DF:  I come from a very musical family.  My two older brothers played guitar and bass guitar and my younger sister sings and dances and plays the piano, and, from an Italian heritage, music was always a major part of the family.  This going back to the mid-60’s when there really wasn’t that much television happening and music was a very big part of the household.   So with that, whenever relatives came over, which was often, we’d bring our instruments out and we’d play – so I’d begin to see the power of music – that we’d play music and our family would sing and dance and it was always a good time.  So I always related the fact that, whenever we were involved with music, it had to do with the celebration of the moment – the moment of life, the moment of who you were with, the moment of that time.   It’s a pretty powerful message to be able to learn at a very young age.   So once I started playing with my family and performing certain gigs and being paid then I realized “Wow – I can make money from doing this..”  that all of a sudden shifted it to a whole new level.  I mean I can have fun with what I’m doing and make money, and that was at about 11 when I realized that.  At 12 years old I started to make money as a professional and I’ve been doing it ever since – for the past 43 years. 

DR:  Were there any specific influence you had with regards to your drumming coming up?

DF:  Absolutely!  And I still have influences!  Even after all these years I think what has amazed me is that at the beginning stages when The Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show in America in 1964, February of ’64, that moment of seeing that band perform and seeing Ringo play and the fun that they were having, the reaction of the crowd was that first message as a child to say that “Wow – I think maybe this is possible.  And I live in America , that always professes the dream, so I said, that’s something that, maybe if I work hard for I can achieve!  So then I got involved with a teacher, a teacher by the name of Ronnie Benedict.  Ronnie had passed away about 10 years ago – a brilliant brilliant teacher who inspired me about learning.   Then from Ronnie Benedict I went to Al Miller, another wonderful teacher from the Long Island area where I lived.  Al passed away about 9 years ago.  An incredible man who totally inspired me about the instrument and what potential there was with it.  Then it was through Al Miller – a dear friend of his was Buddy Rich.  Buddy would come to Al’s house and I met Buddy there in 1971.  Here I walk into Al’s house thinking I’m having dinner with “a buddy” friend of his, which is what he told me, “come on by were going to have dinner with a buddy friend of mine” and when I walked in and saw Buddy Rich I was shaking Buddy’s hand and I said to Al Miller “Al, just so ya know, this isn’t A buddy, this is THE Buddy!”  That’s a BIG difference.  And Buddy loved that of course, we laughed, and I had dinner with Buddy and that began a long relationship of knowing Buddy from 1971 until he died in 1987.  So, as an influence right there, going to see Buddy Rich, being able to see him from back stage, and it was backstage watching Buddy that I met all the great drummers.  Elvin Jones, Billy Cobham, Poppa Jo Jones,  Tony Williams, Steve Gadd, Joe Morello – all these incredible drummers that went to see Buddy and I was just a kid back there with my teacher Al Miller and when I met them all I saw the camaraderie the actual brotherhood these drummers had.  And I was so inspired by seeing that – that they respected each other – and learned from each other – it was that feeling that I felt was the magic to enjoy.  So those influences, and from there on in, every drummer that I hear now, those drummers that are my age and older, and especially the drummers that are younger than me, the next generation – I hear them, and I’m inspired by them.  
 

DR:  So do you ever stop learning?  Are you still learning today?

DF:  Tim, I am always learning – every single day that goes by I realize how much more there is to learn.  By constantly learning it keeps my playing fresh.  So I feel now, at 55 years young, I’m playing the best I’ve ever played, because, I – it’s not a matter of just trying to keep learning – I embrace learning.  There’s a big difference in that – learning is – if it comes my way I’ll learn – embracing education means I am out there seeking it with a deep passion because there’s so much material.  All these great publishers that are out there – the Alfred.com’s, Hudsonmusic.com, Halleonard.com, all these great publishers that are out there putting books  out are offering us material in book form, play along CD’s, DVD’s that have incredible information on them.  I think every drummer should have every book and every DVD!!! It’s as simple as that.  Everyone should have the “complete” library – and you will be inspired every day of your life.

DR:  Well that I’ll take to heart.  For me, my first lessons were a year ago – I’ve been playing since I was 12 but I just wanted to pull it up some…

DF:  Wow…Absolutely!  And think of it like this, what a lesson is, a lesson doesn’t have to be the paradigm or the perception of I’m going to go there and learn reading and learn the rudiments.  A lesson can be just a communication between someone with more knowledge to someone with less knowledge – and we’re just trying to absorb that!  It could be done by just playing together for that lesson on two drum sets.  It could be sharing some hand positions.  It could be sharing a couple patterns.  Some rudiments that can be applied to the drum set.  It could be just a sharing as to the formality of “learning”.

DR:  I took lessons at Donn Bennett’s.  Dennis Van Ryn was the instructor I had he's a great guy! 

DF:  All of Donn Bennett’s teachers are great guys.  And there’s a perfect example of a guy:  Donn Bennett.  Donn’s a driven drummer.  Not only do they have a great drum shop, when I was there this past, what a few months ago, we did Woodstick 2008, Donn masterminded this idea – several hundred drummers set up and were performing.  The next morning after Woodstick I gave a talk to his teachers, Donn Bennett’s teachers about just the ideas of teaching.  It was an incredible time to sit down with them and I was very inspired by these teachers.  Donn’s doing a great thing!

DR:  Yep, they’re great people!  So…is there any musician you’ve ever talked to that’s changed your outlook on drumming, your playing in specific, that’s totally steered you in a different direction?  

DF:  Absolutely!  At first – when I first met Joe Morello and took lessons with Joe back in the early 70’s and Joe opened me up to being able to play the instrument with total relaxation.   So what that allowed me to do now was breathe easier and any idea I had in my mind was able to be executed with 100% relaxation.   That totally opened me up to more levels of expression.  Then from Morello I went to Jim Chapin.  Jim Chapin who is now as we speak 89 years young.  And Jim showed me the technique of this Moeller Technique – this whipping technique, which was able to give me more power with relaxation.   And those are words that are not commonly used together.

DR:  So when you’re doing that you’re relaxed?

DF:  Totally relaxed. 

DR:  At Woodstick 2004 I saw you play for the first time, my wife was with me at that one, and she saw you play and using that technique and asked “Is he crazy or….?”  And I told her, no, that’s Dom’s style, that’s how he plays.  

DF:  Yeah – and I’m totally relaxed.  And the Moeller technique, utilizing it if I want more power with relaxation.  Now most people don’t equate power and relaxation. 

DR:  I would never equate the two!  

DF:  That’s what the technique teaches you.  So when I learned this from Jim Chapin, now I had the Morello skills with this Jim Chapin Moeller skill I could have the speed, the endurance the power, it was just incredible.  And the control.  So that opened up a whole other door.   Then I had the chance of meeting Steve Gadd in the early 80’s.  Steve Gadd, as far as thinking of the drum set as an orchestrated instrument , Steve completely opened me up to seeing the drum set differently.  Absolutely brilliant in how that shifted me.   Then I met with Billy Cobham – Billy Cobham playing open handed.  He was a righty but he was playing his ride cymbal on his left side because he felt that by not crossing his hands it gave him more options and ideas.  I made that switch to open handed playing where I don’t cross my hands.  That made me think differently.  I even wrote a book with Claus Hessler called “Open Handed Playing”.

DR:  Yes – I saw that and I’m going to have to pick that up. 

DF:  It’s incredible.   As honored as I am, the forward of the book was written by Billy Cobham who was the creator of the technique.  So to me, here I am, putting this book out about this technique that I had only recently learned over the past few years.  It’s so exciting to feel the potential of change.   That it has nothing to do with age.  It has to do with the willingness of us to be open-minded.   That is the key. 

DR:  Right on.  So, when did you start using your passion for drumming to inspire and motivate others?  Motivation is a big theme I saw on your website and I know you’ve written books on it.  

DF:  Yeah.  Ya know, it’s kind of funny…when I was 18 years old, and I tell this story in my book “The Cycle of Self Empowerment” which is a book that I wrote from just my travels around the world.  After traveling around the world, over 50 countries over the past thirty years there were just certain things that I felt that I could share with some people.  To share some stories and that’s what “The Cycle of Self Empowerment” is about.  In there I tell the story of when I was 18 years old there was a female singer that I was working with that invited me to come to her school which was a school for the blind, the Jewish Guild for the Blind in New York.  I went there and she had me play a demo for the people that were there - there called them the “clients”.  They were anywhere from like, 20 years old to 40.  So they weren’t kids necessarily.  I went and played the drums and they had never seen a drum set so having the drums in the same room I had them all come by and touch the drum set as they were all blind.  When I played it was so exciting and at one point I asked for questions.  There was a young gentleman in the back of the room who had his hand raised and when I called on him one of the teachers in the back of the room began to cry.  I didn’t know exactly what I did, but I called on the student, the client, and he asked his question – and every word was calculated, he said “Dom….” and he was stammering his words.  He said “D-D-D-Dom – w-when you play a solo do you plan out what you play or do you play what you feel?”   And I thought “What a great question!”  And as he finished his question, the teacher in the back of the room started to cry so much she had to leave the room.   I didn’t know what I did wrong.  I answered the question, and I said “Boy – what a great question.  I don’t plan anything.  If you like what I play, then I’m influenced by you, and I thank you for inspiring me to play what I played.”    The crowd was great.  When they left after a couple of hours of a class I went to the initial girl that called me up and I said “I want to apologize to that teacher…”   She said “Apologize?  That student hasn’t said a word in over two years.”

DR:  Wow.  That’s awesome! 

DF:  So that to me Tim completely shifted me – made me step away and go maybe with drumming I can reach people to a different area than just playing drums.   So that’s when I got more into doing clinics and I got more into reaching people at a higher level, when I got more into teaching.  That’s where my life opened up to an incredible place that’s so blessed today because of that shift in my life.  It was truly a “peak” experience.

DR:  That is great!  That’s going to bring tears to my wife’s eyes when I share that story. 

DF:  As it does to me as I keep telling it.  And I had to put it in my book because I’d been asked so many times during my travels to tell that story.  I finally put it in the book so people could read it.

DR:  It actually made me well up a little bit myself there.    So what are some things you tell the kids, or adults for that matter, that are playing, that get discouraged?  Like I went to see Volto and Danny Carey last night, phenomenal, and as I’m sitting there watching him play, I’m saying to myself “I’m 40 years old, Danny’s a few years older than I am, and I’ll never be able to achieve that” I mean, I know I can try, and I love to try, and I love to play drums.  But it’s one of those questions I’ve always  asked myself , jokingly, after seeing someone like that play…”Do I just give up?  Or do I keep going?”    So what do you tell people that say that?

DF:  Well, think about it this way, and I happen to know Danny Carey.  Danny is a phenomenal player and a great guy.  I did a clinic with Danny many years ago in Florida and as I performed and I came off stage Danny said, “Boy Dom, some day I aspire to be where you’re at as a player and as a person” And it was such a wonderful compliment.  So even great players look at other people.  The object is not to be like Danny Carey.  The object is to try and find out what door can you open in your expression that can make you be the best Tim you can be.

DR:  Yeah, and that’s actually what I tell myself is that Danny is Danny, I’m me, I’ll play to my abilities because, that’s, ya know…

DF:  …because that’s what God gave us.  He gave us an ability to reach as high as we can.  I look at someone like Steve Gadd and all these great young players that are playing today, the Klaus Hesslers, all these phenomenal drummers that are out there playing and I am blown away saying “Wow!  They’re playing great!  I’m probably not going to be able to do what they do but I’m really going to try and push to be the best Dom Famularo that I can be. “   And if we keep that attitude we keep on growing.  We keep growing, we keep enjoying the art form and discovering things that we never knew were there.

DR:  So where do you see yourself in 10 years?  Or 20?

DF:  Uh, boy – hopefully still involved in the music industry!  I’ve got a wonderful family at home; I’ve got three wonderful boys that are 10, 12, and 14 that are involved in life, sports, and music.  And an incredibly supportive wife that understands what my mission in life is.  I just recently did a live broadcast from my studio on the north shore of Long Island – we did a demo test market just this past Friday morning before NAMM.  We did it to just some industry people and we reached 300 computers in 10 countries.  It was a live broadcast.  So now I can reach an unlimited amount of computers from my studio around the world.  So where do I see the future?  I see me doing more lessons from my studio, I see me bringing in top drummers to my studio doing lessons to you and your home Tim on your computer.  Where you can see great drummers, you can email in questions or call in a question, live, like the Larry King Show, and we can have drumming at the highest level.   And we can do this for every instrument.  MLC is the “Music Learning Curve”   Musiclearningcurve.com is a website that has downloadable play along songs and I’m involved with that company, and I use MLC as the tag line for the show, it’s MLC Live.  Music Learning Curve Live.  It’s about improving all of our learning curve, involved in the music industry.  So where do I see it happening?  I see eventually broadcast happening on a daily basis with drumming and music to inspire people, maybe even motivational sessions.  Bringing you the top name drummers in the world right to your home and your computer.   And that’s what we’re working on now.  The show was a success it worked perfectly.  The sound was great the industry was buzzed about us so now when I get back to Long Island we’re going to put this in the process. 

DR:  Sweet.  I’m definately going to want to check that out. 

DF:  Go to my website, Domfamularo.com, and sign the mailing list.  Once I have everyone on the mailing list I then send out a mailing to when the next show is. 

DR:  That sounds great and I’ll make sure it’s something we promote on Drumrock.   

DF:  Bring it on man, great!
 

DR:  So I have one question left here.  If there’s one thing any drummer should take away from an encounter with you, or reading one of your books, just from a generic conversation, this interview, a clinic, whatever, what would that be? 

DF:  One word:  Enthusiasm.  Enthusiasm is a word that came from the Greek language that meant “Filled with God” Part of that is the fact that when you’re so passionate about something and you love it so much that enthusiasm is evident.  When I try and talk to anyone all I do is act in the most sincere way I can which is my enthusiasm.  The fact that when I come to the NAMM show here it’s my extended family.  I come by to see friends, old friends that I’ve known for years.  This is my 30^th NAMM show so I’m seeing friend from a long time ago.  I get to meet new friends like you.   I saw Donn Bennett – he came to one of my panel lectures at the NAMM Center for ideas at the Idea Center.  Just yesterday I saw him; we talked about what he’s doing.  I get to see old friends, I get to see new friends, pursue this great dream.  We’re blessed with health and we have the ability of being able to express what we feel.  So I say with the great levels of enthusiasm and passion go for it every day, I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know at this moment, right now, I’m pushing it as hard as I can.

DR:  Right on.  That was it for our questions, thank you for your time!

DF:  Thank you so much!  

I have to thank Dom again for the time he took out of what I’m sure was a busy schedule at NAMM to give us little guys some of his time.  It was a wonderful conversation, enlightening, and as I said, somewhat altering, in the most positive of ways for me.   Take what Dom has to say to heart - it’s a great message from a truly inspiring drummer.

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