Jojo Mayer (NERVE) - It’s A Human Thing
“Technique is just legwork. It’s not a paradigm shift for the most part.”
This interview with Jojo was the last interview that I recorded during the Drumeo Festival in 2020. The night prior to this interview was when NERVE closed the festival with a tremendous performance that blew the minds of the audience in attendance. I have been listening to NERVE since early on, in fact, it was the Prohibited Beats album where I discovered them with the incredible tune “Far”.
Prohibited Beats was the first NERVE album release but there were also major parties that Jojo hosted in NYC that he called “Prohibited Beatz”. At the Drumeo VIP dinner he shared that entire story of how he was no longer allowed to host these parties, as people well into the thousands would attend. Look up what the “Cabaret Law” is for some nice casual reading. It was that among other contributing factors that forced Jojo to stop the Prohibited Beatz parties.
Jojo Mayer is a very creative and ingenuitive musician. It has been commented on many times before that Jojo possesses very high technical abilities both in his hands and feet. He broke all of this technique down in his two highly acclaimed instructional Hudson Music DVD’s “Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer”. The first release was dedicated to hand technique and the second release was for feet. Combined, these DVD’s covered everything you’d ever need to know about technique.
There is no question that Jojo Mayer is among the greatest drummers of all time and has been incredibly influential in music and the arts.
You Will Hear About….
- The message, “you can’t do that” and how Jojo basically ignored that.
- How New York isn’t matching the creative output it used to produce.
- Whether a musician who hasn’t struggled as much is missing something musically?
- Jojo on “Rock n’ Roll”.
- Jojo on technique.
- Jojo is concerned about the safety and prosperity of mankind.
Why Should You Listen?
Jojo is obviously an expert musician and I love his music but his interviews are always interesting too. His thoughts about society, art, culture and beyond always have an enlightening edge to them. Speaking for myself, I find the words he speaks to be almost as enjoyable as the music he performs. Much like Frank Zappa in that regard. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to have one on one time with a hero of mine and to have captured something of value for listeners.
Jojo’s Socials
Follow ‘Drumeo Gab’