Interview "Le Prof du Mois" - Batteur Magazine, May 2008
© reproduced with the kind permission of Batteur Magazine
(See below for the english translation.)
ENGLISH TRANSLATION (translated from French by Jennifer Sloan)
Independant drum teacher in Marseille, Rob Hirons studied drums in England, where he began to teach before coming to France.
Interview…
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: Can you tell us more about how you discovered the drums?
ROB: After learning some keyboards at home, I started on the drums at age 13 and took some lessons at school. Shortly thereafter I found some friends to form a group playing covers almost exclusively of the group Rush! Some years later, I studied at the College of Music in Leeds where I received my BA Honours Degree in Jazz Studies. The college is strongly oriented towards jazz, and produces a lot of great drummers. After my studies, the college hired me as a teacher. It was a very good period and there was always a great atmosphere.
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: Which drummers have most influenced you ?
ROB: In the beginning I loved Neil Peart, a real ‘thinking man’s drummer’. Later on, I began to appreciate drummers such as Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, and Dave Weckl. They were a great source of inspiration. I also began to particularly like Gary Novak, Billy Cobham, Chester Thompson, and especially Gary Husband who is from my home town of Leeds.
More recently, I’ve been very impressed by players such as Jojo Mayer, John Blackwell, Cyril Atef....
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: What are the principles of your teaching ?
ROB: So that the student can freely express himself on the drums, it is essential to work on grip techniques, hand and arm movements and stroke techniques, and above all to apply these techniques in a relaxed way so as to be able to give the best. I teach various stroke techniques used by various American drummers such as Dom Famularo, Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl… for example the Free Stroke, modernised by Joe Morello, and the Moeller technique, made popular by Jim Chapin. These techniques have been taught to me by Dom Famularo , himself a student of these teachers, and in turn I seek to relay that knowledge to my students.
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: What do you try to develop most with your students ?
ROB: For me, the most important thing is to inspire the student to express himself with his own voice. I’ll seize any opportunity to exploit the student’s abilities and show him what he is capable of. I think that one of my most important duties as a teacher is to initiate the discovery of the student’s personal voice and potential by the student himself. I’m there to guide him on this road to discovery.
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: How are your lessons organized ?
ROB: The concept of my studio is based on the principle of four learning stations: the practise pad station with mirrors to study in detail the strokes and movements, the snare drum station to apply these techniques and to work on rudiments, a multimedia station with internet access and a library of drum study books, dvds, cds, magazines…and a station equipped with two fully miked up drum kits allowing play along with mp3s and listening back to the result.
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: What are your working methods ?
ROB: For a beginner, we will work of course on the basics with a stress on constructing some basic rhythms, so that the student can rapidly feel a sense of accomplishment and advancement. Sometimes I will have more advanced drummers who come to me in order to resolve specific problems, for example improving their stroke, or perfecting their double bass drum techniques. In such a case, the lesson would be more focused on the issue at hand, using the appropriate techniques.
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: What are your other musical activities ?
ROB: I spent 6 years in the Marseille based group Watcha Clan, until the end of 2006. Since then, I’ve been regularly performing with various groups based in Marseille. I’ve just finished a new album with Paris based singer Rona Hartner, and I will be on the tour which will go through most of the larger cities in France until the end of 2008.
BATTEUR MAGAZINE: What advice would you give to our readers ?
ROB: I would tell them to stay honest to themselves in their artistic expression, whether this expression is manifested while playing solo or while holding a solid groove with other musicians. One should not attempt to be something else or someone else, or succumb to pressure from other people. We all have a tendency to fold under this pressure, which can restrain our freedom of expression and consequently deform our personal voice. The drummers that we all appreciate each have their own voice that we recognize immediately when listening to them. If you stay honest when you express yourself, it is always your own voice that will come out, and that is what makes the difference…
