Meinl Cymbals is extremely proud to announce that world renowned drum educator Mike Johnston has joined the Meinl Cymbal family.

Online Educator and clinician Mike Johnston began studying the drums at the age of 5. He spent the next 15 years studying privately with some of the greatest educator/drummers of our time including Pete Magadini and Steve Ferrone.

At the age of 21 Mike received his first major label record deal with his band Simon Says (Hollywood Records) and spent the next 5 years touring the world. He received a gold record for his contributions to the Varsity Blues soundtrack and has appeared on The Late Show with Dave Letterman as well as on MTV's Fashionably Loud. Mike also toured internationally with Warner Bothers Recording artists FILTER.

Mike currently runs the educational website mikeslessons.com where he offers pre-recorded video drum lessons as well as "LIVE" online drum lessons nationally and internationally. He also hosts 10 International drum camps per year at the mikeslessons.com facility.

Check out the video Mike made explaining his move to Meinl Cymbals.

here's a nice video featuring some great drumming of meinl artist kerim lechner. he's also explaining his set up during decapitated's recent album recordings. nice foot technique starting at 3:12min.

- norbert

blof is a dutch band with my friend and meinl artist norman bonink on drums. they have just released a new album ALLES BLIJFT ANDERS to which i am listening right now. you can hear that norman is a wonderful musician who knows how to play for the song. he also is a great singer. even so the lyrics are all in dutch (i am sure they are great), check'em out because the music is really good and very groovy. catch them live on tour right now when you can. here's a link to their website blof.nl

- norbert

I think it says a lot that the 2009 Guitar Center Drum Off champion could have secured a cymbal endorsement with virtually any company that he wanted, and what he wanted was to play Meinl.

I think it says a whole lot more that the 2010 Guitar Center Drum Off champion also could have secured a cymbal endorsement with virtually any company that he wanted, and what he wanted was to play Meinl.

Ramon Sampson, the 2009 Drum Off winner joined Meinl shortly after his having won 1st place in January 2010. In early 2011, the 2010 Drum Off winner Isaias Gil did exactly the same thing. I don't believe in coincidences either.

Recently Isaias came to Nashville for a photo shoot with the one and only Rick Malkin. While at S.I.R. studios in Nashville, I filmed Isaias doing his thing during a break. Check it out and I think you'll see why Isaias was the winner of the Drum Off. He takes a solid and tight 2/4 and spices it up with some very musical statements. There were a couple of cats at the Drum Off that may have technically out-chopped Isaias, but chops won't get you work. Being musical will.

here's a video of jost nickel's awesome drum solo that he has played at the montreal drum fest on october 24, 2010.
i really dig how he incorporates his cymbal mute technique into the groove (between 00:52 - 00:59). never heard something like this before.

- norbert

Artists. These are the guys and gals that my job centers on day in and day out. 99.9% of the time it's a pleasure to work with all of our artists. Every once in a blue moon someone slips through the cracks who ends up showing their true colors and it's not the fruitful relationship that was hoped for, but that's life. But the other 99.9% that I spoke of are part of our company's team, part of our family.

A great example of an artist who treats his role as a Meinl Cymbal endorser with the utmost of seriousness is Jeff Fabb. Some of you may know him, some of you may not, but Jeff is a great guy to have on your company's side.

It may sound trite, but having solid and timely communication with an artist, where you can get the proper passes you need to get into a show or a festival, having unfettered access for taking photos and for shooting video footage, having an artist make 100% certain that your company's cymbals are front and center when their band shoots a promotional video, the list goes on and on...all of these things add up and make a real difference for a company's marketing and branding efforts. These are some of the ways in which Jeff is a true ally of Meinl Cymbals.

Over the least few years, if I have needed any of the aforementioned access for festivals that Jeff and his band In This Moment have been on, festivals such as Ozzfest, VANS Warped Tour and Mayhem, I have it, for both myself and for Rick Malkin, a great photographer who takes most of the pictures you see for our US artists. If In This Moment have a video shoot coming up, Jeff has the Meinl Cymbals he needs all polished and looking spiffy. These things may sound like Common Sense 101, but you wouldn't believe how much follow-up it can sometimes take to make sure that things like these are secured and in place.

Along with all of the ways in which Jeff makes sure to help out those who help him, another fine attribute of Jeff's is that he's a really solid rock drummer. When I saw Jeff recently on the current Music As a Weapon tour, where In This Moment are touring alongside bands such as Korn and Disturbed, I was reminded of how much of a four on the floor rock beast that Jeff really is. One thing I noticed was how he had seemed to almost refine his parts to suit the cavernous sound of the arenas that the band was playing in. Normally Jeff throws in some ghosted slick tasty licks that perfectly accompany the modern metal stomp of In This Moment's sound. But for this tour, it seemed as if Jeff was paying homage to the two and the four in order to get the band's point across to the arena crowds. It was a cool lesson on how to adapt to the situation on the drums.

Check out the videos that I took of Jeff during In This Moment's set. I had great access because of Jeff. Again, one would think that of course an artist would make sure that his Artist Relations rep from a company had great access to film footage of him because it would benefit not only the company, but the artist too. But again, that way of thinking doesn't always prevail. But with Jeff it does. 

I've said it a million times. It's a simple trade. Gear support for marketability. So for all of you out there reading this that might one day deserve and receive some form of an endorsement from an instrument company, the work doesn't end when you sign a contract with a company, you don't get to just rest on your laurels and say that you've made it now, and you just collect a batch of cymbals, a drum set or whatever. It's at that point that the work BEGINS.

- Chris