The current Pantera drummer Charlie Benante gets the ‘wink’ of approval from the band.
In a new interview with Drumeo, Benante broke down how he plays the band’s most popular song ‘Walk,’ and discussed the original parts and sounds from the late Vinnie Paul. During the chat, the drummer revealed that he needs the bassist Rex Brown’s wink of approval so that he knows the song goes well. He explained:
“I like to lock in with Rex. I leave this area (shows the gap between two cymbals) of the kit open so I could see Rex, and him and I are always looking at each other locking in. That’s important because Rex knows this song better than anyone, and if he’s giving me the good wink, I know the verse is moving at a good pace.”
Why Benante’s Drum Setup Is Different Than Vinnie Paul’s
Benante’s drumming style and sounds are not entirely the same as Vinnie Paul’s.
The original Pantera drummer used two kick drums in his performances and live shows. However, Benante currently uses no less than four. In another interview with What We Did On The Weekend, the drummer was asked about his decision to use four kick drums during his live performances. As it appears, the reason goes way back to his childhood memories. He explained:
“Basically, let me give you a little background on that. If there’s a fan, kid, whatever, all the way across the arena, or wherever we’re playing, and he sees the drums, and it just looks massive. So when I was younger and I would go see Van Halen, Kiss, whatever, it was huge; it was larger than life. It made an impression on me. And it’s kind of what I wanna do; I just wanna blow it up big. Darell, that was his thing: f*cking blow it up. So when I had the idea to do the four kick drums, and we were, like, ‘F*cking leave it. It looks cool.’ So that’s it. I wish I had smoke coming out of my drums.”
You can see the recent interview below.