| Dennis Leeflang | |
|---|---|
Dennis Leeflang performing live with Lita Ford in Cleveland, September 2009 |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 22 May 1979 Leiderdorp, The Netherlands |
| Genres | Rock music, Pop music, Heavy metal, Hard rock |
| Occupations | Musician, producer |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Associated acts | Bumblefoot, Lita Ford, The Saturnine, Sun Caged |
| Website | www.dennisleeflang.com |
Dennis Leeflang (born 22 May 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 has worked with include Lita Ford, Within Temptation, Sun Caged, Epica and The Saturnine.
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After having laid a solid foundation through playing snare drum in several marching bands between ages 8 and 12, Dennis Leeflang started playing the drum set at age 13, 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 rock legends Within Temptation at age 17 as their first official drummer. With Within Temptation, Leeflang recorded the legendary "Enter" demo tape at his home rehearsal studio, which made a huge impact on the Dutch and later also the international metal scene and proved to be the official start of a major new movement in rock and metal music.
Leeflang played with various other successful Dutch rock and metal bands between 1997 and 2004, including Epica and The Saturnine, before relocating from The Netherlands to New York City, shortly after having departed his band Sun Caged, of which he was a founding member.
In 2006, Dennis re-joined The Saturnine. The band would continue as an inter-continental recording project with occasional live performances in Europe.
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, followed by the 2008 "Abnormal" album. Throughout 2011, Dennis has released one song a month with Bumblefoot of which several were renditions of classic songs such as The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever, as well as original songs which Thal and Leeflang co-wrote at Leeflang's studio in 2009, just before embarking on the Lita Ford tour together.
Next to recording and touring with Bumblefoot, Leeflang has been recording drums for numerous albums since 2004, both from his own studio and at various studios in the New York area and in Europe for many known and up-and-coming artists, including Anneke van Giersbergen, Milan Polak, Indestructible Noise Command, Tiffany Giardina, Ted Poley (Danger Danger), Shane Gibson (Korn) and Angus Clark (Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
In the summer of 2009, Dennis was asked to join Lita Ford's band, with less than 48 hours to learn her set list. With Ford, Leeflang toured all over Europe and the US throughout the summer and fall of 2009, including performances at prestigious events such as the Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany, the Gods Of Metal festival in Milan, Italy, and the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, SD.
Leeflang is known for mixing powerful hard rock drumming with funk and jazz influences, and the use of a wide range of dynamics 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 reaches high positions in the readers polls of Slagwerkkrant magazine in The Netherlands annually.
When not on the road, Dennis works out of his own recording studio in the New York City area from where he collaborates with musicians all over the world. He has also become an active producer and recording engineer in the New York area.
As some of his main influences, Leeflang names drummers such as Nicko McBrain, Stewart Copeland, Chad Smith, Josh Freese, Steve Jordan, Jeff Porcaro, Dave Abbruzzese and John Bonham.
Leeflang is endorsed by:
Dennis plays Drum Workshop drums, live as well as in the studio. His most common setup consists of an 18"x24" bass drum (VLX), a 9"x13" tomtom (VLT) with a 13"x15" (X-shell) and a 14"x16" (VLX) floor tom.
He has a large collection of snare drums but is mostly seen with either a 6.5"x14" solid brass DW snare, a 6.5"x14" PDP Ace snare, or a 6"x14" Ahead black nickel over brass snare drum. Dennis often incorporates a 1990's 3"x12" Tama metal piccolo snare on the left side of his hi-hat.
His hardware is all DW 9000 series, with a 5002 double bass drum pedal.
Drum heads are all Remo: Clear Emperors on toms, Clear Powerstroke3 on bass drum, Coated Controlled Sound or Controlled Sound X on snare.
Dennis' cymbal setup varies per situation, but his most common setup is (left to right, viewed from behind the kit):
- 19" Signature Full Crash
- 8" Twenty Splash
- 14" Signature Dark Crisp hi-hats
- 20" Signature Full Crash
- 22" Signature Reflector Bell Ride
- 20" Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash
- 20" 2002 NOVO China
- 19" Signature Reflector Heavy Full Crash
| Preceded by Richard Willemse |
Drummer for Within Temptation 1996 |
Succeeded by Ivar de Graaf |
| New title | Drummer for Sun Caged 1999–2003 |
Succeeded by Roel van Helden |
| New title | Drummer for The Saturnine since 2003 |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by LaFrae Olivia Sci |
Drummer for Bumblefoot since 2002 |
Incumbent |
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