Name: Alicia Warrington
Age: I guess, I'm 23 now
Where she's from: Saginaw, Michigan
Current Band/s: Kelly Osbourne / Session Musician
Previous Bands: Fudgegun, Maps to Great Speed, D.T.M., The Otterpops, Purgatory, and Frivolous
Left or Right Handed: Right
Sticks: Vic Firth American Classic Rock
Website: http://www.aliciawarrington.com
Fan Email: aw@aliciawarrington.com
Business Email: info@aliciawarrington.com
Discography:
Kelly Osbourne - "Shut-Up" re-release (Sanctuary Records 2003)
The Otterpops - "Earth Science Club" - (Spacedust 2001)
Fudgegun - "Behind Closed Doors" (Storm Records 1999)
Fudgegun - "If You Could See My Office..." (Storm Records 1997)
Dropping The Messiah - "Knowledge for its Own Sake" (Enmity Music 1996)

Alicia Warrington began her drumming life at about age 11. Shortly thereafter she was drumming and singing lead vocals in the death metal band Purgatory and then again drumming and singing for Dropping The Messiah. At age 16 Alicia was on the road with Fudgegun, living out of a van and sleeping on floors. As she says, she's paid her dues. From her early days beating out death metal to the pop-oriented sounds of The Otterpops, Alicia has let her talent speak for her. Now as the drummer for Kelly Osbourne, as well as a session drummer, life is somewhat easier.

As you'll discover, Alicia's choice to be a musician was made early in life. Coming up from the underground to the land of the Osbournes seems like a mainstream dream come true, but Alicia Warrington keeps herself grounded in reality. She paid her dues in the past but, with her latest success, she probably won't be waitressing anytime soon.


DG: What inspired you to play drums, and how old were you when you started?
AW: I actually started with guitar, at the age of 10, but THEN... my uncle, Kevin, bought this massive 16-piece Ludwig 1970's stainless steel drum kit. I started messing around with it and teaching myself songs. I immediately fell in love with the drums and begged my mother to buy a set for me. I was 11 or 12 when I started playing.

DG: How did you learn to play?
AW: I would practice for HOURS and drive my neighbors crazy. I would play along to tapes of metal bands like: Bullet Boys, Dokken, Motley Crue, Queensryche, and Metallica.

DG: What was your first kit?
AW: After a lot of begging and whining my mother surprised me one year at Christmas, with a white, Mapex 5-piece kit with Sabian cymbals. It was an awesome first kit.

DG: What kind of kit do you play on now?
AW: I use a custom Ludwig maple kit. It is a 6-piece with a beautiful purple-sparkle finish. I alternate between a 22" and 24" bass drum. Toms are 12", 13", 16", and 18". Sabian HHX series cymbals.

DG: What style of drums/percussion do you play?
AW: I play all different styles. My favorites are rock and hip-hop. I also play pop, R&B, and punk.

DG: Have you ever taken lessons? If so, where? Would you recommend lessons to others?
AW: I have not taken any drum lessons. I took guitar for three years. I would however, like to take jazz drumming lessons when I have some extra time. I would recommend drum lessons after you get your own feel for the drums. I wouldn't jump directly into them. I think that you lose feel if you are completely under someone else's instruction.

DG: Who are your current influences?
AW: I love Janet Weiss, from Sleater-Kinney. I think that she is overlooked a lot. My other favorites are Will Calhoun (Living Colour), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), and Brendan Canty of Fugazi. Mike Bordin is a super-solid player. He doesn't over-play and he always comes up with a lot of great things. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times and he is a very nice guy.

DG: Do you get intimidated when you go in a drum store?
AW: Not at all. I actually hate music stores though because, there are only men working there and a lot of the men that work at music stores are EGO-maniacal idiots, who think that because I am a female, I don't know what I'm talking about. I usually stick to one music store in Ontario, CA ... my Ludwig representative is the manager there and he is a great guy. I would rather drive 45 minutes to a little friendly store, than go into a local giant corp.

DG: What do you believe the drummer's role is in a band?
AW: A drummer has to keep it ALL together. A drummer has to be tight and able to groove. The guitarists ... they get a little sloppy sometimes but, with a good drummer keeping time ... no worries. I also think that the drums set the direction for a song, depending on the type of beat and time signature that is laid down.

DG: What was your best comeback to an ignorant comment about your drumming (like, "Wow, I didn't know girls could drum ...)?
AW: I don't remember any of my witty remarks. I have a terrible temper so, in those situations, I usually just say a few obscenities to the person. That isn't the best way to handle it but I'm usually just amazed by their ignorance and I am taken off guard.

DG: Do you think being a woman in a male-dominated profession has been a help, a hindrance, or neither? Why?
AW: Neither. My drumming speaks for itself.

DG: How long were you playing before you knew this was the thing for you?
AW: I've wanted to be a musician since I was about 4 years old. My mom always supplied me with toy guitars and drums. As soon as I got the real equipment in my hands, I knew that I didn't want to do anything else.

DG: How long were you playing before you played a gig?
AW: I did my first gig in a bar when I was 13 years old. I was in a cover band that did Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots, and Alice in Chains songs. My band mates were all over the age of 22.

DG: Do you have any drum tuning tips?
AW: I like to keep my drums huge sounding. I tune my toms very open and low. I tune my snares high and cranking. I like poppy snares. I keep very little (almost no) muffling in my bass drum.

DG: Do you have a day job? If so, what is it?
AW: Thankfully, no, I don't have a day job. I am able to support myself with my music.

DG: What drumming resources (stores, books, teachers, magazines, etc.) do you recommend?
AW: DRUM! Magazine and Drummergirl (not just because of this interview). I always recommend to just watch other drummers. You don't have to necessarily steal their style of drumming ... but you can learn the best by watching other people play. You pick up new little things here and there.

DG: What was the greatest compliment you've been given about your drumming?
AW: It is always very flattering when younger kids say that I have been an influence on them, or when they say that they wanted to become a drummer after seeing me perform live. It's great to know that people actually pay attention to what I am doing.

DG: What are your aspirations as a drummer?
AW: I want to play with many great musicians for as long as God permits. Hopefully, I can inspire people like my favorite drummers inspire me. I can only hope that I can always live comfortably off of my music career.

DG: Do you have any touring stories you'd like to tell us?
AW: Touring with Kelly Osbourne this past year has been a blast. There are so many crazy things that happened. We don't have space to list them all here. Kelly is completely crazy fun. She and I would always prank people on the phone, like little schoolgirls. We also liked to pull pranks on our poor tour managers around three or four in the morning. We were always in trouble with someone. She always started it, OF COURSE. I videotaped most of it.

DG: It's clear you've taken some musical chances - going from Purgatory (what did type of music was that?), to the death metal of Dropping the Messiah, to what's been described as the "post punk" of Fudgegun, to the "power pop" of the Otterpops, and to the somewhat more mainstream rock of Kelly Osbourne. What guides your choice of musical genre?
AW: Purgatory was my first Death Metal band. I really enjoy all kinds of music. My cd collection, seriously, ranges from classical to Polka, to country, to death metal and rap. I'm interested in anything ... as long as it's good for its genre. My favorite styles to play are rock and hip-hop, like I said earlier ... but I will play whatever I enjoy at the moment.

DG: Do you find yourself more comfortable musically in the underground or the highly publicized world of Kelly Osbourne, or somewhere in between?
AW: I respect the underground scene because I struggled for years, as a part of the underground. I started touring around the country with Fudgegun, when I was 16. We did many tours in vans and slept on strangers' floors. We got paid next to nothing. Now, I tour in buses and sleep in very nice hotels, and I don't work. I am very thankful for what I have accomplished and I would never let any of it go to my head ... but I did pay my dues in the underground.

There are a lot of hard working bands that go unrecognized, that are doing a lot of touring and things. I really like listening to and supporting unsigned/underground bands. A lot of times they're making better music than what you are force-fed on the radio or television.
Anyways ... don't get me started on this topic. To answer your question ... I am comfortable in the highly publicized world but will never forget what I went through to get here.

DG: What effect does the "world" (underground scene versus major label support) have on you musically? Do you feel truer to your musical vision in the underground or are you given enough freedom as a backing musician to express yourself?
AW: I am doing session work right now so I definitely don't have musical freedom. I do write my own music while I am not touring. I think that in general, bands have much more freedom with creativity on smaller labels than on majors.

DG: What would you be doing if you weren't a drummer?
AW: Waiting tables ... wishing that I was a drummer.

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About the Author:
Jeff Hagan lives and works near Baltimore, MD. He is married and has two daughters - the youngest of whom is a budding drummer. He also plays guitar and sings in a local cover band, and he can definitely vouch for Alicia's comments about sloppy guitarists!

© October, 2003 Happy Mazza Media, LLC.
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