George Kollias – a drummer from Hell

Hi George! As far as I am aware, you are currently touring Europe with your recent drum clinic. Please tell us a bit about that.

This is a tour Pearl Drums organized for me and it’s going very well. Just did Rockshop Drumfestival a few days ago where I had the chance to share the stage with drummers like Benny Greb, Gavin Harrison, Aaron Thier and many others. I have a super fine Reference series drum set and full support from Pearl, we had a great tiem here and everything is very easy I gotta say. Clinics for me are a lot of fun, I love touring with the band of course but drum clinics are a “drummers” thing and I really get into it. There is less stress to deal with and everyday is pretty much different, you never know what to expect. I am very happy on how things are going and I feel very lucky to be supported from brands like Pearl, Sabian, VicFirth, Evans etc. Everybody is really helping me to get out there and do what I want to do…

Is your audience mainly death metal fans? IS the clinic all about technique? How is this Clinic different from Past clinics?

No, not at all. We have a variety of people in there, so much that actually surprises me in a good way! Many drummers of course, any style of drummers that wants to hang out and see a drum event and they seem to really get into it. I get this as well, I am a drum maniac so whatever is happening and has to do drums it will never be a waste of time…never!

Of course I have Nile fans there as well, in some places I would say too many and some of them are not even drummers; it makes me very happy they support my clinics! They just want to have fun and see what we do on stage but on a different angle, on a close up. That would be my only problem actually, it stresses me out a little bit, on a clinic everybody is focused on YOU and as a drummer I am not used to that, during our shows I am always right there on the back. I am doing clinics for 5 years now, I did 28 this year only but the stress remains the same and keeps the moment alive; even though stress is not the “right” word.

My clinics were always about education, I always make sure to give as much as I can to my fans, lately though I play a little more than I used to. What happens is, I play a few songs and then I give the crowd the chance to ask things, anything they want. If they get into it the clinic we might go for 3 hours (happened many times…), if they are not into asking then I play more and more just to give the chance to them to see what I do and mostly to have fun. It’s really easy, clinics are easy.

How are the clinics working out with the long lasting world tour With Nile?

In the past I used to do clinics the during our tour, I mean during our show dates. So basically I was doing a clinic at noon and in the afternoon I was getting ready for the show. That was fun too, but now I am trying to separate them cause I feel I can give more in both situations if they are different stories you know?

Im still doing clinics during our tours but “mostly” on our day-offs. This year I had 4clinics that worked like that, I did one in Perth/Australia which was actually sold out, and one in Bogota/Colombia and 2 in Venezouela. The last ones were during our South America tour and they were actually killer, in Bogota only I had 400 people there, crazy…!

Nowdays I try to separate them and what I do is clinic tours, they are short and easy, like a week or 10 days. Feedback is great and I have the chance to go to places the band never goes, this is awesome! 2011 will be crazy with clinics, I have already booked 4 clinic tours (long ones) and working on for more and more. I want to go and play everywhere since fans are watching my clinic schedule and they want me to go to their country as well, it’s a great feeling!

Please tell us a bit about your position as a teacher in the modern music school in Athens. How did become a teacher? What led you to do that? How old are your students? Do you like being a teacher?

I’ve been teaching drums for about 10 years now, and the reason for that was my love about the instrument, I never had the chance to study with a drummer in “my style” so I try to give to all the kids what I never got. This is kinda like my day-job, but to me it sounds funny when I call it a job cause it really isn’t. Drumming is always fun to me, get your living out of it it’s a bless…Sometimes it’s getting too much, I won’t lie to you. When for example I am on tour and my students wait, then I go back home for 10 days before our next tour and I have to do double and triple lessons and that actually takes away ALL my resting time. But I deal with it cause I chose to teach and tour at the same time, it’s my decision.

With Modern Music School, I got involved back in 2005 if I remember correctly. George Metallinos (owner of the school and a great drummer) asked me to join them and I just said yes. I knew the guys before I join the school since they also have the only Drum Shop in Greece , the DrumStore (www.drumstore.gr) . George was one of the guys that actually helped me a lot without getting something out of it and he always believed in me. So when I got the offer I said yes without asking any details. And we are doing great together, so many years we did great stuff and there are plans for BETTER things!

I love being a teacher, it’s so much fun and relaxing. I get really into the lessons, sometimes that much that the students gets scared, ha ha ha. I never push my students, I just try to pass them the fire I have and I think they really enjoy it.

You are endorsed by big brands such as "Vic firth", "Sabian" and "pearl". Do you sometimes feel "trapped" by the fact that you're obligated to use these certain brands? Don't you want to try new equipment sometimes, try other sounds?

Being endorsed it might make you feel this way sometimes, and most drummers / guitarists etc they just go for other stuff; some of them actually play any brand live. I never do that for 2 reasons:
a)I have a lot of respect for anyone who believes in me, when a company gives you free drums/sticks/cymbals or whatever, it means they believe in you and I am lucky enough to have a lot of help from ALL my companies. I feel a part of the companies and I don’t wanna let them down, never.

b)This is the main reason: I LOVE their stuff….I tell you man, I had offers from other companies, but I ONLY get what I like A LOT. There is no compromise for me, I play what I think is the best and so far I never had a single problem with that. I only use their gear cause I think it’s the best and I was playing most of these companies (if not all) a long time before I get an official endorser, that says a lot.

There were all kinds of rumors about Nile's cancelled tour in South Africa. What really happened? Why was the tour cancelled?

Rumors? What rumors??? We never actually had an official offer, there was “a talk” with some guys that loves the band but they couldn’t organize the whole thing and we let it go for now. Actually those guys asked us to let it go and try again later. I don’t know what people say and I would really like to hear what they say, but let me tell you: I know what happened first hand and that’s cause I TRIED to get the band there. One good friend of mine invited me to South Africa for 2 clinics, I went there and did it and it was amazing! I also took a week off there to see the country a little bit more and in a few words I had a super nice time, South Africa is simple amazing!! Then coming back to Greece and after I met so many Nile fans down there, me and the friend who invite me there tried to get Nile to South Africa and we started organize it. The band LOVED the idea and we were getting really excited! After a few weeks though, they informed us that they couldn’t handle it for now, there are not too many Metal shows happening there so it’s very natural to have problems trying to organize a metal event. This is the true story and I tell you I was INVOLVED like nobody else to make those shows happen. I know the guys in S. Africa tried their best but we will definitely do it sometime and I hope soon!

A bit about Nile, how did you start out with the band? Were you a fan before you joined?

Yes, absolutely. Drum wise Nile were at the top of the game along with a very few other bands so as a drummer I got into it a lot. Of course I loved the music too, especially Nile’s music, it wasn’t about drums but drums was the first motivation to check a band. “In their Darkened Shrines” was what actually really got me hooked in the band, drumming was super nice and extreme by then (still is of course!) but the songwriting was superior with so much feel in there. They combined writing with great playing, what else you need to become a fan???

Tell us a bit about the working process with Nile: How do you come up with the drum parts? Jam sessions? Working alone with recorded riffs?

It a very simple process, since we are living far away we are working a lot via internet. The guys will send me guitar demos with click and I work on my parts back home or sometimes in our studio during the rehearsals for a new album. I compose my parts and then we get all together and talk about everything, of course we change parts here and there depends on what each one of us believes has to change for the best.
I compose parts that will sound good for the band, it’s an extreme metal band so I play extreme metal stuff…I don’t wanna cross the line and play for the drummer you know? Plus, in this genre the drummer has to do a lot already, probably more than we like to do sometimes. Most of the ideas coming right away by just listening to the guitar demos, some specific ideas I have to work a lot to get them together and maybe change them a bit after I do a demo a listen how they sound in the song. It’s a fun process, easy process mostly and you get in that creative mood witch I really enjoy.

Rehearsing with the band is what says if the parts are correct or they are too much / missing something. You get the chance to listen to the song but also FEEL the song so this is the final stage where many things change. There are also changes during the recording process, and to be honest I don’t really like this part since I practice a lot my parts before that and if something changes the last moment it feels “weird”, I am already hooked up by the demos and used to them so it feels like a song cover, I don’t know it’s weird. But, everything happens for the best of the song so there you go…

What's waiting for Nile as soon as the world tour is over in late February?

Getting on the writing process for the next album…As much as I love touring with the band we had so much the last 2 years that I feel I need a break. I have barely see my home for 2 years, plus when I am here I got clinics and school so I am double busy. I plan to get some rest, do many clinics in 2011 and finish my solo album and my next DVD. With Nile we will probably enter the studio early 2012 so I will be focusing on the composing side a lot, we have plenty of time to go for a better album and this is our goal like always! Aside from that, I am finishing my first solo album which I started years ago and I am very excite to get to the recordings and release it sometime in 2011. This album sounds great so far, it’s metal on it’s craziest form but has a lot of different elements in there. Last, as I said I am getting ready to shoot my second drum DVD and I have already written parts down. This time I am going for something a lot more professional that my previous DVD, which got incredible comments, no complaints! The new one though will be all HD with better quality and content plus a lot more playing, a great package for every drummer out there.

Are you still nervous/excited before live shows? What are you doing to relax in order to play such technical & complex parts?

Always, sometimes too much but I do nothing about it, as soon as I get on stage and sit on my drumset it goes away….I can’t explain it but it’s happening for real. The thing is, do I want this to get away??? No! This is the passion, this is what makes the moment even more magical and I like it! You go up there to do what you love since you are a kid, if you still have it at the age of 33 (I listen to metal since I was 7) then you are lucky, this is how I see it.

The crowd makes everything easy, you get so much energy from the fans it’s now even funny. And the funniest thing is, I get more stressed when we do small clubs. I get more stressed when we play in front of 300 people than got when we opened for Heaven and Hell in front of 40,000 people! It’s because in the small clubs people are closer to the stage you feel their eyes on you.

Something which I think every drummer watching your videos asks himself his – how do you get to play like that? How much practice and training did you go through to reach that level of playing?

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it… I don’t really feel I do something THAT difficult, it all comes from music so I just have it…Everything is involved, passion, technique, experience etc. but mostly it’s the music itself. I practice a lot, but I never practice Death Metal unless if we are getting ready to record an album, most of what you see is auto pilot and result of playing A LOT with the band. It’s in our heart you know? Of course there is a lot of technique involved, a lot of practicing during the past years but now it’s only music so I just go for it. What I practice back home is mostly groove and that reflects so much on what we do with Nile too. I try to get into the music more and more and the as much as I do I get great things out of it for my own drumming.

Which drummer do you consider as your biggest influence?

That is a question I can’t really answer, there are so many I would need a day to tell you, it’s definitely not “just one” drummer. Let me tell you what I am into lately. I watch/listen to Benny Greb and Marco Minnemann a lot, 2 amazing drummers, totally inspiring no matter what they do on the kit, seriously… Both combine show and music at it’s best and that is totally inspiring, and by saying inspiring I mean you want to run on your kit and start playing…

Another drummer that I watch and listen all day, even more than anything else these days is Damien Schmitt, this guy is a GENIUS…I have no words to describe how much I love his playing and how much I enjoy his videos! Totally inspiring and mind blowing, Damien is a drummer I am REALLY looking forward to see live sometime soon I hope! For metal, one of my GREAT influences that actually changed my playing totally would be Richard Christy from Death/Control Denied/Burning Inside. Whatever Richard did was a bomb for me, he changed my playing and he definitely helped me to get a better drummer! Still listen to his albums and I play along to them, Richard rules!

A lot of people tend to compare Jazz and technical drumming, what would say are the similarities, and the differences between the two?

Both styles need a lot of practicing and dedication and both styles has no major paychecks and fame, ha ha ha. Seriously, I think what bring the similarities would be definitely the dedication and love for music, if you are able to sacrifice so many years to play jazz or death metal means you are really into it. And the funny thing is that lately, both sides appreciate each other which never happened in the past. Metal guys were always more opened minded I gotta say but lately I get so many jazz players (or jazz legends too!) on my shows/share stage and I hear so much positive words it’s amazing!

Also, the funniest part will be our trademark beat – the Blast Beat -which have been played from jazz drummers even on the 50s! They brought it up as a drum fill and we set it down as a leading beat which makes the music intense and evil! So I guess there are similarities ha ha ha……….

Which now-days drummers do you appreciate? Please tell us about a metal band that you're listening to recently

There are too many to mention, bands and drummers…I will try to give you an idea but I don’t want to forget anyone. Behemoth’s latest album Evangelion is on my cd player almost daily, as well as Marduk’s latest and previous albums as well. Both drummers are awesome, I really love what Inferno did on Evangelion! I recently got the new Psycroptic DVD which is amazing and their drummer Dave Halley is a killer!

What else do I listen to lately….a lot of Slayer and some old Kreator albums, plus a lot of Jazz and other styles. I would say I listen to non metal stuff more but it’s all music to me, good music is always good music right?