Hello, my name is Josh Owen. I am a session drummer from Seattle, WA and I have been drumming for over 24 years. I have been fortunate to have worked with a variety of different artists across a wide spectrum of different styles. I would love to work with you on your project to deliver clean, musical and great sounding drums!
The drums can be that secret sauce in a song. When they hit just right, pun intended, it is a masterpiece. I would love to deliver that secret sauce for your song(s). I consider myself a drummer that plays for the song and I am a very quick learner. I am able to work with either a drum part that you have created or come up with one from scratch. I am also able to read music should your project call for that. Some of the styles of music I am familiar with are rock, punk, alternative, pop, country, jazz, disco, and reggae to name a few.
I play and record with DW drums and have two of their kits. My main is a DW Performance kit which is maple and the second is a DW Collectors Pure Cherry Kit. I also own several snares of different sizes and wood types. I use Zildjian cymbals and both A custom and K cymbals. For mics I use a mixture of Audix, Shure and AKG mics. My audio interfaces I use are the Clarett+ 8pre and the Scarlet18i20. My DAW of choice is Logic Pro X.
If you are interested or if you have any questions please feel free to reach out and I would be happy to get back to you. I would love to hear more about your project so hit that Contact button and lets make some music!
Contact me through the green button above and let's get to work.
3 Reviews
Endorse Josh Owen
I've worked with Josh in both live and recorded settings, and he is the real thing.
Dead in the pocket, versed in all styles, comfortable with technology, friendly, and he always plays to serve the song.
One of my absolute favorite drummers in the PNW.
Hire him!
I’ve worked with Josh on a number of occasions—as both a bandmate for live shows and as a studio musician—and have had nothing but great experiences. In addition to his drum skills being excellent, he’s a quick learner, friendly and easy to communicate with. Whether you have a specific drum part in mind or need one created for you, he will make your project sound great!
Josh is a fantastic drummer. He plays in the pocket, has great feel and uses very tasteful fills that serve the song. I mixed some drums he recorded for a client and they were a pleasure to mix. Hits were consistent, in time and well recorded. Made my job much easier than other material I sometimes have to mix because I didn't have a spend a lot of time editing or fixing him. I'm a lifelong drummer myself as well so I'm pretty discriminating when it comes to drum performance and I'd highly recommend him!
-Matt Taylor (owner Echo Lake Studios)
Interview with Josh Owen
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love that I get to work and collaborate with so many talented and amazing people to create a song. I recently just worked on a song that was an ode to the neighborhood cat and he wanted to share with his neighbors. Ok sweet what a cool way to connect with your neighbors than a song about the cat. It's the little things that bring people together and it's just cool that I got to be a part of that.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: My DW Craviotto solid shell maple snare, kick drum, my A custom master hats, DW 5000 kick pedal, and some sticks
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started off like so many playing in various bands ranging in styles from punk rock, to metal, and grunge. Some of those bands even had some marginal success. Eventually I came to a point where I realized I wanted to do more than just playing in a couple of bands and I wanted to explore several different styles so I started down the path of session work. I have been playing drums for just over 20 years and have been playing professionally for 15 years.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: When people tell me who they think I sound like there are two camps some say Dave Grohl and Ringo Star. Dave Grohl makes a lot of sense he was one of my earliest drum heroes and I spent a lot of time listening to him, but I've hardly listened to the Beatles so Ringo Star comes as a bit of a surprise to me.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Scratch tracks are not the final product. Don't spend lots of time trying to get a scratch track just perfect if it is going to be rerecorded later on in the process anyways. Also always start recording with Drums and Bass first. They are the foundation of any song.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Rock and Pop
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I am told a lot I deliver a solid beat and an excellent sounding snare sound.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: My aim is to be that musical time keeper that helps your music shine. Even if the music calls for a simple beat there is a finese that can be delivered that can make a song stand out. If there is one thing Billie Jean has taught us drummers is that it is not just about the notes but also the feel. I also play with dynamics to help bring out sections and give the song some place to go.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: When I get a song in I like to first just listen to a brief section of it to get a general vibe for the song. I think what snare would fit this well? What cymbals should I use? Before I even start to track a song I give it a couple of listens first. I like to make a template in my DAW mapping out the structure like verse, chorus, verse, chorus bridge and make notes too about things like big fill here, Punch with crash here, half time beat, to give a few examples so I go into the song with a good idea of what I am going to do. After a take I go back and listen with a critical ear. I ask myself if my original thoughts worked like I thought they would. I also take several takes of a song before sending it back to the client.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I record with DW drums, Zildjian cymbals, Evans drum heads, and Vater Sticks. The heads I use are usually G2 coated heads on the toms and snare. For my interface I use a Scarlet 18i20 (2nd Gen) and for my mics it is mostly Audix with some Shure mics in there as well and a DW Moon Mic as the out mic for the kick. To be more specific I use Audix i5 on the top snare, Shure Beta 57A on the bottom snare, Audix D2's on rack toms, D4's on floor tom, by default I use a D6 for the inside kick mic but a Shure Beta 52A could also be used if requested or I sense it to be a better fit, and then overheads are Audix ADX51's. I record in a spacious room with wood floors so I get a very warm sound with the acoustic drums.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: One of my first drum heroes was Dave Grohl. There have been so many players though. Just a few of those players would be Chad and Brooks Wackerman, Alex Acuna, Josh Freese, Gregg Bissonette, Dave Weckle, Jeff Watts, Adrian Young, Jordan Burns, Derico Watson, and Glen Sobel to name a few.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Record live acoustic drum tracks for their songs, demos, or promos.
I was the Studio Drummer in this production
- Live drum trackAverage price - $70 per song
Typically turn around for a song is 1-3 days. For best results I strongly recommend sending in a track recorded to a click. I offer 2 revisions on a song.
- DW Performance Series (maple)
- DW Collectors Cherry
- Several DW Collectors Snares
- Zildjian Cymbals (A Custom/K)
- Audix Mics
- Shure Mics
- AKG Mics Scarlet Interface
- Clarett+ 8pre Interface
