VINNY APPICE Says His Single-Bass Drumming Technique Was 'Perfect' For BLACK SABBATH And DIO

During an appearance on the March 25 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", legendary drummer Vinny Appice was asked if he ever played double-bass drums. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No, I never did. One time, when I was growing up, 'cause [my brother, fellow legendary drummer] Carmine [Appice] had double bass, [I thought], 'Oh, let me try double bass.' And then I didn't really get into it that much, and I thought, 'Carmine's doing so much with it, I'll just stay with single bass.' So, I just stayed with a single bass drum."

Regarding why he always stuck with a single bass drum, Vinny said: "I grew up heavily on [LED ZEPPELIN's] John Bonham, who was one bass drum, one pedal, and Buddy Rich, who was the best ever — one pedal. So I thought, I'd rather have one strong, fast foot, powerful foot, than diluting it with two — not that these guys dilute it; they're incredible, some of these guys. So I stayed with that one bass drum and kept it heavy, and I think it worked great playing with the bands I played with — with [BLACK] SABBATH and DIO, it was perfect."

Asked by "Trunk Nation" host Eddie Trunk if any of the jazz guys played double bass, Vinny said: "Louie Bellson. He came around the Buddy Rich time, and he came out with double-bass drums, and that was, like, 'Whoa. Wow.' People hadn't seen that before. And he was great; it was a great thing. But Buddy Rich was just so phenomenal. He was just so far ahead of everybody. He was gifted. He never practiced. It just was a gift from God that he could sit there and just crank it. It was just incredible. So he used one bass drum, so I was very influenced by Buddy… And then there's ways to use the one bass drum to make it sound really powerful and heavier, almost like two bass drums here and there."

Appice also talked about how he stays in good physical shape at the age of 68. He said: "You know what? First of all, about 10, 12 years ago, I got diabetes type two. And when you get diabetes, you gotta watch the sugar — and the breads. Unfortunately, I'm Italian. I love the bread, I love pizza, the whole thing. So I wound up focusing on, okay, carbohydrates. If I'm gonna eat the carbohydrates, I get on an exercise bike or I play the drums, I go to walk. Me and my girl, we go walking every morning. And I try to eat good, and go to the gym. And I think the years of not taking any drugs — not that I did, [but] in the '80s, [BLACK SABBATH and DIO singer] Ronnie [James Dio] and I used to smoke a lot of pot, and that was it. I didn't do the blow, I didn't do any of that hard stuff. So I think that helped me along and [kept] me in good shape."

Vinny previously discussed his preference for a single-bass setup during an interview with Metal Edge more than a decade and a half ago. At the time he said: "Both Carmine and I started with a single bass. Then he moved over to double bass, so I thought I'd see if it was for me. It didn't blow me away, so I just kept the single bass. I never used a double pedal either, so I'm known as 'Mr. Single Bass.' The good thing is that with a double bass your foot can't get lazy, so I've got a lot of power with one foot and it's fairly fast from playing with one just bass drum."

Back in December 2021, Vinny spoke to the "All Access Live! With Kevin Rankin" podcast about his unique and powerful drumming style which has anchored the rhythm and power live and in the studio for the music of DIO, BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, LAST IN LINE, AXIS, Rick Derringer, John Lennon and more. He said: "I always say 'I go where no man has gone before' where some of these fills start. See, I play in the song. Whatever I do, I get into the song. I don't play on top of the song. I hear a lot of drummers can play on top of the song and they're just playing the song. I'm inside of that song, and that's the way I hear the stuff. It's kind of like an artist painting pictures, and I'm in there putting the colors in it. And I just hear it like that — fills that could go over the bar, maybe a bar and a half. And they start in an odd place. And luckily, that worked for me with SABBATH. SABBATH, I didn't do quite as much because SABBATH was so legendary, you had to keep that in your mind that this is BLACK SABBATH and there's a certain way to play fills that are a little darker maybe — not so much snare drum; more dark stuff. And then with DIO, anything went. And Ronnie [James Dio] never had a problem with me playing… nor did SABBATH; they never said 'don't play a fill there' or anything like that. And Ronnie, I'd play over his vocal line. We kicked each other in the ass. When I hear him starting to go, I go, 'Woah, dude.' Now something comes out of me that got inspired; he inspired me. We fed off each other, absolutely."

Appice went on to say that his recorded parts change and evolve when he is performing the songs live. "Like one night, [DIO] played 'The Last In Line', and at the third verse, [Ronnie] goes, 'And you never, never, never come home.' And then one night, he kept it going. He went, 'Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never…' He kept it going. And I just heard that and I followed him," Vinny said. "And we went, 'That was cool, dude.' And we still do that. I'm playing with LAST IN LINE now with Vivian [Campbell, former DIO guitarist]. And we do that. Andy Freeman [LAST IN LINE singer] and I, we worked it out so that part's in there.

"See, I'm always listening," Appice continued. "Drummers, you've gotta listen to what's going on on stage. I don't close my eyes and space out. I look around. I'm scanning the stage. If I'm hearing somebody playing something, maybe I'll jump on it. And that keeps it really exciting. That's why I don't play the same stuff every night. Certain fills are the same. But then I go kick in the ass as much as I could."

Vinny has recorded and co-written songs on several dozen albums and CDs, including many multi-platinum records. Vinny's drumming can also be heard on numerous movie soundtracks, including "Wayne's World 2", "Heavy Metal", "Iron Eagle" and "Bedazzled". Vinny, the author of drum instruction book "Rock Steady" and DVD "Hard Rock Drumming Techniques", has performed incredible powerhouse drum clinics around the globe. Numerous books have been written about BLACK SABBATH and DIO with the authors always mentioned Vinny's drumming style.