Dennis Leeflang

Dennis Leeflang
Dennis Leeflang performing live with Lita Ford in Cleveland, September 2009
Background information
Born	(1979-05-22) 22 May 1979 Leiderdorp, Netherlands
Genres	Rock music, Pop music, Heavy metal, Hard rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, producer
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1987–present
Associated acts	Bumblefoot Truth Table Lita Ford The Saturnine Sun Caged Within Temptation Epica Anneke van Giersbergen Milan Polak Ted Poley Charlie Bookman
Website	www.dennisleeflang.com

Dennis Leeflang (born 22 May 1979, Leiderdorp) is a rock drummer, currently living in New York City. He is 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.

History

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 a popular and influential rock drummer, drawing big crowds at drum clinics.

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.

Influences

As some of his main influences, Leeflang names drummers such as Nicko McBrain, Stewart Copeland, Chad Smith, Dave Grohl, Steven Adler, Matt Sorum, Josh Freese, Steve Jordan, Jeff Porcaro, Dave Abbruzzese and John Bonham.

Equipment

Leeflang endorses:

• Paiste cymbals
• Q Drum Co. drums
• Vater drum sticks
• Humes & Berg Enduro cases
• Ahead Armor Cases bags
• various accessory manufacturers

Dennis plays Q Drum Co. drums, live as well as in the studio. His most common kit is a mahogany/poplar/mahogany kit with maple reinforcement rings in Ginger Glass Glitter. His most commonly used sizes are a 16"x24" bass drum, a 9"x13" tomtom with a 16"x16" and a 16"x18" floor tom, but he has also been seen using a 12" tom and 15" floor tom (in place of the 16"), or only a 16" floor tom. He has a large collection of snare drums but is mostly seen with either a Q Drum Co. 5.5"x14" copper plate snare or a 6.5"x14" Q Drum Co. Black Beauty. His hardware is all DW 9000 series, with 5000 series pedals.

Drum heads are all Remo: Coated Emperors on toms, Coated or Clear Powerstroke3 on bass drum, Coated Controlled Sound or Controlled Sound X on snare. He uses Puresound Custom Pro snare wires.

Dennis' cymbal setup varies per situation, but his most common (rock/Bumblefoot) setup is (left to right, viewed from behind the kit):

• 19" 2002 Crash
• 15" 2002 Sound Edge Hi-Hat Top with a 15" 2002 Medium Hi-Hat Bottom
• 20" 2002 Medium
• 24" 2002 Ride
• 20" 2002 Medium
• 20" 2002 NOVO China
• 20" 2002 Crash

In lower volume situations, Dennis uses a pair of 15" Formula 602 Modern Essentials hi-hats, and a 24" Masters Deep Ride. His crashes will vary but are usually a combination of Formula 602, Formula 602 Modern Essentials, Signature Dark Energy and 2002's.

External links

• Dennis Leeflang's official website
• Dennis Leeflang about recordings Bumblefoot's "Normal" album