Samantha Landa - The Truth About Being A Female Drummer
“For me, I agree that we don’t want to be a novelty”
Sam is the drummer of melodic death/thrash metal band Dead Asylum and writer for Drumeo. She has toured a lot in her twenty years of playing the drums, including Europe and all over North America. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Sam now lives in Montreal where she works from home and can take her work life on the road as well.
I asked Sam to be on the show for a couple of reasons. One being the fact that we actually work together. She is the person who takes these show notes and posts them to Drumeo Beat each week. We frequently email due to our work but have never had a conversation, so I thought to myself, “why not establish that connection over a podcast!?” The other reason is because I have interviewed only a handful of women on this show and I want to feature more women on this podcast.
Sam exhibits a great deal of professionalism through her drumming and her writing. Her career is a fantastic example of the modern drummer fusing more than one skill into creating a sustainable career within this often difficult industry.
Sam endorses Sabian Cymbals, Mapex Drums and Los Cabos Drumsticks.
You Will Hear About….
- The reality of being a female drummer
- Why Sam chose drums and about her formative years as a drummer
- External vs Internal motivation
- Risk vs reward
- Being an eternal student with music
- Metalhead culture
- Perfectionism
- Living with your own work for long periods of time
Why Should You Listen?
I think that in many people’s minds there is an elephant in the room when it comes to female drummers. Maybe a couple. Both are addressed in this episode. One being the reality of being a female drummer in an industry that is - and has largely been - dominated by men for many years. What do these women have to put up with from the ignorance of both women and men? It must become incredibly frustrating to hear such things as, “oh, you must be the singer!”, or “oh how nice, is this snare drum a gift for your boyfriend?” It hasn’t quite become a thing yet where when people see a woman carrying drum equipment that it might actually belong to them. Imagine that!
The other point mentioned is in regards to objectifying women. Again, it is a male dominated industry. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many people watching women play drums are men. I think you know where I am going with this — don’t you? Yes, the age old saying, “men are pigs”, while it shouldn’t be a generalization, still holds for many men. Sam shares the odd requests that she receives privately from guys. It does enforce the saying mentioned above and, unfortunately, she is treated this way. While the frequency of these requests aren’t disclosed, the fact that it happens at all is disappointing. I hope that the men who listen to this show, which is the majority audience, considers this and if they do happen to see something online publicly that is unacceptable that something is said to prevent this from happening more than it already does.
Music used in this episode:
Dead Asylum - Death Always Wins
Sam’s Socials
Drumeo Gab’s Socials