My name is Steve Goold. I make my living with the drums. If you want to know more about who I am as a drummer you can visit my aboutme.com page (which is exactly what the title suggests), or you can read this.
As a musician I currently endorse Risen Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Remo Percussion, Canopus snare drums, Alclair Audio, and Mono Cases. As a human being I endorse foosball, disc golf, reading the Bible, reading books generally, single malt scotch, being kind and/or positive, longboarding, and asian food.
The Steve Goold Blog 
30 comments
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March 16, 2009 at 8:49 pm
jake King
dear steve,
I am the dude who helped change out your water heater today, And who bought the sweet cracked crash, I’ve never bloged before and I’m not sure if I’m doing it right, But anyway I would like to set up a time to maby meet back at your place to view the other cymbals you have that are cracked.
You can email me or call 763-286-1727
thanx
p.s. the blog site is sweet! hope to hear from you soon.
May 5, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Blake Mattson
Hey Steve,
I know Jeremy Sanoski and Elizebeth Hunnicutt are playing at Higher Ground. Are you playing with them?
May 5, 2009 at 10:33 pm
stevegoold
Blake,
You bet. I’ll be on stage with both artists.
May 6, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Blake Mattson
Sweet! When do you guys go on?
May 6, 2009 at 9:30 pm
jake King
steve its been a while hows life treating you? Life here is great. just got a new lead singer a female vocalist. working on some covers and trying to work out the new stuff hope to be up and playing in a couple months. Just thought I would give you a shout.
-jake
May 13, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Blake Mattson
Steve,
I’ll be playing with a praise team soon and they are going to have me playing an electric set do you know anything about them.
May 22, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Jeremy Tong
I wonder if you taught in the summer. And how much it costs?
June 16, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Earl Bennett
Hi Steve: This is a great blog! I love the interviews with Steve Brewster & comments about John Hammond … you did a great job. My wife Stephanie Bennett used to write for Modern Drummer back in the day (the 80’s & 90’s). She tried to pitch an article with Steve back in the mid-90’s but they didn’t bite! But I had the privilege of speaking with Steve for an hour on the phone and he was a great guy to speak with about drums and music.
Also for my first real recording project which was with a band from NJ that went to Nashville to record. John Hammond played the last four songs on the album because I was not quite ready. I have to tell you I was humbled, yet it was the best drum lesson I had in my life. He is an awesome guy and player as well. My wife interviewed John and his brother Mark Hammond for (I think) the May 1988 issue of Modern Drummer. Anyhow — keep it up, this is a great blog.
God bless,
Earl
June 17, 2009 at 2:37 pm
stevegoold
Thanks for the kind words, Earl. Glad you’re enjoying the site. Your wife wrote for Modern Drummer? Nice. Does she still have connections with that publication?
June 17, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Earl Bennett
Hi Steve:
Her last connection to MD was the editor Bill Miller who just passed away in Dec 2008. So, I’d say no, but she does knows how to query an magazine because she written for many publications including CCM Magazine, Focus on The Family, and for Breakpoint magazine on-line. Please write me privately and I can put you in touch with her about the process of getting published. It is not that hard if you have a gift for writing, which you seem to have.
God bless, Earl
August 3, 2009 at 5:35 am
Dan
Hey Steve,
Stumbled upon this awesome blog while looking up some Dave King related info!
I’m a UK based musician and had my world rocked a in 2003 upon hearing The Bad Plus… leading to happy apple, love-cars, halloween alaska, gang font… That’s so cool you studied with him. I have about a million questions regarding his lessons… any material you could recommend for study would be so much appreciated.
Thanks. A new subscriber, Dan
October 20, 2009 at 1:26 am
saba Samakar
hey steve,
i’ve been waiting for a blog like this. it’s really nice to read a younger drummer’s thoughts on music, especially when we share a few influences. keep it up!
– saba
November 24, 2009 at 10:56 am
Rany Larson
Steve,
Hey man. You may or may not remember me. I went to Bethel and we used to have some intense fossball games together. I’m excited to see that you are doing well in the music industry.
Jamie(mywife) and I live in San antonio texas now. I’m a worship leader at our church, and i was looking for a set of drums for the church and found you on the risen drum site. Small world.
Have a great day,
Randy Larson
November 24, 2009 at 6:26 pm
stevegoold
Randy! Hey dude. Totally remember the foos days. Team Christmas gave everybody a run for their money. Right on.
Glad you’re looking into Risen for a church kit. Great drums, even better people. Take care man.
November 25, 2009 at 9:21 am
Matt Terry
Hey Steve,
I heard about you from Matt Patrick who I’ve known from Open Door forever ago..you taking on any new students for lessons? Looking into learning stick speed and independence. Your videos are great btw.
December 18, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Zack
I just read your blog about Pearl Jams VS. First off, let me state as a drummer myself that Dave Abbruzzese was a HUGE influence for me. Having said that there were a couple of bones I would like to pick. First off, Matt Chamberlain did not record Ten with the band. That was Dave Krusen who left because of substance issues. Chamberlain filled in to play shows but then left to join the SNL band. Out of the songs you listed as influential for you off VS, how could you not mention WMA??? That song is a drummers wet dream!!
I agree wit you that Jack Irons was awful. He had a horrble loose and sloppy sound and I resent every recording he did with them. But how can you say that Matt Cameron sucks? He is no Dave, but he is a dream come true after two albums worth of Jack Irons and he has impeccable timing. I suggest you study up on him a little more.
-Zack
December 19, 2010 at 12:40 am
stevegoold
Zack…
Well put. You’re right that Cameron kicked things up a notch from Irons. As for Chamberlain, I’m only going on stuff that I’ve heard from industry friends. The term “ghosting” is used specifically of situations like this one, where one drummer is credited publicly with a recording when another drummer is the one who actually did the playing. This is somewhat typical in the music industry for political and appearance reasons. As a guy who knows Matt Chamberlain’s playing really well, its not hard for me to imagine him playing on Ten. A lot of the fingerprint characteristics of his sound and style are on that recording. I guess I don’t really care either way, and there’s probably no solid proof either. Oh well. For Cameron, I feel like his playing in Soundgarden (especially the studio recordings) is cool and worth listening to. It’s his playing with Pearl Jam in live environments that leaves me feeling a little bummed. His time feel, his ideas, his evergy… it all sounds VERY amateur to me. That’s my take at least.
April 12, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Brandon Tice
Hey Steve, long time no see!
I just wanted to check up and see how things were going in Steve Goold land. From the blog sounds like you’re keeping busy and rocking out (or is it keeping busy by rocking out?). If you could get back to me with your email that would be great as I’d like to keep in touch a bit more. Just hit me back at my email, thanks!
February 27, 2012 at 9:04 pm
Robert
Hey Steve, I’ve been watching your videos on youtube where you conducted a “Drumming in the Church” clinic on 10/30/2010 at the Hope Community Church and have been really inspired, thank you very much.. However, I have one question to ask you: After taking down the drum shields, and then using hot rods to play (in a small hall – Church setting), is it wise to mic the drums (say, snare drum and bass drum)?? Thank you so much for your reply, God bless!
January 25, 2013 at 11:46 pm
Aaron
matt cameron is so bland
April 4, 2013 at 8:12 pm
Josh
Hey Steve, as you may know, I’m looking forward getting the chance to meet you personally and getting a drum lesson from you. unfortunately, I live 40 to 50 minutes away from the arena. I would gladly arrange a way for you to come by. To make things easier though, I could ask the church I attend, Willow Creek Community Church, to see if they could let me use their drum set since the church is about 15 minutes away from the arena. Hopefully you do have the time for this to happen. If not, I would still love to go visit the arena just to get a chance to talk to you for a few minutes outside. I really look up to you as a man of God and a drummer.
By the way, thanks again for giving me the drum sticks you used at the Urbana concert!
February 3, 2014 at 8:58 pm
Jake
Hey man,
Just saw a clip of you with Sarah Bareilles on Leno, and I first gotta say that you killed it. Great feel, right in the pocket, and a very creative approach to do the shaker in one hand and hi hat/snare in the other hand. Had sort of a Glenn Kotche vibe to it, which I loved.
What I’ve been trying to figure out is what you were using for a snare. The tone you got was PERFECT. It looked like a Supraphonic with single flange hoops, and I think I noticed that you sat a splash on the top head too for that compressed/EQ thing, but I figured I try just asking instead of guessing. My brother has a Supra shell for his studio that he hasn’t put hardware on yet and we’re hoping we can get a tone like that out of it.
Thanks and all the best,
Jake
February 4, 2014 at 7:56 pm
Steve Goold
Thanks for the kind words dude! I love performing that tune. It’s definitely a fun one.
You’re spot on with the snare tone guesses. It’s a 5.5×14 nickel-over-brass shell with single flange hoops, made by Risen Drums. And then an 8″ Paiste Dark Energy splash is sitting on the head as a muffle, but I was playing the head and not touching the splash with the stick. Another key factor is the head tension… tuned pretty tight, tighter than I would have it if I was playing the snare outright. The vibe changes significantly when the splash-muffle trick is used on a loosely tuned head and I don’t dig it as much. On Sara’s record that song has only an electronic loop, so the whole idea was to get a distorted clap sample sound out of the snare for a live performance.
February 6, 2014 at 7:03 pm
Jake
Interesting – I just got a 5.5 x 14 COB from a builder who has been selling his brass shells in different platings to other “boutique” builders, I wonder if that’s one of his? Cause if it is, I could definitely get that tone! I’ll have to play around with the tuning more – and grab a splash of course! Single flange hoops were a cool choice too, I bet that’s quite a versatile drum. Thanks for the reply, it’s much appreciated. And I’ll be following your work now for sure!
August 23, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Sean
Hi Steve .. caught your show in Seattle on Aug 5 at Mary Moore park with Sara B. Had great seats (6th row). Dude .. you blew me away .. Sara was okay too ;). I am a songwriter/drummer and have an online magazine called The Black Page .. love to interview you some time. Here are my links
http://www.themitchellsband.com/MUSIC.html
http://www.theblackpage.net/
Find me at sean@theblackpage.net if you are interested in doing the interview!
November 9, 2014 at 4:06 pm
Ross
http://sufjan.com/
Who’s that in the hood!
February 6, 2015 at 6:18 pm
Otis P Smith
Great blog, really glad I found it. I’m sure I’ll spend hours catching up on all your posts.
June 10, 2015 at 7:49 pm
Philip Pagliarulo
Hi Steve,
Been a fan of yours and watched your youtube channel for a while. I recently got an spd-sx and freakin love the thing. It’s given me a whole new train of thought when planning through and practicing for a worship set, it’s just an awesome little thing. However, it’s daunting how much stuff it can do… I’ve been using ableton to run tracks for while, but I’m trying to figure out how to get some stuff programmed with the pad. Would you be at all interested in answering a few question I have as I can see that you use both ableton and the spd-sx out on the road?
November 4, 2015 at 9:09 pm
Salvador Blanco (@SalvadorBlanco3)
Steve,
I got to see you perform in Tuscaloosa with BR. I was going to attend the BR concert this Friday in Birmingham but things just didn’t work out. I am 18 and I travel with a Christian band. We play around 40-50 dates a year currently. What started off as a youth worship band has led to something quite beyond what I could imagine. I am very inspired by your talent and the way you execute in your drumming. With all this being said, I want to know how you grew as a drummer and what I can do to expand my knowledge as a drummer. I would love to meet you in person one day as well and maybe you could email me personally? I would like to talk to you on how you got endorsements and things of that manner as I try to reach higher levels of performance. Thanks for reaching out to people!
October 5, 2016 at 11:02 am
Carson Cashman
Hi Steve,
I’m interested in sending you one of our CajónTabs for a possible review or mention. Please check us out at http://www.lousondrums.com
We’re a small custom cajón company from Pittsburgh looking for exposure. Hit me up via our contact page if you’re interested! I’d love to get one in your hands.
Thanks man,
Carson