It’s official…Josh Freese is leaving Nine Inch Nails sometime during their upcoming US tour. Front man, Trent Reznor, wrote a message to fans on the band’s web site:

Freese has explained that his reason for leaving is nothing personal with Reznor and they have mentioned that they will remain friends.

“Josh Freese [NIN's current drummer] fans, be sure to check out a show on the upcoming North American leg of the tour, as sadly they will be the last ones he’s playing with us. He informed me he’s leaving the tour at the end of this year. Yes, we are still dear friends. No, I’m not sure what we are going to do.”

Maybe he should ask his fans for advice… He has already recently asked fans to take an online survey saying,”As we’ve moved from the familiar world of record labels and BS into the unknown world of doing everything yourself, we’ve realized it would benefit us and our ability to interact with you if we knew more about what you want, what you like, what you look like naked, etc.”

Maybe he should follow in Radiohead’s steps, doing a video remix contest or Weezer by getting fans to come play at their shows.

The Guns N’ Roses “Chinese Democracy” album, which was 17 years in the making, will finally be released on November 23rd, a Sunday.

The album has been rumored, made fun of and talked about so much that it is hard to believe its actually coming out. The album is a Best Buy exclusive, so fans looking to purchase it will have to head there to pick up a copy. After what supposedly happened to an unsuspecting blogger who downloaded and leaked the tracks, you might want to forget about downloading it.

Drummers featured on the “Chinese Democracy” album include Josh Freese and Brain. I have no idea what kind of kits these guys played, or even how many other drummers could’ve been involved in the sessions. I did see pictures of a Pearl drum set accompanying an article about the recording of the album. Both Freese and Brain endorse DW Drums though.

Guns N’ Roses also has a few tracks from the album coming out in various other ways. Chinese Democracy track “Shaclker’s Revenge” will debut in the video game Rock Band 2, while “If The World” will be featured in the credits to “Body of Lies” the new Leonardo DiCaprio/Russell Crow film.

Source.

This morning I came across a great article over at Wired.com about the current stage show on Nine Inch Nails latest tour. It is one of the most high-tech setups that has ever toured, features multiple moving “stealth screens” as well as interactive lights and video the band members can actually control on the fly.

“With the song “Only,” for instance, the front, convex screen starts out as solid static. On Reznor’s side of the display, a laser above him detects whenever he crosses a vertical plane paralleling the screen. On the floor, a piece of tape and two tiny LED lights let him know exactly where that plane is.

As Reznor intersects that plane with his hand or body, the laser tracks his X and Y coordinates. The “brain” box then tells the particles to spread out to a predetermined dispersal pattern. Reznor says: “Then it follows me around. If I leave the plane, it fills back in. If I push through, it comes back out.”

Proving that he is the ultimate professional once again, Josh Freese doesn’t just pound out beats on his DW drums, he is turning off and on a drum grid sequencer. “We recreated a grid drum sequencer,” he says. “[Drummer Josh Freese] is actually touching and turning them on and off. But he’s not really touching the screen. He’s crossing the same laser on the back screen, which gets calibrated at sound check.”

These are just a few aspects of the band’s current stage setup, the article is fairly long and well worth the read.

Source.

Not too long ago a few tracks from Guns N’ Roses, 14 years in-the-making album “Chinese Democracy” leaked online. This led to rumors of whether or not the album would finally come out. The “Chinese Democracy” album, up to this point, has basically become a huge joke. Now though, there are some signs that it may finally see an actual release, maybe even an exclusive one. According to Billboard.com…

“But some concrete signs are finally emerging that the album’s release could be imminent. That’s because, according to sources, negotiations are underway for “Chinese Democracy” to come out as an exclusive at one of the big boxes — either Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Negotiations are also ongoing to have conventional record company distribution, another source says.”

Kind of fitting that they’d do a Wal-Mart exclusive huh? It’s like they’re making a huge joke sundae and putting the Wal-Mart cherry on top. None of the people Billboard tried to reach for comment were available, including the band’s management company, their label Interscope, or any of their reps.

This album features drumming work from both studio great Josh Freese, (who was a part of the project for around 2 years before leaving to play with A Perfect Circle) and also Brain, both of whom are DW Drums endorsers. Hopefully at some point we can hear their work on the album, even though I can’t stand Guns N’ Roses.

Source.

While I kind of disagree with Pitchfork Media’s opinions, oh, 98% of the time and their choice of bands to cover…they do some cool things. I guess the site has gotten so big now that they have a lot of priority and access to all kinds of stuff.

Courtesy of “Pitchfork TV” check out Josh Freese totally killing his DW drums, on this live-in-studio footage, of NIN playing their new song “1,000,000″ off of their new album “The Slip.” Really cool…

NIN: Live-In-Studio Rehearsal

This is the first of 3 parts, so make sure to check out the other 2 when they become available.

Nine Inch Nails released their new album “The Slip” (which features the famed Josh Freese), for free in May. Now Trent Reznor has decided to release a physical version to coincide with Nine Inch Nails upcoming US arena tour.

“Each of the 200,000 discs arrives with a DVD of the band rehearsing Slip tracks live, plus a 24- -page booklet and stickers. The set hits Canada and the States July 22, with a Japanese release date is still TBA. A virtually identical set– sans the limited/numbered business– is due in the UK and Europe July 21, and whenever the Australian edition is released, it, too, will be available in this manner.

In addition, an unnumbered/unlimited gatefold vinyl set, featuring a single 180 gram LP of the disc and a 24-page booklet, is due August 4 in the UK and Europe and August 5 in the States. Further info on the Japanese and Australian releases can be expected shortly.”

The 180-gram vinyl version sounds the most interesting to me, as I’ve already got the free version on my iPod. This should also sell well as vinyl is making a resurgence. Nonetheless, very cool way of doing things. Release your record for free to your fans as a sort-of thank you, and then if people still want to buy the physical copy, make it available. Nice work Trent.

Source.

Here are NIN’s current tour dates…

07-25 Pemberton, British Columbia - Pemberton Festival
07-26 Seattle, WA - Key Arena at Seattle Center *
07-28 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place *
07-29 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome *
07-31 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre *
08-02 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center *
08-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre %
08-07 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena %
08-08 Worcester, MA - DCU Center %
08-09-10 Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course (Virgin Mobile Festival)
08-12 Knoxville, TN - Knoxville Civic Coliseum %
08-13 Duluth, GA - Gwinnett Arena %
08-15 Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center #
08-16 Houston, TX - Toyota Center #
08-18 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center #
08-20 Saint Louis, MO - Scottrade Center #
08-22 Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
08-23 Auburn Hills, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills #
08-25 Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Center #
08-27 East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center $
08-29 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center $
08-31 Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena ^
09-02 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater %
09-03 Salt Lake, City UT - The E Center of West Valley %
09-05 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena %
09-06 Inglewood, CA - The Forum %
10-24-26 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Experience

* with Crystal Castles
% with Deerhunter
# with A Place to Bury Strangers
$ with Does It Offend You, Yeah?
^ with White Williams

I posted earlier this week about famed session drummer Josh Freese. This guy has officially played drums on over 200 records, and not just small unknown bands either. He’s appeared on albums ranging from Jewel, A Perfect Circle, Chris Daughtry, Nine Inch Nails, Puddle of Mudd, Evanesence, Filter, Fuel, 3 Doors Down, Staind, Avril Lavigne…the list goes on and on.

Josh Freese is so sought-after as a session drummer that even bands with their own drummers sometimes swap them out for Freese, so he can record drums on the albums! Unless he is a member of the band (like he was with A Perfect Circle), he is usually uncredited, so as not to offend the bands own drummer even further, one would assume.

His style is very straightforward most of the time, although he can play very complicated fills and beats as well. Anyone who’s heard his work can of course attest to this. He is known for his rock-solid beats and ability to master a songs drum parts instantly. He has even stated in several interviews that he has just gone into the studio and played drums to something without even knowing what it is, then he’ll be listening to the radio, the song will come on and he’ll say to himself “oh, so thats what that was for!”

Freese is currently recording and touring with Nine Inch Nails. He plays DW Drums, he was playing Zildjian cymbals, but switched to Paiste a few years ago. Here are the specifics of his drum setup…

Drum Workshop Drums, Pedals, and Hardware
Paiste cymbals
Remo drumheads
Vater H220 drumsticks

Drum Workshop Drums

1. 18″ x 22″ DW Bass Drum
2. 6″ x 14″ Paiste Spirit of 2002 Snare
3. 5″ x 14″ DW Aluminum Shell Snare
4. 8″ x 10″ DW Tom
5. 10″ x 13″ DW Tom
6. 14″ x 16″ DW Tom
7. 16″ x 18″ DW Floor Tom

Paiste Signature Series Cymbals

A. 14″ Dark Crisp Hi-Hats
B. 18″ Full Crash
C. 18″ Power Crash
D. 21″ Dry Heavy Ride
E. 19″ Full Crash
F. 20″ Dry Crisp Ride
G. 20″ Power Crash
H. 18″ Sound Formula Thin China 20″ (top), inverted Full Ride w/rivets (bottom)

Sources.

One of my favorite drummers is Josh Freese. This guy’s played on over 1000 records easily and numerous personal favorites of mine, such as A Perfect Circle, The Vandals and many more.

At some point, I’d like to do a somewhat comprehensive profile of Josh Freese and his drumming here, but recently I’ve been enamored with his playing on the newest Nine Inch Nails album “The Slip.” Some parts on the record are actually hard to pick out, this is because programmed drums are used in addition to standard acoustic ones.

Most of his parts on the album are high-energy and the recording of them is incredibly full sounding, as I know the drum tracks were recorded at the famous Sound City studios in Van Nuys, CA. This drum room is one of the best sounding in the world.

Expect to see a more in-depth review/profile here this week. Also, check out more about Josh Freese here…

Josh Freese’ page @ Drummerworld.com 

If you don’t already know about it, one of the best sites for everything drummer related is www.drummerworld.com. This site has almost every prominent drummer ever. Everyone from Dave Grohl, John Bonham to Josh Freese and Steve Gadd. As well as lesser known talents like Rashied Ali. I’ve been going to it for a long time, it’s got pictures of setups, videos and a bunch more.

This video is really cool…Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and Earl Hudson from the Bad Brains having a live drum jam…

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/davegrohltaylorhawkins.html