Luana Dametto - Crypta - Interview November 2023

Luana Dametto is a Metal drummer situated in the south of Brazil. She started playing at 12 years old, influenced by Joey Jordison, and started her first Death Metal band when she was 16, called Apophizys. Mainly known for her work many years later with Nervosa, Luana left the band to form Crypta, in which she is currently playing and touring with.

Luana Dammeto Interview:

SDM: How old were you when you started playing?

Luana: I was 12 years old. I’ve wanted to play drums since I was 11, but it took me one year to convince my parents to buy such a noisy instrument.

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

Luana: Never. In Brazil, we do not have music in school, not even as an option, so I wanted to learn music later in University, but since I live in a very small city and probably wouldn’t get any job offers from graduating in music (I didn’t know I could live off playing drums at the time), I chose to graduate in Graphic Design and have music as my second plan.

SDM: Who are your top 5 metal influences?

Luana: Joey Jordison, Eloy Casagrande, James Stewart, Kerim ‘Krimh’ Lechner, and Aquiles Priester.

SDM: Who are some of your other favorites?

Luana: There are so many. Peter Wildoer, Dave Lombardo, Ali Richardson, Derek Roddy, Eugene Ryabchenko, and Ash Pearson.

SDM: Let us know 5 bands in your current personal rotation.

Luana: The Devils Blood, Belphegor, Billy Strings, Hierophant and Beach Fossils

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

Luana: When the temperature is warm, I don’t do anything. I get up on stage, and all works out fine. When it’s colder, I usually bring my practice pad with me and work on my single strokes and blasts for as long as I feel like my wrists are getting a better flow on that.

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

Luana: I wouldn’t say so. I do understand the basics, but I’m not fluent. In the beginning, my first drum teacher used to leave me with all my exercises for the next lessons written down, so I had to play them off the sheet. It helped me learn the basics and not forget my lessons (at the time, I didn’t have a phone to record things), but later on, when I started to try to learn Metal songs, I abandoned the music sheets and just learned by ear. I could have learned a bunch of stuff a lot earlier if I was still reading them when I started to play Metal instead of struggling to understand what was going on in old school records with weird drum mixes, but just like most eager metalheads, it was a lot more fun to try them by ear. I do recommend people to learn how to read, though.

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

Luana: At home, I’ve been playing with my Mapex Meridian since I was 15 years old: 3 toms, 2 floor toms, and 1 kick. I like all my toms to be small and short, so starting with an 8” and ending with a 16”. I prefer 13” snares, so I’m currently playing with a Mapex Black Panther Cherry Bomb, very high-tuned. I’m sponsored by my favorite brand of cymbals ever, Paiste, and I use the Swedish 7A Wincent Drumsticks. For drumheads, I’m using the Brazilian-made Williams. I also always bring my Kick and PedalBlock on tour, a very useful drum gadget.

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

Luana: Have fun playing drums and always compare your current self with yourself from the day before, not with others. Most young drummers nowadays are filled with crazy fast and almost inhuman drum videos, and they’re very eager to get to that stage too quickly, so quickly that most give up on the way because they think they’re not good enough in a very short period of time. The key is to always use other drummers are inspiration, to try to make your own thing in your own level of playing, but be inspired by what they’re doing, and mainly, to have fun practicing. If you have fun and don’t rush with things, you will eventually learn more and spend more time practicing. It is a win-win situation.

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

Luana: Eloy Casagrande. I always feel sorry for the drums and myself when watching him play live, haha. Jokes aside, he is probably the most amazing drummer anyone could watch live. If you haven’t, you should.

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

Luana: I still like to work as a graphic designer for my band, collect and restore antiques, watch period movies and series, walk in nature, listen to new music, read weird books, and work with any hand-crafted things.