Hey there!
Good questions! Well,...let's see!
Athallus, hello to Mississippi!
I had two kits, a black Pearl, single bd, 10,12,13,16 with a couple of Zildjian A customs (12,16,18,22) an a huge yellow (ah!!!! there we go!) Tama Starclassic. (10,12,13,14,15,16, with two 24 bd)
I love the starclassics, because they are very percussive and they are very flexible. They are easy to tune and cut through all the frequencies!
Unfortunatelly, a lot of it has been stolen - of course the insurance wouldn't cover that! Well...musicians destiny? The very unpleasant thing is, it must have been somebody I know, and who knew that I had the stuff at home at that time...so, I hope it will appear again.
For the cymbals, I had an endorsement with Tosco cymbals. Originally coming from italy, they moved to canada and were made by Sabian. Funny: When Sabian started, it was by the help of Tosco. Because the german distribution of Tosco does not longer exist, I think of changing to another brand. I will have some talks about that on the Frankfurt trade show in march. I will let you know, if the deal took place!
I really started playing, because I just felt I had to. So I went the usual way, we drummer go in most of the cases...tin cans - and all this program. When I first played a real drumkit (in the rehearsal room of my older cousin) I couldn't stop...I guess they had to carry me away ! ;-)
Then- of course- the influences came from the local guys. Mostly, they are not sooooo good as they seem to you in that moment, but...
After a while, I discovered a lot of drummers, really! My main influence surely is Mr. Simon Phillips. What a coincidence, that a couple of years later, I got a kit he played! His approach is really great and what I also love about him is: He plays various musical styles, from heavy to jazz, but he always is recognizable as SP.
So he is still my fave! Allthough there a so many good guys out there!
Andi: The mysterious thing about the double bass is in my opinion, that it gets harder to play, the slower you play it - at least if you have patterns like constant 8th notes.
If it comes to fill ins, that have to be really fast, I tend to tune the heads a little higher. Why: you get more rebound which helps to speed up. and once more, the toms cut better through all the mess of frequencies! (I learned that by Simon, I watched him doing his extended soundcheck - drumsoundcheck for 1 1/2 hour)
What a great lesson!
Ciao for now and thanks for your interest,
Andre