Rob Brown on The Importance of Gigs, Whether Feel Can Be Taught, and The Future of YouTube Drumming

Throughout the years, I’ve had a running mental catalogue on the go-to videos for certain subjects. Jazz swing, building a solo on the drums, tuning, timing, etc. And when I look back, in a surprising number of categories, the “best resource” comes from Rob “Beatdown” Brown.

Rob was among the “OGs” on Drumeo, with a great video about Stewart Copeland, and consistently drops authentic takes on his channel. That’s why I’ve been meaning to have a conversation with Rob for some time.

I finally caught up with him in early August, and opened the conversation with a question that’s been on my mind a bunch: What does he make of this situation where everybody practices chops, but nobody’s “allowed” to use them? And has that created a situation in which they’re not taught very well. Rob didn’t hold back on that subject, and was equally candid in speaking about the importance of real-world playing experience for the “internet generation”.

We veered a bit into the nature/nurture debate as well, speaking about whether “feel” can be taught - my hobby horse is the crowd that seems to think that, even for people with the capacity for good feel, there’s no recourse except to “feel it”. Rob was a bit more open minded to the idea that some people have a better innate capacity.

Finally, we spoke about YouTube as a mature medium, and the future of careers in drumming.

If you want some unfiltered wisdom from one of the OGs, I know you’ll enjoy this interview!

Chapters

0:00 - how does Rob feel about groove vs chops 10:61 - who are "hot" drummers who play clean but not "showoffy" 16:41 - did it take Rob a lot of effort to learn to "flow"? 23:31 - how important is real-world experience for drummers? 27:00 - does Rob have take-aways from his gig experience? 31:29 - what has Rob learned about his audience that's surprised him? 36:15 - is "just feel it" inadequate advice? 41:07 - is feel teachable, or are some people just born with it? 49:10 - what career advice would Rob give to a young graduate?