Matt Helders on the drummer who inspired his new style
Matt Helders is dubbed ‘The Agile Beast’ for good reason. He is one of the finest drummers of his generation and tracks like the B-side ‘Sketchead’ prove that with aplomb. The agile beast thrashes about like a human octopus with a PhD in rhythm. Punching the kit harder than a policeman’s knock, the sticksmith still somehow graces the thunder with the tempered touch of groove. With Arctic Monkeys most recent masterpiece, The Car, the latter is all the more apparent.
In the new era, Helders is more than happy to take a beat seat and orchestrate the rhythm from afar. This is an essential element of truly great drumming. As Ringo Starr once said: “Because of the songwriters, which is a very powerful force in The Beatles and John and Paul mainly as the singers and I was just playing the drums and nodding my head so I didn’t get noticed.” The same can be said for Helders letting Alex Turner take the spotlight and letting the songs soar around him.
Helders provides a brilliant bed for the songwriters to work with, but also a signature that pronounced the individualism of the group. As Dave Grohl said, if you hear a mere 15-second isolated drum loop of Ringo’s then you know the man behind it. Grohl continued: “Define best drummer in the world? Is it someone that’s technically proficient? Or is it someone that sits in the song with their own feel?” You hear a Helders beat and you know who it is within seconds. Take the opening to ‘Do I Wanna Know’, has a simpler instantly recognisable piece of music ever been created?
As a savvy drummer, this is at the forefront of Helders’ thinking, especially when you’ve got a wordsmith ahead of you. “Not everybody can play a simple groove for three minutes with no variation and have it mean something,” Helders said. “It sounds easy, but it’s not.” As Helders brilliantly concluded, “For me, it’s not all about the flashy stuff and hearing some guy show off his chops. I’d rather listen to a drummer who knows how to play to the song.”
The drummer who proved to be the perfect inspiration for this new mould was Questlove, and Jay-Z’s MTV Unplugged record with The Roots, in particular. “This is the record of the MTV show that Jay-Z did with The Roots. I heard it before I even played the drums. I was a big Jay-Z fan, and I made a video of the shot from the TV; I remember recording it with the VCR,” he recalled of the 2001 album.
Adding: “Questlove has always been a favourite of mine. I’ve revisited this record a lot of times. At first, I was a bit curious and surprised that he would want to sound so mechanical, like a human drum machine or something, but then I was really impressed that he could actually do such a thing. Not everybody can play a simple groove for three minutes with no variation and have it mean something. It sounds easy, but it’s not.”
