NEW Stewart Copeland Interview

Hey Drummers,

This week, we welcome the great STEWART COPELAND to THE TRAP SET.

LISTEN

A founding member of The Police, Stewart is one of the most admired and influential drummers of all time. As such, he is also one of the most interviewed drummers of all time. Keeping that in mind, we focused on aspects of Stewart's life and career that haven't gotten much attention in other interviews.

He talks about how drumming made him a man; his father’s background as a CIA agent; why he was largely unhappy during The Police’s massively successful reign; his film scoring approach; and his parenting philosophy.

Enjoy!
 
I want to like SC because IMO he was the best thing in the Police, but he's constantly name dropping and trying to validate his fame, which IMO was happenstance with the POLICE, he fit with Sting and Andy, that's it. Then he goes on to delineate the Police, pretty much all he's known for, what made him. I guess the unhappiness, the anger is what kept the fire burning under his ass on the drum kit, glad he wasn't happy with his fame and the tension at the time. I believe that vibe was fostered by the consciousness of the band as a whole, SC found his mates.


Not my words, but I remember reading an MD interview from the 80's in which a drummer (can't remember his name) described SC's drumming as 'gratuitous ethnic bullshit', that description gets the nod from me.

Listening to SC he doesn't strike me as an artist in the classic, or modern sense, just some wing nut who got some skills with his hobby- the drum kit, which he admits to never seeing himself as a musician.

The KGB, bullet holes, global politics, I was hoping for more about drumming, gear, and definitely what the hell he thinks he was going to prove by scoring Ben Hur, but guess SC's worldliness is over that now. Too cool for school, put out a warrant... the charge? A boring interviewee.
 
I haven't listened to the interview yet, but I already know that the answer to the question that has been nagging me since 1978 about Stewart Copeland will still be unanswered. I have heard all sorts of speculation and educated guesses. But the question remains. What were those hi-hats on Roxanne?
 
I want to like SC because IMO he was the best thing in the Police, but he's constantly name dropping and trying to validate his fame, which IMO was happenstance with the POLICE, he fit with Sting and Andy, that's it. Then he goes on to delineate the Police, pretty much all he's known for, what made him. I guess the unhappiness, the anger is what kept the fire burning under his ass on the drum kit, glad he wasn't happy with his fame and the tension at the time. I believe that vibe was fostered by the consciousness of the band as a whole, SC found his mates.


Not my words, but I remember reading an MD interview from the 80's in which a drummer (can't remember his name) described SC's drumming as 'gratuitous ethnic bullshit', that description gets the nod from me.

Listening to SC he doesn't strike me as an artist in the classic, or modern sense, just some wing nut who got some skills with his hobby- the drum kit, which he admits to never seeing himself as a musician.

The KGB, bullet holes, global politics, I was hoping for more about drumming, gear, and definitely what the hell he thinks he was going to prove by scoring Ben Hur, but guess SC's worldliness is over that now. Too cool for school, put out a warrant... the charge? A boring interviewee.

.......... Cool story, bro.
 
Not my words, but I remember reading an MD interview from the 80's in which a drummer (can't remember his name) described SC's drumming as 'gratuitous ethnic bullshit', that description gets the nod from me.

Listening to SC he doesn't strike me as an artist in the classic, or modern sense, just some wing nut who got some skills with his hobby- the drum kit, which he admits to never seeing himself as a musician.

in the 1980's, Bill Bruford describes SC (along with Phil Collins) as the only thing new and original in drumming for a long time.
Regarding the second point, you do realize SC writes and scores music for films right? His skills go beyond drums.
Yes I can't stand his personality either.
 
in the 1980's, Bill Bruford describes SC (along with Phil Collins) as the only thing new and original in drumming for a long time.
Regarding the second point, you do realize SC writes and scores music for films right? His skills go beyond drums.
Yes I can't stand his personality either.



For a minute he was 'new/original' until ppl figured out what he was doing. IMO his ultra high tuning and the use of small HH's made him stand out from the drumming crowd which was still stuck in the studio dead 70's sound in 78'.

I mentioned Ben Hur (another film SC scored), but if you listen to the interview SC makes it clear the only reason he scored theater/movies etc. was to feed his family, he went on to say the cash he made on the POLICE reunion tour allowed him not to do that, its wasn't his labor of love, just another thing he got good (enough) at.

Ask 1000 drummers to name a play, or movie SC scored and they won't have a clue, as in nothing memorable on the radar, and if you're so creative you'd write songs, not score movies, hit songs are way more profitable. SC is claimed to be the wordsmith of 'Bombs Away' on the POLICE's Zenyatta Mondatta effort, the album that got everyone hooked on the POLICE, not a whole lot of middle eastern influence in that song, cep't for the implied setting in the song.


SC's tuning of the drums (ass tight) starting in 1980, and the use of small HH's, and RUDE cymbals created a clear, concise and sharp sound that was exploited on record and ended up in the front of the mix, you hear the drums on POLICE records and you hear them in detail, its a defining sound, not crap either, which gets kudos from me for any drummer who can see that thru, any style, any other way IMO and the POLICE wouldn't have been so attention getting.
 
Not my words, but I remember reading an MD interview from the 80's in which a drummer (can't remember his name) described SC's drumming as 'gratuitous ethnic bullshit', that description gets the nod from me.

How is SC using the influences he absorbed in the middle east to avoid playing the same beats as everyone else "gratuitous"? That sounds like musically conservative gatekeeping to me.
 
How is SC using the influences he absorbed in the middle east to avoid playing the same beats as everyone else "gratuitous"? That sounds like musically conservative gatekeeping to me.



The gratuitous part- Its like taking vitamins, most of it isn't absorbed. No set rate, level of absorption can be verified, 'some' gets in is all we can be sure about.

The ethnic part- Self explanatory

The bullshit part- Level(s) of absorption.
 
The gratuitous part- Its like taking vitamins, most of it isn't absorbed. No set rate, level of absorption can be verified, 'some' gets in is all we can be sure about.

The ethnic part- Self explanatory

The bullshit part- Level(s) of absorption.

You are all over the place here. He's not enough of an artist for you because the big name films he did scoring for was for money? He was one of the most influential drummers of the 80's, but it was more about his sound than his playing? His out of the box approach was gratuitous ethnic bullshit? If you don't like him personally that's one thing, but it sounds like you are taking that dislike of him and applying it to the art he's making and making some pretty stupid comments.
 
You are all over the place here. He's not enough of an artist for you because the big name films he did scoring for was for money? He was one of the most influential drummers of the 80's, but it was more about his sound than his playing? His out of the box approach was gratuitous ethnic bullshit? If you don't like him personally that's one thing, but it sounds like you are taking that dislike of him and applying it to the art he's making and making some pretty stupid comments.




Right, Bill Buford said it, and maybe even on TV, and if any of the same was printed in a magazine its has to be the all encompassing truth, anything to the contrary is just plain stupid.

Did I miss something with the POLICE? I didn't hear SC playing any middle eastern rhythms on POLICE tunes, just some grooves referenced to reggae.

OYSTER HEAD? I might've heard a song or two, any ground breaking, influential middle easter rhythms going on with Mr SC on drums with OH?

I guarantee you no reggae great is going to tell SC its his civic duty to play reggae music.
 
Many find Stewart's playing highly skilled, imaginative and enjoyable.

Who cares whether his influences sound like this or that? If the drumming works with the music - and it does - then he's done his job well.
 
My guitarist told me about an interview he watched on Youtube with SC - and said "I can see now why the Police were always fighting!"

I know nothing about the guy, but he did bring a cool style to the airwaves back in the day.
 
If anyone watched the BTS extra on their "Certifiable" blu-ray, the band's cognitive dissonance is palpable. Sting is a snob. SC is an unleashed hound dog. Andy is Teflon.

https://youtu.be/Y2vjVb_ZOkw
 
Influences?????? Everyone is influenced, in some way, by what has gone before. For me Copeland was a game changer. Nothing sounded like him, and without him the Police would have been a middling pop band.

"Not my words, but I remember reading an MD interview from the 80's in which a drummer (can't remember his name) described SC's drumming as 'gratuitous ethnic bullshit', that description gets the nod from me."

Yea, right. Sounds like something a bitter has been like Ginger Baker would say. Real drummers dont say things like that about fellow drummers.
 
"Not my words, but I remember reading an MD interview from the 80's in which a drummer (can't remember his name) described SC's drumming as 'gratuitous ethnic bullshit', that description gets the nod from me."

Yea, right. Sounds like something a bitter has been like Ginger Baker would say. Real drummers dont say things like that about fellow drummers.




Yeah huh, only bitter ppl would say something like that... or maybe some drummer who has deep experience and understanding of ethnic rhythms, especially reggae.


Yup, in 1980 SC was 'the' drummer who was incorporating reggae grooves in pop music on a high exposure level.
 
Les has been on my ignore list for so long that I can't be bothered to read the posts but from what's being quoted, it's quite funny how utterly ignorant he is...

With you on that, but sometimes a comment is just so wrong I feel I have to respond. I know, all I am doing is feeding the Troll but it has to be said.
 
As someone who grew up listening to and admiring Police albums I can claim with satisfaction that while the music is good the musicians: neither Copeland nor Sting are guys with whom I'd want to hang, have a pint, talk shop; they both are arrogant asses, everyone knows this but we still pay good money to hear and see them play.

What this boils down to is while I can respect Copeland as a musician, I don't have to like him as a person.
 
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