All of my friends had a crush on Stewart Copeland when he was in The Police. He was the always such an intellectual, so enthralling to listen to and so darned cute. But his genius on those drums, though, we used to play back Police Songs to hear him.
I love his singing in Gizmodrome as well, I don't care if folks don't like him singing; he's like Frank Zappa and tells the stories great in his limited way.
First time watching a Drumtalk interview, and wanted to express how much I enjoyed it. I'm not a drummer, just a Stewart Copeland fan, but the questions, format and editing are excellent. Thank you!
What a man.... what a drummer.... guys, I’m 53, play drums for over 36 years . I heard this guy when I was 14 and it hit me and still hits me. The man is the reason I started playing back then....awesome. And such a great story teller. 👌🏼
That’s one of the reasons why I think Stewart identified a kindred spirit in Sting at the end of ‘76. They were both young and already had rich stories to tell - even before The Police had begun. And from opposite polls, also! Stewart was the youngest of four in a well-to-do family with ions of history - while Sting was the *oldest* of four from a working-class milkman’s family in a skid row environment. In the late ‘70s, they and Andy Summers needed each other, and the world has them to thank for their brief, nuclear-fallout tenure in The Police.
crazy how he talks about the signature drum fills that he made up on the spot and became such "signature" works of art....there are SOOO many fills of his throughout police albums that are serious works of art and so cool to find out that they were basically off the cuff.....Stewart is awesome!!!!
The Spyro video games made me find out about this guy. I didn't even listen much of The Police. He is such an amazing drummer/composer/musician. He sounds very intelectual and it is so interesting to listening to his thoughts! Awesome interview!
@@drumtalkofficial Yea, I play guitar and teach guitar and music theory. My favorite band is The Beatles and my fav drummer is Copeland. I become mesmerised everytime I see him play. He makes them sound so crisp and clear.
AMAZING INTERVIEW! Very inspiring... I adore Stu since the 70s and he is still so unique and innovative... so great, so brave, so smart, so funny, so cool, so fool, so talented, so intese-lligent... so COPELAND! His vision of the music should become a subject to be taught in school and a way of life... even if certain things you cannot learn, it's a matter of DNA, and he is got the DNA of the genius! An unpredictlable one, always on the run... Love this MAN! Every little thing he does is MAGIC!
Great interview! Stewart Copeland is just wonderful! His personality is so well reflected in his drumming. Smart and witty, often contrasting and combative. A lion on the drums!
He said he would be an Journalist if he wasn't a musician, and he's right! He talks so well and has all those good old times with The Police well recorded in his mind! However, he has evolved into an influential drummer for generations to follow! He is one of the most important drummers, ever!
When he talks about not having a concept for his drum parts and they're basically improvised, it confirmed what I've always thought. His playing is so much about energy and always seemed to be a direct expression of him. Most studied drummers can play well enough but you don't always get a sense of who the drummer is. Copeland's playing is an expression of himself. Guys like Keith Moon and Mitch Mitchell are like that too. It's hard to beat players that can do anything but for my money I prefer to hear the personality of the drummer.
yes, mimicry is great if it's integrated into a believable identity, otherwise it looks like a rather npc-lookin' entity, a hollow but dangerously, aggressively collective , and counter-intuitively greedy and grotesque aggregate! like, no, thank you, mean joe! and who's that black-mask'd ferengi-lookin'-villain, tellin' us when it's okay to do..what?? stay, or to go? ouchie, fauci, the ferengi shoulda stopped him from makin' 'em look so mean, but not 'mean' in a good way! very bad for america, amigos!~ trump eff'd up, royally, big-league, and that's really not good, in fact it's very bad, like nobody's-ever-seen!
How can this video have only 525 comments? Stewart is so crazy, so ADHD, so brilliant, goofy and lovable. He strikes me as a guy who loves to opine and hear himself talk, yet is simultaneously down-to-earth and lacking pretense. If you were his bartender, he'd order two pints of stout, one for him and one for you. He influenced the way I tune my drums and I'd love to meet him.
Wow. So the Police songs were recorded within two or three takes. That’s why the drumming is so good and fresh when he played it. That his mind is so quick explains how he could rattle those fills off without thinking. A game changer.
Stewart is brilliant at communicating things are actually quite complicated and challenging. He additionally puts his own personal spin on these topics, and i found that to be very engaging, as well as informative. As a simple example, when he describes drumming as "punctuation" as compared to the rhythm of a piece. This was within the context of orchestral arrangement ... something that many of us wouldn't tend to see that way. Well done. Thanks for posting this interview.
you're probably right! brilliant truth-tellor, oh heck yes, eh? i understand stewart has developed some very delicate sensibilities and sophistication we peasants, would never be able to properly appreciate, fair enough but i guess we'll have to take his word for things like that, rather than try to speak for him and his 'ilk', ha ha! brilliant indeed, stewart was and is, but the world of rock and metal and drummers and real people and paper and iron, is long gone: it seems plans-for-nigel, had already long been made and have since been put into devastatingly powerful effect, boom! they-only-want-what's-best, for *us*, tho, stew probly always knew this! hardly fair, if y'think about it but hey, it's close-enough-for-ruckin'-row, roight?? informative-as-frack, brad! good stuff, maynard!
He rides with the wind of the moment. He hears things we don't and he sees things we cannot. This man is a true artist... which no doubt makes him difficult for non artists with no understanding to understand. When an artist is being constantly bombarded with bundles of creative energies and images, words and feelings from the great beyond, how he deals is as individual as anything can be. This world can never have another SC... but we sure is hell could use at least a couple dozen more.
amazing musical intelectuality by this man/artist. i´ve leaned enough from this episode. thank you drumming gods for guiding my path to get her today. im some what wiser now thanks to listening to the way this man thinks.
I'm relatively unfamiliar with his work but I got so much stuff out of this interview, so many amazing points on different topics. Thank you for this!!!
Sega Milkis I he is one of the best man. Drumming is often simple beats and stupid technical other stuff. Copeland plays like he is singing a melody tbh.
Would love to see him too. But he won't fucking come. He hates being in front of the camera. It's one of the main reasons why none of the Tool live performances have ever been recorded.
It's great being able to play other instruments. But DRUMS are my main love... It also helps knowing about harmony and melody and raising guitar-players' eyebrows! Stewart is so good - full of life and energy AND creativity.
I remember being in high school in the early 80s being a big Neil Peart fan. All of those who's better Neil or Stewart arguments. How dumb that was. Today, still as a Neil fan, I feel Stewart is equally iconic and deserving. No more arguments. In later years, both Stewart and Neil had a good friendship with each other too. RIP Neil.
holy hell...., having played drums for 20 years.. i always admired this guy.. Listening to The Police when i was a kid, Stewart was one of the few that really cut out of the bunch, for me. But i didn't know he had all this brilliant background. Having dropped orchestra percussion little after graduating Music School, i only now rationally understood why.. Its the punctuation thing.. jesus,,, that's it ! He says it took him a while to figure that out... Damn..i only really figured it out just now.. listening to what he said. That's why i love to write music... and i love playing music.. But i could never do it viisually. It always had to come from the gut. Kudos, Herr Copeland
I’m a drummer and very impressed with Stewart’s analysis of drumming and many other things I totally agree I feel a kindred spirit aside of not having any fame or talent
Copland's always had an awesome snare sound. The studio versions sounded like live drums. So many bands and artists snares sounded like they were hitting a cardboard box
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