Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Doug Yowell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Doug, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was 3 years old. I remember the conversation like it was yesterday. I grew up in a home full of musicians and instruments. I gravitated toward drums and knew immediately. I told my dad I was going to be a drummer and needed a teacher. I also told him I was going to play with Elton John. In 2018 I got to record on a track for Elton with producer Nick Littlemore at Power Station NYC on a remake of the song, “Are You Ready For Love”. I felt every hair on my body stand up when I heard Elton’s original vocal from 1977 coming into my headphones it was surreal. It was like a worm hole in time back to my 3 year old self to hug and say … “ you did it!!”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Because I grew up in a household filled with not just instruments but every musical genre due to my brothers and sisters, it gave me the foundation of inspiration to work from. I had teachers very early on and began recording professionally when I was 14. I studied drums with many teachers along the way and at 16 I began studying with Jazz legend, Peter Erskine who had just come out of Weather Report and was working with Steps Ahead. He took me to recording sessions, rehearsals, gigs, sound checks. He poured so much information into me and let me be around the greats like Michael Brecker, Will Lee, Vince Mendoza, Bob Mintzer, Eddie Gomez, Bob James and so many others.

I began to really see my path as a session drummer. It’s what I always wanted to do. I saw how Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro, Jim Keltner and guys like that, who were playing on so many records in so many styles of music and that appealed to me more than anything. I wanted to know as much as I could. Read as well as I could. I saw tons of music throughout my childhood live. Elton John as Madison Square Garden when I was 9 years old in 1976. I saw every kind of music I could and finally got a little break with Sophie B Hawkins in 1992 for her breakout album which gave me a little window into touring.

It was a few years later that I met a really important musicians who’s become one of my dearest friends, Mike Visceglia who was Suzanne Vega’s bass player and it was he who saw something in me and got me started working with so many singer songwriters. That was a different set of skills to learn. How to serve the song. How to help illustrate the lyric and story while being supportive and dynamic. Those years taught me so much and it led to me becoming Suzanne’s drummer for so many years and touring the world with her and Mike which was an extraordinary experience and opportunity.

At the same time I was beginning to work with an extremely prolific song writer named Duncan Sheik along with his guitar player Gerry Leonard who also worked with Suzanne. Between Gerry and Duncan I began to see how they were creating these lush sonic atmospheres and it inspired me to go toward that direction. How could I do that with drums? I began using Ableton Live having had no experience at all with a computer back in 2002. I instantly fell in love with technology and it opened up so many possibilities.

That journey has never stopped. I continue to push that envelope as far as it can go and have been using very elaborate set up’s that I’ve designed and programmed for artists such as Joe Jackson for the last 11 years and most recently Howard Jones. Howard’s set up is the most challenging which is something I truly love because it’s an all electric kit including cymbals. Besides triggering the laptop and Ableton I’m using AbleSet and Superior Drummer. I’m currently using elements of Yamaha’s DTX 10 pro, Zildjian Alchemy and EfNote.

In order to really achieve my personal dream of creating atmosphere I use my Sensory Percussion trigger kit to create music. I finally made a record of my own with Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine, Will Lee, David Sanborn, Joe Jackson, Eddie Vedder, Howard Jones, Duncan Sheik, Donna Lewis, Sharon Corr and many others. It felt like a lifetime of inspiration all coming together to create this music. I wrote all the arrangements start to finish but I would say that everyone’s contribution is what makes it special. If I had to describe the sound of the record, it’s the sound of everyone who ever loved me, encouraged me, cheered me on, mentored me, inspired me and so on. Every friend, musician, artist, engineer, producer, teacher … everyone in my life. It’s the sound of love and support starting with my family.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the biggest reward in being creative is multi layered. In the personal aspect is I get to work within myself to take this journey using inspiration and imagination to see where it leads. That’s not work, it’s play and it means the child in me never stops seeing things through the eyes of “wonder”. It teaches you the depth for how far you can take something in life. I’m my own boss, agent, manager, coach, accountant and so on. My practice schedule when i prepare for tours ranges from 10-15 hours a day. That’s how deep I like to go.

Another reward is what you’re going to learn and share with the other members of the band you’re working with. Knowing it will add so much to your life and enrich the reason you wanted to do this in the first place.

Then we get to take all of that and share it with an audience who expresses the pure joy and what a beautiful experience that is because as they express their love, we can feel it and send back how grateful we are and that becomes its own entity. The audience and the band are feeding off one another and the end result is the sum of the parts. That’s a magical evening.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The Teachings of Don Juan Mateo by Carlos Castaneda

The Unborn by Zen Master Bankai
Crazy Wisdom and
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa

The Universe In A Single Atom by The Dalai Lama

Eckhardt Tolle A New Earth

Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner

Steve Gadd Gaddiments

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dougyowell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougyowell?igsh=bDRibXRvZGFsdWJt&utm_source=qr

Image Credits

Unknown