Q&A with Stanton Moore
The Mint, October 2009
With upcoming releases and tour dates with his musical staples Galactic, Garage A Trois, and the Stanton Moore Trio; new projects as a sideman and producer; signature gear and a drum company bearing his name; rental properties; ham sandwiches and lobster, Stanton Moore’s surname is apt. In the pulsing wake of a recent Leo Nocentelli show in L.A., we got to know…well, Moore.
Hollywood Drum: HollywoodDrum.com is home to L.A.’s drum community. You’re from that other LA—close enough. Welcome. How much time do you spend in Los Angeles lately? Is there a different vibe to the shows here for you than in other cities?
Stanton Moore: I get to LA a few times a year. It feels like maybe 4-6 times a year. Once or twice with Galactic, SM trio, NAMM, GAT, and other projects, this time Leo. Playing LA is always fun for us because we have a lot of friends out there. A lot of NOLA transplants are out there, plus my wife lived in LA for 15 years. We still like to spend time out there when we can and hope to spend more in the future. She lived in Santa Monica so we like to go out and stay there for a while and work from there when we can.
HD: The Meters Experience show at the Mint on Friday 10.9 was a funky good time. What is your connection to The Meters’ music—its early influence on you and later, the musicians themselves—and how did this current project come about?
Stanton: I heard their music growing up as a kid of course. I really got hooked at around age 16 or 17 and decided “this is some stuff I want to really dive into” around that time I started following Russell Batiste around (drummer for the funky meters now). Russell started letting me sit in on some of his side projects etc., I got to fill in for him for a few gigs with George Porter Jr.’s Running Pardners and I thought I had won the lottery. So over time I have played with George a lot and have started playing with Leo and even Zig lately. Zig has a thing he calls The Drummers Cometh. It’s Zig me and Russell playing 3 kits on stage with a great band. It’s a ton of fun! It feels great that all those guys call on me to be involved in their projects.
HD: Zig Modeliste will be appearing at the same venue on November 5th. It was great seeing you reinterpret some of the classic Zig grooves. I found it interesting that on the classic tunes “Sissy Strut” and “Hey Pocky Way” you switched to traditional grip. Does traditional help you channel Zig in any particular way?
Stanton: I think so. Also Zig uses an adapted traditional grip, he holds the stick between his index and middle finger in his left hand and gets a real whip out of it. I’ll do that sometimes for fun too.
HD: Another thing I noticed at the show was how aware you seem to be about laying time back. How conscious are you of this, and is it something that you focus on more when playing New Orleans style music specifically?
Stanton: I concentrate on that a good bit when playing with Leo. He doesn’t like things to push, and he’ll definitely let you know if he feels that. When you play with Leo and it’s his project you have to recognize that he is the time keeper in the band. His rhythm guitar playing is so strong and his time is solid and he wants it where he’s putting it. So I watch him and try to get into his tempo and lock with that.
HD: Your two primary bands are in full swing. Galactic is preparing for a tour into 2010, and Garage a Trois is releasing a new record. Get us up to date with these endeavors.
Stanton: Well GAT is releasing Power Patriot on Oct 27 and we will tour in Nov and Dec on that. Galactic releases Ya-Ka-May on Feb 2 and we will tour March and April on that. My new project Groove Alchemy which is a DVD, book and CD featuring my trio will come out in March. I’m also producing an album with Anders Osborne. That should be out in March as well and he and I will tour together in May and June. So I’m planning on being busy for a while…
HD: You consistently tend to have at least one “whaa?!” project happening that messes with whatever prescribed notion people may have about you stylistically. What’s the origin of Street Sweeper Social Club with Tom Morello and Boots Riley of The Coup? How was that experience for you?
Stanton: Tom and Boots had already planned to do a record together. They heard me play at a benefit we were all on in NOLA and Tom said, “Give me your number, I’m going to call you.” And he did. I recently did a record with Alec Ounsworth (indie band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) as well and that’s some very cool stuff indeed.
HD: Is it true that there exists The Stanton Moore Drum Company of New Orleans?
Stanton: Yes I started that to put out my titanium snare that I designed in conjunction with Ronn Dunnett. I wanted Gretsch to put it out but they didn’t want to put out titanium, so they were cool with me doing it on my own. Its very cool and you can see it on my site and get it from most Five Star drum shops. I also have a solid ply birdseye maple drum coming out with Gretsch as well.
HD: How do you find the music scene now in New Orleans and the scene in general? Have things pretty much returned to normal? Were you personally affected back in 2005?
Stanton: My wife and I were very affected. We have a total of 4 houses with all of our rental property and everything was damaged. We’re still trying to recover from all of that. The scene will never be the same, because things change everyday any way. But there is a real sense of camaraderie down there and people are always trying to help each other out.
HD: Tell us a recent absurd, inspiring, or otherwise remarkable story from the road.
Stanton: We’re on Martha’s Vineyard today, I just ate ham sandwich and now the whole band wants to go to a lobster spot…now. I can fit it…
HD: Open drum solo. What else would you like to share with all the L.A. drummers out there? No linear triplets, please.
Stanton: I always like coming to town and seeing guys I’ve befriended over the years and meeting new guys as well. The L.A. drum scene has a sense of community that reminds me of my LA and I dig that. Hope to see y’all again soon…
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