MCB Interviews Lester Estelle Jr.
"I grew up listening to gospel, jazz, r&b, and hiphop," says Estelle. "Pillar was my first 'rock' gig. I had to start listening to more rock bands which was great for me...Morgan Rose from Sevendust, Jose Pasillas from Incubus, Chad Sexton from 311. These guys have great chops but they groove hard! That's what I wanted to do."
When he's not onstage with McCoy, Estelle keeps busy recording at Off the Wall Studios with his studio partner Robert Venable (recent panelist at Mix Nashville). Many clients now prefer to watch their recording session via webcam, where they can send suggestions in real-time. Since Estelle's biggest influences are drummers that produce and play, he naturally approaches each song with a broad perspective.
Estelle represents a new breed of musician on the Nashville scene - playing four on the floor isn't enough to break through the crowd anymore. With a wide range of technical skills, he is often called on to edit tracks and develop electronic percussion. "I think its good to be able to get into programing as well as playing," says Estelle. "For me the hardest part of programing is finding the right sounds for the track....I like to use drum sounds from some of my real drum kits. If you tweak the sounds, you can come up with some cool stuff!"
Estelle has learned that "you need to have the gear to cover most styles of music or you won't be working as much as you could." Getting the right sound is made easier with an arsenal that includes a Risendrum endorsement, 40 snares and an array of vintage kits and cymbals.
| Lester Estelle's Recording Setup: Software- Protools, Abelton Live, Reason
Kick In- EV 868/ Focusrite 110
Kick Out- Subkick/ Presonus M80
Snare Top- Audix I-5/ Vintech x73i
Snare Btm- sm 57/ Vintech x73i
Toms- 421's or audix D6/ Api 312s
Overheads- Royer 122 or sm 81/ Presonus ADL 600
Room- 414 or Cascade Fatheads/ Api 312's |
Current Influences:
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