| |
Drum
Magazine, March / April 2003
www.drummagazine.com
OUTSPOKEN
Stewart Copeland – In And Out Of The Doors
Robert Doerschuk
You'd think that playing with one legendary band would be enough
to keep Stewart Copeland happy. Then again, it's hard to imagine
anyone who would turn down an offer to take over as drummer with
The Doors. That call came last year, when John Densmore left due
to a combination of tinnitus – a persistent ringing in the
ear, which was making it harder for him to work – and, reportedly,
personal disagreements between him and his longtime colleague in
the group, keyboardist Ray Manzarek. It seemed like a match: Copeland's
deft work with The Police somehow recalled the sometimes bossa-inflected
work Densmore had done on Break On Through and other bits
of catchy, classic psychedelia. The Doors recently hit the stage
at L.A.'s House Of Blues, with Ian Astbury of The Cult channeling
the late Jim Morrison on vocals. If it sounded too good to be true,
as a matter of fact, it was. On the very day that we were scheduled
to ship this issue to the printer, we got a call from a fellow named
Ty Dennis who introduced himself as the new drummer for The Doors.
It seems that Copeland and the band parted ways. Still, here's what
the unpredictable Copeland had to say about his brief tenure as
a Door.
DRUM!:
How did you hook up with these guys?
Copeland: Their sharks called my sharks.
We had a trial run-through, and it was great. I couldn't believe
it; they sounded just like The Doors.
DRUM!: Was Densmore there?
Copeland: As it happens, I didn't meet
him until last night (November 24), when I was presenting an award
at the Armenian Grammys, which is a very cool gig. I came out, and
there he was: "Hey, I'm John Densmore." I immediately
got down on my hands and knees and genuflected. He was actually
very warm and supportive; it was a very nice meeting.
DRUM!: So you've been a fan of The
Doors for a while?
Copeland: Absolutely. All my high school
bands played When The Music's Over and Strange Days.
DRUM!: Light My Fire?
Copeland: Actually, not that one; I
was into their darker stuff. I enjoy playing Light My Fire
now because it's such a crowd pleaser; the people go nuts. It's
actually a natural for me, because Densmore's style of drumming
is particularly compatible with mine. He and I, and maybe Mitch
Mitchell, are of a similar type.
DRUM!: In what way?
Copeland: I hate to use the word "lighter"
because I don't see myself as light, but none of us is John Bonham,
in terms of that kind of weight or bombast. None of us is Billy
Cobham, in terms of that jazz/fusion thing. I guess we're jazz drummers.
I was raised to be a jazz drummer, and that stamp comes out on my
technique when I play, although I'm pretty much allergic to jazz
now.
DRUM!: Is the energy at Doors rehearsals
archival, or does it feel like you're with a band that's doing something
fresh?
Copeland: It's mixed. There's a certain
element of pride, like, "We're not a cover band! We're a living
group!" But yes, we are a cover band, even though the guys
in the band wrote the songs that we're covering. We do the same
arrangements that were on their records, and they play a lot of
the crucial lead lines. There are solos where they go off and come
up with new stuff, so in some places it's just like the record and
in other places it's fresh. But for me, playing "just like
the record" is real fresh. I'm there to play the classics.
That's what the audience wants, and just this once, what the hell,
why don't we give it to them?
DRUM!: How do you approach Densmore's
parts?
Copeland: I'm playing the same part
that he played, because I regard that as the part to that song.
I play it differently, because I'm a different guy. And the more
I play the material, the more different it gets. But I'm starting
where he was, because that's the arrangement. It's like when you
have Karajan and Solti conducting Wagner: It's the same music, off
the same chart, but it's really different.
DRUM!: What kind of kit do you play
when you're doing a Doors gig?
Copeland: I strip my kit down in honor
of Densmore. It's the Buddy Rich kit: one tom-tom in front, two
on the side. In other words, I'm cheating a little bit, because
Densmore had just one side tom. But you know what? It's really cool
not having a bunch of drums in the way. When I play with Oysterhead,
since we basically improvise for two hours, I need every toy imaginable.
But with The Doors, it's real simple. The hi-hat and the ride cymbal
kind of move in, so it's much more comfortable. And I play much
better. You can get into expression more with one tom-tom, hitting
it different ways to get different sounds out of it, rather than
having three in front, like I used to have. It's a lot more fun.
DRUM!: How hard has it been to get
your chops back in shape after not playing for a decade?
Copeland: It took a lot of work, actually.
I started practicing for the first Oysterhead gig and barely passed
muster for that. I had a great time, but man, I was rusty. At first
it was all about keeping up with Trey and Les, because they are
both on fire, those guys. It took me about a week on the road to
really get it up. But it's stuck with me since then, so physically,
doing The Doors thing is a piece of cake.
DRUM!: Do you think you may get sucked
into a full-time commitment to The Doors?
Copeland: Well, we're not moving into
a house together. They are good guys to hang with, and yeah, I could
see getting more involved. We're talking about maybe doing an album.
As far as I'm concerned, with The Doors, I'm just the drummer at
the back of the stage, enjoying the hell out of playing really great
material, and between gigs I go back to my day job and score films.
I love to be a weekend rock star.
|
|