LAMB OF GOD Drummer: 'I'm A Nervous Wreck Before Every Show'

Drummer Chris Adler of Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD recently answered a number of questions for members of the band's "street team." A couple of excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow below.

Q: Chris, have you ever wondered about composing for a genre completely unrelated to your own, for example punk or alternative music??

Chris: Yes, but even further removed. I'm very interested in the emotion music elicits. That, to me, is the real magic. Punk and alternative are too close to metal in that regard. The path of the film score is what interests me the most at the moment. I study film scores — I buy them as often as new music. This is a direction I see possibly dabbling in and around.

Q: I would love to know what your practice regiment is/was when you first started with BURN THE PRIEST (pre-LAMB OF GOD) and even earlier when you put down the bass and fired up an interest in drums. Things like how many hours a day would you devote... What would you do to concentrate on foot technique... Would you study the living shit out of your favorite covers in order to play them flawlessly with Willie [Adler, LAMB OF GOD guitarist and Chris' brother]... Do you have any essential practice routines that if left out, would make your practices feel incomplete?

Chris: I never — still never — know any "techniques." I just figured out how to get my body to do what was in my head. That often took a lot of time. It would not have been awkward to spend six hours a day playing in the early days — and these hours were not spent learning covers. I learned two songs at the beginning when I tried out for a cover band (got the gig and then quit cause it was lame) — "Message In A Bottle" (THE POLICE),and "Limelight" (RUSH). Talk about two songs that beginners have NO business even messing with…. geez — it was torture. Studying Copeland's hi-hat nuances made me want to rip my ears off. I never did it again. I just played the beats and music in my head — over and over and over. At the time I had a computer gig, so I was never really frustrated — you had to keep trying things — [and] that parlayed into my rehearsals."

Q: We hear alot of talk about the good shows from you from time to time, and talk about how lucky you are to stand where you stand today. There's no denying that you are a truly successful man playing in a successful band. However, what about the bad apples? Have you ever played a show where something, or some things have just gone terribly wrong? ) And, how do you cope with such a situation when you're playing at such a professional level, performing in front of thousands of people?) If so, please share a memory!

Chris: Well, I try and tell it like it is most of the time, and honestly, it's rarely pretty. I'm a nervous wreck before every show and I'm typically distraught after each one. For a while I was so depressed about my performances I considered leaving the band. I was thinking about specifics the other day — trying to remember the worst example, and there really aren't train wrecks. More like a massive amount of fender benders. I know what I'm supposed to play, but sometimes it just doesn't come out right. Like when your nervous talking to a pretty girl. Same deal. Worst case was very early on, as BURN THE PRIEST we were playing a small bar in Richmond called Moondance and they gave us free beer all day while setting up. I flubbed and had to restart a song about 20 seconds into it. That was the very last time I ever drank before a show. Worst since then was last year, in "Blacken the Cursed Sun", there is a cymbal mute before a small guitar run about 3/5 through the tune. I went one bar early. I was PISSED! The crowd probably thought it was on purpose.

Check out the entire question-and-answer session at this location.