Welcome to episode number 44 of the Dan Time
podcast, a weekly run inside and occasionally
outside of the Daniverse, bringing you a new
guest every Sunday. Sometimes it's a songwriter
or musician, sometimes an athlete, a business
owner, a performer or other creative. This past
Thursday on the backend of my visit to Cincinnati,
Ohio. I was able to sit down with Danny Laverde,
drummer for the Jeff Tate band, as well as Mark
Daly and the Ravens. Jeff Tate, of course, the
multi -platinum Grammy nominated singer -songwriter
and former lead singer of one of the most influential
rock bands of all time, Queensryche. Having sold
north of 20 million records worldwide, Queensryche
are regarded as one of the big three of the progressive
metal genre, along with Dream Theater and Fate's
Warning. Danny has toured all across North America
and around the world with Jeff Tate, performing
the following albums in their entireties, Rage
for Order, Empire, and Operation Mindcrime. Operation
Mindcrime is widely considered one of Heavy Metal's
all -time best concept records. The 1990 album
Empire included the cross genre smash single
Silent Lucidity. Danny and I sat down at a corner
table at the Hampton Inn downtown Cincinnati.
This is a rare break in touring for Danny and
as you'll hear he's still trying to adjust to
not being on that constant daily tour schedule.
You can catch the video version of this interview
uncut on the Dan Time YouTube channel at Dan
Time Pod. Follow me on Instagram with the same
handle. On Facebook, search Dan Time Podcast
and email the show at dantimepod at gmail .com.
Danny is a Colombian American drummer born in
Los Angeles and raised in Cincinnati. He started
playing drums when he was eight years old and
has played in a number of local bands prior to
performing with Jeff Tate. He is experienced
in rock, prog metal, Jazz Fusion, and Afro Cuban.
Danny has been featured as an up and coming drummer
in Modern Drummer Magazine. On this episode,
Danny shares the story of how he was asked to
play with Jeff. We talk about life on the road,
the energy of the crowds, his drumming style
and setup, influences, and you get some real
insight into how Danny goes about his business.
He's a big presence when he walks into the room.
You know right away you're talking to somebody
who's been places and has overcome obstacles
to get where he's going. Follow Danny Laverde
on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Danny Laverde
Drums. That's L -A -V -E -R -D -E. He's back
out on the road this fall with Mark Daly supporting
Richie Cotson. Good chance they'll be coming
to a city near you. Want to give a big thanks
to Boyd Cruz with Jeff Tate Touring Operations.
for making this interview possible. OK, let's
get to the conversation. It is Danny Laverdi
time. Danny Laverdi, how are you doing, man?
I'm doing good. How about yourself, Dan? Pretty
good. I'm glad that we're we're finally sitting
here together. First of all, I got to ask. So
you're a professional drummer. Let's just say
professional musician, touring musician. I want
to clarify that because some people are musicians,
but they don't. get out there and travel the
world that maybe would like to. But is it true?
Are you most at home when you're on the road
and in motion? Well, yeah, I mean, you're talking
about the difference between just professional
and touring. The difference is that you don't
have a family. How are we ever? It's just like,
you might as well not. Dude, I'm gone eight months
out of the year. Like, you're right. That is
my home. My home is literally that coffin on
a bus. Yeah. So yeah. Now, but do you make that
space your own, right? I mean, do you have little
snacks that you tuck into cubby holes and everything
that you like to have? It's funny, my bandmates
actually call my bunk Dannyland. It's just, yeah,
I have a bunch of water bottles, you know, snacks,
tissues, everything like that that I could possibly
need just to make it like my little hibernation
chamber and stuff. I'll watch movies in there,
get away from people. It's like, some people
say it's claustrophobic, but I don't think it
is at all. I like the small space. What are your
gaps like between so you've been on the road
a lot? 2022 2023 We'll talk about prior to that,
but are you usually home for like a few weeks
and then back out? Yeah, man, that just depends
on our schedules One thing about being a touring
musician is that it's not necessarily stable
in the sense of your schedules It fluctuates
all the time and you know how often you play
and where you go as well this summer Actually
is the longest I've been home in years. I think
in total, I'll be home for about three and a
half, four months, something like that. So it's
kind of exciting, but weird at the same time.
I don't know how to explain it. So trying to
wrap my head around that one. Yeah. When a tour
ends and it's like the next Tuesday or the Wednesday
and you're just sitting at home and you're like,
I mean, do you think to yourself, what did I
used to do before? Or what was I doing eight
months ago? What would I usually? Yeah, it's
just, you know, Yeah, I don't know. My buddy
Dave Parks, who's another touring drummer, he
plays for the Bellamy brothers and stuff. He
described it best, you know, when you get home
and you're in bed, it's really anxiety inducing
because you wake up the next morning and you're
like, oh my gosh, like where's, yeah, what time's
loaded, am I late, do I need to get up? And so
now you have a minor panic attack, but then it's
all good after like a couple weeks You're like,
okay wait now I can actually be like lazy and
not like a contributing member of society just
dirty Man, I always wonder about being on the
road and you know, you had the show then you
had the after show and some people go nuts and
You know are trying to get three hours of sleep
and party till 4 a .m Do you have to be pretty
careful to say, all right, guys, I'll see it.
I'm checking out of this. Well, it's it's I feel
like it's kind of easy for us in our camp. I
don't know how it is for everybody else. But
personally, for me, like not a lot of us like
party too much. Some of us will a little bit,
but we're all a bunch of nerds. And so usually
after a show, some of us will stay up for a little
bit, but most of us would just kind of go to
sleep and stuff. Yeah, it's just again, especially
with us when we We'll usually play six shows
in a row before we get a day off. And sometimes
those days off are just travel days instead of
just kind of sleeping in the hotel, you know?
So it's like, we need the sleep and we need the
rest and recovery. So Danny, I probably will
bounce around in the conversation a little bit,
but you've just gotten off the road with Jeff
Tate performing, I mean songs that have... He
sold something over 20 million records in his
career. Is that correct? Sounds right to me.
I mean a couple I mean a few of them have gone
platinum alone biggest ones being Empire and
OMC, you know So it's like that sounds about
right 20 million something like that and you've
played sets like the 35th anniversary of Operation
Mindcrime 30th, have you already done that one
of Empire? Yeah, Rage Forward or an Empire was
my first tour. Actually, there was a dual record
headline show that we were doing. Yeah The guys
that you're on stage with surrounding Jeff these
are guys that you're familiar with right you've
been playing with Kieran Robertson James Brown
These are guys from around the world Kieran from
Scotland James from Ireland Alex Hart Jack Ross
on bass Bruno Keyboards from Rio de Janeiro Brazil,
so it's really cool So Jeff typically has a rotating
line of musicians around some guys go for a little
bit and then come back Sometimes they leave off
and go do their own things some stay for like
years and years and years Karen actually being
an example I mean he was with Jeff for six years.
Actually now he's playing guitar for faster pussycat
So so he's doing that right now the current lineup
that we got. It's me. It's Jack on bass, James
Brown is from Ireland. And then we got a Frenchman
from Mess, his name's Omri Altmeier. And then
we got a guy from Rome named Dario Parente. So
right now it's a, I think six piece band right
now. It's really, really, really cool, yeah.
And from your perspective on the drum riser and
playing like the most recent set, these songs
are really emotionally driven. You get a very
interesting perspective where you can look out
in the crowd and you're getting into like The
title track empire or breaking the silence and
you see the looks on people's faces. How cool
is that? Well, so it's it's different every night
and not obviously everybody loves it, right?
I mean empire obviously one of the main tracks
But I always felt it kind of depends on where
you put it in the set, too Like this last tour
that we did we opened up with empire actually.
We actually changed the intro to where it's like
a whole big like like track and instrumental
like intro thing we all kind of come out lead
guitars come out and play the main line to it
and stuff and that's a whole different reaction
and response to let's say if we were to play
it like doing the whole empire record it's like
in the middle of the set you know it's and you
know demographic matters too it's whole different
thing it's just but um yeah i mean 99 % of the
time, everybody's like, yeah, but it's really
cool. Yeah, it's really, really nice. I was watching
where Jeff was about to introduce one of the
biggest hits. And he said someone he said people,
maybe one guy or he relayed a story where someone
said, Hey, man, this song helped save my life.
This song is so special to me. Silence in Tennessee.
in Tennessee that's yeah it happened I think
a couple years ago if that you know what he says
on stage is absolutely true it's like a guy literally
came up to him said that he had all the records
but only had like three or four so and you didn't
know what he's been doing since 91 and so he
loved the music he was a cool guy but he just
didn't really know the material as much as he
thought he did it was cool I felt like that was
like something even maybe the guy could get a
laugh out of like wow I've been calling it silence
in Tennessee for so long How many of us have
actually done that? I mean like seriously, I
I hardly remember people's names like it's it's
it's bad, bro It sucks. It sucks like because
I meet people all the time and so it's it I don't
know. It's embarrassingly bad. Actually, I don't
I actually don't even know if I want to get into
that but just know that Hey, at least you can
remember my name pretty well like that yeah true
yeah yeah okay speaking of that let's get into
some Dan time stuff I don't know if this is boring
for people or not I don't ask it all the time
but so none of us were usually sometimes I mean
I don't know I'd like to see birth certificates
but I was not born Dan you weren't born Danny
usually starts with Daniel Daniel was my given
name Daniel Christopher Laverde the most white
suburban like Christian name well I'm Daniel
Carter What's your last name? It's a tongue twister.
I don't know what they were thinking Daniel Carter
McArdle Daniel Carter McArdle. Yeah, okay that
that beats me that beats me. Oh, yeah But Carter's
a family name you think it's like my dad's from
Colombia. So like La Verde I mean the green one
so like at least that's somewhat that's ethnic.
So yeah, Daniel Christopher That's like it's
from the Bible and stuff. Yeah, so it's like
whatever Did Danny come along when you're like
in? fifth grade or eighth grade or something.
I kind of went through a slew of phases. Went
between Daniel, Dan and Danny. Yeah. I don't
know. It's Danny. Danny always just kind of stuck
with me. I don't know. I just, Danny is strong
with me. Yeah. I like it. Some, I have guests
that don't like Danny. I like it. I would not
be offended if, if that was what I was going
by. And I picked Dan like when I was 15 because
I have an older brother, Robert, who started
going by Rob. And so I was like, well, that's
cool. I'm going to shorten mine to Dan. So that's
actually how it started. But now I'm like, well,
maybe I missed out on something. But of course,
you usually get a lot of nicknames if you are,
you get Dan, the man, you get all that stuff.
Daniel, the Elton John song. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
I mean, I've had other nicknames too, which I
don't know if it'd be appropriate saying on this
podcast, but yeah, I've had other nicknames too
that had nothing to do with Dan. So, okay. So
another cool thing. And I thought that this might've
been. you would think it would be in reverse,
but so your mom was like the metalhead, like
Metallica, G &R, and your dad was more, is this
correct, like more hip -hop, R &B, there's another
genre that... Well, because of his Colombian
background, he was into like a bunch of Afro
-Cuban stuff, like mainly I think Tito Puente
and everything like that, yeah. That's some really
cool exposure, you're getting like... Opposite
ends of the spectrum as a young kid. Are they
playing this stuff in the car? You have no idea
especially looking back at at it now it I'm so
fortunate to have that it is really really cool
They were playing a lot of that and in the background
My dad actually was mainly playing it was some
african stuff But it was also mainly like outcasts
and ludicrous and my mom would actually get pissed
off with my dad because of you know What the
layers were talking about? It's like drugs. It's
like, yeah, yeah, stuff like that. I was like,
I'm from the hood. Yeah, the culture, what they
talk about in some of those lyrics. And so, but
I liked it. It stuck with me. I don't know if
that had, you know, that shaped me into who I
am, but hopefully it did, because it's helped
me a lot with my playing, I feel like, as well,
and what I'm into. Speaking of your playing,
Dan, so I've said this before on the show, that
I play drums, but I want to be clear. I don't
play. I'm not actively playing. I would like
to be playing a lot more. But when I watch you
play, I really appreciate your style. You're
not trying to just destroy that kit. You have
a real finesse. And I like to play more with
my wrists. And so I like that you have a real
controlled approach. You're trying to serve the
song. And you're not clamoring for the spotlight.
So talk about that a little bit. You're playing
style. Well, I mean, well, like I said, I had
a bunch of musical influences, you know, growing
up and stuff, and especially when I was getting
into high school and out of it as well was when
I started transitioning over to like the jazz
fusion or hip hop and prog metal stuff. But yeah,
the wrist thing and that kind of stuff that really
came mainly from two places. One. was when I
transitioned over to the electric kit when we
play in the camp because the rims are rubber
and you know they're hard and stuff but they
don't absorb that much shock they're not super
flexible a lot of that shock kind of goes back
into your wrist so if you don't have good technique
your hands are gonna suffer you're gonna physically
suffer overall so It's unforgiving when it comes
to that. So I had to really dial that in. And
two, it's just from watching drummers that I
really, really liked. Yeah, dude, I remember
there was this band that I was, that I'm still
really into. They're called the Mars Volta. And
I remember I was 14 years old and it was the
Yahoo Live, yahoo .com live sessions. And they
were playing this song called Teche Grammaton.
And the drummer. There was a guy named Thomas
Pridgen if you guys don't know who Thomas Pridgen
you guys got to look him up Do your homework
because he to me is one of the goats Thomas was
Was for whatever reason his hands looked like
spaghetti he looked like the spaghetti monster
right and everything like that But everything
to your point is like it was super controlled
and he was hitting hard and it was accurate and
he was improvising throughout all these hits
and everything like that, but he was just It
was not like nothing I had ever seen before and
I was like I want to play like that So that's
why I try to be Like as loose and controlled
as I possibly can like that. I don't know if
I'm there, but I try to be And you're playing
with two mounted toms a four tom is a five piece
kit with two crash ride symbol hi -hat standard
five piece Yep, and I think we'll probably add
on to the kit later as the tours go on and stuff
We plan on it. But yeah right now it's a standard
five piece. I love it. I mean I've sat down at
bigger kits you know you got a splash cymbal
you got a china cymbal do you need all that i
mean some of the song like what you're playing
doesn't call for yeah no yeah i mean like you
said it depends on the song and what it calls
for like i said i mean we we'll want to add more
to the kit anyways one because you know we don't
have we don't have a china on our kit yet all
the time at least and some you know we want to
just add more tones, add more colors to the songs
and everything. But yeah, we don't always need
it. You know, the song doesn't always call for
it. And you know, it just depends on the situation.
And what type of kit are you playing or what
brand? Yeah, it's a Roland TD -50X is the brain
module and the drums themselves are the VAD -706
Roland's flagship stuff. And what sticks do you
like? Sticks right now. I'm playing with the
Vader West sites just under a 5b and with 16
inches I think and like this just teardrop tip.
It's just super ergonomical for me and you have
different heads on this snare and Tom's Tom's
Well, it depends on the kit the kit that we have
the well the kit that I use for Jeff it's all
the the stock Remo and Roland heads that we have
on there. Yeah. Yeah However, the front head
actually, I'm really happy about the front tick
drum head, the rezo head, because I was able
to get that designed off the backdrop that we
used and stuff like that. I'm really happy about
that. I'm proud about that because it came out
good. So yeah, I'll take credit for that one.
Going back to some influences, so this is right
out of QueensRite Scott, Rock and Field. How
old were you when you first started listening
to Operation Mindcrime? Well, man, I'll tell
you this, because my QueensRite journey and Jeff
Tate journey didn't start until actually much
later. You know what I mean? Like I was 15 when
I had heard Queen of the Reich and my mom introduced
me to them. I was showing her another band. I
was like, yeah, man, this guy sings opera metal
vocals and stuff. She's like, hold my beer. And
I mean that not literally because we were driving.
That's illegal. So, but man, I, and I only really
started listening to a lot of their catalog when
I actually joined the Tate camp when I was 20.
And so I, That's when I first really started
hearing it because I had to learn it. So yeah.
Now, talking about opportunity. So you're playing
with Mark Daly. You're still playing with Mark.
How does Jeff approach you? Like, how does this
connection? Well, I mean, it actually had nothing
to do with Mark. I was playing with Mark because
he saw me play with Jeff and because they're
so close friends and they were touring together.
Mark had asked me to play with his group and
hang with them. But I was already playing with
Jeff. Yeah, no, I didn't start playing with Jeff
until, like I said, I was 20 years old. And,
you know, in Cincinnati, we have a good music
scene and everything like that. And so a lot
of people know each other. And so actually, Jeff's
guitarist at the time, a guy named Scott Motten
came over here, moved out to Cincinnati. We have
a bunch of mutual friends out here. And so I
was out at a jam session with him. I had a local
bar that was open at the time and we just started
playing together. And one thing led to another.
He saw me play with another touring group I was
with at the time, actually opening up for Queens,
right? The Queens, right? Camp, which was really
funny. I did some session work with him and then
he eventually moved back to Northern California.
You know, it was one of those things where he's
like, and I'll put your name in the hat, you
know, learn mind crime or whatever. And I learned
half of it. Like I didn't know if he was going
to call me or whatever or anything like that.
I was like, ah, thanks, bro. I appreciate it.
Now 2020 comes up and is like, hey, yo bro, you
got a passport? Look, we needed a drummer last
minute. Health issues came up with our other
ones. Do you know these two records? Not mind
crime. Like I told you, you know these two records.
Like, no? Have you heard of them at all? No?
It's like maybe one or two songs off of each.
It's like, can you learn it? You got like a week.
I'm like. Yeah, I'll do it. And so seven hours
later, I got that call. I flew out to Seattle,
and I had a week to learn two records of material.
The eighth day we flew out to Sweden for our
first show, and I've been with them ever since.
Oh, man. Wow. These songs, like, so when you've
got to prepare like that, how many hours, how
much of the day are you just hammering out just
one song? You ever been to, you ever look up
any, like, Navy SEAL -like documentaries of,
like, Hell Week? Well, so you're on the clock
Well, yes, I mean I would schedule out my day
and just kind of break it up, you know I'd get
up and I and I'd be rehearsing with the guys
and stuff and then I would take the the evening
and night to learn maybe three songs and stuff
like that and On top of that actually we had
to do some live rehearsals in front of fans because
during that time in the Pacific Northwest region
Jeff was doing something called backstage pass
travel, right? It's where he fans pay to go on
vacation essentially with Jeff and he shows him
around the whatever areas around the world he's
going to so this is one of those things and So
that's what we had to do some live rehearsals.
So it's kind of like trial by fire in that sense
So that's how it's separate my days. It's just
throughout the night Learn grind eat sleep when
I can get up Hang out with the guys for a little
bit rehearse with them literally in Jeff's basement
And then do the live rehearsals at a bar down
the street with some fans, and then start the
process all over again. Yeah. Gosh, Danny. I
mean, there's some people that would just crumble.
I mean, they would be like, oh my gosh. Oh my
gosh. Like, I don't know. Do you like, so you
got to believe in yourself to be in this position,
right? Are there ever periods of self -doubt?
Well in that situation for an example, I mean
I've always kind I've always wanted to do this
It was never really a plan B for me So I always
figured in I would make time to learn these songs
one way or another I was able to you know, I
was it's a kind of do or die I mean, I wasn't
gonna get sent home I didn't want to be sent
home. And so I mean by the time that week was
done. I Was able to get through the entire show
and be fine with it accurately. No for no I'd
say 80 -85 % of the way there. So when I would
get to the hotels and you know any free time
that I could that I didn't really need the rest
like where I was recovered I would spend time
learning the songs off of suitcases pillows and
stuff like that making my own makeshift drum
kits so I would spend time perfecting it as much
as I could then. So I would always make time
for something and just I didn't want to be sent
home I was like this is what I want to do so
I'll make it work. Did would like Jeff himself
ever come up to you after those first one or
two or three shows and say hey, man You really
really killed it on that. Well when I it was
funny because I first met him and At that like
literally the first day and you know love Jeff
to death Like I could I could go on and say so
many great things about him You know super introverted
guy it keeps to himself right and so I meet him.
I'm like Hey, Jeff, my name's Danny. He's like,
oh, hey, Danny, nice to meet you. He just walks
past me. And he's just, you know, he keeps to
himself. He'll talk to fans, but he just kind
of keeps to himself. I'm like, I don't know if
this guy likes me or not. I'm not that good at
reading people yet, and so I'm kind of scared.
Man, I don't know. It's like he doesn't know
me, though. So yeah, I mean, the first live rehearsal
comes up, and we play Surgical Strike off of
the Rage for Order record. And he's like, oh,
not bad, Danny. I'm like, oh, my God, thank you.
Yes! I'm like, OK, that's cool. And they've kept
me this long, so I don't think they dislike me.
So that's good. Yeah, you must be doing something
right. Do you have like a particular favorite
song, like when it's coming up in the set, do
you like when you're about to play NM -156 or
even like Another Rainy Night? Do you have a
favorite? I really like The Mission off of Mindcrime.
That one... That one really really sticks out
to me. It's like you were saying the songs are
very emotionally captivating and to me I think
that's the most dramatic song out of any thing
He plays it just it makes you feel powerful when
you play it. I think so. Yeah Danny real quickly.
So let's talk a little bit about Mark Daly some
new music coming out the devil's arms LP in August
August 9th And some singles that are already
out there folks if you're on spotify apple music
Check it out. There's um, I think pieces Got
to run. I want to these are videos. I'm sorry
videos for pieces got to run and um, I want to
be more I think is I I want to be more I think
is the last one I think that's uh, I think that's
the first one that released and then it was pieces
and stuff like that But yeah off the new off
the new lpa. It's it's been mainly those two
and uh, yeah, man, I mean Yeah, that record that
LP is going to be released soon and and honestly
Yeah, I mean this tour that we're doing that's
upcoming I'm really excited about too. You know,
we're probably gonna be playing new music on
that tour as well We're going back into the studio
in July Recording a new a new record for that
and I'm super excited about that So yeah, it's
gonna be a good time and you've played we've
opened for mr. Big You've played some shows with
Vixen. Is that right? Yeah, we've done jam sessions
with them and stuff. Mainly it's just, okay,
so I'll explain it like this. Like I said, Cincinnati
has a good music scene and everything like that,
very close -knit and stuff. So usually when I'm
home, we have this bar off of Montgomery called
the Bell and the Bear. No, it's not. most of
you think, you know, ah, bar, whatever. It's
like, nah. This is like the Viper Room or the
whiskey of like, it's like a hidden gem in Cincinnati,
right? So we'll always have, so we've actually
had a couple of national acts come out to this,
to this place, smaller place, very intimate,
fits two or 300 people in there. But yeah, we'll
have Vixen come out. We've had Alita Ford come
out. We've had Kip Winger come out and everything
like that. I love that Winger album that was
released. I think maybe it was 2022 or 23, seven.
So like Mark hasn't Mark hasn't jammed with Vixen,
but we've had people like Vixen and Brit lightning
and Julia Lodge come out and I hope I pronounced
your last name right Julie. I'm sorry if I haven't
but um, yes That's that's what that was about
But you've been all over the world most recently.
I guess you came back from a show in Stockholm
Is that what wrapped up the the most recent tour?
Yes. Yes, I believe so. Yes and then looking
ahead to the fall you've got dates with both
Jeff like you're in Alaska right yeah so Alaska
I'll be doing late July and then and that's the
September dates with Jeff actually I think they've
got to fill in for me on that one because I'm
doing the mark dates since we're direct supporting
for Richie and then I said Richard Kotzen, right?
I said Richard Kotzen. I just want to make sure
I said that. And so I think, yeah, they'll be
having a fill -in for me during those days with
Jeff, and then I'll be going back out with him
after that tour's done. Yeah. Man. Exciting stuff,
Danny. How about, all right, so here's just some
general questions, I guess. Well, I already had
playing songs with deep emotional meaning to
people. Do you see people with that? Can you
see tears running down cheeks? Like, can you
see that from the drum riser on any of those
emotional songs, whether it's with Mark or...?
If I'm not too far back and the lighting is good
in front of me, I can see people's reactions.
Yeah, yeah, and all seriousness. Yeah, I mean,
different songs hit people in different ways
and stuff. So, yeah, you'll have songs like Silent
Lucidity. I know it's a big one that touches
people. And so, yeah, I mean, I've seen... I've
seen people react differently to it. Yeah, some
cry, some sing along. A couple people don't even
know what it is, which I don't know how. This
is weird. But yeah, 99 % of the time, it's like
crying, cheering, stuff like that. What's a genre
or an artist that you really like that people
wouldn't expect, maybe? Anybody that you're listening
to when you're on the road, do you have the AirPods
in when you're traveling? Do you listen to...
I'm trying to think. Mean I like I like jazz
fusion and stuff. So like I like Kirby Hancock
Chick Corea is a there's a piano player that
I really like now called Robert Glasper and So
I listened to some art Blakey as well So like
yeah a lot of jazz EDM as well as an artist I
like called machine drum. Yeah, it's a bunch
of different artists that I like I don't know
I I don't know what I don't know really how to
answer that one so much I like yeah Well, it's
my first time in Cincinnati. I've been here for
a few days here. Got to leave tomorrow Love it.
I mean just the little bit that I've seen but
I can't wait to come back and You grew up here.
Yeah, I did. I've been here for most of my life.
Originally I was born in Southern, California
on Long Beach, but I've been here since I was
six First grade to 12th grade. I've been to school
here. I've I've lived here I'm basically I might
as well have been born here Danny. I've had a
lot of fun talking to you today I feel like I
need to pop out a couple little wacky questions.
I don't know. Do you alright so people that like
me that we get up we go to work and we do that
that whole rigor rigmarole and we're in our kitchen
in the morning we're making our cereal and we're
making some eggs like what do you eat in the
morning when you're on the road and like do you
wake up and you want to have a biscuit but you
guys don't i mean all you have is like something
in a box like a pop tart no i mean we'll have
catered no that would actually be the worst thing
ever um well i mean it is true that you don't
always get a choice in Like food intake and stuff,
but no typically we'll have like catering and
stuff. We'll have sandwich meats Pastries and
stuff like that fruits vegetables. So it's not
the worst thing in the world Sometimes you'll
have to do like McDonald's and stuff if like,
you know, if you're having to drive so much Sometimes
you'll have to do fast food, but for the most
part it's not the it's not the worst thing. So
yeah breakfast And Danny going back to the first
part of the episode. This is my second in -person
interview in a row last week's guest six foot
eight I'm 6 '5". You're really tall. Are you
6 '5"? I'm 6 '3". That's like a ladder. That's
like 6 '8". What kind of Dan is 6 '8"? I feel
jealous. I feel like I did not like... I wasn't
blessed gene -wise. Yeah, thanks, Dad. So...
I look at it like, for me, I'm tall enough, okay?
Because like, it's enough of a thing where people...
I really don't mind. Like, you probably get asked
a lot, like, how tall are you? Or you're used
to being the tall guy in the pictures. Like,
it doesn't bother me anymore, but like, I don't...
I don't need another few inches. No, I'm fine.
It's just whatever. I'm happy with my height
too, yeah. All right, Danny, this has been awesome.
Can't wait to follow your music and your upcoming
tours. Tell people where they can... We started
to talk about what's next, the Alaska show, but
who are you going out on the road with when this
fall? This fall? Okay, so... Yes, starting September
13th I'll be playing with Mark Daly and the Ravens
and we are direct supporting for Richie Cottson
up until early November all throughout the United
States. And people want to follow you on social
media or anything you want to promote? Yes, at
Danny Laverde drums on Instagram, Facebook and
YouTube and you can also find all the tour dates
there or on Mark Daly Music's Instagram and all
of his social media platforms and any of... Jeff
Tate's upcoming tours on his website at JeffTate
.com or on any of his social media as well. I
gotta ask you one other question and this is
something I don't know that I would ask anybody
else. What are your thoughts on, so I like Speaking
of Winger and some of these bands that released
albums in the mid 90s. It didn't sell a lot.
They weren't really promoted. Do you like any
of those 94 1995 releases from like a warrant
or like I like ultrafobic I like um native tongue
by poison And they're really good records. They
just kind of slipped off. They didn't get well
Well that period for me, I do like that period
but actually throughout that period I was not
listening to that kind of music the music I was
listening to was, you know, besides hip hop,
it was also a lot of new metal. I was one of
those kids. So I was like, you know, like corn,
you know, slipknot, coal chamber and stuff like
that. Like, like dirty stuff. Yeah, you know,
so yeah, just angry stuff. Yeah, I hear you.
I mean, there's still some of those bands that
are, they've aged well. I would say Deftones
is one that kind of followed over the years.
Slipknot, they have their own horror circus for
a festival that they travel around with all the
time. It's super successful. It's insane. They're
like one of those bands now. I think Metallica
has one, I think. As Osfest, I don't think it's
still going on. I went to like the 1999 Osfest,
2000... around that period. It was pretty fun
back then. Metallica's got that Orion Festival.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what it is. Yeah, that's
what it is. Yeah, I think that's still going
on. I don't know if it is. Well, I hope I get
a chance to see you perform live. Don't know
when it'll be. I always talk to musicians and
say, hey, Pensacola Vinyl Music Hall, if it makes
sense with the people that make those decisions,
would love to see it. And if I get to go travel,
too, because I know you play in the Southeast
to make some runs in the Southeast. But man,
I've so enjoyed talking to you today, Danny.
And, um, thanks for being here on Dan time. You
guys have a great rest of the week and we'll
see you next week. All right. If you enjoy that
episode with Danny Laverde and you're enjoying
the Dan time podcast, take a minute and add a
five star review on whichever platform you're
listening. I appreciate you as a listener. All
right, have a great week. We'll see you next
time