Blake Fleming
Blake Fleming is a drummer known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands. Fleming started drumming at age 8, and spent several years in fife and drumming corps, bagpipe bands, jazz bands, orchestras, etc. His first band was Dazzling Killmen, which he joined at age 15. Later he played with the Japanese prog-punk band Zeni Geva. He then moved from St. Louis to New York City and formed the instrumental band Laddio Bolocko. After breaking up Laddio, he moved to Los Angeles and helped start The Mars Volta in 2001, but left after only recording a handful of demos. He also drummed on Omar Rodríguez-López's solo album 'A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1'. He then returned to New York City to form Electric Turn To Me, which in turn broke up in 2006. He rejoined The Mars Volta after drummer Jon Theodore's departure on July 28, 2006.[1] He later left the band and was replaced by Deantoni Parks for the remainder of the 2006 tour. He has since built a career as a freelance performer and drum teacher in New York.[2] Today he is a drum teacher at the State University of New York College at Oneonta and is currently playing in an experimental project with engineer/musician Andris Balins called: Future By Now in upstate New York.
Upon Fleming's return to The Mars Volta in 2006, vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala stated:[3]
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I feel as if [former drummer] Jon Theodore's drumming was based on the simplicity of, like, John Bonham. As some kids were saying, it’s like Jon was more groove-oriented. Blake can be, too, but Blake likes to flip beats on you, and he likes to throw you off and have fun with it. He leans more toward [the style of] Zach Hill, Hella's drummer. I find myself tapping my toes while I’m singing to stay on top of the beat — figuring out how to [perform] and ignore the drums sometimes, and flow over it.
Blake is the father of most of The Mars Volta songs. He’s the one that came up with a lot of beats for us. Even on Frances the Mute, "L'Via L'Viaquez" and certain parts [of the songs on the album], Blake Fleming beats [were taught to] Jon Theodore. Sometimes [we’d have] to not let Jon know that they were Blake’s beats, because he’d have a bit of a problem with that, since Blake was our first drummer and tracks like "Cicatriz ESP" and "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" were Blake Fleming beats.
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Gear
Blake Fleming, with The Mars Volta in 2006, used a Ludwig Stainless steel kit composed of a 24x16" kick, a 14x10" tom, a 16x16" floor tom, a 18x16" floor tom and a 14x6.5" steel snare. He currently endorses Truth Drums.
Band history
Discography
With Omar Rodríguez-López
References
- ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Beyonce, Jay-Z, Mel Gibson, DMX, Audioslave, Fantasia, Britney Spears & More - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. 2006-08-01. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1537577/20060801/knowles_beyonce.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ^ Griffith, Laura (2008-01-17). "Alton native credits trip to Mars with helping his drumming career | fleming, band, alton - Entertainment". The Telegraph. http://www.thetelegraph.com/entertainment/fleming_10016___article.html/band_alton.html?orderby=TimeStampDescending&oncommentsPage=1&showRecommendedOnly=0. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- ^ "Interview: Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta". Verbicide Magazine. 2006-11-07. http://www.verbicidemagazine.com/2006/11/07/interview-cedric-bixler-zavala-of-the-mars-volta/. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
External links
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Drew St. Ivany · Ben Armstrong · Blake Fleming · Marcus DeGrazia
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Strange Warmings of Laddio Bolocko · In Real Time · As if by Remote
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The Life & Times of Laddio Bolocko
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Fleming, Blake |
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