Guess what- Josh here again. Greetings to all our fans who read this…or just the other members of my band who check in occasionally. Regardless- greetings.
Or drummer is a fine man named A.J. Freymuth. I to this day don’t know what A.J. stands for (no one does, by the way), and honesty would rather never find out. If it stands for anything less than “Ass Jackson,” I will be severely let down. I would much rather avoid that heartache.
A.J. has the awesome and terrible task of keeping our beat steady and interesting, which for any band is a lot to handle. I can say that he does an unbelievably fine job at this.
A.J.’s drums at Llywelyn’s
The drums that he choose for this task is a Yamaha Stage Custom, with two-ply maple and four-ply mahogany. Remo coated pinstripe heads have the quick attack he likes; a fast decay with little overtones.
Drum setup at Hard Rock Cafe, in Saint Louis
A.J.’s cymbals are Sabian AAX and HHX hand-hammered. They put out the perfect sound he looks for live and in-studio. Having something that sounds great live doesn’t necessarily mean it translates over to recording. Most performing musicians look for that perfect balance, most often through trial and error.
Josh almost died, perched atop A.J.’s drum throne to get this shot
Pearl Eliminator double-bass pedals allow for fancy footwork, but require little effort. When you put this all together, it gives that aggressive rock-and-roll sound Grand Beauty is know for, but with warm tones and pitch-perfect projection.
A.J. peeks from his beloved drums
On a personal note, since I’m writing this, I can say that A.J. is my favorite drummer, by far, that I have ever played with. Everyone in this band is quite good at what they do, but each also adds a little something that keeps people interested. A.J. can bash with the best, but also has the attention to dynamics and detailed nuances that are lost on so many other drummers.
GRAND BEAUTY 