John Tempesta has broken down the drum part fo the Rob Zombie classic “Dragula” in a new video for Drumeo.
Tempesta played on the original recording as the drummer in Zombie’s band for the Hellbilly Deluxe album as part of his near-10-year tenure playing with Rob Zombie that included his time with White Zombie.
The drum part of “Dragula” is an exercise in simplicity, careful escalation, and clear dance music-derived architecture. Tempesta describes over the course of the performance the development of the beat from a militaristic snare pattern and goth/industrial-derived hi-hat groove to the space-filling aspects of slowly adding bass drum, gong drum, and floor toms for an ever-louder punch. Tempesta’s level of detail in both his part and his explanation of it is a testament to his compositional acumen as a rock drummer.
Of the deliberate but subtle intensity punch-up for the chorus, Tempesta said, “As far as live goes, on the chorus, I played on the crash cymbal. It’s the same groove as the verse itself but as I said I I hit it a bit harder. Give some more groove to it.”
Tempesta also credited the breakthrough of the song, which helped to immediately establish Rob Zombie’s solo career following the disbanding of White Zombie in 1998, to the shifting climate of heavy music in the late ’90s, with most bands becoming softer and more rock focused while Rob Zombie’s work became heavier and more metallic.
“It’s pretty wild,” Tempesta said of the song. “Every time I’m driving, at least once a day, I hear it on the radio or SiriusXM. It’s nice that it’s still alive and they’re still playing it live with the band and they’re kicking ass. It’s just a song people dig and will always remember, especially from that era in the nineties.”
Tempesta was a member of The Cult for the past 20 years, but recently announced his exit from the veteran rock band.
Watch the full video of John Tempesta breaking down the drum part for “Dragula” by Rob Zombie below, and get a free 30-day Drumeo trial to Drumeo here.
