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
Website www.dennisleeflang.com

Dennis Leeflang (born 22 May 1979, Leiderdorp) is a rock drummer, currently living in Los Angeles. He is most known for his work with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal of 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. After mixed successes with local Dutch bands, Leeflang's career took off in 1996, when he joined Dutch gothic rock band Within Temptation at age 17 as their first official drummer. With Within Temptation, Leeflang recorded the demo tape Enter at his home rehearsal studio.

Leeflang played with various other 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 Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal'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, Leeflang's album debut with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal was the 2005 album Normal, followed by the 2008 album Abnormal. 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. in 2015, Leeflang and Bumblefoot released the long awaited new Bumblefoot album Little Brother Is Watching, which included backing vocals by a crowd of 100 loyal Bumblefoot fans.

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 several 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 U.S. 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 U.S. regularly. In his home country of the Netherlands, Leeflang has become a popular and influential rock drummer, drawing big crowds at drum clinics.

Dennis relocated from New York City to Los Angeles in 2015. When not on the road, Dennis works out of his own recording studio in the LA 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 is endorsed by the following companies:

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):

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

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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