This isn't your first visit to our country...
No, it's not. I've been here many times with different artists over the last 25 years. I was here with Sting, in fact, when he started his solo career in 1984. I played on his first two records, as well as in the film about the birth of that band, and we came to Spain on tour. Before that I'd already been to Spain with a jazz-fusion band called Weather Report.
How did you come to be part of Sting's first band?
I was recording Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms" at AIR Studios, on the island of Montserrat. It's owned by George Martin, the Beatles' producer, and it's also the same studio where the Police recorded their albums. Sting was there on vacation with his wife, Trudie. He came by to record the backing vocals on "Money for Nothing," and afterward we had dinner together. I was sitting on the other side of the table. Mark Knopfler and Sting were actually the ones having a conversation about Sting's plans to leave the Police and start a solo career, so I said to him, "Well, you've found your drummer." Then Mark introduced us and Sting said, "You're Omar Hakim? My agent is looking for you in New York right now." I started playing on the table and it was absolutely crazy. The day I arrived at the studio, Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, and Darryl Jones were there. We started jamming and it was incredible; we very soon realized we were a band.
What was it like to play pop with a band full of jazz musicians?
It was actually very easy. Great jazz musicians can play any style. By then I already had a reputation for having been involved in very diverse projects. Even though I was playing with Weather Report, I had made two records with David Bowie by then, so people had already gotten the idea that I wasn't just a jazz drummer. I've always run from that kind of label. I didn't want to be known as a jazz drummer, because that ends up becoming a cell you can't escape from. It was important to me to have the respect that jazz musicians enjoy, but at the same time for all kinds of artists to feel they could count on me. I've worked with many jazz artists, but I've always wanted to stay in touch with the pop and rock world. The same goes for Darryl Jones: although people knew him as Miles Davis's bass player, nobody plays rock like he does. In fact, he now tours with the Rolling Stones, and for that very reason Sting decided not to play bass on his first tour! Those of us who grew up in the seventies were exposed to many different styles, and that naturally made us very versatile players.
Has being able to play any style benefited your career?
Absolutely. If I had stayed just a jazz drummer, my career wouldn't have been as interesting and I would have missed out on a lot of fantastic opportunities. Being open to all kinds of music has made my career very exciting.
You've played with many major artists. Is there anyone you haven't worked with yet and would like to collaborate with?
I think it would be a lot of fun to jam with Prince. I sincerely think he's a genius, and I admire his music a great deal. Of everything I hear on the radio today, I only like part of it. In pop music there are always things worth hearing and others that are simply okay, but I'm always listening to music and I try to keep my ears wide open. That's very important to me.
On your tour with Madonna, was it hard to focus on the playing in a live show where the spectacle is such a big part?
Not at all. As a drummer, my job is to keep the emotional level of the music high. People may think it's easy to play that kind of song, or that the rhythms are boring, but I don't see it that way. My responsibility is to "drive" the band. When there are dancers on stage and an artist who is deeply involved in the show, it's important to have experienced musicians you can trust, who are very focused and keep the pace of the concert. I think that's the reason Madonna called me. She could have had any drummer for that tour, but she wanted me not only for my skills as a musician, but for my experience.
Did you ever have to deal with a "critical" situation?
Yes, I did. When you play in front of 50,000 people in a live show with so much technology involved, such as samplers and sequences, if something happens in the middle of the show you need someone experienced. That happened to us once: the click track and the sequences disappeared, so I was left alone with the rest of the band. When everything came back two or three minutes later, we were still at the same tempo, as if nothing had happened. At that moment, all my concentration has to be on the show, and I have to forget about the technical problem. That's where my experience comes into play.
You witnessed the birth of programmed and electronic drums in the eighties. How did you handle that change?
Actually, a lot of drummers felt threatened by this new resource, which affected many of their livelihoods, but fortunately this change came very early in my career and I embraced it with great interest. After all, who better than a drummer to program drums? So I bought a drum machine and added it to my business card: "Omar Hakim, drummer and programmer." I got a lot of work this way, because the technology was so new that everyone was looking for someone who knew how to handle it. In general, I think it's better to be open to new technology and embrace it. Thanks to that, programming has been a big part of my career. Maybe that's why Roland trusted me as one of the first V-Drums endorsers. In fact, I've used every piece of gear that has come out, from the Synth Drum of the 70s to the programmed drum machines from Yamaha, Korg, Roland, and others, as well as electronic drum kits like the Dynacore and the V-Drums themselves, which are the best I've tried, by far. On some occasions I've been able to play with them alone, without any acoustic drums.
Has working with electronic drums, along with your experience as a percussionist, influenced the way you play the drums?
Definitely, but the influence has been even stronger in the opposite direction: my experience with acoustic drums and as a percussionist, combined with my natural affinity for technology and computers, made it easier for me to become an "electronic" drummer. In fact, I had my first Mac with the first version of the Performer software, with barely 2 MB of RAM. Now my iPhone has far more memory than the first computer I worked with. What I mean is that for a professional musician, having an open mind toward new technology is vital; it's key to success. It's also important not to tie yourself to one particular idea, because ideas change so fast these days that it's easy to become a dinosaur if you stay anchored to one.
What would your ideal drum kit be right now?
The truth is that I design my setup for each specific project. As a professional musician, I have to think about what the client wants. On some jobs I've combined acoustic and electronic drums, and in other cases I've used only the V-Drums. Right now I'm using the Roland TD20 Drum Module a lot, but my kit and how I use it are determined by each particular artist. As for acoustic drums, I've always relied on Pearl. I've been an endorser of the brand for more than twenty years, and even if I weren't, I think I'd use this type of drum, among other reasons because I believe they have the best hardware.
What are your upcoming projects?
Right now I'm preparing my own record. I have my own studio, with a concept similar to the one here at TAF. Lots of friends and fans ask me why it takes me so long to release my own material, and they're right, so I want to concentrate on putting out two or three records in a row as a solo artist. In fact, I hope my next album, which will be called "We Are One," will be finished in April, and hopefully with the tour that goes along with it we can come to Spain.
What is the most important lesson students attending your clinic should take away?
The most important thing is that they should always remember why they started playing, and it's probably because they fell in love with music. As long as they keep that in mind, they'll always have the strength to keep playing. In the end, it's about doing something you love, something you put all your passion into. I've felt this passion for music all my life, and although I've been a professional drummer since I was ten years old, I still feel like a kid; maybe I'm enjoying playing now more than ever. It's about love, passion, and enjoying communicating your art to other people.
More About Omar
At just five years old, Omar Hakim was already practicing at his home in New York, where he was born, on a toy drum set given to him by his uncle. By age ten he was playing in his father's band; his father, trombonist Hasam Hakim, accompanied great jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington.
His first big break in the professional world came in 1980, when he joined Carly Simon's band. His subsequent work on the last records by the legendary Weather Report gave him the popularity and recognition needed to be part of the band Sting chose for his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, and for an essential live album that came with a documentary film called Bring on the Night, like the popular The Police song.
With the birth of programmed drums, and far from being brought down by the new threat, he learned the new medium and also became a renowned programmer. His versatility and know-how have turned his list of collaborations into a "who's who" of the cream of the music world, in the most diverse styles: Miles Davis, Marcus Miller, Dave Grusin, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Mariah Carey, among many others.
In his talks, Omar Hakim stresses the need to remember that music is fun, that it is always important to play from the heart to achieve the best possible communication with the audience, and that, from a professional standpoint, it is very valuable to learn different techniques and to adapt both your playing style and your choice of gear to each specific project.
