I was lucky enough to sit down for an interview with Carmine Appice, of Vanilla Fudge. He recently held a free drum clinic at the House of Guitars in Rochester, NY.
WD: What inspires you to keep touring and recording 45 years after the release of Vanilla Fudge’s debut album in 1967 and after you so recently turned 65?
CA: It’s my hobby. People ask me what I do for a hobby and I tell them I’m doing it. I just love playing in front of an audience. It can be for 10,000 people or 5,000 or 1,000, whatever. I just love it.
WD: You are credited with being a master showman in the art of rock drumming and one of its god fathers. What are some of the innovations that are in your legacy?
CA: Powerful drumming. I wasn’t looking to create anything. I was just playing and doing what I needed to do out of necessity. Back then, the PA systems were not what they are today. There were small drums. I thought it would be interesting to have bigger drums for bigger sound and bigger projection. So, I began doing that with Ludwig Before you knew it, people were using 26” bass drums.
WD: You were the first rock drummer to put on drum clinics at drum stores, theaters and colleges. What prompted you to start doing clinics?
CA: A rock journalist back then said to me ‘You are not only the first rock drummer to do clinics. You are actually the first rock musician, period, to start doing them.
When I was with Rod Stewart, he told me ‘If you are going to do clinics, make it an event.’. I gave a $50,000 check to UNICEF one year. We would charge $2 to $3 per person. Back then, I would have 500, 600, 700, 1000 people per clinic, so it was easy to get 50 grand with that many people.
Some people have said that my drum book, Realistic Rock, helped legitimize the art of rock drumming, which is great, you know?
WD: You have inspired so many drummers, including some people who are inspirations in their own right: Neil Peart, Phil Collins, Niko McBain and Tommy Lee. How does it feel to have such talented drummers list you as an inspiration?
CA: It is pretty amazing, you know? But it reverts back to the guys that influenced me, so I relate to it like that. I just happened to be around before them and I created something, at that point, that they looked up to.
WD: I was surprised to read that you played on Pink Floyd’s first post Roger Waters studio album, “Momentary Lapse of Reason”. How did that come about?
CA: Bob Ezrin said he was producing a band that had a track that is screaming for Carmine drum fills. I asked him who was the band and he told me Pink Floyd. I asked ‘Where was Nick?’ Nick had not been playing, his calluses were soft and he had been racing his cars. Bob asked me if I would do it and I said sure. The track was ‘Dogs of War”. I found out later Jim Keltner played on the rest of it. I don’t think Nick played on any of the tracks.
WD: I’ve read that your early inspirations were Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, two jazz legends. What elements of jazz and their styles did you carry with you to the world of rock and heavy drumming in particular.
CA: Well, it wasn’t really playing jazz, it was the soloing. Gene Krupa’s solos were very melodic. Buddy solos were vicious, fast as hell. I got my viciousness from Buddy and my showmanship from Gene. And I got my blmbda blmbda from Max Roach.Note: Carmine made a sound to demonstrate the rapid, repetitive technique Roach used. Max had an album called “Award Winning Drummer”. I always thought about what it would be like to play like that and be a drummer who wins awards. Now I have walls full of awards. So, I’ve achieved my boyhood dream. I’ve gone beyond that with the awards, writing songs and books.
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