The 8020 Drummer Podcast Nate Smith

Today’s podcast guest first caught my attention with his clean, slamming Instagram clips. Picture closing your eyes and hearing a mix of Clyde Stubblefield, Bonham, and Nate Smith, then opening them and seeing a skinny teenager with a big mop of black hair and an infectious smile, and thinking “this guy is playing this”?
To the degree we use the word “prodigy”, Raghav Mehrotra is that. Someone who exhibits a degree of artistic maturity we usually don’t expect until many years later, even though he’s barely in college. (Studying economics at Harvard, btw.)
Raghav played drums and contributed vocals in the Broadway musical School of Rock at age 15.
He’s sat in with Seth Meyers’ Late Night band several times.
And now he’s behind the drum chair for Jordan Rakei’s latest album, The Loop.
Naturally, I was curious about how he developed such maturity at such a young age. In this conversation we touch early teachers, practice routines, figuring out Instagram, what it’s like to sit in with the Late Night Band, advice he’d give to up-and-coming drummers, and more.
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Chapters
 
0:00 - what were Raghav's biggest influences
3:50 - why does he think he got so mature at so early an age
9:00 - who was his earliest teacher?
13:25 - how did he get on Instagram?
15:04 - should drummers be less afraid to put themselves out there?
18:33 - how did he internalize the key details so early
23:18 - how to decide when to "move on"
26:50 - Raghav's zoom-lecture practice strategy/how has his practice routine changed
31:00 - what advice would he give his younger self
34:54 - biggest advice he'd give to the median instagram drummer
37:04 - biggest surprise sitting in with the Late Night band

If you’ve watched more than zero of my videos, you’ll know that there’s a kick drum technique that I endorse pretty unequivocally - simple heel up.
Sure, it takes some dialing-in, but my general feeling is it’s the most versatile/least “distance-sensitive” technique for avoiding tension at multiple speeds and dynamic ranges.
But what if I was wrong.
Today’s interview subject has the opposite take: whereas I switched to “heel up” after several frustrating years trying to coax more volume, power, and speed out of my legacy “heel down” technique, he switched to heel down, when he found heel-up made soft dynamics and playing off the head more difficult.
I’m speaking of YouTube OG Tim Metz.
In our extended interview, which you can view below, we get into his background co-teaching with Mike Johnston in Sacramento, gig scenes in general, his approach to teaching, and the like, but for purposes of the YouTube video, we went head-to-head to debate the merits of the two techniques.
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If you haven’t heard of Arch Echo’s Richie Martinez, get ready for a rabbit hole.
(Richie’s Instagram)
Richie is one of the most electrifying young drummers around.
While he calls the genre of his band “progressive metal”, his playing encompasses a type of "cross-genre” fluency not many drummers have, but it’s exiting when you see it.
Equally comfortable in funk, fusion, or prog settings, Martinez brings energy, enthusiasm, and blistering chops to anything he plays.
Martinez’ background is an unconventional one - growing up in Houston, he was mostly self-taught until high school. That gave Richie a unique perspective on teaching and learning drums. What’s more, he’s made playing “hard” a science, and coaches many-a-touring-drummer on how to play forcefully without injuring themselves or burning out.
And while Richie responded to the question “is there a reason to play forcefully when you can just let the mics do the work” with “yea - do you want to be a LOSER?” He equally obsessed with the mechanics of the low end of the dynamic range, and frequently asks students to play softly on table tops. And while he’s a jokester, he shows an unironic love for the instrument and his students.
If you’ve ever wondered about the mechanics of playing drums hard without injury, why some of the “conventional advice” doesn’t always work, or just what a super disciplined player is like to spend time with, I know you’ll love this conversation with Riche.

Want to play drums injury-free into your 70s and beyond?
I sure do.
Today’s video guest, Brandon Green, was coaching elite athletes when a high school friend’s struggle with injury inspired him to utilize his skills to help drummers. Since then, Brandon founded the Drum Mechanics YouTube and Instagram channels, where he breaks down the setup and movement of some of your favorite drummers, and gives tons of free advice to help all drummers improve our setup and movement.
I wasn’t an uninterested party. Since becoming a “tall guy” I’ve always struggled with “Ichabod Crane Posture”, and over the past couple of years I’ve been experimenting with setup mental cues, and exercises to help me move better.
Brandon weighs in on the posture conundrum from both philosophical and practical angles.
Then I ask him to help resolve something I’ve always had confusion about: rack tom angle. And the answer surprised me. (But I’m making a change.)

Andy Prado is a drummer’s drummer.
Talk to practically anyone you’ve heard of about who their favorite drummers are, and Andy is likely to be in that sentence.
He’s one of a small list of drummers you could call “elite choppers” - a list that includes people like Ron Bruner, Mike Mitchell, and not too many others.
As such he’s in both an enviable, and an unenviable position. And you better believe we dig into the multi-edged sword of “chops”. (It’s way harder than you think to get them, you don’t have anything to “hide behind” like groove drummers, and when you reach the top of your profession everybody either wants to be you, hates you, or both.)
Andy touches a bit on the unhuman work ethic necessary to reach the level he’s reached. We also get into:
Huey Lewis and The News - based or cringe
Andy’s weekly routine and current projects
The importance of being authentic
Whether drummers’ outward personalities match their music
How Andy is also an elite groove player
and much more
I know you’ll enjoy this light-hearted convo with one of the LA OGs, the GOAT, as Forrest Rice calls him.
Andy's Links
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/andypradojr/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@andypradojr6186
Coevality Band - https://www.instagram.com/coevalityband/
The Golden Age by Wires - https://wirestheband.bandcamp.com/album/the-golden-age
Scarypoolparty - Sun Moon Earth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvO39Y2692M

Whether or not you’ve heard the name Arthur Hnatek, you’ve probably heard the drummer.
If you love Tigran Hamasyan, by definition you love Arthur Hnatek.
Since the Mockroot album, Arthur has been creating unique drum parts for Tigran, and weaving himself deeply into the fabric of the band, and the albums.
As my interests currently sit at the intersection of jazz and prog rock, I was extremely interested in who Arthur’s influences were, and how he’s developed his voice.
We start out having the usual conversation about developing a music voice, but quickly segue into “musical family trees” - i.e. is Keith Carlock the “grandfather”, and Mark G and Nate wood the “fathers” - something I’m gratified that Arthur likewise found fun.
Maybe most fascinating, Arthur didn’t ever consciously play prog rock, but rather absorbed it via osmisis.
Insights like, and something surprising about Tigran’s input into drum parts, abound in this interview. Know you’ll enjoy.