Say Yes and Pivot: Victor Indrizzo on a Session Drummer Career (Episode 95)

Work begets work.

Victor Indrizzo is a session drummer, songwriter and producer who has toured and recorded with an incredibly wide range of artists: Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age, Beck, Lizzo, Willie Nelson, Depeche Mode, Gwen Stefani, Colbie Caillat, Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow. He has also played on soundtracks including Superbad, Spider-Man and The Matrix Reloaded.

Nomad met Victor on a studio date and became a fan instantly. In Episode 95 of The Career Musician, Victor opens up about recovery, saying yes, versatility, and how a session drummer stays relevant when pop records want programmed sounds. Honest and generous, this one is worth your full attention.

Music was the escape

Victor's mom got him a drum when he was a year old. His childhood was hard, with abuse, alcoholism and addiction around him, and music became a whole other world he could live in. It is still that for him. He calls music his drug.

He also talked about a period when he was working so much, at the end of a bad divorce, that he stopped listening to music on his own time. When he got his own place, he rediscovered it, and how music can express emotions he could not put into words.

Getting clean gave him the music back

Victor was open about his past. In 90s LA, drugs were everywhere. He never set out to be "a drug guy," but after a divorce and not knowing how to cope, he became one. He was a high-functioning addict, often called to replace players who did not show up, while he was using too and miserable inside. He got clean at 30, and it changed his life.

The most beautiful part, he says, is that nothing stands between him and the music anymore, just like when he was a kid. He can give more of himself, and he believes it comes through in his playing. For Victor, the highest high is being fully in the moment, reacting and feeling. Nomad pointed out that this is why we practice so much: so we are free when it counts.

Say yes, and never stop moving

Young drummers ask Victor how to get where he is. His honest answer: there is no one route. What he did was play with everybody he could, listen to every kind of music he could, and say yes.

"Nine times out of ten, I'm gonna say yes, because you don't know what that door unlocks."

Victor Indrizzo, 11:42

Even the sessions he never wanted to do again introduced him to an engineer, a producer or a guitar player who hired him next. Looking back, the credits look like a straight line. At the time, it felt painfully slow. That is Work begets work.

"One of the most important things to being a musician, if you really want to do this for your living, is the ability to pivot."

Victor Indrizzo, 12:43

When one door closes, it is not the end. And when there is nothing to do, work on something that will get you to the next level. Nomad agreed: even if the phone is not ringing, get busy. Energy begets energy.

Be the player with all the gears

Early on, Victor played punk and rock, which was not even what he listened to, because those were the people around him. He never took lessons or went to school. He learned by listening and watching, and he still feels like he is learning. He borrowed a thought from a Ray Charles book: there is beauty in all music, and sometimes you have to look a little harder to find it. On a session he is not into, he asks what the intention is and how to best express it.

He did not want to be the soft player who never gets the rock call, or the rock player who can't play quiet. Getting known for more than one thing took time. Playing with Beck around the turn of the 2000s helped, because the music was so broad that people saw what else he could do. On a session, he says, you read the room in the first couple of minutes: rock guy today, or sensitive guy today. That is Savvy from the ETHOS code, and Nomad called it the reason Victor's resume spans Daniel Lanois, Lizzo and Willie Nelson.

Let the music do the talking

Victor admitted he was never good at networking, social media or tooting his own horn. Calling someone to ask for work never felt comfortable. Luckily, the music did the talking. Someone heard a record and called.

"I'm not in competition with anybody... We all have our own voice and our own way of expressing ourselves."

Victor Indrizzo, 21:32

His advice to discouraged players scrolling Instagram: if you work at what you do and keep playing, you get found. Nomad, who also says he was never the self-promoter, said that is part of why he started this podcast. Music is not a competition.

Find your lane in a programmed world

Pop production has changed. Where a real drummer used to arrive in the chorus, many records now want the drums to sound programmed all the way through. Victor did not get bitter. He found his lane. On Lizzo's "Juice," he describes building the part in layers: kick and snare on one track, toms as an overdub, plus timbales and cowbells, each separate so the sound is controllable and feels programmed. He uses tricks like a goatskin head to get an 808-style kick, or a few magazine pages on the snare, an idea he found as a poor kid with the worst gear imaginable.

During the pandemic, he lost his studio and engineer, so he set up at home, called engineer friends for help, and kept learning. He even traded grooves with friends to build a whole record and sharpen his mixing chops. That is Diversify or Die, plus a lifelong habit of asking engineers and guitarists what they are doing and why.

Comfortable in his skin

At 53, Victor says he finally feels comfortable in his skin. He knows his place. If the phone rings, great. If it stops, he will keep playing, because he loves it. He still feels lucky walking into historic studios, and every time someone wants him to play is a pinch-me moment.

His parting wisdom came from a friend: if you can picture yourself doing something else, do it. If you can't, then do music, and be ready to sacrifice and ride the roller coaster. Don't let anyone, including yourself, tell you that you are too old or too inexperienced. That is Humility and Energy from the ETHOS code, side by side.

The takeaway

Say yes. Pivot when a door closes. Build every gear you can, find beauty in the music in front of you, and let your playing do the talking. And take care of yourself so nothing stands between you and the music. If you want to put yourself in front of more of those open doors, start with the free Get the Gig Guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.