The word “intensive” does not usually bring to mind a good time. I took intensive French for two consecutive summer semesters in college: bad time. ICU: worse time. Vaseline Intensive Care could go either way, I suppose, but that’s for another day (or not). The “intensive” at issue here has the word “drummer” before it. Things are looking up.

Drummer Intensive Days is a traveling series of 6-hour interactive drum workshops run by New York-based drummer Phil Maturano. Phil has presented the participatory clinics around the world with guest clinicians such as Clayton Cameron and Cliff Almond.

Drummer Intensive Day in L.A.
And now…it’s L.A.’s turn. The premier Drummer Intensive Day L.A. is scheduled for Saturday August 8th, 2009 with Phil and Luis Conte at Los Angeles Music Academy. Interested drummers can check with Drummer Intensive Days directly for the latest details, and HollywoodDrum.com will also post updated info as we get it.

HollywoodDrum.com supports this event for the forum it provides drummers to learn, commune, encourage, and inspire. Check out our Q&A with Phil for more on his creds and philosophy and see for yourselves. We think he just may have scantily disguised a slight dig to our beloved L.A. (his ex-residence), but we’ll turn a modest eye this time for a good cause. I personally just got back from one of our many glorious beaches and am feeling magnanimous.

But seriously—thanks, Phil, for putting the “good times” in “intensive.” …Or something like that.

Concerning our latest feature on the Pro Drum 50th Anniversary Celebration, here is a little self-revelatory, behind-the-scenes account of how things go down at a big-time website like HollywoodDrum.com…

Our features editor contacted Stan Keyawa at Pro Drum and acquired press passes (that’s free tickets, y’all—suh-weet!) for the June 6 show at Avalon Hollywood. Upon consultation with the writing staff back at the HollywoodDrum.com offices, it was confirmed that the entire staff had an early showcase gig at SIR that Saturday, and a freelancer would be required to cover the event.

The news business is a people business—this is Lou Grant 101. Our executive editor knows this axiom well, and went to work. Later that evening at a North Hollywood Tiki bar, our chief slid the press passes and an umbrella-garnished scotch across a dimly-lit formica tabletop, effectively securing the assignment with an unsuspecting Dan Konopka—our Pro Drum 50th Anniversary Celebration guest reporter.

Dan is the drummer for indy-rock phenoms, OK Go, likes scotch and has a digital camera. The Man for the Job. He wired his report to our copy editors the next day, our editors sent it over to our web-design team, and we are now happy to post our triumphant Pro Drum 50th Anniversary Celebration coverage for you, our vast and demographically pie-charted readership.