CANNAE Interview

Cannae has certainly proven that they are here to stay on their latest Prosthetic Records effort, "Gold Becomes Sacrifice." The band has a sound that is massive, creating intense forays into sonic destruction that resonate with an up-front intensity over the course of this must-have record for anyone that is into extremely heavy metal. Drummer Colin Conway speaks with The Gauntlet's Editor-In-Chief Erin Fox about life behind the kit in Cannae.

The Gauntlet: The songs on the new record are like a complete wall of sound. A lot of the power in the music Cannae can be attributed directly to your intensely powerful drumming style. Which drummers have influenced you to have such a heavy-handed approach?

Colin Conway: If you want metal, I can straight up tell you the obvious ones. Dave Lombardo of Slayer, Lars from Metallica, when he was good, which means "Master Of Puppets", "And Justice For All" stuff, Pete Sandoval from Morbid Angel and there's some nasty drummers in metal out there that were never even heard of, I remember the old drummer from Gorefest was pretty damn good. But as far as non-metal stuff goes, and I do take a lot of my influence from non-metal stuff, just to get a different kind of drumming style, you get more technique.

The Gauntlet: It sounds like you are interested in drummers that focus more on musicianship and employ a lot of technique in their playing.

Colin Conway: Exactly. I like technical drummers a little more, but there are also very good qualities in drummers like Tommy Lee, who play very simple, but very hard. And you can hear that if you go and listen to the old Motley Crue "Shout At The Devil" shit. There's no denying that he's thumping the shit out of that snare, you know?

The Gauntlet: I was recently watching a DVD of the Crue playing at the US Festival and you can really tell that he is hitting the skins really hard and just bashing the hell out of that kit.

Colin Conway: Yeah. You know, sometimes you don't have to play technical. Sometimes, it's just the aesthetic of the sound.

The Gauntlet: Advances in studio production, with the use of triggers and similar enhancements has made it difficult to tell how hard the drummer is actually hitting on albums these days, so it's a situation where you have to see the band live to tell how hard the drummer is actually playing. Do you consider yourself to be a hard-hitting player?

Colin Conway: I like to think that I am and I try to and actually, when we play shows, I get compliments like "Hey man, you were hitting those drums pretty fucking hard" A lot of drummers, especially in metal are used to triggers. You'll be watching them and they will be doing a blast beat or something really fast and they're not really hitting it that hard. Either way, with a trigger they're still playing it, but I am very used to not playing with triggers and sometimes, we'll play a show where they don't even have PA's or anything, or mics where the drums are. Sometimes I just need to make myself heard, so I have to hit it a little harder.

The Gauntlet: What type of kit are you using right now?

Colin Conway: Live, I play a Yamaha Stage Custom. I allow that one to get beat up, that's the one I take around on tour. On the record, I actually have a Pearl Master Studio, of my own, which is specifically a made-for-recording kit.

The Gauntlet: Why do you stick with the Yamaha brand for the road? Why do you prefer this type of set to others for a live situation?

Colin Conway: Well, the Yamaha is older. I actually got it second-hand. I don't want to say that it was beat up, but at one point in time, it was the only kit that I had. So I brought it out on the road and t did get beat up quite a bit, anyone is going to tell you that stuff gets beat up out on the road. So I bring that and it's cheaper, maybe one-third the cost of a Pearl Master Studio. A Master Studio is a very expensive kit. If I saw that thing getting beat up on the road, I'd be very upset.

The Gauntlet: The Master is your baby, isn't it?

Colin Conway: Yeah, pretty much. I really like the tone of it, it sounds great and I would really like to bring it out live, but we're at the point where we're not the biggest band in the world and sometimes, I have to set up my drums outside of a club in the middle of January in the cold weather. It might be raining or snowing and I don't really want to bring an expensive kit for that.

The Gauntlet: Drummers that hit really hard often have a lot of trouble with breaking cymbals. Do you like to use a certain thickness when it comes to cymbals or do you prefer more of a variety so that you get different tones out of them?

Colin Conway: As far as cymbals, I try to stay away from really thick cymbals because they crack really easily. Like I said, hitting really hard, I go through a lot of cymbals on tour. I'll break a china one night and break a crash the next. Rippled cymbals, I really love the way they sound. I really like the Avedis by Zildjian, I like those cymbals, but I could break those really quick. I think I might be exaggerating, but I think one actually lasted me only about a week. But, they sound perfect and sometimes you've got to make that sacrifice. I don't really cry when they are broken. I get whatever I can that sounds good. At this point, I am not even endorsed, so�

The Gauntlet: Do you have particular cymbals that are your favorites to hit? Is there a certain sound that you are looking for above others?

Colin Conway: It's a toss-up. I really like Pisces cymbals, they are just really expensive. Those are really great cymbals, but I don't buy them as much, because they break and are really expensive to replace. I really like Zildijan Z Customs and Sabian AAX, those are probably my choices.

The Gauntlet: Have you ever used something that is a little unusual as a cymbal?

Colin Conway: What I actually do sometimes, I don't do it on the record, but when I am just screwing around at home and stuff, I'll stack up a broken china with a broken crash, like two really good ones� and if they are cracked, I'll stack them together and they sound really, really good. Kind of what a china really should sound like. I screw around with things like that. I'm actually using a splash, a Dave Weckel series Sabian, that thing is a splash but it cuts right through.

The Gauntlet: Given the abuse that you give the skins out on the road, do you run into problems with replacing heads quite a bit?

Colin Conway: Yeah. The problem that I have is when the stick breaks and I'm still playing with it, that's what really dents the heads a lot. I have some heads now that actually hold up quite well. I used those on the recording and they sounded perfect. The first time that I ever used them was on the recording and I was amazed by how well they actually sounded, they are actually the best sounding heads I've ever worked with and they hold up really well. They're Remo Ambassadors, but they're not coated, they have a fiber or something like that. I thought I would go right through them, but they held up really well; better than any other drumhead I've played so far.

The Gauntlet: Do you use mufflers on your heads at all, like the Remo O?

Colin Conway: I'm not into those. I've never used them, just because I don't like that muffled sound, I like a good sustain. What I use actually, are these things called Moon-Gels, I don't know if you know of them, but I think they are made out of the same thing as those little sticky hands that you get out of gumball machines. It's made out of the same kind of stuff and it works so much better than duct tape or muffler rings. It's a gel and you put it right on the drum and they work perfectly.

The Gauntlet: Do you need to use pretty heavy-duty hardware to keep things from moving around on the stage?

Colin Conway: Oh yeah, I do. But actually, some of it's pretty sub-par shit too. Sometimes I'll have a stand and I'll have three things coming off of it and it will be Pearl or Yamaha or Gibraltar hardware. But then, I'll have this one, miscellaneous no-name brand boom stand coming off of it because it was the only thing I could find, too.

The Gauntlet: What is your rehearsing regimen like? Are you the type of player that has to hit the skins every day?

Colin Conway: Yeah, usually, I do some other things as far as the band goes, like taking care of shirt designs and stuff. Usually, I do try to sit down and play for quite awhile. It's pretty therapeutic. I haven't played in a couple of days now, but at one point, it was every day, three hours a day, that kind of thing. I have nothing else to do and I like doing it.

The Gauntlet: Do you work through a consistent routine or is it more random, where you sit down and start playing the first thing that comes to mind?

Colin Conway: Well, sometimes, I will catch myself playing the same shit over and over, just like the little things you pick up after playing for a while. How I try to get better is, I'll listen to a CD and hear a good beat. Listening to it, I might not know how it's done, so when I sit down at the kit, I try to think about it, I try to dissect it and play it through until I get it. For the beats on our songs, I try to really practice it and make sure I really get it down. I like to keep things the same as they are on the record when I play, but I like when drummers don't too. Like, when you go to a show and there's a beat that you really like on the record and you're expecting to hear it, but the drummer does something different and it still sounds great. But I personally try to keep it true to the record.

The Gauntlet: When the band is writing material, do you start from a beat or do the guys bring in riffs, then you come up with a beat that fits the guitars?

Colin Conway: As far as the writing goes, we actually sat down and jammed every weekend from November to the beginning of January. We actually sat down there and rehearsed in the studio, we did some pre-production. It all kind of served as the same thing, rehearsal was pre-production. So we just come to each other with ideas. Sometimes, I will have a beat and they will say "Oh, that sounds cool", so we go from there. I also play guitar too so that helps with the writing.

The Gauntlet: That's rare too, that a drummer also plays the guitar, a lot of drummers just don't seem to get guitar very well.

Colin Conway: Usually, when I'll come up with a beat, I have a good outline for what I want for a riff going over it. That just kind of makes sense. So on a couple of songs, I'll say "Guys, here's a beat, but why don't we try something like this�" I also wrote quite a bit of the record. A lot of the songs are ideas that I've had in my head for a couple of years; I joined the band a couple of years ago. Whenever I write a beat, I know what riff I want and vice-versa, when I write a riff, I know what type of beat I want. The cool part about writing is that you don't have to tell the drummer what to do; I kind of already know what to do.

The Gauntlet: The band was able to record "Gold Becomes Sacrifice" with Producer Jason Suecof. He's a really hot producer right now and he is known for getting really great tones. Did you have an easy time in the studio in terms of getting the drum sounds that you wanted on the record?

Colin Conway: Actually, no. I put on all new heads, like I said, it was the first time that I had used them. So I put on the heads and I tuned everything up and set the mics and the next day, while we were recording, he was fine-tuning stuff. I'd start recording stuff and he would say "I'm hearing a little vibration in the snare, can you do something about it?" So we had to tighten things up, or throw a Moon-Gel on to muffle stuff, very meticulous things like that�But looking back on it, as stressful as that was, that was totally necessary. I'd say the compliment that we get the most is how the drums sound. Jason is totally a perfectionist with that; I am totally a perfectionist, I have to play the song perfect, so that is totally a great compliment.