Dennis Leeflang
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Dennis Leeflang (born May 22 1979, Leiderdorp, The Netherlands) is a rock drummer, currently living in New York City. He's most known for his work with Bumblefoot (Guns N' Roses). Other artists he worked with include Within Temptation, Sun Caged, Epica and The Saturnine.
[edit] History
After having laid a solid foundation through playing snare drum in several brass bands between ages 8 and 11, Dennis Leeflang started playing the drum set at age 12, playing along with records of bands such as Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Iron Maiden. He started playing with local hard rock bands practically immediately.
After mixed successes with local Dutch bands, Leeflang's career officially took off in 1996, when he joined Dutch gothic-metal legends Within Temptation at age 17 as their first official drummer. He played with various other successful Dutch rock and metal bands, including Epica and The Saturnine, before relocating from The Netherlands to New York City in 2004, shortly after having departed his band Sun Caged, of which he was a founding member.
Leeflang had been Bumblefoot's live drummer for European tours since 2002, but became his full-time drummer once having moved to New York in 2004. Though having recorded a song for a Jimi Hendrix tribute album with him in 2003, Dennis's album debut with Bumblefoot was the 2005 "Normal" album.
Leeflang is known for mixing powerful hard rock drumming with funk and jazz influences, and the use of a wide range of dynamics and ghost notes in his playing. Especially in New York, he has done sessions in many different genres, adding more influences to his palette. He's also a drum teacher and clinician, performing drum demonstrations in Europe, Russia and the US regularly. In his home country of The Netherlands, Leeflang has become one of the most influential rock drummers of recent years. He reached high positions in the readers polls of Slagwerkkrant magazine in The Netherlands in 2005 and 2006.
As some of his main influences, he names drummers such as Dave Abbruzzese, Nicko McBrain, Stewart Copeland, Chad Smith, Josh Freese, Jeff Porcaro, John Bonham and Bruce Gary.
[edit] Equipment
Leeflang has endorsement contracts with:
