RIGGED: RAMMING SPEED’S JONAH LIVINGSTON

If you don’t know Ramming Speed yet, get with it. Not only did they play Day 1 of our inaugural Metal Suckfest (pics here), but they’re one of the most fun, heabangable, party hardy thrash bands in existence today. Here’s drummer Jonah Livingston on his drum setup, piece by piece, for our latest edition of Rigged:

My sound starts with my skins. If I play the same heads slightly longer than I should my drums begin to sound like they’re gasping for air, but with fresh skins and a little love they can produce a nice, heavy, buckety sound. The kick (22”) and rack tom (13”) are “Blue Diamond” wrapped Premiers from the only full kit I’ve ever owned. They must be around 15 years old at this point; when the hardware on my floor tom fell apart this year, I replaced it with a 16″ Slingerland which Scott from Saviours told me is probably from the ’70s. The kit is like an old house; it’s kind of falling apart, but it feels like home.

(that’s Goran, our roadie, in the background)

For a snare I rock a black Grestch (the “Full Range Maple Snare”) that has a solid thwack and a nice dent on one side which I’m fairly sure helps the tone. The throw for the snares is broken so they’re turned on permanently, but who gives a shit, right? I keep her cranked pretty high for blasting purposes, but just loose enough that I can still get dynamics with ghost notes and the like. Kurt Ballou once asked if I thought it sounded “a little too 311”, but what does that guy know anyway?

For cymbals, my current arsenal includes a 19” Zildjian A Custom Crash, a 18” K Zildjian Constantinople Crash, a 17” Zildjian A Custom Projection Crash, a 22” Zildjian K Ride and 22” Zildjian Ping Ride. For a long time I was just a one crash, one ride kind of dude, but the current setup has allowed me to do more accenting with the two smaller cymbals. The super-thin Constantinople is a great China alternative for quick trashy punctuation marks. Now that I have two rides, I use the Ping Ride for precision blasting/Slayerizing and the K Ride for getting loud and heavy. My hi-hats are one 14” Zildjian (open logo) bottom and one Bosphorus 14” top. Most of these came into my hands from a fire-sale by an ex-Guitar Center employee who had to dump all his gear before serving some jail time. Thanks dude!

I’m not much for brand loyalty, but over the years I’ve almost always ended up walking home with Zildjians when faced with a choice of the big brands. This is due to their big buttery sounds and huge open tones throughout the various lines.

For double pedals I use Pearl’s Demon Drive. These are by far the smoothest and fastest pedals that still allow for power playing. I’m the antithesis of a trigger drummer and I get weirded out by pedals that only allow for super speedy tapping. Playing drums should mean kicking as much ass as possible, and a lot of the direct drive pedals don’t give room for anything but butterfly kisses.

It’s worth noting that when Ramming Speed play house shows many beers tend to go airborne and there are nights that my kit ends up drinking as much as I do. So far none of the malty goodness has gummed up the works with these bass drum shredders and I appreciate gear that stands up to different playing environments (though it can’t hurt to put a little grip tape on the boards so your feet don’t get too slippy!). I currently use the felt beaters that came with the pedals, but occasionally switch to wooden ones for extra slap and volume.

My stick of choice is the Pro Mark 5B Japanese Oak Wood Tips (the Oak version tends to splinter long before they crack, extending playability) and I play coated Remo heads. I use half of a MoonGel Drum Damper Pad on each to help get rid of some of the weird old drum ring.

The final parts of my live rig are a practice pad for warming up before the set, a smelly pair of basketball shorts and a plastic handle of whiskey/vodka/whatever is cheap near the venue. All of these are fairly crucial to getting my mind and body psyched and putting on a good show, but do whatever works for you.

Lastly, when we’re renting gear In Europe my kit of choice is this C&C custom job:

Hopefully I’ll be able to upgrade my US kit to something comparable in the coming year. I HIGHLY recommend checking out C&C’s work. In the meantime come see us on tour and watch me beat my poor old Premiers into a pulp through December 31st.

Thanks for reading, so long suckers!

– Jonah Livingston / Ramming Speed

P.S. It’s worth noting that I have no gear endorsements. What I play is a combination of what I think rules and what is in my price range. A drum set, like any music rig, will change over time depending on trying new things and writing new music. How has your evolved over time? Comment below!