003
 
 There are not many musicians that are able to look back over such a steady 
 and long career as can Mickey Curry.
 He had played drums on Bryan Adams’ albums since 1981, 
 and has been on tour with him since 1987.
 Before this, he played drums on Hall and Oates for 7 years, 
 and experienced all the musical highlights of their career. 
 So it was right that they invited him along to record 
 the recently released comeback album “Do it for love”. 
 Looking at Mickey Curry’s musical CV, you become aware of a wide musical spectrum. 
 You will find names such as Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Celine Dion, Lara Fabien,
 Alice Copper and The Cult. 
 What makes Mickey Curry’s grooves so attractive that so many different artists 
 employ him again and again? 
 The answers lie in the interview with Mickey that took place the day after 
 Bryan Adams’ concert in May at the Cologne Arena.

A lot has happened in your drumming career since your last STICKS interview 11 years ago.
I cannot believe it was 11 years ago!
Let us begin with the most recent events. Bryan Adams newest production is a soundtrack album…
…Yes, “Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron” This is a collaborative work by Bryan and Hans Zimmer, There are some typical Bryan Adams songs as well as instrumentals specially composed for the film. Bryan got the job of writing and recording the music together with Hans, and because he did not want to do this without us, his band, he somehow managed to get us on it too.
It was a lot of fun, but also a little difficult. This was something very new for me, because although I had already recorded several songs for the films, I had never recorded a real soundtrack album. This was a completely new way of working. It was difficult because the timing had to be exact during the diverse music or film clips. For example, there was a clip that lasted 1 minute and 3 seconds - train rolling down the hill - over which a drum track had to be played exactly on time. I also had to get used to the speed at which the film and music people worked and recorded.
It was, of course, helpful that there were complete annotated scores for each musical sequence. Hans had several people working for him who had prepared the scores well. We also played the various sequences whilst watching the actual film sequences, which was helpful in terms of dynamics and placing accents etc.
Finally, everything was edited in Pro Tools. So really, it was not so much stressful as great fun.

So, you are good at reading music then?
Well, I’m not exactly brilliant at reading music, but I can grasp and follow a song chart pretty quickly. I worked hard at learning this after an unsuccessful session with David Sanborn. When I appeared for this recording session, David gave me the sheet music and I had to admit to him that I could not read it. However, David was cool, and so we tried it without notes, but unfortunately this did not work out either, and so we decided to pre-program the drum part. The song actually appeared on the album and I later received a Gold Disc from David.
This experience made me really determined to bring my music reading skills up to scratch, as I played many sessions and never wanted to have another experience such as this ever again.

Did you have to read music scores during most of your drumming sessions?
No, rarely. There were usually music scores with the drum basics, where I could follow the song. I found that all I had to do was learn the song. Most musicians have song demos from which you can work out what you can do to make the drum parts fit the song. You can even get basic tracks, where you simply switch off the pre-programmed drum part and then play to the song. I enjoy working to song charts because they simplify things, especially when I am preparing for a session. I think, however, that most people book me after finding out how I work because they know me, or at lest have heard me play.
They expect me to simply know what the song demands, which sounds and grooves, which bass drum pattern fit’s where or needs altering. Just that I know what sounds best in a song.
Something that cannot be underestimated is that I get on well with many people.

 

Do you still play so many different sessions?
As I have been so busy with Bryan and because there is not a lot of time between tours, I don’t play nearly as many now. Another very important reason is that I like to spend any free time I have at home with my family. But I still enjoy session work and each gig is a new challenge.

Most people know you primarily from your work with Bryan Adams, some probably from your work with Hall & Oates. Looking at your music CV, there are so many different musicians, for example, Elvis Costello…
Ah, “King of America”! I was a nervous wreck! (he laughs). At the time, I worked a lot for T-Bone Burnett, who produced the record. He booked me and T-Bone Wolk, the bassist, with whom I also played on Hall & Oates, for this session, so, we flew to LA and met Elvis’ Band, The Attractions, With drummer Pete Thomas. I admired him a lot. We went to the recording studio the next day and met Jim Keltner who was there to play a track for the album. I thought to myself, Pete’s here, Jim’s here, so why am I here? Oh well, I suppose I’m here to play the drums. Okay, so I tried to play the songs as brilliantly as I supposed Jim Keltner would. Elvis was just so nice, T-Bone Burnett is a very good and considerate producer, and so we were really lucky. They liked what we were playing which resulted in two of our tracks appearing on the album. What a brilliant day!
I have always been a great Elvis Costello fan and my band The Scratch Band was lucky enough to support him in New Haven on his first USA tour back in 1977. I thought he and his band were totally brilliant, so different from what was happening then. I still am a fan and Elvis really is a nice person. I feel happy and honoured that I had a chance to work with him.
A fantastic songwriter.
I also like Richard Thompson; he too is a great musician. He just lets you play as you want to play…He just goes for the moment…he plays the song to you once, and then simple says “ Ok, let’s go.” He never does more that one or two takes because he does not want to lose the energy and spontaneity. I like people like him who want to capture these magical moments. He lays great store in spontaneous performances and does not even improve on anything later. He likes some nervous energy that occurs during these moments - it’s very edgy all the time. I have, I think, recorded songs three or four of his albums, for example, “Daring Adventures” and “Amnesia”.
It is also interesting that during the concert yesterday evening, the band played with a restlessness and roughness, loaded with energy.
Nowadays, during huge productions, we are used to bands playing exactly and accurately to click tracks and programmings…
We don’t do that at all!

It was evident that you were really enjoying it. And it was clear that you often exchanged amused looks with the bassist.
Oh yeah! (laughs) okay, Bryan is also someone who lays great store on spontaneous performances. He wants full concentration and energy, but at the same time, it must be fun. If things become to serious, too heavy, then it simply does not work. It is then not a Bryan Adams concert. Naturally, there are many inside jokes. At the moment, Norman and I often exchange “cowbell jokes”. This stems from an episode from “Saturday Night Live”. Bryan just likes it when we have fun on stage, as long as we play the songs well and he can sing them well.
This way, everyone is happy.

You are a well - rehearsed band of many years standing, or at least the core of the band, Bryan, Keith Scott and you. You even played as a trio for two years, with Bryan on bass.
Yeah, that was terrific fun! Looking back, I don’t know whether that was good musically, but we had a lot of fun. When you listen to the live recording on the bonus cd of “you and me” and look at the “Live at Slane Castle” DVD, then you hear and see 3 men who are purely and simply fighting to survive! (laughs)
The three of us had to cover a lot of musical activity. Keith, our guitarist, is simple brilliant at this. He covered all the important parts if the song with only his guitar. I played a gigantic 26” bass drum, which works really well with the power rock trio combo. Now that we have more band members, Gary on keyboards and Norman on the bass, I have reverted to my normal 24” bass drum, which delivers enough punch, yet sounds more defined.

You still play as a power trio on the small stage at the back of the concert hall…
…probably more than a bar band or an oldies band! (laughs) That’s only 20 minutes of wild drumming. Sometimes I don’t even see Keith and Bryan when everyone comes onto the stage to dance. I only see Bryan if he stands on the bass drum.

Who thought of the songs that you play there?
Well, we sat down and thought of the songs that would be really fun to play.
‘Poison Ivy’ has funny and ridiculous words, ‘Seven Nights to Rock’ is a simply a rock’n’roll song and during ‘She’s only happy when she’s Dancing’, everyone comes on to the stage to dance. It also gives the public at the back in the big hall an opportunity to be near to the band, even just for a moment. It’s lovely to see how much fun they are having.
Although it is sometimes difficult to keep in time because we do not have direct monitoring on the small stage and we are playing against the delay from the PA, this is not more difficult than playing against the public’s clapping as it becomes increasingly faster. What is hard is running between the two stages - you can get quite breathless - hey, I’m an old man ( laughs). In any case, adrenalin levels get pushed up quite high.

Then how do you manage to stay in time without a click track against adrenalin boost, breathlessness and your fans clapping at the wrong tempo?
I use a Tama rhythm watch during 7 or 8 songs, although I only use the LED as a reference for the tempo, so that u know whether our time is too fast or too slow. I can then steer us back at the right speed. So, when we are playing too slowly, I can shout to Bryan to ‘ speed up, so we can eat dinner on time today!’
The thing is with Bryan is that he likes to play songs a little faster when energy levels are high. He then tends to drift when he sings, and if I don’t realise this in time, he gives me a hand sign telling me ‘ Hey, bring it up a little bit!’
Before the song ‘Do I have to say the words’ he also said something to you…
Yes, ‘ play it like reggae!’ (laughs) Sometimes we are very spontaneous and try something new. Okay, I thought, ‘ Do I have to say the words?’ - which tempo does this song have, how quickly can I change the groove.
Okay. Then, after the intro groove he told me that he would like to have it a bit faster - no problem. But I wish I really could play reggae. I experienced four Bob Marley tours in 1977, and listened to Carlton Barrett drumming. Since then I have been fascinated by how brilliant and unique reggae drumming is - Carlton, Sly Dunbar, simply brilliant drummers. It really puts you in a good mood to try to play reggae yourself. It’s a bit funny with the bass drum being on 3, especially when most people perceive of them being on 1, like Bryan yesterday (laughs). But when it works, it’s hypnotic. And those cool punctuated hi-hat patterns! I like trying to emulate the feel, but really, I supposed we should leave it to the great reggae musicians. Leave it for the good ones! (laughs)

You obviously find it easy to play competently in various musical styles or genres. Your scope reaches from R& B/Soul with Hall &Oates, pop with Celine Dion or Lara Fabien, extraordinary singer/songwriters like Elvis Costello or Tom Waits right up to Bryan Adams and even somewhat tougher projects with The Cult and Alice Cooper…
…Okay, I mean it has a lot to do with what you listen to in your youth; they say you are influenced by what you listen to. I listened to lots of different styles of music, especially as radio stations offered more diversity and choice than they do today, which is actually a shame, as many kids are deprived of a lot of good music. And you can discover lots of brilliant things in all sort of music. When I was a child, I don’t think there was any kind of music that I did not like, I found something in each genre of music that I did like. Okay, what really move’s me deeply are Motown songs, soul music. I have just seen the film ‘Standing in the Shadows of Motown’. You should really go and see it. Drummers like Benny Benjamin, Pistol Allen were simply legendary. In the film, Steve Jordon says something apt: Motown rhythm sections were so good, that even a dog could have sang them and they would become hits!
In the same way, all the great English rock drummers like John Bonham, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker give me goose bumps. Even if they don’t play your kind of music, you should learn to value them. Drummers like these are not born every day. I count myself lucky that there were part of my youth.
I brought all their records and played drums to them. I learnt to play drums by imitating all these great drummers.

Were you completely self - taught?
No, I started drum lessons when I was 10, mainly the basics. When I was at high school I also was taught by jazz drummer Nick Forte, a fantastic be-bop and swing drummer, who taught me so much. Without doubt, though, I learnt the most by copying drummers and playing in bands. I had my first band when I was 12, practical application, you know? When I was a teenager, my hero was Danny Seraphine from Chicago. When I was in a recording studio for the first time with my band, I wanted to sound just like him. So I told the sound engineer ‘ I don’t care what you do, I want you to make my drums sound like Danny Seraphine”’ The problem was that we did not have enough instruments and were rather more like a progressive rock band such as Yes, but I did not want to sound like them! (laughs) But when I heard the first playback after the first take. I knew then that I wanted to do studio work - my drums sounded like Danny’s!
By the way, I learnt a lot about music in this exact studio. It was also the rehearsal room of The Scratch Band, a Top 40 band that I later played with for a few years. I took notice of great studio drummers of the time, such as Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner, and then later Jeff Porcaro and Steve Gadd. When I was 16, I did my first jobs at this studio - advert jungles and things like that. I had to learn to do this quickly, if I wanted to get more jobs. There I also learnt how to change the feel of the music by, for example, playing the snare drum a hairsbreadth behind the click, so that It flares really lightly. I made a point of practising this, which helped me when I played ballads but also helps to keep timing constant.
This was really important with Hall & Oates, as we had a gigantic rack full of electronics, 2 linn drums for sounds and clicks, Simmons SDS-V and SDS-7, which I triggered from additional pads.

How did you get from The Scratch Band to Hall & Oates?
G.E Smith played guitar in The Scratch Band. He left two years before I joined them and went to New York where he was fairly successful, and then played for Dan Hartman and Hall & Oates. He telephoned me and asked me to come to New York to form a band and record his album.
This I did and worked with sound engineer Bob Clearmountain for the first time. At that time, about 1981, I also played on an album for Tom Dickie, who, like Hall & Oates, was managed by Tommy Mottola. Tommy Mottola heard me play during a session for Tom Dickie and rang me to book me for some sessions with Hall & Oates for their ‘Private Eyes’ album. G.E and Bob Clearmountain also recommended me.
On the one hand, Bob was responsible for my drums sounding nearly like those belonging to John Bonham, but on the other he had booked me to do a studio session with some Canadian bloke called Bryan Adams, whose album he was currently producing. The rest is, as they say, history. (laughs)

Which recordings belong to the unqualified highlights of your career?
Oh, there are so many songs….apart from the aforementioned songs with Elvis Costello and Richard Thompson, then without doubt the songs with Los Lobos and all the recordings for the ‘Into the Fire’ album by Bryan, which we made with Bob Clearmountain st his home…’Hey Stoopid’ by Alice Cooper was the most congenial and funniest sessions I have ever taken part in….so many songs by Hall & Oates everything I did together with T-Bone Wolk on bass…when I play with him, I don’t have to think about timing, dynamics or anything else, I just play with him and we create music. Hall &Oates have just released a new album, on which I play drums on about half of the songs. We were in the studio for a week, and had so much fun. It really can’t get better than that.