Mike Sleath is one of Canada’s most in-demand drummers. After getting turned down for music college three years in a row Mike shares the path he took, landing him his current gig with Shawn Mendes. We’re going to talk about the most important parts of his job on AND off the kit and some of his most important lessons he’s learned along the way.
Mike Sleath Bio
Not only is Mike Sleath the touring drummer for Shawn Mendes, he’s become one of Canada’s most in-demand drummers. After being rejected by Humber College 3 years in a row, Mike focused all his attention on becoming the go-to drummer in Toronto and now finds himself touring with several up and coming artists from the area.
Why Listen? Learn:
The importance on onomatopoeia in drumming
Why it’s extremely important to understand how to run backing tracks
One of Mike’s biggest lessons he’s learned from being on stage
What to do if music college doesn’t let you in three years in a row
How to transform your drum sounds on the fly
Working with a Musical Director on stage
Quotes
“And they hold up pots and pans around his kit, and he did the craziest solo I’ve ever seen, all on these pots and pans!”
“I’ve always had this mentality that you should take every gig no matter who it was with, no matter what the pay… I couldn’t be demanding anything at that point because nobody knew me.”
If you know your singer is about to make a hand gesture, and you hit a cymbal at that moment, you’ve just made him/her look like a million bucks.”
Connect With Mike
MikeSleathDrums.com / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
People Mentioned
Dan Kanter
Sekou Lumumba
Zubin Thakkar
Jeremy Kleynhans
Shawn Mendes
Switch Kick
Zildjian
Yamaha
Mapped
Drum Dots
LP Percussion
Remo
Los Cabos
Jesse Labelle
Just Drums
Kai
Teeter
Farewell Cool Reason
Francesco Yates
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