Keith "Lucky" Lehrer (born 18 April 1958) is a drummer from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California associated with several influential LA punk rock bands. He was originally trained in jazz then played in a number of LA punk rock bands, particularly the

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...

Redd Kross Redd Kross is an American Rock music, rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steven Shane McDonald, Steve McDonald while Steve was still i ...

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

, Darby Crash Band and LA's Wasted Youth, among others. Lehrer also appeared in three notable documentary films charting the punk rock music scene. He is the brother of LA's Wasted Youth guitarist Chett Lehrer. Lehrer also teaches drums, with notable students being future Bad Religion drummers

Pete Finestone Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

and Bobby Schayer. He was an early developer of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

drumming and he has been called the "Godfather of hardcore drumming". Lehrer was voted the best

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

drummer of all time by fanzine '' Flipside''.

Career

Early life

Lucky credits his early music start to his mother, who died of cancer. "I quit guitar after 6 weeks and she let me try the drums. Years later, she said that all the racket in the house from hours of practicing drums never bothered her," Lucky remembers. Early birthdays were spent at venues like Shelly's Manne Hole watching Louie Bellson, or at the Brass Ring, where young Lucky got so close to his idol, Buddy Rich, he quipped "get outta here kid, you bother me." They visited jazz clubs until his mother died, such as Jaxx, Vibrato and La Ve Lee, where Lucky met his mentor, Los Angeles session drummer Joey Heredia. He attributes his innovative, syncopated style to his interpretation of jazz and Latin drumming in a crash collision with speed metal. Early inspirations include jazz legends Buddy Rich and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

. Later influences involve

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

drummer

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...

, session and Flamenco drummer Joey Heredia, and teaching pioneer Murray Spivak.

Equipment

Drums

Lucky has a long-time relationship with

Drum Workshop Drum Workshop, Inc. (also known as DW Drums or DW) is a drum kit and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Current products by DW include drum sets, snare drums, and hardware. History Drum Workshop was founded in 1972 ...

(DW) which designed a custom "Speed Demon" kit in 6 ply maple shells that's finished in "Caution" yellow. The kit features a pair of 10" and 12" Piccolo Toms DW designed in conjunction with

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missi ...

that are positioned in lieu of a floor tom. The standard mounted "rack" tom tom is 10" in diameter (8" in depth). For touring, Lucky uses a 24" diameter bass drum (18" depth) but prefers a smaller drum for recording. For live shows, he uses a one-off prototype 13" diameter custom concrete snare drum by DW (6" in depth) that was a personal gift from DW Senior V.P. John Good. All hardware is heavy duty DW. Lucky uses a variety of DW drum heads made by

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 drum hardware, hardware, and various percussio ...

. On the batter side of his snare drum, a coated Remo Powerstroke 3; DW Clear Pinstripes on the batter sides of toms, and coated, white Ambassador-type drum heads for the resonant sides. He uses a Pinstripe on the bass drum. The front is a logo head by Remo with a special hole pattern developed by John Good of DW.

Sticks

The Lucky Lehrer signature Speed Stick by Ahead that is distributed by Big Bang Percussion is designed to be lighter to support faster playing. It is made from a composite material so that the stick lasts longer and performers can play harder.

Cymbals

In 2013 Lucky disbanded a long association with Zildjian and joined the roster of sponsored Sabian artists. He added more cymbals both to his live and studio drum kits, currently playing Sabian 16" AAX X-Plosion hi-hats remotely mounted to on a DW x-stacker. He also includes a 10" Sabian O-zone on a kit featuring a 20" AA Metal X-ride and two 16" Sabian crash cymbals and 14" AAX Fusion Hi-hats.

Political views

Lehrer is a supporter of marijuana legalization and decriminalization. He states that the current US system, with different states having different laws is arbitrary, because a person found with marijuana in one state faces no penalties, but goes to jail for the same amount in a different state. He states that marijuana is less dangerous than the combination of alcohol and pills that killed Led Zeppelin's

and

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English musician who was the drummer for the rock band the Who. Regarded as one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music, he was noted for his unique style of playing and ...

Film appearances

* ''

The Decline of Western Civilization ''The Decline of Western Civilization'' is a 1981 American documentary filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrot ...

'' (1981) * ''The Slog Movie'' (1981) * '' American Hardcore'' (2006) * ''My Career As A Jerk (2012)''

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehrer, Lucky American punk rock drummers Bad Religion members Circle Jerks members Redd Kross members Living people 20th-century American Jews Jewish American musicians American people of Danish descent 1958 births American male drummers University High School (Los Angeles) alumni Jews in punk rock Drummers from Los Angeles 20th-century American drummers American cannabis activists 21st-century American Jews