Catching Up With Nickelback’s Daniel Adair
Canadian hard-rockers Nickelback release the The Best Of Nickelback Volume 1, today Nov. 19. The band, currently on tour in Europe, has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and, since the 2001 breakthrough of “How You Remind Me,” has sent more than 18-singles rocketing onto the various Billboard charts. The band’s album All The Right Reasons spent a staggering 112 consecutive weeks in the Top 30 of the Billboard Top 200, was certified 8-times platinum in the U.S. and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.
Drummer Daniel Adair sat down to answer some questions with MDL. When asked what his favorite new drum equipment is, Dainel says: “I’m still really enjoying my Porter and Davies BC2 thumper/throne, especially in the studio. When I bring it into a session it changes everything for me; it’s like sitting on a subwoofer. Feeling the rumble on the lower toms adds such a nice feel when you perform as well. It’s that or my new Regal Tip signature drumsticks. So glad I upped the weight and dimensions of the stick; that, combined with being loose and relaxed, is drawing lots of fat tone of out the drums.
And what s he currently listening to that inspires his colossal backbeat? “Hands down it is Gergo Borlai’s solo album M.M.M.” Daniel reveals. “Any drummer who hasn’t heard this guy, BUY IT! I think he’s an unsung drum hero at the moment; he is so good. Everyday I listen to the tracks ‘Matthew Garrison’ (who’s one of my favorite bass players) and ‘Best Dance for Alan.’ It’s like crack for me right now,” he says laughing.
Daniel also told us what he’s been working on with his own playing. “I’ve been really working on taking the ‘lumpiness’ out of my playing,” he discloses. “What I mean by that is making everything flow smoothly. Listening back to board mixes of shows and studio takes I’ll sometimes hear these little moments, like transitions between sections, in and out of fills and certain pattern combinations, that have little inconsistencies in them. Usually they are the same patterns over and over again that I have memorized this way. Like a combination fill that includes hands and feet, and the hands are a touch ahead of the beat, and the kicks are a touch behind, but the intent was a stream of flowing eighth notes. It will just sound hesitant or lumpy. So I’m trying to be aware of those moments and work on them. This has forced me to really concentrate on evenness and control in every limb. I guess at the moment I’m trying to refine my playing a bit!”
Currently in Europe the band will head to South Africa in December. For more information on Nickelback and the new album visit: