All About Marco Minnemann's India Tour + An Interview!

Who is Marco?

He is easily one of the most technically accomplished drummers today, having created his own unique style called 'interdependence' - which allows him to play various patterns with each of his feet or hands. It's something that needs to be seen to be believed.

He has played with some legendary musicians: He was part of Steven Wilson's band, as well as a member of The Aristocrats (with Guthrie Govan and Bryan Beller). In the past, he's played for Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Adrian Belew (of prog titans King Crimson) and Kreator. Currently, he plays for The Mute Gods, a project of Steven Wilson's band's guitar player Nick Beggs. He was a runner-up in Dream Theater's drummer auditions.

Enough talk, though - sample Marco in action!

Insider caught up with Marco in an exclusive email interview!

Welcome back to India, Marco! How did you enjoy your last visit here with The Aristocrats? What was the audience reaction like? Clearly, good enough for you to come here for another tour!
Thanks, first of all, for the interview. Yes, I had a lot of fun playing in India last time, which was in fact last year. It was also my first time in India and I must say that I felt truly musically respected and the audience reactions were overwhelming. I’m really very happy to having the chance to play in your country again.

I had a lot of fun playing in India last year - I felt musically respected, the audience reactions were overwhelming!

W​hat sort of music are we likely to see on the tour? Stuff from your Borrego ​album, we presume! Any others
We’re playing each of the musicians material, since we appear as a trio and have both the amazing Mohini Day on Bass and Rhythm Shaw on Guitar in the team. But yes, some of Borrego and other solo material of mine, maybe a few Aristocrats tunes as well.

​How did you decide to collaborate with Rhythm and Mohini? How do you guys practice? ​
Good question. The promoter Karan Metha, whom we worked with last year, suggested this line up and I immediately agreed to play with them. We’ll learn the songs and will use time upon my arrival to rehearse the music.

In India, is it just playing and doing your drum clinics​, or will you be holidaying as well or working on other projects?
It’s doing drum clinics and playing shows. However I’m privileged to having the chance staying for 2 days in each city, so that gives enough time to explore a bit. And in fact I’m just doing a fantastic project I got invited to participate in with the legendary Indian band Thaikkudam Bridge. Also I’ve played on Rastah Roo’s production a while back, which was really fun.

I got invited to participate in a fantastic project with Thaikkudam Bridge!

You've played with so many legends: Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Guthrie & Bryan, Tony Levin, Adrian Belew, Steven Wilson, Alex Lifeson... Which has been your favourite? What would your dream collaboration be?
That’s a difficult question as all of these musicians have something special to offer and are here for a reason. But especially our long time relation and musicianship between the Aristocrats is a very treasurable experience, because we all write and are equal band members. That means a lot. And having Joe Satriani and Alex Lifeson play on my new solo album is otherworldly of course, these are truly iconic and legendary figures in the music business and I feel very honored to having them on board, to say the least. It’s amazing and I feel very grateful for all the musical interactions and journeys.

Having Joe Satriani and Alex Lifeson play on my new solo album is otherworldly of course, these are truly iconic and legendary figures in the music business

What should people know about the drum clinics you plan to conduct?
I will be playing drums and then explain my approach of drumming and music overall. I’ll be also happy taking questions and go into however deep we want to go into details. Whatever you would like to do, let’s have fun together!

That's it - thank you so much for your time, Marco. See you in India soon! \m/
Thank you kindly and I’m looking forward to it.

And here's some more jaw-dropping Marco drumming!

Sounds awesome? Tickets & dates below! There will be two more dates, and Marco has a series of drum clinics (Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi) coming up as well - details for those and links will be up shortly, so keep watching this space!

And here's more reason why you should be excited

Marco will be playing along with two of the most accomplished musicians in India today - Rhythm Shaw (whose lightning work on the fretboard has been making waves) and Mohini Dey (the child prodigy bassist who has played with AR Rahman!). The duo is no stranger to touring with big acts : They supported English guitar icon Guthrie Govan during his India tour earlier in the year, and have toured with Gino Banks as well.

Together, the trio are sure to leave audiences spellbound!