KB: Here we are in the midst of the action of what is the 2006 NAMM Show and joining us here at the very busy Brady booth is NAMM first-timer – Mr. Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers. We’re here to pick his brain for 15 minutes on the art of self-improvement and musicianship for drummers, and to get his view on his past & future performances.

RV: Hi, Ronnie Vannucci, the voice.

KB: Thanks for joining us here at Bradyland. Let's kick-off with a little known fact of your time at the University of Las Vegas: How long did you study percussion there?

RV: 3 years. I went in there, I think, at the end of 1999, and went in there bare-bones, just a drummer. I could read a little, I could play a little, but I had no prior experience with classical percussion which what I signed up for. I did some charts and stuff with the community college before, and then big-band and jazz with the high school.

KB: So, is that an environment you wished you could have spent longer in?

RV: Yeah! I do. I've been meaning to finish, you know, I only have a small time to go. I think I’ve just a got a recital and a couple of classes left to go.

KB: It will be an MTV show now.

RV: Oh yeah, totally.

KB: Meet The Vannucci's?

RV: (laughs)

KB: Ronnie Goes To College?

RV: Yeah.

KB: Speaking of life outside of the industry, what do you like to do in what little spare time you have?

RV: Everything has got to do with music. I play guitar and other instruments. I want to start playing more marimba. In fact I was just talking to Tim (Jones, head of Percussion at University of Las Vegas) about buying a marimba because he’s a Yamaha endorsee. So pretty much anything that’s got to do with music - good music, mostly our band. We’re writing at the moment, so a large portion of my time is devoted to writing and rehearsing.

KB: How will the material on the next record differ to that on''Hot Fuss''?

RV: Well, this is over-generalizing but we’re growing a lot. As we're growing older I think we're less inclined to write ''panicky'' rock songs. Not to say that all of our songs are panicky but I doubt you’ll see another''Somebody Told Me''or something like that (on the next record). We're kind of all looking to write more of what, to me, seem like classic songs, with a lot of influence from Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. I think in the back of our minds, because we were coined as being British for so long, we’ve tried so hard to fight the British influence and we’re letting our awkwardly-overt American influences shine through. We're interested in writing classic songs and being a classic band - even more than that, being an important band. Maybe''classic'' is a little too much of a description but we want to be an important band that writes songs that are meaningful. People take songs to have as their own. I've said it before but I don't think John Lennon owns''Imagine''anymore. I mean it's kind of the people's song, you know? And to be able to produce songs like that, and able to have a song like that that’s able to touch people like that, that’s where we want to be.

KB: What would you say the highlight of your career has been so far?

RV: A lot of highlights. I think what comes to mind first is playing Live 8. It was so good to get together with so many awesome people and be able to make music for a very good cause.

KB: What advice would you give to those who want to pick up the sticks and follow in your footsteps?

RV: Listen to early soul & R&B music. LOTS of older soul & R&B music.

KB: Examples?

RV: Um, the Stax era. Al Green, a lot of that early soul music. That's what I think most drummers should do – they (R&B drummers) put it out there, they put it out on the line and it’s got so much heart and soul. You can really feel it. That’s what I think is so good about soul music, even today. It seems like they're just able to present themselves in such an honest way and they don't need to worry about important, big words or cramming them in - not dumbing down their thing. They just wear it on their sleeve.

Just listen to a lot of music, and as a drummer you should listen to everybody else too. It's just as important to listen to how the vocal line is phrased because it gives you ideas as a musician. Drummers should never consider themselves as just drummers but as musicians and they should be able to be musical.

KB: Have you ever blatantly copied someone that you admire musically?

RV: Yeah. (silence)

KB: (laughs) Who?

RV: (laughs). It’s funny. Jimmy Chamberlin and Matt Chamberlain – I rip them both off. I rip Mitch Mitchell off like crazy, like it’s going out of style. So thank you, Mitch!

I think I'm still a young drummer, I still have a lot to learn, a lot of growing up to do as far as developing my own thing and I think borrowing from people I admire helps a lot. I love the way Papa Jo Jones plays the hi-hat, I love the way Buddy Rich plays the snare drum, I love the way Mitch Mitchell can swing the straightest, most whitest groove. I love Bonham. I love the heaviness Bonham had and the musicality he possessed. So you name it, I’ve ripped it off.

KB: Drumming-wise, what would you like to improve upon, if anything?

RV: I think I'd just like to become a more musical player. What I strive to do is be musical when I play. And these new songs on the record are going to be pretty evident of that desire, and I think everybody in the band wants to do that. I think on the first record it was just some beats. It was very young, very spontaneous. And it caught a moment in our band’s brief history. But I think I’d just like to become more musical.

KB: Is there any specific thought process you have when determining what parts to play for a song?

RV: It depends on the feel of the song. A lot of times I listen to what everybody else is doing and try to complement that because that's the way this band works better. In other bands I've had that done with me. I shouldn’t say that because on certain songs they (The Killers) do work around what I'm doing, but you do look at every song differently and you look at what the song needs. It's a taste thing. It's a musical decision you have to make -''how am I going to approach a song?” A lot of times nothing’s really doing it until I know what the vocals are doing. I think in pop music it's really important to emphasize what the vocals are doing - fill in the gaps, compliment or answer whatever the vocals or guitar line are doing.

KB: Do you remember the first time you heard yourself on the radio?

RV: With The Killers?

KB: Yeah.

RV: No. (pauses) Actually I think it was on a San Francisco radio station when we were in San Francisco.

KB: Do you still get a kick out of it?

RV: Hell yeah! It’s kind of neat! One minute you're mowing a lawn and the next minute you're driving and you hear your song on the radio - it's just kind of life-changing. I don't know, it doesn't really affect me too much. But it's still exciting.

KB: Now, for someone who loves the vintage sound so much, why in the world did you buy a Brady snare?

RV: Because I got a great deal on it! (laughs). Well, I love vintage drums because the wood has aged. I've got an old 1961 Ludwig set that I only use for specific songs because it's got that really old sound compared to a lot of my other drums. I think it just sounds like what you should be hearing. But when you brought that snare drum to me in Australia (14x5.5 Jarrah Ply/Blackheart Satin) it had a great response and I was able to articulate a lot of things I wasn’t able to do on any of my other drums.

KB: Thanks for joining us! That's all folks.