Keep up with Derek here:
I was born in Knoxville, TN where I still live today. I’ve been a music lover all of my life and have somehow always known I wanted to play music for a living, although at first I didn’t know where I would find my musical home. I joined the middle school band playing trumpet, but my band director quickly moved me to trombone because we only had one trombone player and I wasn’t really that good at trumpet. I played trombone all three years of my middle school career before moving to high school. Although I worked my way up the chain of command in the low-brass section in high school to trombone section leader and eventually band captain, my real love was always with the drum line. I would stay late after marching rehearsals with some of my drummer friends and we would get out the field snares and tenors and play through cadences for hours. (I knew much of their warm-ups, cadences and a lot of the marching show score.) I got my first drum kit for Christmas my sophomore year in high school. It was a 5 piece Pearl ELX in Amber Mist.
About that time I began to get into Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy and soon purchased a second kick drum and 3 more toms for my ELX. I have been playing on this kit ever since. I spent countless hours listening to and learning Dream Theater tunes. No AC/DC for me, I was determined to be able to play those Dream Theater tunes. I formed my first band with my two good friends in high school for a school project. We left school early every day and went back to my parents’ house and played. My first stage performance was in our high school talent show with my two friends. We played Peruvian Skies by Dream Theater. I was hooked.
Over the next several months after high school graduation and eventually through a long drawn-out and somewhat crazy turn of events, the first incarnation of what would be Human Fuse was born. With time, as our sound progressed toward what it is today our first vocalist began to grow distant musically from the rest of us. He eventually left the band to pursue other musical interests. After over a year of waiting and auditioning we finally hooked up with Andrew Bledsoe, our current vocalist. We all seem to be on the same page and things are going great, the five of us have an incredible writing chemistry. The all-new Human Fuse (with other members, Andrew Bledsoe – Vocals, Ben Eller – Guitars, Joe Rowland – Bass, and Mitch Trueblood – Guitars) is now preparing to release its first EP: “Metal for Evil Robots” (engineered by MiAH of the Soundlair: Straight Line Stitch, Whitechapel with Brandon Cagle: Whitechapel) and has already begun writing for a full-length record to be released in late 2007/early 2008. Human Fuse is currently unsigned.
Derek Tingle Interview:
SD.com: How old were you when you started playing?
Derek: I’ve been playing since I was in high school.
SD.com: Did you play in a school band or any drum corps?
Derek: I played trombone in middle and high school bands. Drums were always my passion, it just worked out that the drumline was overcrowded and I was pretty good on the trombone so that’s where I stayed.
SD.com: Who are your top 5 influences?
Derek: Thomas Haake, Mike Portnoy, Mike Mangini, Thomas Lang, Chris Addler
SD.com: Assuming that influences doesn’t mean favorites, who are your favorites?
Derek: Definitely the five I already mentioned and also Brylle (Mnemic), Dan Foord (Sikth), Brann Dailor, Virgil Donati, and Marco Minneman.
SD.com: Let us know 5 CD’s that are in your current rotation
Derek: The Perfect Element Pt. 1 (Pain of Salvation), Nothing (Meshuggah), Colony (In Flames), Death of a Dead Day (Sikth), Blood Mountain (Mastodon)
SD.com: Do you practice any particular rudiments or combos on a regular basis?
Derek: Actually no, not really. I don’t have as much time to practice as I would like, so when I do its usually working on coming up with or tweaking drum parts for HF stuff.
SD.com: Do you have a favorite brand of drums?
Derek: I have always played Pearl Drums and Sabian Cymbals.
SD.com: If you could give one piece of advice to young drummers, it would be…
Derek: Set your goals high and don’t get discouraged. Find the drummers that you enjoy listening to and try to analyze their playing. What elements of their playing do you like? Then try to incorporate those elements into your own playing. Most importantly, create your own style and develope that style, don’t limit yourself.
SD.com: Who gave the best live performance you’ve ever seen?
Derek: I’ve seen Dream Theater twice and both times Mike Portnoy put on an excellent performance. Brylle and Thomas Haake were also incredible live.
SD.com: If you had to stop drumming, what would you want to do with your life?
Derek: Probably devote my time to Graphic Design and/or Motorcycle Racing.
Leave a Reply