219 – Mathieu Gramoli: The Paris Scene, The Band HER, Using Technology to Make Human Choices

Mathieu Gramoli is a French-American drummer, composer, teacher and producer, who is best known for recording and touring with the band Her. Born in Paris, his musical talent became apparent at the age of fifteen when he picked up drumming during high school to play rock and funk with some friends. After high school he went to the Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III to study Applied Foreign Languages for two years before attending the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood, graduating in 2004.

Professor André Charlier entrusted him to replace him as the drummer for Captain Mercier. He then entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris and went on tour the same year. In graduate school, he met and performed with musician Ricardo Herz and played with Marco Pereira, Philippe Baden Powell, all members of the Brazilian scene.

He has toured with French artists Lou Marco, L, Nina Attal, Corneille, Gaël Faye and had his first experience as a co-leader with the band Tekere with which he recorded two LPs. As a studio musician, he recorded on Eric et Ramzy’s movie Seul Two, Sofia Ribeiro and Guillaume Duvignau’s Porto LP, Orquestra do Fuba’s Quem Mando and Fabrica do Sonhos.

In this episode, Matthieu talks about:

* The challenge of playing simple but funky grooves with Her* His musical education in Paris* Getting involved in Paris’ Brazilian music scene and traveling to Brazil* Getting into Hip Hop, and how Brazilian phrasing overlapped with it * Some of his favorite venues and musicians in Paris* Learning how to communicate with musicians who don’t speak “drum,” – what people say doesn’t always express what they want.* The value of recording drums at low volume, and some micing techniques* Wanting to lead more projects, but knowing that nobody does it alone *

Mathieu endorses Bay Custom Drums.