578 - Sterling Laws: Recording for LA Hit Makers, The Shape of Recording Drums for Today's Mainstream Pop

Sterling Laws is a well-established drummer in LA, having toured and/or recorded with Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, producer Dan Nigro, Natasha Bedingfield, and many others. He is a graduate of Musicians Institute in LA where he studied with Stewart Jean and Kevin Stevens.

In this episode, Sterling talks about:

• Playing with Natasha Bedingfield and serving as her MD
• Growing up in rural Washington north of Seattle, and picking up drumming from his mom
• Discovering a viable musical path other than being in a band and trying to “make it”
• Studying at Musicians Institute with Stewart Jean and Kevin Stevens
• Matriculating from school onto into he LA scene and getting his first opportunities from Barry Squire
• Financial literacy lessons learned early 
• The support and positivity of today’s LA drumming community
• Recording for Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo, and how the drum tracking for a huge hit is often relatively DIY
• Getting comfortable with your drumming being manipulated or even discarded altogether in the record-making process
• How “getting the safe take” will earn you the right to do a more adventurous one

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