The Drum Buzz

We all have at least one drummer we can credit for being our inspiration to want to play the drums for the first time.  Over time your list of favorite drummers may change, but you never forget your first.  The drummer that I credit as my inspiration is Frank Edwin Wright III – or as most people know him, Tre Cool drummer for Green Day.

Say what you want about the band or even Tre; he has always been an inspiration in not only musicianship and ability, but also showmanship.  You can spin around up in the air on a drum riser all you want and that’s cool, but Tre knows how to shock, entertain, and captivate a crowd with little more then his drum set, sticks, and wit (sometimes a flame and some lighter fluid help too ala Woodstock).

Tre’s sense of humor is easily shown in the release of Greenday’s live DVD/CD release Bullet In A Bible in which most of the time he is being interviewed, he is in full Canadian Mountie uniform and not even acknowledging it.

At age 12 Frank was given the name Tre Cool by Lookout! Records owner Lawrence Livermore.

From Tre’s bio on greenday.net:

Tre decided to drop out of high school his sophmore year. However, he did pass an equivalency test and earned his GED, and he even began taking classes at a nearby community college. He had to drop out of college however, when the demands of Green Day’s touring intensified. Tre’s father, who owns a small trucking company, overhauled a used bookmobile, and even served as the driver on three seperate tours. “I watched them go from a bunch of kids to a group of musicians with work ethic,” says Tre’s father, Frank Wright. “On their first tour or two, it was more of a party than anything else. I still scratch my head and say, ‘How in the hell did they make it?’ They used to practice in my living room here — a lot of the songs they did on Dookie. You hear it coming together, and you don’t expect people are going to go out and buy it. But when it does, you just say, ‘Wow, that’s so cool.’” (Rolling Stone, January 26, 1995)

A quick search on youtube will yield tons of videos of Tre’s antics on and off the stage.

Tre has used the drums of different companies. Tré currently uses Leedy drums and Zildjian cymbals. In the past, he used DW,Ludwig and Slingerland drums, currently he is still listed as an endorser in Ludwig’s website.

Drum kit: Leedy custom maple set in White Marine Nitron with Remo heads

• 18″×22″ Bass drum
• 9″×13″ Tom
• 16″×16″ Floor Tom
• 16″×18″ Floor Tom
• 6.5″×14″ Leedy Broadway Standard Snare

Cymbals: Zildjian

• 14″ K Constantinople/Z Special hi-hats
• 19″ K Dark Crash Medium Thin
• 19″ A Medium Thin Crash
• 22″ A Deep Ride
• 21″ A Sweet Ride
• 20″ Oriental Classic China

Drumsticks: Zildjian Tré Cool Signature

So that’s my quick write up on the drummer that most influenced me to get behind a kit.  Let me know down in the comments section who it was that inspired you to start playing drums and why.

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