NDV answers some frequently (and a few rarely) asked questions

Do you have any "formal" music training and can you read drum/percussion charts?
I was self taught from the time I started about 3 or 4 until I went to music school, The Dick Grove School of Music, when I was 17. Since then, I have studied a lot and yes, I can read percussion parts, although I don't get a chance to use that knowledge very much.

Did you ever have private instruction? Who was it from?
I have studied with Dave Garabaldi, Chad Wakerman, Richard Wilson, Chuck Silverman, and Roy Burns.

Did you ever perform/play with your school band or orchestra, or any other "non-rock band" musical situation?
I have done many non-rock band gigs. Plays and musicals and things like that, but I didn't play in my high school band, if that is what you mean. I played in Jr. high school, but I played brass instruments like trumpet and french horn. When I went into high school, I decided I should play drums, and tried out for the band. I won the head tri-tom position. I thought that would be very cool and fun. Well, waking up at 6:30 in the morning to go march around the school parking lot with that very heavy thing on my shoulders was NOT what I wanted to do. I know that sounds wimpy, but I wanted to rock way more. So, I quit that and just played in my room until my first band came along, which was not that much longer after that.

What songs, albums, musicians, etc. have been your biggest inspirations or favorites?
That's too hard of a question to answer, but I can say that Genesis was my favorite band growing up as a kid, with Led Zeppelin a very close second. After that, there are just too many to mention.

Who are your favorite songwriters and composers?
Lennon/McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Prince, Elvis Costello, David Sylvian, Roland Orzabal, Kevin Gilbert, Joni Mitchell

Do you listen to electronic music?
Yes. I like drum-n-bass stuff a lot. I love Nine Inch Nails kind of stuff very much too. I really dig programming and working with loops, so I listen to as much as I can to learn how it all works.

How did Spock's Beard form? I met Neal and Al at a blues jam here in LA way back in 1991. We happened to sit in with the band together. Played some blues thing. After that we got to talking and hooked up from there really. I went to Neal's place and got a tape of some songs he had been working on which happened to be the whole "The Light" record. He and Al had been talking about starting a band. They asked me and off we went.

What is your favorite Spock's Beard album?
Feel Euphoria (new) and Kindness of Strangers (old)

When are Spock's touring Australia?
Soon, I hope. That would be great. I have cousins there I have never met.

Is the Beard doing the old songs in standard tuning or 1/2 step down? How about FE?
We are doing everything in standard tuning, although after singing lead for a while and doing a couple of tours, it would be nice to bring everything down a half step. Some of the new tunes have sequencers going, and they are in standard tuning. I would have to go in and change all that if we wanted to bring it down. It would also be to much of a pain to go back and forth from tuning to tuning on gigs, so I am just going to have to pull up my boot straps and keep singing in standard tuning.

Why did you add the second drummer when you took over lead vocals, as opposed to doing a sort of "Ringo" playing and singing lead at the same time thing. We've all seen you play and sing at the same time, and it was most cool.
It is cool I agree singing from behind the kit, but I also think it would end up becoming very boring for the viewer after a while. Plus, I like to jump around and go crazy.

Why did you change your vocal style on Feel Euphoria? The upper range Italian love ballad voice that you used on Carrie and Looking For Answers is so cool!!! Will you be returning to your older style in the future, or will you be sticking with the FE style?
I just try and sing for the particular song I am singing. The Italian love ballad voice you refer to wouldn't sound right for a song like Onomatopoeia. Plus, I am always trying new things to see if they work or not. It makes thing interesting and fresh.

Do you use triggers, and if so, what type of samplers, etc. do you connect to?
I don't use triggers. I don't like them very much. I would rather play an electronic kit. I used triggers on the Tears For Fears tour I did in 1996, only on a couple of songs thank God. You have to change the way play so much. If whatever gig I was doing required them, I would use them again, but I will wait until that time comes. They were Ddrum triggers.

Who is your favorite roadie?
I have been blessed with some great techs. I can't say I have a favorite.

What was Kevin Gilbert's contribution to Spock's Beard?
Kevin mixed three songs on Beware of Darkness, mastered The Light, and did front of house sound for us at our first Progfest gig. He helped us out in other ways too but those were the major things.

How do you feel about all of the SB-Genesis/ Neal Morse-Peter Gabriel / NDV - Phil Collins comparisons?
As for the comparison, I really don't know what to think of it and really, how many people are actually making the comparison? If I can become as successful as either Genesis/Collins/Gabriel, well, then I will have kicked serious ass in the music biz. But for now, I'm just trying to make good music. I'll let the chips fall where they fall. I can only control so much you know, and worrying about stuff like that makes for absolutely no inspiration when it comes to making music or performing. I can only be me :)

How about a full accounting of your experience with Genesis making Calling All Stations?

-- How did you get the gig?

I was touring with TFF. We happened to be in London when Kevin Gilbert told me that he heard that Genesis might be auditioning drummers. So, I found out where their management company was located, took a Spock's CD to them and also invited them to the gig with TFF. I said if there is ever a chance, I would love to audition for the position. I finished the TFF tour and didn't think much about it until I got a call from the producer, Nick Davis asking if I could send a DAT of some more things that I had done. So, I did that right away and then they called me and asked if I wanted to audition. I said YES!!!!!!!!

They ended up flying over top their studio in England and I played to all the new songs they had written. Unfortunately, I didn't get to jam on any old stuff. I would have really like to have done that, but they were interested in the new stuff and what I could do with that. I went home, and not too long after that, they called me to tell me I got the gig and flew me back to record.

-- Why did they use two drummers on the album?

I don't know. I know that Nir Z was in a band that was managed by the same company. Maybe that had something to do with it. He is also a good drummer, so I am sure that had something to do with it .

-- What were the guys like?

They were very nice and very mellow. Tony read the paper most of the time while I recorded. Over all they treated me very well and it was a great experience.

-- From what I understand you also played every song for this album, although only five takes made it to the final album.

Yes, they had me record everything and then choose which they liked better after that.

-- Did you got a chance to listen to "your" version of the whole album?

Only while I was there recording them.

What's the story behind you working with Peter Gabriel? I was at Roland Orzabal's studio recording for his solo record. His old friend and former producer Chris Hughes was working with Peter over at his studio. Chris called me up at the studio about 8:00 one night and said "can you come over and do a track for Peter?" I was jumping through the roof, but tried not to show it. I said yes, asked Roland if I could leave early that night, and drove over the Real World. I was very excited. It was so cool, too. Peter came in and we had dinner. We drank a bunch of wine and talked about old Genesis and things like that.

Then we went into his game room and he proceeded to kick my ass in Ping Pong. I'm a good player too, but no match for him. I didn't get one single game. We played for about a hour. Then, we finally went into the studio and he played me this track he was working on for the princess Diana tribute CD, and that was what I recorded with him. What was the coolest part for me, was that he played and sang along, so I was actually recording with him. He wasn't just listening. The song was only 3 minutes long, but he had it go on for a long time on his computer and we basically got to jam after the main song went by. It was so great. I would look out the window into the control room and there was Peter Gabriel jamming with me. I was loving it, believe me. The song was very mellow, except for the jamming part that didn't make the final mix. They way the song was mixed you can barely tell there is drums on it. I don't care, really. It was such a fantastic experience that I just don't care.

How did you meet Kevin Gilbert and were some of your most memorable experiences working with him?
I met Kevin at the Mt. High ski resort in Wrightwood, CA. I was playing in the band in the bar and Kevin was invited up there to ski and Jam by a couple of the guys in the band. I was a big fan of his and we talked about music and what we both grew up listening to. We had a lot in common as far as that went. I tried to keep in touch after that but it was hard. He was very busy. He finally ended up calling me back a few months later and asked me to be a part of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway show he wanted to perform and Progfest. That was the first of many of the most memorable moment in my musical career. Some great, some bad, but always memorable.

One memorable moment was the very first hit of the very first gig I ever performed with Kevin. The Progfest gig. We soundchecked and did all that stuff but it was a festival and soundchecks are never the same as the actual gig. I don't know why but it always works that way. Back to the gig. Kevin is out front doing a little skit to open the show. The curtain opens and Dave Kersner starts the opening piano bit. But I don't hear the opening piano bit. All I can hear is white noise at about 300db. At least it sounded and felt like that coming through my monitor. The piano bit Dave was playing sets the tempo and it also sets up the first big crash of the song. I was yelling at the monitor man and looking at Dave yelling at him, "WHERE'S ONE!!! WHERE'S ONE!! I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING!! WHAT THE FU*@(*#^&&^**&@!!!!!!!! Dave was trying to help me out but it was inevitable by that point. I was going to screw up the first hit of the first gig of a guy I really wanted to impress and do a good job for. I was one beat off. I hit beat one, one quarter note before the rest of the band. Luckily I got back on by the next bar, only because I had been playing that music since I was a kid. But man, did I feel like CRRRRRRAAAAPPPP!!! I held it together and ended up having a great gig with a great band. It made for a very memorable experience.

Now I know a few of you out there have seen that gig on video, but you may not have noticed that big mistake. That's because luckily for me Kevin knew how to fix my mistake. I think it was magic:)

What about an official DVD or CD from that "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" show?
Well, Kevin had it for sale when he was still alive and the Genesis camp wasn't very happy about it. Maybe if Kevin had asked permission, they wouldn't have been so angry, but what are you going to do?

What made you decide to recreate "The Shaming Of The True" at Progwest, and when, if ever, will a DVD or CD be released from it?
I had talked to the guys putting on the gig at a Mike Keneally show and brought it up initially because it was something I though needed to be done. I really didn't know if I would get another chance, so when they hammered down the date for the show I went to work on the details of the gig. Kevin had a lot of friends and a lot of people here who loved his music. They all seemed willing to help out in some way and I really needed it. By the time it was all finished, we had a great band and had a great time putting the show on. Yes, we will put out that performance sometime. I don't know when exactly, but sometime.

What about your experience with Fates Warning? Tell us more. Which songs did you find hard to play? How did you get to meet Jim Matheos? Anything about it!
Either Mike Portnoy or Jim Pitluski gave Jim my phone number and he called me. All the songs had bits that were challenging because Mark Zonder comes up with some very interesting and difficult parts. They let me play the songs more like me then like Mark though. I thought that was very cool of them. I tried to keep them as close as I could. Mark uses triggers and electronics but they didn't require me to. I just rocked them as hard as I could. I had a great time playing with those guys. We had a lot of fun together.

How did you get the gig playing with Tears For Fears? Will you work with them again in the future?
I was playing in a band called Kaviar with Kevin Gilbert and Brian Macloed. Brian had played on the Raoul album and did the tour promoting Elemental. Kaviar was getting up and running pretty well, and when the time came up for the Raoul tour to start, Brian decided he didn't want to tour but really push Kaviar. So he recommended me to Roland. How amazing is that!! Needless to say I was very very grateful to him for doing that. That was my first "BIG" gig. I am working for them again also.

What's with the hair? And what's with it NOW? And... NOW? I'm a geek!!!

What do you eat for breakfast, and why?
I love breakfast. It is almost my favorite meal next to dinner. I eat everything from Bagels to Pancakes and waffles to cereal to omelets. I love it all.

Favorite drink?
Really good wine. Red and White. Preferably Italian or French, but there are great wines from all over the world these days.

Beer?
Guiness

Country?
USA. I'm from there, you know.

TV show?
Don't have one. I don't watch much TV.

Actors?
Al Pachino

Holiday?
Christmas

Vegetable?
Asparagus

Joke?
I don't think I can write it here. This is a family web site.

Films?
The Godfather 1 & 2, Caddyshack, Blazing Saddles and all of these new Lord of the Rings movies.

Car?
I would really love to have a new 2004 Corvette.

President?
Lincoln

Tree?
Palm

Flower?
Sunflower

Book?
Anything by Nick Hornby

Chewing gum?
Bazooka

Toilet paper? Charmin Ultra. You Europeans really need to check this paper out. It is like silk. Not like the sand paper you have over there.

Where can you find good Thai food in Sacramento?
I haven't been to Sacramento in years. Write to Dave Meros, he lives there.

questions are from the Spock's Beard message board by Flamjam, KevShmev, SaturdayPost, robertk, Daniel Milford, greatestnothing, OzBeard03, PapaJimH, Dutch Lost Cause, Radharc, KindStranger187, Uhuras Short And Curlies, Kevsource and Gulliver.