I’ve been touring with Simone for more than seven years now, although we’ve played from time to time as a trio, more often than not, we play as a stripped down duo, drums and guitar.
We’ve traveled all over the world together and although I realised straight away what a wonderful musician he is, over time I came to see what a great person he is too and we’ve become very close friends.
Simone’s dedication to music is extraordinary, his feeling for the pulse and intensity of emotion is a joy to share on stage. Like most musicians that click together, over the years, we’ve developed a kind of telepathy and trusting that, we let the music guide us without ever thinking about it.
Simone was the first person I shared the songs from the new album with as I wrote them and each time, he came up with the accompanying drum parts. Because of the nature of my songs, globetrotting and shifting in style, Simone had to be very inventive with each song. We also agreed from the beginning that the drums should be conceived in quite an unorthodox way, the right part and sound had to be hunted down and captured each time. But Simone as he always does, accepted the challenge and his incredibly inventive drums are the bedrock of the album. Throughout, they are played with consummate skill but more in the unorthodox dynamic and style of a hybrid percussion set.
As has become the custom for this blog, I asked Simone when we were last practicing if I could film and record a performance of his on the drums inspired by the kind of drums set up and sounds, that he played on the new record.
Watch above what he did, what can I say? He’s just so good!!
My drawing of Simone Prattico:
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https://www.facebook.com/simonepratticoofficial