Jon Theodore
Encyclopedia
Jon Philip Theodore is a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

, formerly a member of The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...

. He has become best known for his explosive, multi-textural and dynamic playing style.

History

Theodore first started playing drums at the age of 15. He was soon involved with his high school concert band at Gilman School
Gilman School
Gilman School is a private preparatory school for boys located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1897 as the Country School for Boys, it was the first country day school in the United States. Gilman enrolls approximately 978 students, ranging from kindergarten to...

 in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, and took lessons on a full kit shortly after. It was at this point that he studied percussion and learned how to map arrangements; dedicated practice had already become a habit. He also listened to a great variety of music, growing to love the likes of Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....

, Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....

 and John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...

. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, located on the campus of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, was founded in 1865 and is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States. Students of Oberlin Conservatory enter a very broad network within the music world, as the school's alumni...

 in Ohio.

Around the end of his time in high school, he joined the band Golden
Golden (Band)
Golden is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Oberlin, Ohio. Since Golden's members are also involved with other, more well-known bands, Golden is often considered more of a side project than a full-fledged band in its own right....

 and recorded and toured with them for ten years. He also played with Royal Trux
Royal Trux
Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band from 1987 to 2001, founded by Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema .-History:...

 for a year-and-a-half. It was during this time that he met Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...

, who were performing their first gig with their experimental dub band DeFacto in El Paso, TX. They became friends and the former At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...

 duo would later invite Theodore to join their Latin-tinged prog-rock band, The Mars Volta. Theodore was The Mars Volta's drummer from 2001 to 2006. On July 30, 2006, it was announced that Jon Theodore would be permanently replaced. He was quoted in Modern Drummer
Modern Drummer
Modern Drummer is a monthly publication targeting the interests of on drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public...

: "It was long overdue and unquestionably the best thing for everyone involved. We had a great run of things, made some decent records, blew it up for a minute, and had some really great times. But the life ran out of it. I’m currently working on some pretty sweet tunes for a new project. The details will follow once it takes shape."
Theodore has also completed a collaboration with Zack de la Rocha
Zack de la Rocha
Zacarías Manuel "Zack" de la Rocha is an American rapper, musician, poet, and activist best known as the vocalist and lyricist of Rage Against the Machine.-Early life and childhood:...

 of Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...

 entitled One Day as a Lion
One Day as a Lion
One Day As A Lion is a music project that was started in 2008 by Zack de la Rocha, the vocalist of Rage Against the Machine and Jon Theodore, former drummer of The Mars Volta. The duo blends elements of rock, rap, and punk...

.
Their first EP was released on July 22 of 2008

Influences

Theodore draws inspiration from many different forms of music but those most prevalent in his playing are jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

, and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

. He has also touched upon another factor which adds to his individual style - "Then there's a whole bunch of stuff from Haïti because my dad's Haïtian. My favorite Haïtian drummer is this guy called Azor... ...The Haïtian music that moves me has the drumming from the voodoo rituals. It moves me because the patterns are connected to different spirits; it's a spiritual thing that is interconnected with dancing, sacrifice and devotion. It's fully passionate. There is nothing contrived about it."

In interviews he regularly cites Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....

 of The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion group, led by John McLaughlin, that debuted in 1971, dissolved in 1976 and reunited from 1984 to 1987.-First Mahavishnu Orchestra:...

 as his main drumming influence: "My all-time favorite drummer is Billy Cobham. I love the way he plays... ...[his] playing is so natural, powerful and dynamic at the same time. I pattern a lot of stuff after him.". He has also been heavily inspired by John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...

 of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

: "He had one of the best feels in the history of rock... ...because [of him] I try and play with as much bombast as I possibly can."

Theodore has also mentioned the following drummers and musicians as influences: Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....

, Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...

, Phil Rudd
Phil Rudd
Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd is an Australian drummer. He is best known for his membership of rock band AC/DC from 1975 until 1983, and again from 1994 to present. After the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans, he became the only Australian-born member of the band...

, Tony Williams, Sebastian Thomson, Tim Soete, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

, Doug Scharin, Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste
Ziggy Modeliste
Joseph Modeliste is an American drummer best known as a founding member of the funk group The Meters. Considered to be one of the most innovative, and highly acclaimed drummers ever to hail from New Orleans, Louisiana, Modeliste is a pioneer of second-line funk...

, Mitchell Feldstein, Damon Che
Damon Che
Damon Che is a rock drummer and guitarist. He has made significant contributions to indie rock and progressive rock through his work with math rock pioneers Don Caballero since 1991...

, Dale Crover
Dale Crover
Dale Crover is an American rock musician. Crover is best known as the drummer for Melvins and Men of Porn, Shrinebuilder, and for a brief time, drummer for Nirvana. He is also guitarist and vocalist for Altamont...

, John McEntire
John McEntire
John McEntire is an American recording engineer, drummer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known for being in Tortoise and The Sea and Cake, as well as being a highly in-demand producer and engineer....

, Ryan Rapsys and Brann Dailor
Brann Dailor
Brann Dailor is a drummer, best known as a member of Mastodon, a progressive metal band based in Atlanta, Georgia. Dailor was also a founding member of mathcore band Lethargy, and played with grindcore bands Discordance Axis and Today is the Day.-Personal life:Dailor was born into a musical family...

.

Equipment

Drums:

Ludwig
Ludwig-Musser
Ludwig-Musser is a drum and percussion instrument manufacturer that is part of the Conn-Selmer division of Steinway Musical Instruments.The first product made by the Ludwig brothers, William and Theobaldner , was a bass drum pedal capable of playing faster beats than was typical of products of the...

 Stainless Steel Kit

14x10 tom
Tom-tom drum
A tom-tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snare.Although "tom-tom" is the British term for a child's toy drum, the name came originally from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala; the tom-tom itself comes from Asian or Native American cultures...



16x16 floor tom

18x16 floor tom

24x14 bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...



Jon has stated in interviews that he is still hoping to find a 26x14 stainless steel kick but also enjoys the punchier sound of his current bass.

Prior to the Stainless Steel kit he used:

Fibes Crystallite Acrylic Kit

14x10 tom

16x16 floor tom

18x16 floor tom

26x14 kick

Added to the kit were a DW Rail Mount + tom mount and kick spurs.

He uses a Ludwig LM402T chrome over aluminium snare drum with aftermarket die cast hoops.

Cymbals:

Of recent times Jon has an endorsement contract with Zildjian cymbals. Like most artists his setup varies somewhat over time.

13" combo hats (e.g. K top over A New Beat bottom or A Quick Beat top over A New Beat top)

2x 19" medium thin crashes from any of the A Custom, Avedis or K lines:

For example, he has on occasion used two 19" A Custom Projections, on others a 19" K Med Thin Dark and a 19" Avedis Med Thin and on still others a 19" A Custom Projection and a 19" Avedis Med Thin. His Zildjian profile states he uses 2x 19" Avedis med Thin crashes.

21" Avedis Sweet Ride with four sizzlers
Sizzle cymbal
A sizzle cymbal is a cymbal to which rivets, chains or other rattles have been added to modify the sound, attached either by means of holes bored in the cymbal or by means of an attachment known as a sizzler....

 (this cymbal is often used as a crash)

A "stack of totally busted stuff on a cymbal stand." On the stand are two hi-hats cymbals with holes drilled through them, a splash cymbal
Splash cymbal
In a drum kit, splash cymbals are the smallest accent cymbals. Splash cymbals and china cymbals are the main types of effects cymbals.The most common sized splash has a diameter of 10", followed by 8"...

 with a cracked bell, a Zildjian ZXT Trashformer and various, smaller shredded cymbals with metal washers.

Jon's Zildjian Artist Profile: http://www.zildjian.com/EN-US/artists/artistDetail.ad2?artistID=1375

Hardware:

Pearl
Pearl Drums
Founded in 1952, the is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominately percussion instruments.-History:Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa, who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo on April 2, 1946...

 Eliminator single kick pedal (with surf wax; he plays with bare feet), a DW 7000 Hi-hat stand, and DW cymbal stands.

Heads:

Remo
Remo
Remo is a male given name of Latin origin - see Romulus and Remus.Remo may also refer to:* Remo, an American drum skin company* Remo , another name for the German wine grape Riesling* Remo language, a Panoan language of Brazil and Peru...

 coated Ambassador on snare batter, CS black dots on tom and bass drum batters, clear Ambassadors on bottoms of toms and on front of bass drum.

He has also used Powerstroke 3 bass batters (and, on occasion, as resonant heads, too) with a falam pad.

Sticks: Jon is a Vic Firth endorser, he uses their American Classic Extreme 5B wood tip model.

Jon's Vic Firth Artist page: http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/theodore.html

Discography

With Golden
  • Golden
  • Super Golden Original Movement
  • Golden Summer
  • Apollo Stars
  • Rhythm & Beat Jazz 12"


With HiM
HiM (band)
HiM is a dub influenced post-rock group formed in 1995 by Doug Scharin, drummer for the bands Codeine, Rex and June of 44. Their first album, Egg, was their most dub-based effort. Each successive album has gone more in a quasi-world music direction...

  • New Features
  • Five & Six In Dub
  • Our Point Of Departure


With Royal Trux
  • 3-Song EP (1998)
  • Veterans of Disorder
    Veterans of Disorder
    Veterans of Disorder is the eighth studio album by Royal Trux. It was released in 1999 by Drag City.Track listingSide one-#"Waterpark" – 2:14#"Stop" – 2:46#"The Exception" – 2:19#"Second Skin" – 2:46#"Witch's Tit" – 2:47#"Lunch Money" – 2:39...

     (1999)


With Will Oldham
  • Ease Down the Road
    Ease Down the Road
    Ease Down the Road is the name of an album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It also features Todd Brashear, Matt Everett, Mike Fellows, Paul Greenlaw, Catherine Irwin, Harmony Korine, Ned Oldham, David Pajo, Bryan Rich, Matt Sweeney, and Jon Theodore....



With Trans Am
  • Illegal Ass EP
  • The Red Line LP (2000)


With Utada
  • Exodus
    Exodus (Utada Hikaru album)
    EXODUS is the debut English language album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Utada, released in 2004 by Island Records. It was released on September 9, 2004, in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. All of the Japanese translations were done by , except for the...



With The Fucking Am
  • Gold (2004)


With The Mars Volta
  • Tremulant (2002)
  • De-Loused in the Comatorium
    De-Loused in the Comatorium
    De-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta. Released on June 24, 2003 on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records, De-loused is based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy...

     (2003)
  • Live (2003)
  • Frances the Mute
    Frances the Mute
    Frances the Mute is the second studio album by progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in the US on March 1, 2005. Though not as commercially successful as De-Loused in the Comatorium, it received considerable critical praise...

     (2005)
  • Scabdates
    Scabdates
    -CD pressing:-Source of recordings:05/12/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Haruspex"* "Cicatriz"05/13/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Caviglia"05/05/2005 – Roseland Ballroom – New York City, NY* "Abrasions Mount the Timpani"...

     (2005)
  • Amputechture
    Amputechture
    -Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....

     (2006)


With SaberTooth Tiger
  • Death Valley b/w Love Money (GSL 12th Anniversary Single)
  • Extinction Is Inevitable LP (2006)


With Omar Rodríguez-López
  • Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo
    Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo
    Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo is a 10-track full-length album by Omar Rodríguez-López and the second in the "Amsterdam series". It was written and recorded in 2005 in California and Amsterdam, and was released May 29, 2007 by Gold Standard Labs on both vinyl and CD. A limited edition, brown marble...

     (2007)
  • Old Money
    Old Money (album)
    Old Money is a studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Stones Throw Records in November 2008, and is the musician's first album on that label...

     (2008)


With One Day as a Lion
One Day as a Lion
One Day As A Lion is a music project that was started in 2008 by Zack de la Rocha, the vocalist of Rage Against the Machine and Jon Theodore, former drummer of The Mars Volta. The duo blends elements of rock, rap, and punk...

  • One Day as a Lion
    One Day as a Lion (EP)
    One Day as a Lion is the eponymous debut EP by One Day as a Lion, the musical duo consisting of Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha on vocals/keyboard and Jon Theodore, formerly of The Mars Volta, on drums. The mixing for the album was done by Mario C.On July 16 the track "Wild...

     (EP, 2008)


With Holloys
  • Art Wars (2009)
  • Make It Happen
    Make It Happen
    "Make It Happen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. Written and produced by Carey and C+C Music Factory's David Cole and Robert Clivillés, it was released on April 4, 1992, by Columbia Records as the third single from her second studio album, Emotions...

     (2009)


With Brandon Boyd
  • The Wild Trapeze
    The Wild Trapeze
    The Wild Trapeze is the debut solo album by Incubus frontman, Brandon Boyd. The album was released as a limited edition release on disc and through iTunes on...

    (2010)

External links

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