It’s difficult to say for certain whether or not the Indian rock and metal community has turned into a bunch of eager learners, but the fact of the matter is that music clinics appear to be the new hot ticket. And the latest person on his way to impart knowledge is American death metal quartet Nile’s drummer George Kollias with a drum clinic of his own. “I never started out wanting to play professionally in bands. The dream for many years, to be honest, was to do drum clinics for a variety of audiences,” confesses the man who is widely considered to be the fastest drummer on the planet. Most drummers play blast beats with double-kicks on the bass drum. Kollias needs just one to conjure up monstrous 250 (and upwards) beats per minute blasts. Fastest drummer on the planet indeed.
“Clinics usually mean that you go up onstage, play extremely fast, take a few requests and then get off the stage,” continues Kollias. “What I like to do is also give tips and suggest drills and exercises that people can try, especially the younger drummers. I always try to motivate and guide those guys, since they’ll be the flagbearers of the music scene one day.” Among the most important of these tips that he imparts is to “play every day, live and breathe your drums”. “Playing the drums with a band,” he says, “is far more important than sitting by yourself in your room and practising. A lot of people just sit by themselves and practise like crazy. It doesn’t work like that.”
One very curious fact about this Greek drummer for an American band whose songs and name are based on Egyptian concepts — in addition to that fact — is that he learned to play the drums from a guitarist. “After initially becoming conversant with the guitar at the age of nine, I got my first drum kit when I was 12. Since there were no music schools in the neighbourhood, I began studying music with a local guitarist. He taught me how to read music,” clarifies the sticksman. Six months later, he quit his classes and was self-taught for the next 10 years.
Identifying Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich as his reason for picking up the drumsticks, Kollias adds, “I took lessons from Greek jazz drummer Yannis Stavropoulos, where I picked up a number of new styles and ways to approach the drums.” Now, on any given day, he plays drums for anywhere between four and seven hours (“It’s important to maintain a daily relationship and contact with your drum kit”).
And the rest, as they so often say, is history. After drumming for such bands as Sickening Horror and Nightfall, it was in 2004 when the South Carolina death metal four-piece came a-calling. “I had a very weird first impression of the US. I went there, expecting to see the New York and Los Angeles- type US I’d seen in the films. However, the quiet, peaceful and relaxed lifestyle in South Carolina was a real shock for me, at first,” he reminisces. “Nile was by far my favourite band and I was thrilled to be a part of it. But I’ve never had any plans to move permanently to the US and leave my home. Too many commitments,” he smiles. When not travelling the world performing drum clinics or pounding the snot out of his drums for Nile, Kollias is also a certified music teacher in Greece.
Returning to 2011, Nile is on a little break to write new material, giving him the time and space to perform a punishing schedule of drum clinics across the world. Elaborates Kollias, “I just got back from some clinics in Germany and Slovakia and I now have one in Athens, followed by Denmark and Sweden. Then I head to Turkey, followed by India and 10-12 clinics across Europe, before doing five clinics in Australia.” Phew. His maiden trip to India, however, is set to last only 30 hours. “That’s one of the biggest disappointments. It’s my first time visiting your country, but because the clinic is part of a very tight schedule, I won’t be able to spend much time this time around,” he sighs.
This time around? As it turns out, Nile actually had an offer to perform in south India this year, but astronomical travel costs put paid to that plan. “We’ve been trying to play in India for the last three years. After having to reluctantly decline the offer this year, we’ve decided that to cut costs, we’ll do shows in India as part of an Asia tour in the near future,” he says.
This correspondent angles for one last piece of advice for drummers, before Kollias signs off and the Greek drum machine duly obliges. “Don’t be an a**hole,” he says. Excuse me? “It’s an absolute must to have a good attitude towards your music, band members and fans. You have to be a professional,” he states and adds, “I have been lucky enough to play with some of the finest musicians in the world who have a very good attitude. I’ve also played with some amazing musicians who have terribly poor attitudes. Some people are so talented at an early age that it goes to their heads and they don’t grow up and don’t care about anyone or anything. That’s how bands break up.”