Mastodon - The Motherload // Johnkew Drum Cover

This one is long overdue. Last year I played along to this song to get my chops back after a drumming hiatus, and I planned on recording it then. More than a year later, and I was telling a friend how hilarious the music video for this song is, and I remembered how great of a song this is.
How Brann can sing and drum this arrangement is beyond me. Although what is maybe not so apparent is that Brann really went all out on the drums for the studio version. No fill is repeated twice, and there are MANY fills. If fills were repeated over and over, it would get stale real quick. But he freshens up the orchestration and dynamics throughout, so that it's almost hard to tell how crazy he's playing. It's a real shredder to play on the drums, and an absolute blast.
Thanks for watching, and if you feel so inclined please leave feedback and share.
Follow me on Facebook: / johnkewdrums
and Twitter @JohnkewDrums
Recorded on Sonor Select Force maple drums, Pearl free-floating maple 14-inch snare, Evans G2 batter drum heads and G1 resonant drum heads, Sabian HHX Evolution 14-inch hi-hat; Sabian AAX-plosion 14-inch hi-hat auxiliary; Stacker with Sabian 19-inch Paragon china and 18-inch AAX O-zone, Sabian 21-inch Holy China, Sabian 18-inch HHX crash, Sabian 19-inch HHX crash, Sabian AAXplosion, Sabian Paragon ride cymbal, 18-inch crash, DW 9000 double bass pedal, DW 3000 hi hat stand, Tama drum throne, Vic Firth Danny Carey signature sticks, Audix Fusion overhead microphones, Apex 435 room mics, Audix D-series mics on toms and kick, Audix i5 and Shure SM57 mic on snare, M-Audio Profire 2626 interface, Logic Pro X, Sony Alpha 6000, Canon T2i, Canon Vixia HF M40, and GoPro HD Hero cameras, Shure in-ear monitors.

[@NP148]

Brann needs to get more recognition for his skills. Able to sing while drumming something like this is simply amazing

[@Isuckatvideogames210]

Brann is a beast dude!

[@aenimic]

Think about it. Brann actually sings while playing this.

[@TheKorfish]

he makes it look easy.

[@TheKorfish]

he makes it look easy.

[@sebastianzanzinger]

He makes it look easy

[@DavidD31312]

It looks so easy

[@malikdumas2858]

Brann's drumming while singing it live is a lot more boots 'n pants.

[@Howitchewstofeel5gum]

"How Brann can sing and drum this arrangement is beyond me." Well, he doesn't. Watch a live version, he (understandably) tones down the drumming a lot, especially the frequency and complexity of the fills. That being said, great cover!

[@5ped0fs0und5]

as a drummer, I can confirm that even though he plays less fills, it's still very incredibly hard to play a straight beat like the ones in this song, while singing. Hell, even playing an easy 4/4 beat while singing is hard as well

[@Howitchewstofeel5gum]

@@5ped0fs0und5 Oh don't get me wrong, I know it's not easy at all. I'm a drummer too and I had a few backup singing parts in past bands of mine. But singing over the live version of the drum track is still a whole lot easier than over the studio version, which I would deem damn near impossible. Though there's probably a 12 year-old Asian here on YT that can pull it off flawlessly 😝

[@flacche]

Power, precision, groove, and explosive fills... you have it all John!

[@johnkew]

Thanks Matt, looking forward to seeing more of your videos...

[@guitarmystery8432]

1:07 the fill seems so hard. Awesome job

[@Fr3akymet4l]

Man, I waited for this the whole time! This dude makes PERFECT covers! And this is definitely one of my favorites! And as always, perfect sound!

[@onthe163]

Excellent playing! Power, speed, and precision. You really paid attention to the fills, and Brann's fills always sound extremely spontaneous - which are hard as hell to memorize! Well done, man.

[@WillBloodfarm]

Excellent choice of tracks. I jammed this one regularly to improve my ghosting abilities, and it really helped. Was contemplating doing a new series of drum covers - this was to be one of them hahaha...maybe i'll get round to it someday soon :) Good to see you're still going hard man. Respect.

[@johnkew]

Hey Will, great to hear from you bro. I'd love to see a new series of covers from you. Are you still in the same place? This is definitely a good song to practice. Brann's got chops for days.

[@WillBloodfarm]

Bought a house last Xmas so I'm in the process of setting up a "room in a room" in the garage to jam more on the acoustic. My neighbors are cool with my drumming, but as a good neighbor myself, I want to reduce the noise further for their comfort. I am considering this song as a cover too :) One of my faves to jam.

[@vertigus28]

Nailed it. God's the fills in this song are awesome.

[@freetaylor72]

Dammit man! I'm blown away! Good tune and those drums are amazing, good job!

[@joanna3128]

Brann Dailor inspired me to play drums and now I've gotta say I've got one more inspiring man to look up to. makes me even more excited to learn! Amazing

[@brentbousquet]

nice job as always and perfect timing ive been listening the shit out of mastodon lately

[@Daniel_Alves1993]

There should be a cover of every song ever made by you...That´s how great I think your covers and you are. Keep up the amazing work

[@rogersgonc]

dude... always love to hear and see you drumming. There's everything there! Technics, precision, feeling. And the sound and video captions, mixing... all that hard work words won't give the real extension on what you've put there. God bless you and keep the pace dude. You rock!

[@SlemonyGas]

Yeeeeeeesssssssssssssss thank you for this. I have been waiting for this song after chimes. Now all we need you to do is sing and drum this song.

[@jasonkamen4459]

I can only describe it as "unreasonable" for someone to be as good as you are. I've watched this a thousand times already. Awesome awesome stuff man.

[@PaulGuy]

One thing I really like about Brann Dailor's style is how much he uses the snare. It's kind of unique in metal, but he so many of his fills are primarily on the snare, and I think that's super cool. This really shows it off visually, and that's great.

[@barnowlcom]

Well, it's time to put Mastodon on my Amazon MP3 list! Thanks for a great cover! It's always great to see "frenetic" stick work

[@frosty327]

Damn dude, your playing has gotten alot better in a year. And it was already great

[@timothywolff-piggott5297]

Yes! Brann's style is super distinctive and this is an exhilarating cover.

[@kingadalou]

Please give Gojira a listen, Mario is fantastic.

[@jon952]

Incredible! Man, I love your covers, they make my day!

[@Ti133700N]

Wow, there is no time to drink a glass of water during that one, well done.

[@johnkew]

Haha, definitely no time for anything but arm-swinging.

[@granteth]

absolutely bonkers. nailed it. wonderful job.

[@Cheximus]

Love the insight you give in to this in the description. Love this song, and the video too! Your playing is a joy to watch, keep it up!

[@alwynpinto]

You are such a GREAT drummer.... Seamless rolls and fills..... It was a JOY !!! Absolutely crazy cover... WELL DONE>>>>

[@JordiGimbers]

Another great cover, I'm already waiting to listen to the next one, as always. Greetings from Brazil!

[@shnibzzz]

Unbelievable sir. Bravo. Your covers are truly incredible.

[@ayyappanmusic]

this is such a SICK cover - amazing

[@Magellan2084]

You’ve grown so much! Talent and size. You’re a BAMF

[@sarajade5111]

Ughhhh. You cover the best songs ❤️

[@b.fridge1723]

now this is grand !!!

[@jacobhayes1305]

your videos are literally my fav on youtube. i watch them over and over. and im a guitarist not drummer lol. keep up the great work!

[@kamino8240]

Best drum cover of this song out there. By miles

[@ACBlender23]

4:41 looks fast forwarded! Perfect cover as usual, still maintaining that n1 position for my favorite cover drummer

[@johnkew]

This whole song is an adrenaline rush on the drums, so at around 4:41 my metabolism was about the same as a hummingbird.

[@TheCheezFace]

Great stuff as always. Brann Dailor's greatest performance, imo, is Hearts Alive. Still blows my mind even today.

[@aeowid]

Woo!!! Love this song. Rock on!!!!

[@petzydrummer]

Nice work John! Awesome!

[@TheEmil1234567891]

That was an amazing performance!

[@feranimal]

i was waiting for this

[@dogpark88]

Great performance and great sound

[@InnerFrei]

13'000 views...you deserve A LOT more man. Awesome job!

[@danielenglish4802]

this video deserves WAY more views. great job

[@tristanvernon5424]

This was incredible. Bravo!

[@EricssonB]

Dude Mastodon is going to be in Denver playing with Coheed. Hoooooooooooooly shit thanks for making me watch this then checking to see if they're on tour.

[@MickDavies]

sick as always mate, keep it up!

[@sharrythedave4758]

Amazing !

[@НатальяБессонова-м7ы]

Awesome sound! Love the video as well

[@mr.rickymartins]

Really awesome bro !!!!!!!

[@tatimetal2436]

Awesome work !!!!!

[@roldirevan2130]

My God, you're fucking amazing! It's awesome, I love the channel.

[@johnsguitarmusicanddemos]

Excellent work!

[@Stasevi4us]

BRAVO!

[@mauricio7797]

What a beast

[@thesoapster]

Loved it. This actually got me into Mastodon...I'm going to try and learn this song, now :)

[@puppetmaster8551]

Great cover man, more mastodon is always welcome, Brann is such an awesome drummer so I always love watching covers of theirs

[@THEkoolkatken]

Perrrrfect ! :)

[@timhartmann2037]

Great cover!!

[@michaelgreen2962]

Awesome video and chops

[@mateogarcia6942]

dude your snare sound great!!!! great cover dude!

[@Agentt4777]

John we love you dude. You fucking rock.

[@johnkew]

Agent4777 Thanks dude!

[@caiolouback]

hahaha... i love Mastodon. pls more

[@christiankallman5005]

T-shirt? I have seen it before. I want one...absolutely insane drumming by the way!

[@christianoricardo3407]

o som do mastodon é tão bom pra praticar bateria que chega a impressionar as pessoas que não conhecem, gostei muito do seu som cara, vc esta de parabéns em reviver um grande som como este.

[@badfyrepytweed3374]

perfect cover!!! do it more!

[@Al-cy9qn]

Instant sub. Hell yes.

[@linzilife2551]

Wow wat a drummer awesome

[@robertgowdey]

I love and hate this song. I knew nothing about Mastodon till my ex and she introduced me to he band. I think I love them more than she does, but I without a doubt still love and miss her. It's been over a year when does this pain end I have no idea.

[@12RCARR]

Wow man great cover

[@matheusmota134]

As always an awesome cover of an awesome song. It would be really cool to se you playing some Porcupine Tree stuff, specially from there latter period. There's some really great playing by Gavin Harrison and the metal influences are all over the place.

[@johnkew]

Gavin Harrison is one of the greats for sure.

[@khyan]

Looking good John, someone's been working out ;)

[@o.steinman3855]

He needs to to play songs like this XD

[@aenimic]

Still...as always, AMAZING WORK!

[@gosselingilles7683]

Great job buddy

[@delmondnetwork4677]

Pedrada...⚡👊☠

[@carlosvera442]

Awesome as always john, i hope one day you do a mudayne cover as i requested you 3 years ago! hahah keep it up man looking forward for the portraits album!

[@foxyfoxtrot4233]

Nailed it. \m/

[@pedrolanhosocunha4957]

Greattt!

[@travisamazingable]

great video and drumming, would love to see a death cover like spirit crusher, killing it

[@Swollen_Goat]

now imagine singing all of this while playing these songs lol. Brann Dailor is a fucking beast and a half. Especially on the newest album

[@telecastermaster2]

Outstanding. I'd love to see a cover of Primus' Eyes of the Squirrel.

[@KOKUAFILMSHAWAII]

WOW! Serious drive J!

[@theghostdog3498]

Wow

[@corinthiansjogaipornos5081]

Excelente!!!!!

[@flyboymcgee8059]

Killer!

[@StiGy]

Hell yeah

[@nickc7318]

New sub here. Good job. Actually, great job. 👍🏻

[@tkirk3660]

im not a percussionist but i love mastodon and i know its hard and loads of cymbals lol good job

[@АндрейБорисович-с1г]

Просто супер! Очень круто!

[@sanyamaguroff]

Блестяще!

[@DLEMA-zl5eg]

How have you not got more follower's !

[@wislancruz4497]

GOD!

[@HardBoiledGregg]

Would it be possible for you to cover the Songs Disposition, Reflection, and Triad? (As They all go together). Probably my favorite drum track. Great cover by the way!

[@Sithreis]

Man I would love to see you do Halloween by Mastodon next

[@stiaanvanzyl4836]

sick

[@JosephYaden]

YAS.

[@Fr3akymet4l]

Maybe you can do some Dillinger Escape Plan. That would be killer! :D

[@InTheDecay]

agreed!

[@sharrythedave4758]

Nice idea ! I am 12 and I learned Prancer from diliger escape plan .

[@Courtney_Taylor]

Amazing song and fantastic cover!! Absolutely nailed it. Please consider doing some Tesseract......there songs really suit your style.

[@geoffharkins9336]

Just an inferno every time.

[@JbskMsj]

dude whens ur album coming out? great cover!!