Interview: Jason Bittner, Drummer, Shadows Fall

Venue: Mayhem Fest 2010 Cincinnati, OH

By: Amy Harris

Date: 7/21/2010

Shadows Fall is a heavy metal band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. Although the band has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career Shadows Fall has been composed of Brian Fair (vocals), Jonathan Donais (lead guitar), Matt Bachand (guitar), Paul Romanko (bass), and Jason Bittner(drums).

Shadows Fall have released six studio albums, two compilation albums, and one DVD. Shadows Fall’s first two studio albums featured David Germain playing drums, but in 2002 Bittner joined the band full time. In February 2008, the band was a Grammy Award nominee in the category Best Metal Performance for the song “Redemption” off the album Threads of Life.

We caught up with Jason backstage at Mayhem Fest in Cincinnati to discuss what got him into drumming and why he loves doing what he does.

Amy: First of all, I have to say the drums are amazing. I love “Still I Rise” because of the beginning and the drums.

Jason: That the song actually wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for the drum part to be quite honest with you.

Amy: Well I thought it was the whole song at first then the lyrics came on well into it.

Jason: We were at practice one day and the beginning of that song was inspired from this beat that I did for this drum solo for the modern drum festival DVD 5 years ago. It was just something that morphed out of that and we just started kind of jamming on it and two hours later we had a song.

Amy: What’s been your most fulfilling career moment, I know you’ve been nominated for a Grammy.

Jason: Two Grammy nominations actually. Well there’s been a few to be honest with you. The Grammy nominations are great, don’t get me wrong, but both years were against Slayer and Slipknot. We were like, we’re not going to win, come on. To be nominated is an honor. To happen twice is, you know, a double honor. As far as the biggest career moment for me, one of them just happened a couple weeks ago. We played in front of a hundred thousand people in Bogota, Columbia and it was just insane. There were just people everywhere and you couldn’t see where it ended. Another one was when I filled in for Charlie Benante in Anthrax in 2006. That was pretty cool too.

Amy: I know you started drumming really early, what was the name of your first band?

Jason: My first band? Gladiator

Amy: How old were you, like eight?

Jason: No, no actually I think I was like fourteen. That was the first real band I had where it was more than just me and a guitar player. I don’t count it as a band until it’s like a full band.

Jason: We even had a gig at one point. I had a gig with my friends, it was me and two trumpet players believe it or not. I know, what kind of gig is that? Drums and trumpet players. But we did like a junior high dance, just the three of us. We were playing stage band songs from middle school, but just the drums and trumpet parts.

Amy: Were your parents supportive when you were growing up of the music?

Jason: Yeah. My parents split up when I was young, and I lived with my mom. But God rest her soul, she never complained about the drums. She was really supportive.

Amy: Yeah that’s always interesting in a small compact space, like in a house. I also read that you do drum clinics. I find it really cool that you go out and try to teach kids how to do this, who may be aspiring to do it. Why did you get into doing that and what advice do you give them?

Jason: Well for me it’s always been a thing, even when I was a kid when I started going to drum clinics myself when I was thirteen or fourteen years old, I always gravitated to that. I always enjoyed going to them. I thought some day if I’m ever in this position I want to do this myself. Once our career started taking off and I was making a name for myself, I put it out there to the company and said that I wanted to start doing clinics. So here we are six years later, and I’m still doing them. They’re fun, they’re demanding of me because number one, all eyes are on you. There’s nobody else. I’m not playing with the band. If I make a mistake or something, there’s no one to cover it up. You’re going to see and hear it. But for me I like doing it because it gives me a chance to go out, gives me a chance to play different music, gives me a chance to play songs that aren’t in the confines of Shadows Fall and it is not limited to metal.  It just gives me a chance to share the knowledge that I have of drumming and how I do what I do. I’m there to educate, it’s not there to be a, “Hey look at me I’m showing off” kind of thing.

Amy: I didn’t know if you were going to show up show up today with long hair or short hair, you’re kind of switching it up.

Jason: Its long. It’s long and a mess right now. I don’t know how long it’s going to stay long. I keep threatening to buzz it all off by the end of the summer, but who knows.

Amy: Are you taking a poll on whether to keep it?

Jason: You know how many twelve year old kids will be shouting at me, “Don’t do it because you won’t be heavy metal anymore.” I was heavy metal before you were even a gleam in your father’s eye, you know? Hair does not make you metal or non metal.

Amy: Who is your dream band to play with?

Jason: I would obviously pick my favorite band, Rush, but then again I would have to fill Neil’s shoes and I can’t do that, but that would be fun just to play with them. Maiden would be a dream gig definately. Metallica wouldn’t be too shabby either.

Amy: If you weren’t a musician, what do you think you would be doing?

Jason: I would probably still be working computer operations for the state of New York like I was before I left to do this full time.

Amy: It’s not a bad gig

Jason: No it’s not a bad gig. I would be 15 years from retirement or so. Not in this job!

Amy: You wouldn’t trade it?

Jason: No I wouldn’t be half as happy as I am now.

Amy: So what’s up next for you guys?

Jason: I don’t really know to be quite honest with you. We have an offer to do a festival in China in October which we are hopefully going to do and work in some of the other territories we have been to, like go back to Japan again, go back to Korea, the Philippines again and maybe do some of the markets like Indonesia, Malaysia that we have had offers for but we haven’t had the chance to do yet.