Brian Griffin on SoundBetter

Recording credits include Lana Del Rey, Brandi Carlile, The Black Crowes, Alessia Cara, The Wallflowers, Iggy Pop, Dolly Parton, Dionne Warwick. Los Angeles based session drummer available to help you with your music! Great touch, feel, sounds and ideas.

Hi I'm Brian Griffin and I am a versatile Los Angles-based session drummer. In addition to my NYC background in Jazz, I've toured/performed with Brandi Carlile, The Black Crowes, Richard Marx, David Gray, Patti Smith and many others. I record drum and percussion sessions for profile aritsts as well as television and films scores. Great recording equipment and a wealth of great drums and percussion instruments. Stylistically I have worked in Jazz, Brazilian, Punk, Pop, Americana, Soul, Rock, Blues, Latin, Afrobeat, and many other styles.

Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.

Credits

Discogs verified credits for Brian Griffin (4)

Opsvik & Jennings
Moira Danis
The Revelations Feat. Tre Williams
Jamie McLean Band
Brandi Carlile / The Lone Bellow
Jack Henderson (6)
Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey
Brandi Carlile
Sandra McCracken
Dolly Parton
Carrie Manolakos
Katie Toupin
Alessia Cara
Licity Collins
Broken Baby
Dionne Warwick
Fee Waybill
Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche
Michelle Gurevich
The Wallflowers
Azure Ray
Rumer
The Black Crowes
Broken Baby
Richard Marx
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes
James Mastro
Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey
Richard Marx

76 Reviews - 11 Repeat Clients

Endorse Brian Griffin

by Jerry s.
Verified
Brian is a phenomenal drummer!
H's quick delivery was at the highest quality, both in performance and recording.
Top notch
by Mark P.
Verified
Brian is simply THE BEST.
by Don May
Verified
Brian did an outstanding job for me on this project. Great tone, touch, feel- everything you look for in a pro drummer- and the process was super interactive- he gave me samples of what he had in mind and was pefectly responsive to input. Highly recommended !
by Mark P.
Verified
Really, really great experience with Brian. A total pro. Superb communication. Brian quickly understood what I was after and delivered multiple takes to choose from. Great drums sounds that fit the style. Brian was a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend.
by Scot S.
Verified
Brian is great and fun to work with, nailed the track I sent him and was super quick, with great tones and killer grooves. Highly recommend.
by Diedrich Steven Donald Weiss
Verified
Total pro and a pleasure, just as all Brian’s reviews express. What made him exceptional from other drummers I’ve hired is him sending me excellent rough mixes of his takes and including me in his creative process to accomplish the very best takes for my song.
by Gaz E.
Verified
Always brilliant working with Brian.
I have a really open brief and he totally nailed the vibe, as usual.
I really dig working with this guy…he’s excellent
by iblickenstaff
Verified
Brian is a great drummer and a wonderful communicator. He accurately captured the feel and tone of the drum track that I had in mind and managed to far exceed my expectations in every respect. I highly recommend working with Brian! He will undoubtedly add to your project.
by Martin
Verified
Perfect!
by Mark S.
Verified
Brain was great to work with!
by Barrett M.
Verified
Pleasure working with Brian. Quick turnaround, great playing and went above and beyond. Highly recommended!
by Jon L.
Verified
It was great working with Brian. Very easy to work with. Fantastic groove, feel and ideas. 5 stars!
by Scott B.
Verified
2024 off to a good start with more fantastic drum tracks from Brian! A pleasure to work with as always!
by Joel Willson
Verified
Great to work with! Fast turnaround. Excellent arrangements.
by Gaz/Feralman E.
Verified
Awesome as usual!!
by Gaz/Feralman E.
Verified
Really cool drums and percussion and super quick turnaround, again. Brian is awesome. I will keep coming back.
by Scott B.
Verified
Another round of stellar drum tracks from Brian! Friendly, collaborative, efficient and excellent.
by Scott B.
Verified
Another great track by Brian. This one had a sparse reggae feel to it and Brian nailed it promptly and with great touch and style. Five 5️⃣ stars!
by nishioka h.
Verified
Brian was very kind and polite. He recorded seven different takes, all of which were great.

Please give me another job.
by Scott B.
Verified
Once again Brian nailed it. This song was right in his wheelhouse and he crushed it. A pleasure and very easy to work with Brian who is timely, professional, and creates excellent drum tracks.

Interview with Brian Griffin

Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Whatever sounds great!
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Sensitivity warmth groove dynamics. Song-specific / unique sonic palate.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Artist sends me a demo of a song, and if there’s time scheduled together, I will quickly shoot back a rough mp3 while I'm working to see if the artist likes the sounds and approach. Then I record upwards of 3 takes with some variation - quieter louder, more fills etc. I also record some percussion if appropriate- shakers hand drums tambourines etc, and then I upload it all for the client to download. I will allow one revision at this point, but it is rarely needed.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Various modern and vintage drums of all flavors. Stacks of cymbals. Cases of conventional and exotic percussion. Various ribbon, condenser and Dynamic mics. I typically record through neve-style pres ir API pres into apogee converters.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: T Bone Burnett, Jim Keltner, Jay Bellerose, Victor Indrizzo, Shawn Pelton, Buddy Miller, John Leventhal, Tchad Blake, James Gadson and many others
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Live drum and percussion tracks for artists’ songs as well as soundtrack music for film and TV
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Songwriter music.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Listening.