Hey, please introduce yourself!
Hi there, my name’s Travis Dragani, and I’m from little ol’ Adelaide. I’ve been playing the drums for as long as I can remember and playing in bands from around the age of 12.
How’d you get into playing Drums? …who inspired you?
My earliest and biggest influence and the reason I began playing the drums is my Dad. He’s been playing the drums since he was about 15, I think, and is still gigging today, turning 70 next year!
My parents had a small kit made for me, I guess when I was about 2 or 3 years old, and that was it!
I would hang out at my Dads rehearsals and gigs and just soak it all in like a sponge! He took my brother and me to see ZZ Top when I was 10, he took me to AC/DC when I was 10, and we went and saw Rod Stewart & Dire Straits when I was 11….these were the first 4 big concerts I went to. I just remember the enormity of the shows, and I wanted to be a part of it! All the while, I was really into Kiss and Iron Maiden; Dad had Number Of The Beast, which, once I found it in his collection, changed everything! I was obsessed….
The first drum clinic I went to was Simon Phillips when I was about 12. He blew my mind….I had never seen anyone play like him before, and I’ve been a big fan of his since.
What bands have you been listening to over the last few years? (Please plug your own band too!)
I fluctuate between my old-school favourites and anything new that grabs me. A couple of bands that I’m probably a bit late to the party on but I really dig are Turnstile, Spirit Adrift, Priestess & Night Demon…..I’ve been getting into the new albums from Ghost, Megadeth, Parkway Drive, Clutch….I go back to Baroness, Mastodon, Lamb Of God….then there’s always Maiden, Slayer, Pantera, Dio, Suicidals etc. there’s way too many to list. Ooooh, plug my band, ‘Emergency Rule’. We’ve just released a couple of singles that are from our forthcoming album, ‘The King Of Ithaca’. You can check us out on Youtube/Spotify.
What Drums & gear do you have right now?
I’m endorsed by Ludwig Drums and have a Classic Maple Silver Mist as my main kit.
Sizes are;
8x8 concert Tom
12 x 9 Tom
14 x 14 Floor Tom
16 x 16 Floor Tom
24 x 18 Kick Drum
14 x 6 ½ Black Beauty Hammered Snare
These drums sound incredible both in the studio and live. I love the depth and how big they sound. Most people go for 16/18 floor tom combo, but the 14/16 sounds just as huge and is, for me, more comfortable to play.
On a side note, my very first full-size kit when I was younger was the trusty Pearl Export which I still have, I’m a bit of a hoarder.
What kind of Cymbals, Sticks and Skins do you use?
I play Meinl Cymbals, Promark Sticks, Evans Heads, Porter & Davies Monitoring, Ahead Drum Bags & Vratim Shoes.
Pro-mark were super-cool and had some signature sticks made for me, which I’m pretty stoked with, they are extremely durable and can take a beating.
Meinl Cymbals have so much on offer! I’m forever trying to find a new sound that I ‘need’ to add to my setup.
Evans heads are great, I’m using the Onyx heads, which are super easy to tune and durable too.
The Porter & Davies stool has been a game-changer, I love it.
All these companies are awesome to deal with, they look after me extremely well, and their gear is awesome!
What sort of gear do you still want?
I’d love to get one of the Ludwig Breakbeats Kits. They look like a lot of fun to play for smaller gigs.
The Roland V kits look awesome, too, electronic drums aren’t something I have experimented with a lot, but I’m really keen to get in there.
Not so much on the drum gear side, but I’ll be setting myself up with a home studio, so I’m looking forward to picking everyone's brain when I start doing some research. Any handy tips would be appreciated!
I also have a 10” concert tom on order from Ludwig at the moment, which I can’t wait to get hold of.
Any advice for someone just starting to play Drums?
Get some basics down, like playing a couple of different beats and a couple of fills and make sure you practice with a metronome. Find some people/mates/school friends who have the same love of music and of their instrument and jam with them. This is absolutely the most fun thing to do….the first song you write might not be the greatest, but it’ll be a hell of a lot of fun writing it and jamming it, and you’ll only improve!
Travis Performing with Emergency Rule.
