SEPULTURA's GREYSON NEKRUTMAN Talks Drumming Technique: 'I Figured Out What I Wanted To Play And How I Wanted To Play'

In a new interview with Drummer's Review presenter Ollie Winiberg, SEPULTURA drummer Greyson Nekrutman was asked if had any advice for other drummers who "want to climb the ladder in the way that" he has. Greyson responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's crazy. I mean, I still kind of struggle with that, when people are, like, 'Oh, you're my favorite drummer.' I'm kind of, like, 'Why me?' sometimes, that typical — it's just weird. But I think part of the appeal is that I never — I don't know if it's the New Yorker in me or what, but I'm very straightforward and I don't… Just because people in the drumming world would tell me one technique was wrong or playing this way is wrong, I kind of threw that all out the window and I figured out what I wanted to play and how I wanted to play, which was combining the jazz and the big band with a little more aggressive style and leaning into the more whimsical entertainment style of Buddy Rich and Sonny Payne and those guys who, they were entertainers. They always sitting in the back of the band. They were showmen. And then sometime in the 1970s, this kind of idea of, like, you have to be only a pocket drummer, get in the back, became prevalent. And I spoke to Mike Clark, who played with Herbie Hancock, about this exact thing many years ago, and he was telling me the trend that it was in the '70s and, and it was kind of this slow diet of the showman drummer was kind of pushed in the back and kind of, like, 'All right, this is not our focus anymore.' And I kind of took that and I was, like, 'You know what? Then there's a gap I can fill in that, that I want to kind of bring that back.' And then I think kind of the uniqueness of leaning into whatever works for you. I mean, if I do traditional grip a certain way, it works for me. And it was kind of the fact of, like, if I'm not getting hurt with bad technique, I don't have bad habits and it's working, then I embrace it. That's kind of like my rule."

Greyson continued: "So, if anything, my advice is just embrace what you… Everybody has this little quirk that in their playing that might edge them up against the next person, that might make them sound a little different, and I think people just need to embrace that. I think everybody needs to stop trying to be the same person. 'Cause there was a lot of drummers — when I was 18 to 20. I was in a select clique of people around me who all kind of wanted to play the exact same and they all wanted to play like Tony Williams, which is great. But they all sounded the exact same. They all went to these music schools, and thankfully I did not go to these musical schools, but they all went to these music schools and they all sound the exact same to this day. They all do, they all sound like a copycat of each other, and it's great — I'm sure they love playing like that — but there's nothing unique about it when everybody in the room sounds the exact same."

Greyson added: "I think there's elements to taking what somebody has done that you enjoy or you admire, just like I have with tons of drummers, but I think at the same time there comes a point where you'll never be that person. You'll never live their life. So when people get obsessive about it, it's — I don't know — it's sometimes scary, 'cause it's, like, you're a great drummer, but you sound like one person. It's like one-dimensional. And then all the people that I look up to, and all the people that I think my colleagues even look up to, my peers, everybody's very distinct. You know who Joey Jordison is? You know, when you listen to him, it's him, or you see him, it's him. When you see Buddy Rich play, you know it's Buddy Rich. When you see Carter Beauford play, you know it's Carter Beauford. It's just their entity, their being. That person is just such a force. And I think the biggest thing that separates those people is the confidence with which they played with."

Nekrutman officially replaced SEPULTURA's longtime drummer Eloy Casagrande in February 2024.

Greyson, who also previously played with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, made his live debut with SEPULTURA on March 1, 2024 at Arena Hall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

During a 2025 appearance on "The David Ellefson Show" podcast, SEPULTURA bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. praised Nekrutman, saying: "Greyson, he is a great guy. He has a very jazzy, totally different approach. I'm still adapting, learning with him day by day. Eloy was in the band for 13 years. It took me a while to really lock up with him. The easiest one, of course, was Igor [Cavalera, original SEPULTURA drummer], 'cause we grew up together. And then the other ones, I had to readapt, and even the way of playing, just to make SEPULTURA sound right. Each one is very unique and has their own particularities. That's why it's so nice.

"We've done some new recording with Greyson, and it sounds amazing," Paulo revealed. "[It's a] totally different approach, and it was, like, 'Don't try to be that much metal. Just be yourself. Be a jazz player. Try to bring into the metal your own style and you're gonna fly high, dude.' 'Cause he's amazing."

Asked by podcast co-host Joshua Toomey what it's like to have such a young bandmate in SEPULTURA, Paulo said: "Well, it's great, 'cause, it gave us new energy. And it's a way to exchange experience. Even though he's so young, he has his own experience that he can share with us. And to have the chance to be every day on stage, you learn more and more every day. So it's a great exchange, actually. It's beautiful. [I] love it."

SEPULTURA announced Casagrande's departure on February 27, 2024, explaining in a statement that he was leaving to join "another project", with Eloy later confirming that he is the new drummer of SLIPKNOT.

The news of Eloy's exit from SEPULTURA came just two months after the band announced it would celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024 by embarking on a "farewell tour" which would cover the entire globe.

In SEPULTURA's statement, the remaining bandmembers expressed their shock over Casagrande's departure, saying they were "taken by surprise" that their now-former drummer would "abandon everything related to SEPULTURA" less than a month prior to the start of the tour.

SEPULTURA is putting together a live album commemorating its last run of shows. The band is recording 40 songs in 40 different cities for what will be a "massive compilation of our best, most energetic moments on stage," according to a statement released by SEPULTURA in December 2023.

Photo credit: Edu Defferrari