Have you tried many sticks in your life ?

I´ve tried a lot of sticks, but the ones I love are obviously my sticks, the groovers, the RegalTip Groovers. Those are the sticks I designed. I always wanted to design a stick that anyone could use. It doesn´t have my name on it, cause I wanted people to know it as a stick everyone could use. The Rock guy, a funk guy, the jazz guy. Cause it´s in between a 5A and a 5B, so it´s a easy stick to play. If you´re on tour and you have no sticks, go get some groovers and it´ll get you through the tour.

What did you do to improve your speed on the toms ?

Never grip your sticks hard. That is the key to not getting blisters. Play as relaxed grip as possible. Calm down, that´s seems to work easiest.

How did you get so good on the single pedal ? How did you do this slipping on the bassdrums ?

I watched Jeff Buckarro, I watched him do that. If you play heel up you can figure out just enough to slide on the pedal, even if the shoe doesn´t slide. So it´s just a technique, and that technique is heel up always.

Do you have a favorite concert where you were the drummer ?

It´s too many, I don´t know. I guess the fans have to answer that, cause I don´t know, they´re all my favorite. It´s all different music and style so they´re all my favorite.

What do you expect from your future ? Any high aims ?

I want to be a better person, to be a better drummer, and a better husband. I´m married for 11 years. If I could do those three sings, I´m doing good.

Are there any hobbys except Skateboarding or watching TV ?

I do love skateboarding for a hobby. I like to learn new software, cause I use Pro Tools and Logic Audio and I like to learn new software on the computer for recording, plug-ins and things like that.
Drums I see all the time, but new software comes out every year and that makes me excited, so I try to keep up on the latest software.

I guess you´ve seen a lot of drums in your life. Is there any special part for you ?

I´d say DW till I die. I really say that from my heart cause they really are the best drums made and the reason that I say this is, I really live close to the factory and I spend a lot of time there, just hanging out and I watched them make the drums. They get the wood and glue together and the way they do it ... they have a lot of care and they make the drums. Cause a lot of guys that work in the facotry, they play drums so they´re making drums for drummers, so that´s why I love DW Drums so much, I really do. John Good and Don Lombardi are drummers too, so they know. When they design something, it´s really for a drummer, not just to make money, just really to serve a purpose and that´s really important.

How can I imagine the situation today ? Are people calling you up to make this or that job for them ?

There was a producer that wanted me to stay till the end of april, to go to italy to work, but I had to go back on sunday so I might go back for a couple of weeks to italy. I hopefully can come to germany and work cause I really like the music that comes out of germany. I am a big fan of Kraftwerk, they´re one of my favorite bands. Even though they have no drummer, it grooves really hard. Great groove music, I love it.

So, you produced a lot of tracks and cd´s where you are the drummer. What also are you listening to ?

Now I´m listening to a lot of meth-metal, Asecure and Battle. There´s a fantastic drummer I´m really into it right now, Morgan Agrin from Denmark, incredible drummer and he plays with a band called Meshuggah. I appreciate the drumming, cause it´s technically amazing, but along with the technique, a lot of those drummers who play that , groove really hard. I´m checking out drummers that groove, like Steve Jordan, John Roddenseil. It´s just nice to hear Heavy Metal played with groove, I really love that, so I´ve been listening a lot to that kind of music.

Do you personally follow other drummers dvd´s or conert dvd´s ?

I used to when I was younger, but now that most of these guys are my friends I just go see them live somewhere and go backstage. It´s not really something I do anymore. Lots of these guys are my friends now.

Are you currently practicing anything special on the drums ?

I want to be better able to play time and groove. I want that to become better, if that´s possible. Today I felt like it wasn´t that good. I need to practice more.

Why did you choose to play Paiste Cymbals ? All those guys I was interviewing were using like Sabian, Meinl, Zildjian, not many play Paiste so why did you choose them ?

There´s something about those cymbals. When I crack a 17” Crash Cymbal I can go anywhere in germany to a drumstore that has a 17” Crash and I know whats it gonna sound like. All the records I played on, they sound so good, they just record well. It was hard finding other cymbals sound like me. And when I found Paiste, every Cymbal felt right, every cymbal is like, “oh that´s exactly what I´m hearing in my head !”, so that´s why I choose Paiste. For me, they have all the sounds that I hear in my head.

What do you personally think of myspace or youtube ?

At first I thought, it was a waste of time, and it can be cause a lot of people are on there to sell something like hairproducts or something. But if you get networked with the right people, that obviously are in the type of music you like, other drummers, it´s really a good thing. Cause now I´m in touch with drummers from germany, france, italy, switzerland, everywhere. For me, meeting drummers around the world is really exciting, so it´s a good thing.

When you have a lot of jobs in the year, how much freetime do you still have ?

I always try to balance my freetime. If I´m working a lot at home, doing a lot of studio work, I try not to work on saturday or sunday, to have the weekends with my wife and my dogs. But if I´m on tour, for six or seven months then I go home for six or seven months, no drums, television and relaxing. So I try to blance, drumtime and no time with the drums.

Is it true that you do skateboarding sometimes ?

Yes ! I had a injury on my hi-hat foot, so I´m resting up right now. I heard there are some great parks in germany, some great skateboard parks, so I was hoping to go visit some of them but I don´t have enough time. I know there´s two here in Frankfurt that look pretty good. There was a really nice in munich, with a half-pipe and full-pipe. Hopefully I get to skate next time I come here.

Mike Mangini told me he practiced around 12 hours if he could. Was it the same with you ?

No. My mother was a musician, there were always instruments set up at the house, so I practiced about 5 or 10 minutes a day with my mom. It was really no time to practice between school and skateboarding, so I never really practiced that much. Maybe I should !?

Do you have a complete studio at home ?

Yes, I have a studio at home, with LogicAudio and ProTools. Full studio with microphones at stuff. My wife is a vocalist aswell, so we do a lot of projects in our house and it sounds great.

When you go on a (world) tour, you met a lot of people though, is it always the same for you or do you have to remember special things for some artists or something ?

Touring with different artists, you get to know what they like and don´t like and it´s important to be professional and at their request let them know, that you support them and give them what they need. It´s a long time when you´re touring on the road, so everyone has to get along, that´s important.

What kind of feeling is it personally for you, when you´re on stage with like Eros Ramazotti or anyone ? Do you think about it or is it just a job for you ?

Everytime I step on stage, I try to play for the music, and for the artist. No one wants to see a drumsolo when the people came for Eros or the Scorpions, they don´t want to see a drumsolo. They want to see the music and want to be entertained, and that´s my job as a drummer. I usually don´t take drumsolos, this was my first drumsolo in like 10 years today. I try to play for the music and try to make the music important, the most important thing. The tempo, the feeling, that´s everything.

Was there any point in your youth where you said that you want to be a musician or did it just fit in what you were doing ?

Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a drummer. Never a Plan B. This was the only, so thank god it worked.

The groove you did today, was it just out of your mind ?

Yes, just out of my mind. Cause the cd player wasnt working, so I just had to improvise, like Jazz, like Elvin Jones, just improvise. It was fun. I first was upset that it wasnt working, but then I realized I can do it just without the cd player and just play drums. Play some grooves, a little solo, people seem to like it, so if they liked it than I´m cool with it.

How did you get so good in drums ?

I listened to a lot of records, a lot of James Brown, a lot of Led Zeppelin and a lot of Punk Rock Music, Sex Pistols, Ramones, that was my favorite types of music, so I started to listen to those records a lot.
Listening to a lot of James Brown, a lot of Funk, Rock´n Roll, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and stuff like that.
Then I saw an advertisement in the Moder Drummer Magazine, for the PIT, and so thats when I went, in 1984, to study with them drummers.

How is it, when you compare to your first job in the studio, and now ? Are you still nervous ?

I´m still nervous. I´m still nervous like the first day I had the session. Because each time you walk into a studio, you walk into a new situation and you don´t know what the people are like, meeting them for the first time.
So you have to adapt yourself for the right situation. Some people are very nervous about their own music, some people are very relaxed, depending on their attitude. I have to be a good team player and a good drummer and help them realize what they want in their music. So I try to bring that to the table when I record.

Do you have a lot of time pressure when you work on drum parts ?

Yeah, a lot of people call, because they need it done right away. Either for a movie, for a record or for a quick overdub, because they´re mastering the record, so a lot of times I´m called to put the magic touch on the drumkit. So they can mix it, and release it and master it and send it on it´s way. It used to bother a lot, I used to get nervous but if I know what I´m gonna do and the producer tells me, what he want then it´s easier.
I know to run ProTools or LogicAudio, so that also helps too. So I can help the engineer edit certain parts that he wants out.

Do you have a lot of records where you played yourself on ?

I try to buy all the records that I played on, to support the music industry, so I try to buy the artist CD, I prefer to buy it. Secondly, to have a archive, the history of what I´ve done, so I can look back and say “oh I remember that guy !” .

How important is the seat heigth for you ?

I used to sit really really low. Back in the 90´s everyone used to sit really low, so I used to sit really really low, but then I noticed that, it´s time to be more comfortable, cause everything is so low, so I started to sit higher, now I try to sit a little bit higher.
And I find it´s better for your back, better for the technique.

Do you plan on a new setup when you´re going on tour or in the studio ?

I always tried to play 1 up and 2 down, one rack tom and two floortoms. Depending on the music, it could be a bigger drumset or smaller. Like, when I was with Eros (Ramazotti), I had a bigger drumkit, 2 up, 2 down. It depends on the music you tour with.

Meeting Curt Bisquera at the Frankfurt Musikmesse 2008 was definitely a highlight for me. He has worked for and with stars like Nelly Furtado, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Spice Girls, Lionel Richie, Ricky Martin, Bryan Adams, Anastacia, Celine Dion, Johnny Cash and even the creators of the TV series South Park! So if you want to read about a highly asked drummer in the recording and touring scene... here we go!

How do you like the MusikMesse in Frankfurt so far ?

I love the Musik Messe, it´s my first time here. Unlike the NAMM show, I can concentrate here, see all the different dums and all the different instruments and music. The people seem more enthusiasmic here instead of the NAMM show so, I really like it , I´m having a good time.

You brought your new CD, “Conscious, Mindfullnes Beauty”, can you tell me a bit about it, what do you want to realise with it ?

What I want to bring to the table with that CD was not to be a drum solo record but a record you can put in the car while you drive or put on your Ipod while you´re walking. Just ambient music in the back that has groove and to relax to or to dance to or whatever you wanna do. It was mainly for the music, permonicly the groove happening and that´s what I wanted to approach on that, without any drum solos.

How long did it take to realise this project ?

I did it all on my laptop, within a year.
Propably the whole year of 2003. And then it took me another 3 months to master it and then I released it in 2005, so I´m really happy with it.

I read that you have wrote with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, what was that ?

Yes, I played on a song called Timmy, Lords of the Underworld. They brought me in to record on the song and go play live. There´s a film festival in america called the Sundance Film Festival, and I played there in 2000 with Trey and Matt and had a good time.

What are your projects for 2008 ?

Right now I´m working on another Becker Brothers record and doing some production for a friend of mine´s band, called Blame Sally. It´s a possibillity of another tour, at the end of the year with Eros Ramazotti from italy, so there could be a possibillity but also busy at home, writing or producing or playing on other peoples tracks.

I read that you brought yourself to drums until you got to the PIT ?

Exactly. My parents bought me a drumkit when I was five. My mother is a Keyboard player so I started doing live gigs with her when I was 11 years old.