John Otto

Even on the drum level, it's all about stating your theme, going back to certain things that need to be emphasized, not doing fills for the sake of doing fills.

I think jazz is a wonderful learning tool.

I was really conscious of that when I went in because I felt that I was pretty solid on the first one, but I didn't have the groove exactly where I wanted it.

Sometimes the band can't fully hear your fill, so they come in differently. So I've also learned not to really step out too much, because you sacrifice the band when you do that.

I really just wanted to play the drum set and match that. I was never really into the percussion thing.

I'd take the syncopation and play swing, and then read the syncopation lines with my left hand.

It's all about theme and development anyway. That's what music is about.

Jazz was more of a tool for me to use to enhance my musicality.

When the songs pop out, that's like the climax of us building.

We've got many different sides of music to us.

But I've gravitated more towards the drum set.

When the snares don't hit together, it's just the most awful thing to hear.

We knew we wanted to put a lot of melody into it - a lot more than what we did on our first album.

Onstage, it's more of a momentary pressure.

I've always liked funk and rock and everything.

When I was young, I had one of those Yamaha drum machines, and I used to practice to that quite a bit, just to practice soloing and being in time and completing all my phrases.

I usually go with the first instinct, and then build upon that.