Thomas Pridgen Interview (Crazy)

Last week we interviewed Thomas Pridgen,
right after he returned from his European tour
with 'The Memorials,' and let me tell you, this guy
is crazy!
(In a good way.)

I have always been amazed by Thomas' skill,
but the mindset he has in regards to drumming is
incredible.

Like the old saying goes:

"Find out what the successful are doing, and do it."


Click here to see his interview.

What drummers have impacted your drumming career?
 
That article was painful to read. Full of unnecessary text highlighting and wildly hyperbolic superlatives. TP is a good drummer, but legendary? A phenomenon? Come on...

Plus, possible the worst interview I've read. One line answers which revealed absolutely nothing of substance.

Overall, a poor attempt at advertising a poor piece.
 
That article was painful to read. Full of unnecessary text highlighting and wildly hyperbolic superlatives. TP is a good drummer, but legendary? A phenomenon? Come on...

Plus, possible the worst interview I've read. One line answers which revealed absolutely nothing of substance.

Overall, a poor attempt at advertising a poor piece.

Thanks for the thoughts, my friend.

We just launched our online magazine not too long ago, but it's a long-learning process!
Yeah, Thomas Pridgen is definitely has some very large accomplishments, but it's all opinion!

Unfortunately, we cannot alter his statements by adding more than one line to them..
We ask the questions, then quote.
We were trying more to give insight of how a professional drummer thinks and how he operates.

We'll work on improving it!

Thanks for the advice,

Josh
 
Ok, perhaps I was a tad harsh.

1. Keep learning. If you're serious about becoming a new drumming community, I wish you all the best, but take note of how the established ones do it.

2. Please tone back the bold and italicised superlatives.

3. I understand you cannot add lines to TP's answers, but I must wonder why such a small, insubstantial interview would be published. I got the impression he was either playing to an image, or couldn't really be bothered with the interview. I'm not a big TP fan anyway, but this didn't paint him in a very good light, in my opinion.

It is hard to differentiate on here between spam bots, pure self-advertisers, and those simply trying to branch out into the community, so apologies if I mistook you for one of the former. Please realise we get a fair amount of spam on here with people with fewer than 10 posts just posting adverts for this or that drum website/product/whatever.
 
Ok, perhaps I was a tad harsh.

1. Keep learning. If you're serious about becoming a new drumming community, I wish you all the best, but take note of how the established ones do it.

2. Please tone back the bold and italicised superlatives.

3. I understand you cannot add lines to TP's answers, but I must wonder why such a small, insubstantial interview would be published. I got the impression he was either playing to an image, or couldn't really be bothered with the interview. I'm not a big TP fan anyway, but this didn't paint him in a very good light, in my opinion.

It is hard to differentiate on here between spam bots, pure self-advertisers, and those simply trying to branch out into the community, so apologies if I mistook you for one of the former. Please realise we get a fair amount of spam on here with people with fewer than 10 posts just posting adverts for this or that drum website/product/whatever.

Sounds good, Jonathan!


I have researched many mixed opinions on bold and italicizing. Many say it grabs the readers attention, points out important areas, and makes it much more readable. Others say its to flashy and distracting. It all comes down to marketing. How easily the reader can skim, comprehend, and remember the article. You prefer the good ole' plain text, I take it?

As I said, we are establishing our company currently and its in beginning phases. We officially launch about 2 months ago and we have been gaining a following rapidly.. we are looking to branch out on here for advice and the great community.

Also- love the Detour Ahead gig you have going on!

-Josh
 
I respect your opinion. However, Thomas is a personal friend of mine. That is probably why it seemed a little informal. We will be recording a video interview with him at NAMM this month.

As far as starting a drumming community...we already have. Our friends at Drum Channel, drumeo, and mikeslessons.com are fantastic at what they do, but we are not trying to copy them.

We have an online members site, a drumming magazine, and our FANPAGE

We conducted an interview with my good friend JP Bouvet. You will probably like that article a little more than Thomas' interview. JP's answers are more informative and extensive.

Our magazine has only been up for a month now and has had over 6,000 hits. I am not trying to brag by any means. I am just letting you know that we aren't amateurs. I may not be a professional writer, but I love drumming, I love music, and I do it for a living.

Isn't that what we all aim for?

Blessings man,
Derek (President and CEO)
 
I watched a few of your videos, and I think you've got some things of substance. But it all comes across a little pretentious and try-hard. For example, referring to yourself as "President and CEO" at the end of your message...
 
I watched a few of your videos, and I think you've got some things of substance. But it all comes across a little pretentious and try-hard. For example, referring to yourself as "President and CEO" at the end of your message...

I understand what you are saying. I only say/post that because that's my legal title. Also, we conduct business fairs with companies like ProMark, Evans, Mapex, and TRX so I am just used to being professional. I am not trying to be a hot shot or anything if that's what you are trying to say.

It's my job. What's more important is our vision and mission as a company! Take a minute of your time and read this, maybe it will ease the tension a little. About Flight Drummers

Sorry if I came across in a aggressive way by referring to my self as that. Happy Drumming man

Just curious on the gear endorsement, what Ahead product(s) does Thomas use?

Some of their cases, bags, etc.
 
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The last question in the interview was a little obviously self serving.

While I wouldn't call him a personal friend, Thomas is part of the broader Bay Area music community and I've had the opportunity to hang out with him on occasions. In spite of the wild man stage persona, he is kind of quiet and soft spoken. The short and simple answers are consistent with my experience of him. I also think that while he may be willing to help out a new enterprise, he has had a lot of people trying to get a piece of him over the last few years and may be a bit guarded with what he says for publication. If I were in his shoes, I would be. Thomas may be trying to do it himself but I know other folks who run things like interviews for publication though a PR person so as to not accidentally have something out there that might come back and bite them.
 
we conduct business fairs with companies like ProMark, Evans, Mapex, and TRX

I noticed you were using those brands but I am curious to know what exactly you mean by "business affairs". If simply you mean you're their customers, I'm afraid that isn't really worth mentioning.

Forgive me for my skepticism, but this appears to be an internet business started in the dorm room of two guys no older than myself, and when you come into our community and push yourselves on us this hard, these kinds of questions are going to get asked. Regardless; I appreciate that you're trying to have a positive effect, I think you're a good drummer and I don't mean anything I've said on a personal level.
 
Sorry, but that was a boring interview. Please point me to the "crazy" part of it so I can get excited as I thought I would be.
 
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