As the drummer for the Devin Townsend Project, Ryan van Poederooyen (otherwise known as RVP) has toured the world, played some of the heaviest tracks known to humankind and made a lot of friends. Seriously, you’ll never hear anything bad about the guy.
He’s known as a reliable, solid, professional drummer who does whatever it takes to get the job done. And whether you’re a drummer or not – or even whether you’re a musician or not – you’ll be able to learn plenty from Van Poederooyen’s Australian masterclass clinic tour in November.
Van Poederooyen is staying on after October’s Devin Townsend Project/Periphery dates to present a series of clinics that aren’t just about drumming: they’ll be a masterclass on music and life within the music industry, with anecdotes and musical tips as well as observations and strategies that can help anyone to achieve their goals, whatever they may be.
“You have to visualise it and you have to believe it,” Van Poederooyen says. “A lot of people saw the movie and read the book The Secret. I thought it was well done and everything, but I think they focused too much on, ‘Just visualise it! It’s going to happen!’ No, man. You definitely should visualise, you definitely think about it and believe in yourself, but holy crap, you’ve gotta bust your ass. You’ve got to open as many doors as you can, and never quit.”
So what can we expect from Van Poederooyen’s sessions? “I’ve done clinics in the past and they were a lot more geared towards drummers, right? You go to a drum clinic and you expect to learn about drums. And I’ve been to so many clinics now and there’s nothing wrong with doing it that way. But I want to reach out to any musician – never mind musician, but music-lover. So I’ll play drums and talk about drums, but how I’m going to approach this clinic is to show them, for example, touring and health. 13 years ago I had a back accident. Couldn’t work out, started eating really bad compared to how I’d always eat healthy. I got unhealthy, and long story short, I’d go out on the road, and man, I’d be gassed halfway through the set and my focus wasn’t there. And even though I could still play the show alright, I’d get offstage and I’d feel terrible. This is something that can apply to a broad spectrum of people, not just a drummer.
“The other thing is my positive approach to anything I do,” he continues. “How I succeeded in the music industry, which can be applicable to anyone in whatever they want to try and do and accomplish in life. These are the types of things that I want to share in the clinic, but at the same time I’ll play songs from various bands – Devin Townsend Project, Terror Syndrome, stuff like that – that will tie into the clinic. I don’t want to give away everything that I want to do but it’s not just going to be geared towards drumming; it’s going to be about life in the music industry, drumming and life in general.
“I’m excited to just be coming to Australia,” Van Poederooyen concludes. “This’ll be the first time I try this new format of making it applicable to any music lover. And there’s a meet-and-greet for everyone. We tossed the VIP idea, and if I’ve got to stay there for five hours to meet everyone, I will. There’ll be tonnes of great giveaways as well, but the bottom line is I want everyone to be educated, motivated and inspired.”
[Ryan van Poederooven phto by Maclyn Bean Photography]
The Ryan van Poederooyen Drum Masterclass takes place at Wesley Conference Centre Theatre onTuesday November 3, and Ryan appears as part of Devin Townsend Project at UNSW Roundhouse, Saturday October 24.
