David Lovering

I've been learning Pixies songs on bass in a likely unsuccessful bid to join/start a Pixies tribute band. Prior to the idea coming up a few weeks ago, I'd never listened to the Pixies even though they were "popular" around the time that I was really into alternative music. Now that I've been turned on to them, of course, I see them everywhere. Last night, reading Modern Drummer, there was a short interview with their drummer David Lovering (personal website).

The interview was funny because he admitted to no longer being able to play some of the things he played while with the Pixies, and that, for their reunion tours he had to watch videos of himself on Youtube to remember how to play the songs because he couldn't quite tell from the recordings. So we're all in the same boat I guess.

Wiki calls his style "steady and accurate." Apparently he played bass on the song "Silver" on Doolittle. He also drummed with The Martinis, Cracker, Nitzer Ebb and Tanya Donelly. These days he's a magician.

I really like his drumming with the Pixies. It's hard to pin-point why, but I think it is that he makes choices that I would make. I sat down and played along with the Pixies greatest hits album having never heard the songs before. I'm sure I wasn't doign everything he was doing, but the tunes came easily. They made sense in my head and made me happy to play.

Bone Machine (live, back in the day):


The Happening


Silver


No luck so far finding any videos of him with Cracker or Nitzer Ebb.