Lee Fisher Interview

Lee Fisher is a Pennsylvania native, born and raised. Upon discovering bands in the rock, jazz fusion, and metal territories, at the age of 14 he bought his first kit, started rehearsing and emulated the bands and artists in those styles to learn and grow. His early musical growth included learning rudiments from Modern Drummer magazines and playing bar shows in a Top 40 cover band at the age of 16 and started gaining experience.

Being pre-internet era and living in a very small town, he moved to a bigger city with the aim of finding musicians to form a band. In 2000, after trial and error with a few Pittsburgh local bands, he founded the prominent death/grind group Commit Suicide, releasing two albums and a split with Misery Index through Willowtip Records. After five years in and a few U.S. tours and festivals, including the notable Maryland Deathfest and Hellfest, and calling it a day with that ensemble, he jumped on the road with Psyopus, as a fill-in drummer. After over 270 dates in less than a year, he left to take a break and to study.

After overcoming life’s turmoils and adversities, Lee returned to the grind nearly a decade later, but this time for good. After participating in multiple studio projects between 2016-18, one of which is the old school grindcore supergroup Alphanumeric with members from Assück, Malevolent Creation, and Swamp Gas, amongst others. In the summer of 2018, he met Eeli Helin through another collaboration project they were both involved in. The duo then proceeded to form the transatlantic mathgrind/noise output Fawn Limbs, and have been writing and releasing material seemingly nonstop since, adding up to four EPs and two albums (that you know of). While Fawn Limbs is undoubtedly Lee’s main suite, he’s also a hired gun and has numerous side projects varying from instrumental prog rock to drone, mathcore, doom, and beyond.

Lee Fisher Interview:

SDM: How old were you when you started playing?

Lee: I got my first kit when I was 14.

SDM: Did you play in a school band or any drum corps?

Lee: I really should have! I was so absorbed in discovering metal, and learning to play in that style, it never even crossed my mind.

SDM: Who are your top 5 metal influences?

Lee: Steve Shelton, Sean Reinert, Rick Colaluca, Mikkey Dee, and Tim Alexander.

SDM: Who are some of your other favorites?

Lee: Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta, Mark Zonder, Gary Husband, Chris Pennie, Bobbi Jarzombek, Dave Lombardo, Ken Schalk, Tomas Haake, and Steve Flynn.

SDM: Let us know 5 CD’s that are in your current rotation.

Lee:

Allan Holdsworth – Secrets

Fredrik Thordandal’s Special Defects

Meshuggah – Nothing

Mr. Bungle – S/T

Frank Zappa – Shut Up and Play Your Guitar

SDM: What do you do to warm up before a show?

Lee: Light stretching, single and double stroke rolls.

SDM: Do you read music? Regardless of answering yes or no, please tell us how it might have affected your playing?

Lee: Not well, but yes. I can’t sight read, but I can translate. It has always been helpful with instructional books that didn’t come with a CD haha. It definitely taught me early on that there’s way more to Drumming than just beating things. Dynamics, Finesse, Accenting, Style, Feels, Purpose, etc.

SDM: Can you tell us about the gear you use?

Lee: I’m still using a 5 piece DW Maple Custom I bought in 2000. She has been all over the US. Still one of the best 20″ kicks I’ve ever played/heard. Also using a 14″ x 6″ 1/2″ Tama Walnut SLP Snare. And I’ve recently made the decision to go all Meinl. Always used Pro-Mark sticks.

SDM: If you could give one piece of advice to young drummers, it would be…

Lee: Be true to yourself. Don’t sacrifice who you are musically for anyone. It’s your journey. Find like-minded individuals and make magic. Also, there is no substitute for experience and there is no shortcut for practice. 🙂

SDM: Who gave the best live performance you’ve ever seen?

Lee: Scott Rockenfield with Queensryche on the Operation Mindcrime Tour with Metallica. It was my first concert… I was blown away.

SDM: Aside from drumming, what else do you like to do besides music?

Lee: I love Horror films and Video games! And spending time with my Wife and our furry family.