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 Maroon 5 drummer Ryan Dusick is living proof that persistence and talent pay off. After Ryan’s first group, Kara’s Flowers, caught a critical wave of acclaim in southern California it never really broke onto the shores. In the late nineties, things were going well for the band and its album Fourth World. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, the album garnered praise but never took hold of the marketplace. Frustrated, Ryan and his quartet split up to attend school, two of them on the east coast, two on the west.
When they reunited in L.A. a few years later, things were different. For one, thanks heavily to Ryan Dusick, the band’s sound gained an urban edge that leaned to hip hop and Steve Wonder type funk. It was this potent driving force behind catchy melodies and strong vocals that would define Maroon 5. In fact, at the 47th Grammy Awards, the band was named Best New Artist. In early 2005, Maroon 5 began its first tour as a headliner.
Growing up in the school music system, in which drummers were polarized into two camps, the busier prog rockers and the simple timekeepers, Dusick sided with the latter. Ringo Starr would become his hero. Chad Smith and John Bonham were other key influences. Ryan also paid very close attention to Stevie Wonder, composer and drummer on such seminal albums as Songs in the Key of Life. Dusick told Modern Drummer magazine, “At times it’s a little sloppy, but that’s what gives (it) character. It’s just a matter of the foundation being good and the track feeling good.”
Ryan’s drum grooves, heard on the Maroon 5 album Songs About Jane, display a pleasant “loose solidity” akin to those generated by America’s great funk drummers. For Ryan, it’s a matter of coaxing a song to a firm foundation, a liquid pulse, and a rhythm that will enhance the vocal line.
Of course, Ryan plays an array of LP bells, blocks, and tambourines on his drum kit to complement the music of Maroon 5!
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