Episode 66 | Randy Cooke
Welcome back to another episode of the DrumGAB podcast! Today’s episode should be listened to with headphones or at the very least…not in an environment where expletives aren’t welcome.
So I had the pleasure of meeting Randy at the Yamaha 50th anniversary party in Toronto late last year. My first impressions of Randy were really special…lemme explain. Randy had absolutely no judgements when he first met me and when I told him that I would love to have him on the show (I had already heard his session with Dave from I’d Hit That Podcast…which was great) Randy didn’t even think about it. He just smiled and said “f*** yeah! Anyways, Randy is a champ and this session went fantastically.
Who is Randy?
Randy flies under the radar for most drummers. However, Randy is a rock solid player who can blend into many musical situations and through that ability has had a successful 30 plus year career as a session/live musician. Some of the artists you may recognize that Randy has performed with include Kim Mitchell, Ringo Starr, Smash Mouth, Lee Aaron, Edwin and the list literally goes on and on with over 200 recordings to his credit.
Originally from Toronto, ON, Randy was one of the most in demand session players in the city for over a decade. Then in 2004 he moved to L.A. to expand his opportunities and likely to flee from the freezing cold winters. Overall, Randy is a great example of someone with cumulative experience working as a musician and preserving the love for playing drums in any situation.
Concluding Thoughts
When I first heard Randy on I’d Hit That, I knew that our personalities would gel well for a podcast, so months ago I knew eventually I would invite him for a session. Then I met him and was like “Yup, this is going down for sure.”
This episode is basically a recording of a couple of dudes becoming friends while we reflect on Randy’s career. There is a lot of great story telling with some major highlights that you could only imagine and plenty of great advice that’s coming from 30 years experience as a pro drummer.
Music clip featured: Max Webster: Battle Scar
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