Keep up with Jan here:
http://www.facebook.com/benkwitz?fref=ts
http://de.youtube.com/user/Blastphemer
Born in Hamburg, Germany in April 1989. I started playing the drums at the age of 9. I was taught in a local drum school for several years learning mostly pop, rock and some paradiddles. A few years later I got a bit bored about the standard school drumming and put all my energy into metal and extreme drumming. After some hard years of practice and I played for different underground black metal/death metal bands like Liquid Flesh, Galskap and Khopesh in early years. Nowadays I am used as more of a session drummer. I recorded drums for a norwegian techniqual black metal band Antares Predator (Twillight of the Apocalypse) and Vobiscum(Wimberg) pure austrian black metal. Not to long ago I was in Italy recording a new album for Absentia Lunae wich will come out '09 together with Antares Predator. My first big job came summer '07. I got the offer to tour with Belphegor through mexico and norway when I was 18. Besides Belphegor I worked for Cease of Breeding from Thessaloniki-Greece, a brutal death metal band. I am more known as a youtube drummer attemping latest Nile stuff and some Behemoth or Belphegor. In the end of '08 I am going to record a new Album for Cease of Breeding and support them in Greece at christmas.
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Jan Benkwitz Interview:
SDM: How old were you when you started playing?
Jan: I started playing when I was 9 years old.
SDM: Did you play in a school band or any drum corps?
Jan: Yea, I played drums in a school band for like 2 or 3 years…I cant really remember but We have played cool stuff like guns&roses or Metallica.
SDM: Who are your top 5 influences?
Jan: When I was a young child my big brother came home and was holding a Cradle of Filth CD in his hands. He was 16 and I was 9 and it was the "Cruelty and the beast" Album with Nick Barker on it. he has seriously blown my mind. Then a couple of years later I really liked Joey's drumming and What he did on the first Slipknot album was a huge kick in your butt. There were a few other drummers in the past who have blown my mind like Torturer on the Lucifer Incestus Album! Once I have listened to Lucifer Inc. I was like "what da fuck is going on that's a blast festival" and I started to practise like a machine.. but currently I would say: George K., Florian Klein, Nick Barker, Derek and thats it, I think.
SDM: Assuming that influences doesn't mean favorites, who are your favorites?
Jan: My favourite is George Kollias because he is fast as fuck and fits in perfectly for Nile. Also he still plays with love and passion at those levels.
SDM: Let us know 5 CD's that are in your current rotation
Jan:
Rammstein – Sehnsucht
Fear Factory – Demanufacture
Behemoth – Apostasy
Gojira – From mars to sirius
Black Dahlia Murder – Nocturnal
SDM: What do you do to warm up before a show?
Jan: I have a practise pad to warm up. If I wouldnt warm up I would fuck up 80% of the gig, means it is quite necessary. I do a lot of single stroke rolls to a click. I start slow and finish at 260 bpm. I warm up 30-40 minutes before I go on stage.
SDM: Can you remember a night you think was your best playing ever? If yes, when and where?
Jan: Yea I had a lot of gigs wich were awesome. Some nights with Belphegor in Mexico. The last gig in Guadalajara was really sick. I don't know why but you should better drink 1 beer before you start, not more or less because I can relax without loosing force.
SDM: Do you have a favorite brand of drums or cymbals?
Jan: I would love to get good Sabian ones but I wont pay 250,00,-€ for just one cymbal.. Meinl is awesome. Not as expensive as the other brands and still got a good sound.
SDM: If you could give one piece of advice to young drummers, it would be…
Jan: Don't concentrate too much into this "I blast 300bpm" shit. Some people would laugh because they obviously know me as the bpm machine or something but it is more important to get a clean and brutal style than just looking at the bpm counter.. You will impress other people more if you play slower but in a professional and well-balanced style as if you try to hit as many bpm as you can and getting sloppy also looking like a epileptic, sick person. Attemp songs from different bands after you have finished your practise sessions and execises. Reason why is if you want to become a sick session drummer you should get different metal stuff down pretty well and then you will be an interesting drum tool for bigger bands and hard to hire. Otherwise there is no secret except for practise, practise and practise. 🙂
SDM: Who gave the best live performance you've ever seen?
Jan: Nicolas Barker with Testament at the Hole in the sky festival in Norway.
SDM: If you had to stop drumming, what would you want to do with your life?
Jan: I do a lot of different sports. Capoeira, swimming but most of the time lifting in the gym every evening. If I would stop drumming I would just invest more time for sport.
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