Interview with John Macaluso by Johnny C of www.loudmetal.com 

 How did you get into music and drums from the beginning?

  I wanted to play guitar at first. I saw a Jimmy Page model look alike
guitar in a magazine. I was on my way to pick it up with my mother and
there was a drum set at the top of my block at a garage sale. I saw the
kit, it was a gold sparkled Japanese kit and I said screw the guitar.
We bought the drums for $20.00. I got them home and never stopped since
August of 1979.

 Who were your first influences and what was it that made you like
them and who would you say are your main influences these days?

  Earliest influence was Keith Moon from The Who. He was my biggest
influence. I had Quadrophenia and wore that album out playing to it in
my basement every day and night. He was also a big influence off the
kit for his antics and jokes.

 Did you study drums or any other instrument as a teenager?

Yea I was big into studing. I took lessons twice a week and would practice 5
to 6 hours a day easily. Joe Franco was on of my first teachers and
still one of my biggest influences. He is my mentor and has got me the
gigs with TNT and Yngwiie Malmsteen. He is the author of the amazing
book Double Bass drumming and has played drums for everyone from
Twisted Sister to Maria Carey. He is amazing and his teaching changed
my life and helped me form a style.

  Did you play with many cover bands and other local acts in the
begining?

  Yea of course, I played all around. I was about 13 when I started
playing clubs, I grew a small mustache and bought a fake ID from 42nd
street in Manhattan and I was ready to rock in any club. Of course they
knew I was a kid but so did the strip bar bouncers and they let me in
at that age. I played in a Van Halen cover band and also had an
origional band and we would play all over N.Y.

 How did you get to play with Yngwie Malmsteen and TNT?

  Joe Franco called me and said have you heard of TNT and I said yea, so
he said they called and I can’t do the gig. He recommended me. I was
great friends with the guys in TNT from the beginning and we actually
hung out more than we played. To this day I was never asked to join the
band, I played with them for 3 and a half years, that’s pretty funny.
Yngwie, Franco called and said John don’t hate me for this but I
recommended you for the Yngwie gig. I said that’s cool man. I sent
Yngwie the first ARK album. He called back and said I love this band,
who are they, I said that’s ARK, the band I started. He said fly down
to Florida this week and that’s how I got the gig, no audition, strait
down to Florida to record Alchemy, after he heard ARK’s first album. He
used to drive around in his Farrari with three CD’s only, ARK, Bach and
Deep Purple, Live In Japan. We even would sound check to “Where the
winds blow”, that song was his favorite. I don’t think he was too happy
when I took the whole band to do the second album “Burn The Sun”, then
I took them on tour.

 How was it play with these guys?

  TNT was more of a hang and to be honest playing wise, I was way to
restricted. I really didn’t get to use my style much but it was a
pretty cool experience. Malmsteen was great for a drummer, it was a
playground. His saying was “More Is More”. If your going to do a fill,
do a fill!!! He wanted his drummer to go sick and play a lot. This was
amazing, because the shows were huge and all over the planet. Great but
crazy times with Yngwie. Crazy Times!!!
 

  Please tell me a little bit about your new excellent album "John
Macaluso & Union Radio - The Radio Waves Goodbye" and why did you
choose this title for the album?

  Well UNION RADIO is the band name and it was the rebel radio station
in the Spanish Civil War that the rebels would tune into to find out
what was happening or what needed to be done. I thought the name fit
becauseIt had the union of all my band members from all over the world
 from France, to Italy to Canada to Russia and Brazil. I have traveled
all over the world recording this record with my great friends from
around the planet and they are all my favorite musicians. I had to do
the album this way, I wanted each and everybody on the record to be on,
I chose them all, because they rock. “The Radio Waves Goodbye” Is kind
of saying goodbye to the radio today because it is a joke and is all
paid off and is the equivelant of American Idol to me. The musician are
getting back the power now with satellite radio and the internet, it is
a beautiful thing. So goodbye to the radio, until it regains respect
and starts playing the great music and not the flavor of the month, it
is only for beach days, when you don’t care what’s on anyway.



 Is this an album for drum freaks only?

  No man, Drum freaks and non drum freaks. I said to just do a drum
album would be the kiss of death. I wanted to make an album with songs,
but done in my style. So I blended my drumming style with the influence
of my favorite classic bands, Pink Floyd and others and came out with
this. It’s vibe is very dark, kind of like Floyd “Animals” with the
drumming three times the speed. All people can dig it. For drummers,
it’s got it though, this is my best drumming in over 200 albums that I
have recorded.

  What is the most important, feeling or technique? can you survive
with only one of them?

  Great question. I really rely on both. Feeling is the most important
but without the technique, you will struggle to get what is in your
brain on record. It all depends what kind of music you are playing and
what you want to say. I look at the drum track as telling a story and
when you pull the music off, you should still hear the song with just
the drums. To do that, you need the technique to play free enough to
enjoy what you are doing, you can always hear an uncomfortable drummer.
Good question.

 What kind of equipment are you using live or in the studio?

  Small kit, because it forces me to create, I don’t rely on 8 toms and
100 cymbals. A small kit you have to think to make it sound origional.
I use Vic Firth Drum sticks, Tama Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Remo heads and
Factory Metal Percussion.

 How was the album recorded?

  First, I recorded the drum tracks, with only song arrangements in my
head and titles. I then brought the tracks around the world and
recorded all the other instruments. For example I went to Italy to meet
Marco Sfogli, who I met on the James LaBrie tour. We recorded the
guiter tracks with me singing him a melody and telling him the vibe I
was looking for in the song. When that was done, I did the other
instruments and even sent some tracks away to be recorded, for example,
the song on the record”Soul In Your Mind” I sang a version and recorded
it then mailed it to Canada to James LaBrie and James, took the melody
and lyrics and sang it exactally how I wanted it but in key of course
and it rocked!!! It was a very unorthadox method of recording, but it
worked and the music is completely origional because of this way of
recording.

 What kind of music do you like the least?

 Strait 80’s big rock like Poison and Dokken, I hate this shit!

  Do you ever listen to music that is very different from what you
do, if so what?

  Yea, I listen to music from the 20’s and 30’s because, I dig the feel
and I don’t have to concentrate on the drumming, it relaxes me. I also
dig drum and bass electronic music. Cool Vibe!!!

  These days CD sales are dropping very fast and companies are
closing donw all the time, are you afraid that file sharing will
totally kill the recording business or do you think that there is a
future for the music business?

  Allways a future in the music business. Music business is like hair
cutting or the funeral business, people need it and it will always be
around. I think sharring and down loading is only good for more
promotion for your band. It’s that one guy who plays the song for his
friend and his friend than plays it for 20 of his friends. It’s all
about spreading the word. Music is meant to be shared. You have to find
a way through playing, recording, producing, teaching, writing etc. to
make your living in this field, I do all of these because it is way too
much of an unstable field to just make your living in one.

  How did you get James LaBrie of Dream Theater to sing on your
album?

  Because I was his drummer on the “Elements of Persuation” tour. James
and I became great friends from this experience, so I asked him to come
and rock with Johnny Mac and he did so!!!

 How would you you compare Union Radio to Ark?

  Pretty similar in drumming style and lyrics. I co-wrote all the ARK
music and the lyrics so it is just natural that it would be kind of
similar. Drumming wise it is strait out “My Style”, like “Burn The
Sun” was. ARK fans will dig this record, bigtime.

 What other plans do you have for the near future?

  I am releasing a drum method book called “Repercussions” based on
drumming as a lifestyle. It is a different kind of book because there
are stories, real life studio experiences and touring stories as well
as drumming examples with a CD to show them. There are graphics hand
drawn to show technique and body motions. Also tips on warming up,
there is a fill chapter, an odd time chapter and much, much more. It is
a book that every drummer could use because it is not just beats and
fills, it is drumming and everything that is involved with it and the
business. I am also touring and doing drum clinics for my new solo
record starting in late Summer. Check it out. Thanks very much and
please keep in touch.
 John Mac.

 thanks for your time John!
 

BUY JOHN MACALUSO & UNION RADIO'S CD HERE: