Christian Coma on Gadd, Krupa, Bellson, Jordison and more!

Black Veil Brides drummer Christian Coma has won an army of fans in the last year or so thanks to his insane mix of outrageous flash, balls-out stick shredding and beautiful technique.

Which drummers inspired this crazy concoction? We got on the phone to CC to find out for ourselves.

Past Masters

"I started out as a jazz drummer. I had a really cool instructor that was a jazz drummer. When I first started playing guys like Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson. I actually met Louie Bellson when I was 12. That was a really big thing for me. I don't know how old he was, but he had people helping him up on the stage, he looked 80-something and then his playing blew me away. He was just tearing it up. After his solo he gave me his sticks. That was life changing for me as a drummer. He was a super nice dude. Gene Krupa as well. Steve Gadd, these guys blew me away. Those guys were phenomenal."

Metal Monsters

"In my early teens I went to a metal show and that was it for me. I became a metal head. Drummers like Joey Jordison, anyone can see from the way I play that Joey was an influence on me"

Technical Wizards

"Also virtuosos like Dennis Chambers and Thomas Lang. I don't even know what they're doing half the time, they are insane. I try to take a little bit from everything. I take inspiration from everything, all kinds of music."

Modern-day Heroes

"I checked out Messuggah recently. Tomas Haake, I don't know what's going on in his head. He has some crazy patterns going on. Brann Dailor from Mastodon is another one that I'm always really impressed by."