A few months ago I was listening to a Led Zeppelin bootleg and I had an epiphany: most of the drummers I listen to aren’t that great. So I decided to celebrate the ones who consistently knock my socks off with their fantastic work by doing an interview series titled (for lack of anything better) My Favorite Drummers. First up is Danny Seim from Menomena.

Last year’s Friend and Foe blew my my mind mostly because of Danny’s drumming. No two songs have anywhere near similar drum patterns — each contributes its own strength to the album. Danny’s also a great choice for the first installment of this, as most Menomena and Lackthereof (his solo project) start out with drum tracks before expanding into their full form. It was a real pleasure to have Danny involved with this. In addition to being one of my favorite drummers, he’s also got a wicked sense of humor (check out what his favorite song to drum to is).

My Favorite Drummers: Danny Seim from Menomena and Lackthereof

YANP: How did you get started drumming? Are you self-taught?

Danny Seim: I’ve been drumming by chattering my teeth together for as long as I can remember – doing sweet fills on my fillings and rolls on my molars. The human skull is an amazing acoustic instrument. I’ve also learned how to time my nasal sniffles to make some pretty convincing cymbal sounds. As a result, I remained a virgin well into my 20s and I’m going to need dentures by age 40. But otherwise, it was a fun way to learn. I still don’t really consider myself a drummer. I just started playing the drums live for Menomena because I was too self-conscious to do anything else onstage.

MP3: Menomena – Wet And Rusting

YANP: Did you go through any jazz camps or music groups as a kid?

DS: Yeah, I played trombone in my 7th grade school band. My teacher said my arms were too long to waste on any other instrument. I hated him.

YANP: Who were some of your favorite drummers starting out / who are some of your favorite ones making music now? What did you/do you like most about them?

DS: During my infamous 7th grade trombone era, I was always drawn to the drummer of metal bands for some reason, kinda like that Wilco song… But as in the case of Robert Sweet of Stryper, it was probably due to his undeniable physical beauty, not necessarily his percussive ability. I soon realized it was way less sexually confusing for me to love Lars Ulrich.

Nowadays, I like watching drummers who play like it’s their destiny to die of a heart attack behind the kit. Greg from Deerhoof and Benjamin from the Helio Sequence are two good examples I can think of off the top of my head. But there’s other folks like Bryan of the National and Justin of Broken Social Scene who obviously have taken the time to master their craft in ways I’ll never fathom, and I totally admire that too. And I guess John Bonham was pretty decent.

YANP: Any time I talk drummers and your name comes up, I always say the same thing: what impresses me about Danny isn’t so much the beats he hits, but it’s more what beats he DOESN’T hit and all the quick hitches and small pauses in his drumming (ex: “My My”) What steered you towards that style of drumming?

DS: Um, hours and hours of editing in Pro Tools. Ha ha ha, that was a joke, I swear… Ulp. Anyway, I guess if I had to really start talking influences, I’d probably go back to my early infatuation with rap music and the general production style associated with classic hip hop. When I first heard Public Enemy, N.W.A., Jungle Brothers and De La Soul in the late 80s / early 90s, I had no idea that all those huge beats were just loops and drum machines. I thought there was actually a dude back there, playing one simple beat as hard as he possibly could without doing any sort of extended tom tom solos or stick twirls, for like 4 minutes straight. This was light years more impressive to me than “Moby Dick”. And to be honest, I didn’t actually hear “Moby Dick” until several years ago because I was so scared of the Satanic backmasking.

YANP: You’ve said before that you often start the DLR sessions with a looped drum track. What’s it like using the drums to guide the flow of a song? What’s an example of a Menomena album track that started with the drums? Do you more frequently start with drums when writing Lackthereof songs?

DS: I can’t think of a Menomena song that didn’t start with drums. When we’re doing the looping composition thing, it’s always easiest to improvise off of a beat rather than just the annoying sound of a click track. Kick drums and snare hits do a lot to influence the placement of our bass and melody lines. I’m no good at writing lyrics in advance and then meshing them with pre-existing music. All of my syllables and melodies are usually dictated by the rhythmic structure.

MP3: Lackthereof – Choir Practice

Lackthereof has always been the same way. Brent’s DLR program just helps us all contribute simultaneously, when it’s more than just me staring into a computer screen recording my own music.

YANP: What’s your favorite song to play on the drums?

DS: John Cage’s “4′33″

YANP: One of my favorite things about your drumming is that it’ll often go for a while before repeating. That way it can still be complex and unique, but still give the listener a sense of familiarity when it gets back to the beginning of that section. (ex: the verses in “Muscle’n Flo”) Do you feel like that’s a pretty fair representation of your way of thinking about drum composition?

DS: Yeah, for sure. I like thinking of every element in a pop song as a potential hook – not just the vocal melody or catchy guitar riff or whatever. Hooks are obviously borne out of repetition, but the trick is placing this repetition effectively enough to warrant repeated listens without boring or tiring the listener. We’re still learning.

YANP: Do you find it difficult to sing while drumming live? Do guitarists not know how easy they’ve got it?

DS: It’s incredibly difficult not to sound like a huffy obscene phone caller when attempting to sing into a mic while swinging your arms as hard as humanly possible. Fortunately, I have many brilliant role models in this area: Phil Collins, Don Henley, and that guy from Night Ranger.

YANP: Much like Deerhoof, I never realized how many drumless sections there were in Menomena songs until I started doing this project. (ex: “Muscle’n Flo,” long pauses in “Air Aid,” most of “Gay A”) It seems like both bands are more forward-thinking with their song structures, including when to cut out instruments to allow full focus on others, or to emphasize their return. It seems like if you had a great drummer, you’d want to constantly bash the listener over the head with his work, but you guys go the other way and it actually works out better. It reminds me of a quote I heard attributed to Glen Kotche of Wilco: “Loud is most effective when you know how to play quietly.” Any thoughts on that?

DS: Thanks for mentioning our humble little music in the same breath as those other great bands. I’m still definitely learning how to reign it in, as opposed to just bashing mindlessly like Jerry Falwell at a gay pride rally. As opposed to pretty much every other instrument, drums can be so physically cathartic, and it’s hard for me not to get wrapped up in that style of playing. When Menomena first started out, I think I was subconsciously trying to hide the fact that I had no idea what I was doing onstage by obliterating my crappy drum set night after night. Now I’d like to think I’m a little more self aware, if nothing else.

YANP: If you had to go out like all the drummers in Spinal Tap, how would you like to meet your dramatic rock and roll end?

DS: With a bad Pitchfork review (yikes, I’m going to regret that one)

YANP: (Vaguely awkward question where I ask Danny to comment on various other drummers I plan on interviewing — ranging from Pow Pow from Man Man to Greg from Deerhoof. Wouldn’t want to give away the whole drummer interview lineup so early. You understand, of course.)

DS: Jeez, all those dudes are total bad-asses. They’re reasons why I hesitate to call myself a drummer, because it would mean placing myself in the same category as them. I used to email Greg [from Deerhoof] years ago and and ask him if I could send him Menomena demos and stuff. He was always really nice, much nicer than I’d probably be if the roles were reversed…