During Silesia Drum Festival in w Chorzów, Poland, we had the opportunity to interview the artists who performed on stage that day.
Today, Hungarian fusion drumming master, Gergo Borlai, talks about his gear and what to do to become a better drummer.
BeatIt: Gergo Borlai, welcome back!
Gergo Borlai: Thanks for having me here.
BeatIt: Oh, it’s been quite some time. Last time you were on BeatIt was COVID, lockdown time. We had a talk before that… Whoa! There was some drum clinic somewhere. Lots of things have changed since then.
Gergo Borlai: In general.
BeatIt: Yeah, in general, in life, in your career, I suppose.
Gergo Borlai: Yeah, partly.
BeatIt: But we’re catching up with you at Silesia Drum Festival. And it’s a drum festival, so it’s a slightly different environment to a lesson or a drum camp or a drum workshop or something like that. So what do you think is the most important thing you would like to convey when doing this type of show? Because, obviously, you can’t go too much in depth, right? So what’s the most important thing?
Well, this festival is beautiful. I checked some videos from the past and it’s more performance style. And I love that because I’m a performer, basically. And, of course, because it’s just still intimate. So we still can talk, ask questions and answer them. But the focus is on playing, performing, expression and making an experience for the audience, for new drummers. And I really, really love and enjoy that, to be honest.
BeatIt: The topic of becoming a better drummer, improving one’s skills. What would you say are the most important factors?
Gergo Borlai: Hard to answer this question these days because it focuses on some different things. I mean, we are living the life of cover drumming and cover playing. It’s just not my thing, you know. I’m born to be original so I don’t know what good advice I could give to new people. To be honest, I still believe in music so I can say: focus on music, be original and be a musician.
BeatIt: And, like you said during your performance, you’ve actually done your share of covering. You did, how many did you say? 13 Zappa albums in your teens, right?
Gergo Borlai: Yep.
BeatIt: So you’ve done your covers, basically.
Gergo Borlai: Yeah, I just had no idea how I could learn this kind of difficult music at that time but I just learned how Bozzio and Chad Wackerman and Vinnie Colaiuta played with him. It was a great school.
BeatIt: Now, since the last time we talked, a lot has changed gear wise for you. So let’s make the companies happy.
Gergo Borlai: I’m still with Gretsch. It’s been 10 years. I always loved Gretsch. I fell in love with Gretsch when I was six. I’ve endorsed them for 10 years and I’m the happiest and the most hardcore Gretsch nerd you’ve ever met.
BeatIt: How many kits do you own?
Gergo Borlai: Not that many, actually. I have two in L.A. and two in Barcelona. I also have five in Hungary.
BeatIt: All Gretches?
Gergo Borlai: Of course. And some of them are really, really vintage ones and some of them are endorser kits.
I’m with Zildjian. It’s been almost five years now. And you know, I grew up on Zildjian. Almost all my favourite drummers played Zildjian. I was playing Zildjian for 15 years. It wasn’t an endorsement but I just loved their sound. At one point I knew that I had to make this final decision, so I moved to Zildjian and that was the best decision I ever made. I’m in a very, very good position at Zildjian. They’re sending me prototypes and I sometimes make some promotional videos to them. I just love the sound, it just speaks to me. When I hit a regular A Custom ride, I say: ‘Oh yeah, this is it.’
BeatIt: So it was A Customs today.
Gergo Borlai: Yeah. I didn’t bring my own cymbals because the airline I flew in with lost my signals three times this year. I didn’t wanna risk it. Too much trouble.
BeatIt: Is it that you prefer A Customs or do you use the Ks and the other ones too?
Gergo Borlai: I was using A Customs for a long, long time. Even before I was with Zildjian, I was using mostly A Customs. And when I became an endorser, my first call was the A Customs until they came out with the K Paper Thin crashes, which changed me radically. So basically I’m using those these days, but when I’m traveling and when I’m asking for cymbals, I know there’s no mistakes with the A Customs. And it’s still easier to get them but K Paper Thins are fresh and crispy so I like to have them.
BeatIt: And your choice of Chinas?
Gergo Borlai: Unfortunately, there was no 22-inch China here. So I used a 19-inch Ultra Hammered China on my left. Yeah, basically I’m using China as a right cymbal because I’m partly an open handed guy. I was born left-handed. On the right hand side, there was a 14-inch China Trash. I just needed something shorter that’s still not stacked.
BeatIt: What about the skins?
Gergo Borlai: Remo. What else? Those were clear Emperors. When I’m playing only one night, then I can ask for Ambassadors, but I prefer a little less sustain these days. So those were clear Emperors. The kick is always the Powerstroke 3 Clear. I was using my signature snare drum and there was a Controlled Sound Coated on it and that’s it.
BeatIt: Sticks.
Gergo Borlai: Vic Firth Extreme 5A. I think it’s slightly thicker than the regular 5A but definitely a little bit longer. So, I really love the balance and the rebound of those slightly longer sticks.
BeatIt: Pedals.
Gergo Borlai: Those were DW 9000s. I switched to 5000 single chain in the last couple of years but it’s not available everywhere. The 9000 is basically available everywhere, so I was using those.
BeatIt: You’ve actually switched to single chain. Why? Do you want to go more vintage?
Gergo Borlai: Well, you know, I grew up on the DW 5000 single chain pedals and, for some reason, I think the secret is just that it’s a very, very simple tool. So the options are limited, which is good. Back in the day, there was no real options, you know, and the pedals were smaller. Now the pedals are so big and I prefer smaller pedals. And for some reason, because of the movement of the beater, I can play much harder than with the 9000s, which are a little bit more direct. The DW 5000 single chain, especially the single chain, is less direct. So I have to use my legs more.
BeatIt: So you feel like you’ve got more control of the pedal?
Gergo Borlai: Kind of. And definitely more powerful with that.
BeatIt: Interesting approach. Yeah. Makes sense. Any in-ears, stuff like that?
Gergo Borlai: Not this time. I was using SlapKlatz drum gels and it was just impossible to bring my own SE microphones. So unfortunately I couldn’t use those, but no in-ears. I was using Vic Firth headphones and I love it.
