In a recent interview with Drumeo, Brann Dailor from Mastodon talked about how influential Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich was to him as a young drummer. Dailor admired drummers like Mikkey Dee from King Diamond and later Motörhead, as well as Simon Phillips from Judas Priest. However, Ulrich’s style was something he and many other aspiring drummers could grasp and try to replicate.
“I was really into drummers like Mikkey Dee from King Diamond,” Dailor explained. “When I was a kid, I loved King Diamond’s music, especially the drumming. I also looked up to drummers like Nicko McBrain and Clive Burr from Iron Maiden, Simon Phillips with Judas Priest, and Dave Lombardo. Lars Ulrich was a big influence too.”
“Playing along with Metallica’s songs, like ‘Angel of Death,’ was challenging but doable. It helped me understand song structures better. Metallica was huge back then – everyone was a fan. We all learned Metallica covers and jammed to songs like ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and ‘One.’”
Dailor also mentioned his admiration for Phil Collins and Genesis. “Phil Collins is my favorite,” he said. “His work with Genesis, especially the early stuff, had cleverly disguised pop with odd time signatures. It was like they were hiding prog in popular music.”
