#114 Brad Dutz- Multi-Percussionist & Faculty at Cal State Long Beach!
Today’s guest is Brad Dutz. Brad has recorded for artists like KISS, WILLIE NELSON, MICHAEL WOLFF, TRIBAL TECH, DAVID BENOIT, RICK BRAUN, VINNY GOLIA, ALANIS MORRISETTE ,LEANN RIMES, MITCH FORMAN, KIM RICHMOND, RICKIE LEE JONES, HANDS’ONSEMBLE and actors JEFF BRIDGES and RONNY COX, Brad Dutz tries to bring the strangest percussion instruments he has to the session to create a unique sound. He can be heard on TV shows KING OF THE HILL, FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD, ENTERPRISE and FIREFLY. Some of the movies that Brad has played on include LAST VEGAS, BATTLESHIP, BOURNE LEGACY ,COWBOYS and ALIENS, PRINCE OF EGYPT, SYRIANA, HILDAGO, RUGRATS GO WILD,STAR TREK 5, OCEAN’S ELEVEN , ANCHORMAN, HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE ,TRANSFORMERS 1 and 2 , RUSH HOUR 3, RUN DOWN and I SPY, and also IMAX films MYSTERIES OF EGYPT, MT. KILAMANJARO , AMAZON and ISLAND of SHARKS.
As a member of BMI, Dutz has produced over 30 CDs as a leader, has composed all the music on more than 20 of those recordings and is the owner of the publishing company LEAKY SPLEEN music. The ensembles he has written for cover a wide range of instrumental combinations-everything from solo pieces to nonets are featured. In 1990, Dutz started his composition studies, mainly of 20th century music, privately with composers TERRY PLUMERI, RON JONES, RUSSELL STEINBERG. In addition to CD projects, he has composed for dance and theatre companies, as well as for television and film. 2013 saw the fourth release of his latest quartet project featuring a unique instrumental combination of mallet percussion, oboe, cello and bass clarinet, entitled "Peripheral Hearing". Other recent ensembles include The Other Three (a trio with Kim Richmond and John Fumo),Obliteration Quartet (featured as the subject of a 2002 documentary film), Polarity Taskmasters (keyboards, voice, theremin, percussion) and the duet CD with reedman VINNY GOLIA.
As an educator, Brad has taught hand percussion at Cal State Long Beach since 1997. He has conducted hundreds of clinics at colleges and high schools on a variety of topics, including studio work, composing for percussion, CD production and freelancing. He has also conducted master classes and lectures at many schools including University of Kentucky, Cal Arts, Saddleback College, Chapman College, NIU, WINONA State in MN. Cal State LA, Indiana University,UNT, WEBER College,USC, UCLA, EIU, Eagle Rock Community Center,Southern Methodist University, ISU, University of Indiana, MILLIKIN, Pierce College, University Of Nebraska, Southern Utah University, Brigham Young, Utah State, University of ALASKA Fairbanks and many others. Dutz has been featured on the DVD, “HAVE FUN PLAYING HAND DRUMS” which teaches newcomers about playing hand percussion. In addition, he’s written a monthly column for Drum Magazine on hand percussion and he has written three books featuring his compositions “Manipulations In Sound And Time”, “Music For Hand Percussion” and “Percussion Pieces For Duos, Trios and Quartets”. In 2012, his latest compositions were published by HONEYROCK music.
Our Educational Spotlight for this week starts with Summer Music Camps…..
New England Music Camp, Thom Hannum’s Mobile Percussion Seminar, George Parks’ Drum Major Academy, Aspen Music Festival, Mike Portnoy’s Percussive Nation, as well as a whole host of other summer music camps.
PAS (Percussive Arts Society) has a bunch of scholarships available to attend your university or attend PASIC (Percussive Arts Society International Convention).
Help solidify a percussion scholarship in the name of (friend of the show) Thom Hannum on April 29th.
2019 Modern Drummer Magazine, Reader’s Poll Results are out and you can see the winners and nominees by CLICKING HERE.
The 2019 Hit Like A Girl Competition is now open for entries until April 12th. There are several age groups and categories. You can see the full list by clicking HERE. OR, scroll down to peruse the PDF of the prizes.
Festival Alerts for this week include…..
A Great Night in Harlem concert at the Apollo Theater featuring guests of honor Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett.
Pharrell Reveals Something in the Water Festival 2019 Lineup which will be held in Virginia Beach from Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28. You can get more info and tickets by CLICKING HERE.
Music News for this week…..
De La Soul’s Catalog Pulled from Streaming Services at the 11th Hour. A perfect combination of legal issues, bad contract terms, and other problems led Tommy Boy Records to halt De La Soul’s catalog streaming availability. Price of Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch Drops 70% from $100mil after the Leaving Neverland documentary goes public. Coachella Bans Marijuana for the Second Straight Year. Other banned items include stuffed animals, selfie sticks, massagers, kites, glow sticks, flashlights, and flags. Streaming Accounted for 75% of US Recorded Music Revenue Last Year, While Vinyl Sales Jumped 8%.. Damon mentions that the Chris Robley Episode, helps breakdown streaming and a bunch of other self-employed musician knowledge. How Musicians Can Game the Facebook Algorithm to Create More Cost-Effective Ads.
The song leading into the interview is: “Transcribing Trane Takes Time” by the Brad Dutz Tentet.
The interview begins with Brad explaining the proper pronunciation of his last name and then the California weather. The song Damon refers to is called, “It Never Rains in Southern California”. There are two different songs with the same title. The first one is by Albert Hammond, and the second one is by Tony, Toni, Tone. Regarding the firefighters combating wildfires with goats, you can read more about that technique HERE.
Brad attended the University of North Texas. He played in a couple bands with Greg Bissonette called ‘Buster Brown’ and ‘Peanut Butter’.
After moving to L.A., Brad auditioned for and ended up playing with The Gap Band. He then started playing with Maynard Ferguson in 1984 until he started playing on the soundtrack for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In addition to private drum lessons as well as on mallets (thanks Wally Barnett), Brad played Hand Bells in his church were his mom sang with the choir.
Brad got some inspiration for his newest recording project from the band Oregon, which he’s been a fan of for a while. That newest project is called, “Dispose of Reality” and it is available now.
Playing at libraries is mentioned and it is an under utilized revenue stream for performing artists.
Of the many instruments that Brad has learned and can play, he mentions the Bodhran. Those drums are usually struck either with the bare hand or with a lathe-turned piece of wood called a bone, tipper, beater, or cipín. Tippers were originally fashioned from a double-ended knuckle bone, but are now commonly made from ash, holly,or hickory wood.
Brad mentions having lessons up at the educational site, My Music Masterclass (shout-out to Jake Mozus).
Brad talks about playing percussion on the Ocean’s 11 and Ocean’s 12 soundtracks as well as the Syriana soundtrack. Then he talks about playing cajon on the Beverly Hills Chihuahua soundtrack. This is the scene in the first Transformers movie that featured the Taiko drums played by Brad (and a few other percussionists too).
Brad talks about the implements he’s used over time and here is a picture of his stickbag…..
Brad uses Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, Gon Bops Percussion and Yamaha drums and percussion, Paiste Cymbals, Remo drumheads and Roland electronics.
Damon mentions the Amplified Timber (by Hector Torres). Hector makes mic mounts for Cajons, Frame Drums, Pandeiros and more!
You can follow Brad on his Website, YouTube, Instagram and Soundcloud. You can also study with him at Cal State Long Beach.
The song leading out of the interview is called “Slate Glass”
