The two albums that made Taylor Hawkins want to play drums
Taylor Hawkins had rock and roll drumming flowing through his veins throughout his career. From the first time he took the gig with Alanis Morrissette to becoming the main man behind the skins in Foo Fighters, Hawkins was indebted to the sounds of all things rock and roll, whether it was melodic bands like Cheap Trick or the thunderous storm of Led Zeppelin. While Hawkins had far more eclectic tastes than just rock and roll, two separate albums were enough to sell him on the idea of becoming a musician.
While working as a session musician, though, Hawkins always dreamed of being in a band of brothers. Rather than playing second fiddle to a solo act, the drummer made quite the impression when playing in Morrissette’s solo outfit, becoming Foo Fighters’ percussionist after Dave Grohl let go of William Goldsmith.
Having the same fantastic energy that Grohl possessed behind the kit, Hawkins was instrumental in making the band move, creating the backbone of unforgettable songs like ‘All My Lie’ and ‘Learn to Fly’. Given his musical heroes, though, Hawkins’s love of going over the top came like second nature.
When Hawkins was still impressionable, his mind was turned inside out listening to Queen for the first time. Although rock and roll had been no stranger to theatrical figures, Freddie Mercury was the first to take it to the next level, owning every minute he was onstage alongside Roger Taylor and Brian May.
Talking to NME, Hawkins would cite the band’s album Live Killers as one of the defining moments for him as a drummer. When talking about the song ‘Keep Yourself Alive’, Hawkins recalled, “There’s a live version from 1979, which the band apparently hated, but I love it. It’s one of my favourite Queen records and some of Roger Taylor’s finest drumming.”
Although Taylor knew how to make a band jump just the right way, Hawkins was also into the more bombastic side of drumming. Despite his love of technicians like Neil Peart of Rush, the drummer remembered his world being changed when he listened to The Police’s Zenyatta Mondatta, featuring the virtuosic playing of Stewart Copeland.
According to Hawkins, Copeland’s drumming lit a fire in him, explaining, “The Police’s Zenyatta Mondatta is another record that made me go, ‘Wow, I want to play drums like that.’ My dream was to sing and look like Roger Taylor and play drums like Stewart Copeland.” Even though Hawkins made a living out of being one of the strongest drummers of his era, his style is a unique blending of both Taylor’s and Copeland’s playing styles.
For all of the stadium-sized drum fills that Taylor could play whenever he sat behind the drumkit, Hawkins knew how to put various complicated drumming patterns into the mix as well, making frequent use of the hi-hat and playing around the beat just like Copeland would when working against Sting’s brilliant melodies. Many artists might spend years trying to copy their idols, but when you put in the hours that Hawkins did, you develop a style all your own.
