Jason Hartless (born November 5, 1994) is an American musician, best known for being the drummer for guitarist and fellow Detroit native

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock a ...

. He has also toured and/or recorded with

Eric Martin (musician) Eric Lee Martin (born October 10, 1960, in Long Island, New York) is an American rock singer and musician who was active throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, both as a solo artist and as a member of various bands. He earned his most promine ...

Pop Evil Pop Evil is an American rock band that was formed in North Muskegon, Michigan, in 2001 by Leigh Kakaty. The band's roots reside in TenFive, a group formed in the late-1990s by Kakaty and guitarist Jason Reed. Pop Evil won the Radio Contrab ...

Sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throug ...

Mitch Ryder Mitch Ryder (born William Sherille Levise, Jr.; February 26, 1945) is an American musician who has recorded more than 25 albums over more than four decades. Career Ryder formed his first band, Tempest, when he was at Warren High School, and th ...

, Tantric,

Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989 as a gangsta rap group, ICP's best known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsl ...

Warrior Soul Warrior Soul is an American rock band, formed by lead singer and producer Kory Clarke. Clarke started the band on a bet from a promoter at New York City's Pyramid Club, after a solo performance art show called "Kory Clarke/Warrior Soul". Clar ...

and

Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Deep Purple. During his career, Turner fronted and played guitar with pop ro ...

. In early 2020, Hartless earned his bachelor's degree in Music Business from the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...

Personal life

Jason Michael Hartless was born on November 5, 1994, in Detroit, Michigan and was the first child of Jason and Shelly Hartless. Hartless grew up in Fraser, Michigan, where he graduated high school from Fraser High School in 2013. He started to play drums as a child and grew up listening mainly to bands such as The Who, T-Rex, The Sweet, Kiss and Styx. Hartless cites Corky Laing, Eric Singer, Mick Tucker and Buddy Rich as early influences to his playing style. Jason's influences include:

Corky Laing Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing (born January 26, 1948) is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock band Mountain. 20th century A native of Montreal, Quebec, Laing was the youngest in a family of ...

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on ...

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York ...

Todd Sucherman Todd Sucherman (born May 2, 1969) is an American drummer, who is best known for having been a member of Styx since March 1995. Early life Sucherman grew up in a musical family and followed in his father's footsteps by playing the drums. His fa ...

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...

Zak Starkey Zak Richard Starkey (born 13 September 1965) is an English rock drummer who has performed and recorded with English rock band the Who since 1996. He is also the third drummer to have appeared with English rock band Oasis. In 2020, Starkey toure ...

Bernie Dresel Bernard John Dresel Jr. (born November 12, 1961) is an American studio drummer and percussionist. He has been with multi-Grammy award-winning artists and recordings; most notably having performed and recorded extensively with The Brian Setzer Orc ...

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ban ...

Eric Singer Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock band Kiss since 1991, he has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands, Brian May and Gar ...

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

Mick Tucker Michael Thomas Tucker (17 July 1947 – 14 February 2002) was an English musician, best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of the glam rock and hard rock band Sweet. Biography Mick Tucker was born on July 17, 1947, in Kingsbury, North ...

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics *Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager *Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, a ...

, and

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...

Career

At a very early age, Hartless was always intrigued by the drums and was born into a musical environment. His father, Jason was a professional drummer in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

area. By five, Hartless began playing cover gigs with an all-adult band around Metro Detroit. A videotape of Hartless playing the

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

song, "Nantucket Sleighride" caught the eye of Mountain drummer, Corky Laing, who then contacted Hartless' family inquiring to work with him. In 2002, Laing began mentoring Hartless and by that summer they began recording Hartless' solo album, titled ''First Division''. For two years, Laing commuted from Toronto to Detroit to work and record with Hartless until the record was released in the summer of 2004. ''First Division'' included Hartless on drums and vocals, Laing on guitar and vocals and Richie Scarlet from the Ace Frehley Band on guitar and bass. In 2005, Hartless was asked to come to Millbrook Recording Studios in Millbrook, New York to record a track on Richie Scarlet's release, ''Revelation Supreme''. During this session, Hartless met legendary drummer

; Fig was cutting a track on Scarlet's record as well. During Fig's session, Fig showed Hartless some of his techniques for charting music and recording drums in the studio. In late 2005, Hartless joined forces with the

Toys for Tots Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. The program was founded in 1947 by reservist Major Bill Hendricks. ...

foundation and began a yearly Rockin' 4 Tots drive outside a

Toys R US A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed sp ...

in suburban Detroit. Various musicians from the Detroit area participated every year for this daylong event, such as

Vinnie Dombroski Mark "Vinnie" Dombroski (born December 4, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist and main songwriter for the American rock band Sponge. He also fronted the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has been a member of s ...

from

and Joey Gaydos from the film ''

School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled onscreen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. ...

''. In early 2007, Hartless got a call from Brian Schram, ex-lead guitar player for

Uncle Kracker Matthew Shafer (born June 6, 1974), also known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American singer and musician. He was previously a turntablist for Kid Rock's backing group Twisted Brown Trucker and since 1999 has recorded as a solo artist. ...

, to come to Toronto and record a track on his 2007 release, ''Disturbing the Peace'' because their drummer had a family emergency and had to cancel last minute. A few months later, Hartless received another call from Schram to fill in on drums with his band, The Brian Schram Band, who was opening for

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

the next night at the Rave Ballroom in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

. Hartless was offered the full-time seat after the show. Hartless toured across the east coast of the US in the summer of 2007 with the Schram Band supporting the release of ''Disturbing the Peace'' at the age of 12. In October 2007, Hartless and the band flew to Winnipeg, Manitoba and recorded some demos with former

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

producer, Dale Penner. During a run of shows in Toronto, Corky Laing suggested that the name of the band be changed from The Brian Schram Band to Shram. During January 2008, Shram began the two-month long, Loco Tour with

The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...

as direct support. Throughout the year, Hartless and the band recorded the theme songs for ''The Next Bite'' and John Gillespie's ''Woods and Water'' fishing television shows on Versus TV. At 14 years old, Hartless and Shram toured on

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albu ...

's Crue Fest 2 North American tour in the summer of 2009 in support of the band's release, ''Shut Up and Press Play''. In April 2011, Hartless released his debut educational DVD, ''Learn To Rock Drums With Jason Hartless And Friends'', partnered with Drumfun and distributed through

Hal Leonard HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fi ...

. In the summer of 2012, Hartless studied at

in Boston, MA and received a full tuition scholarship for the Berklee summer program. During his time studying there, Hartless studied with percussion education legend

Kim Plainfield Kim Plainfield (March 24, 1954 – April 8, 2017) was an American jazz fusion drummer and author who has performed with Bill Connors and Pointer Sisters, among others. Biography Born in the San Francisco Bay area, Kim moved from there to New ...

In late 2012, Hartless joined Pistol Day Parade. With the band riding off of high popularity in the Michigan/Mid-West region, Goomba Music signed the band to a record deal. The band's debut release, ''BURN'' was released in the summer of 2013. The first single off of ''BURN'', "Not Today", charted at #34 on the Mainstream Rock Charts in October 2013. During the summer of 2014, Pistol Day Parade toured with fellow Detroit native,

on the Shut Up and Jam tour. "Rockstars Girlfriend", the last single off of the band's release, charted at #19 on Mainstream Rock charts in Fall 2014. In Spring 2016, Hartless replaced

Dokken Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as "Alone Again (Dokken song), Alone Again", " ...

drummer, Mick Brown on drums for Ted Nugent. From 2016 to 2022, Hartless served as a managing partner of Detroit based record label, Prudential Music Group. In September of 2022, Hartless announced that he was reforming his family's defunct label, Sound City Records. With 2020 and 2021 Ted Nugent tours canceled due to Covid, Hartless toured with

from August 2020 until June 2021. Hartless then filled in for drummer Hayley Cramer with

during their summer 2021 tour.https://blabbermouth.net/news/pop-evil-drummer-hayley-cramer-to-miss-first-part-of-u-s-tour-jason-hartless-to-fill-in In Fall of 2022, Hartless toured with

from

Mr. Big (American band) Mr. Big is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1988. The band was originally composed of Eric Martin (lead vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Pat Torpey (drums). Though primarily a hard rock band, they are als ...

during

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group. He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenk ...

50th anniversary US tour.

Selected Discography

As Drummer

* Jason Hartless Jr. - First Division (2004) * Richie Scarlet – Revelation Supreme (2005) * Gun Shy – Gun Shy (2007) * Brian Schram – Disturbing The Peace (2007) * Brian Schram – Rockin' Fish Tales (2008) * SHRAM – Molly EP (2009) * SHRAM – Shut Up And Press Play (2009) * Brian Schram – Rockin' Fish Tales III (2012) * Pistol Day Parade – Burn (2013) * Jayme Orr – Healed (2016) * Joe Jermano – The People Inside (2016) * If Walls Could Talk – What Would They Say? (2016) ''(Drums on "Beautiful You")'' * Steve Salter – Gleaming (2016) * Gary Garris – Stuck On You (2016) * Antonio Cipriano – Never Gonna Be the Same (2016) * Sami Mei – Puppets (2016) * By The Way Girls – Introducing By the Way (2016) * Joe Jermano – Dreaming In Color (2017) * Rustic Union – Fearless (2017) * Nicholas Wolf – Invincible (2017) * Sami Mei – Brighter Than The Stars (2017) * Brittan Church – Breathe into Me (2018) * Pompeii – The Secret Sessions (2018) ''(Drums on "Growing Old with Rock & Roll (2017 Re-Record)")'' * Max Ater – Small Town EP (2018) *

– The Music Made Me Do It (2018) *

– Toledo Sessions (2019) ''(Additional Percussion)'' * SHRAM – Winnipeg Sessions 2007 EP (2020) *

Tantric (band) Tantric is an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky. The group was founded in 1998 by Todd Whitener, Jesse Vest and Matt Taul after they left Days of the New, and joined forces with vocalist Hugo Ferreira. Ferreira is the only remaining ...

– Breakdown (Re-Record) (2021) * Pistol Day Parade – Live & Out (2021) *

– The Sum of All Things (2021) *

–

Yum Yum Bedlam ''Yum Yum Bedlam'' is the sixteenth studio album by American hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse, and their fifth Joker Card in the Second Deck of the Dark Carnival Saga. It was released on October 31, 2021, on Psychopathic Records. Background On ...

(2021) ''(Drums on "Heart & Soul")'' *

Mike Skill The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit. The band is often put under the banner of new wave and power pop. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Motown R&B, ...

– In The Midnight Hour (2022) *

– Detroit Muscle (2022) *

Sponge (band) Sponge is an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1992 by vocalist Vinnie Dombroski, guitarist Mike Cross, bassist Tim Cross, drummer Jimmy Paluzzi, and guitarist Joey Mazzola. Dombroski and the Cross brothers were previously in the ...

– Wax Ecstatic ReDux (2022) * Tano Jones revelry – Spinning North (2022) Videography * Learn To Rock Drums With Jason Hartless & Friends (2012) *

– Live at Freedom Hill (2018) *

's Spirit of The Wild TV (Various Episodes)

As Producer

* Pompeii – The Secret Sessions (2018) ''(Executive Producer)'' *

The Sweet The Sweet (often shortened to just Sweet), are a British glam rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer M ...

– Level Headed Tour Rehearsals 1977 (2018) ''(Executive Producer)'' * Seduce – Seduce (2018) ''(Reissue Executive Producer)'' *

The Rationals The Rationals were an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan. History The Rationals formed in 1964 and first recorded a single for a local label, A2 Records, in 1965. After scoring a local hit with the tune "Gave My Love",Richie Unterber ...

– The Rationals (Deluxe Edition) (2018) ''(Reissue Executive Producer)'' * Max Ater – Small Town EP (2018) ''(Drums & Executive Producer)'' *

– Toledo Sessions (2019) ''(Executive Producer & Mixing)'' * Los Lobotomys – Los Lobotomys (2019) ''(Vinyl Reissue Executive Producer)'' * Seduce – Too Much Ain't Enough (2020) ''(Reissue Executive Producer & Mastering Engineer)'' *

– Isolation Boulevard (2020) ''(Vinyl Executive Producer)'' *

– Platinum Rare VOL 1 (2021) ''(Executive Producer)'' * Toby Redd – In The Light (2021) ''(Reissue Executive Producer)'' *

– Detroit Muscle (2022) ''(Associate Producer)'' *

– Platinum Rare VOL 2 (2022) ''(Executive Producer)'' *

– Give Us A Wink (Alt Mixes & Demos) (2022) ''(Producer)'' *

– Spirit of The Wild (2022) ''(Reissue Executive Producer)'' *

– Fan The Flame (2022) ''(Mixing Engineer)''

Equipment

Pearl Drums , simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments. History Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo- o ...

: President Series Deluxe * 24"x14" Bassdrum * 13"x9" Tom * 16"x16" Floortom * 18"x18" Floortom * 14"x5" 1978 COB Snare

Sabian Cymbals Sabian is a Canadian and Armenian cymbal manufacturing company established in 1981 in Meductic, New Brunswick, where it is still headquartered. Sabian is considered one of the ''big four'' manufacturers of cymbals, along with Zildjian, Meinl an ...

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware. History Drummer and founder R ...

Drumheads Jason Hartless Signature

Vater Vater () means " father" in German. It is also a surname. It may refer to: * Abraham Vater, a German anatomist ** Ampulla of Vater, an anatomic area named after Abraham Vater * VACTERL association, sometimes called VATER syndrome, a group of cong ...

Drumsticks 5A model

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartless, Jason American rock drummers 1994 births Living people People from Fraser, Michigan Ted Nugent Band members 21st-century American drummers