Scott K. Fish Blog (Former writer for Modern Drummer): Part 1 Of His Discussion With Neil Peart “Neil Peart on Music and Writing”

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This is the first weekly post we will be featuring from Scott K. Fish in a series of posts that will continue weekly. Please make sure to read his bio below to learn more about his contributions to the drumming community that started in 1976.  You can follow his blog at www.ScottKFish.com .

Wow, what a fantastic way to start these posts, this first one is his interview with the legendary Neil Peart.  There are 2 parts to this interview, we will post the second part once it is posted.

This interview was used for the April 1984 issue of Modern Drummer Magazine.  The article can be read HERE.  You can purchase the “Modern Drummer Legends Vol. 1 – Neil Peart which includes all of Neil’s interviews with Modern Drummer: HERE

Scott writes in his March 10th, 2023 post titled “Neil Peart on Music and Writing:

This 30-plus minute conversation with Neil Peart is one of my favorites. It is a conversation with two guys who love music, drumming, and writing. Neil talks about his goal to transition to professional writer from drummer/lyricist, once he experiences “diminishing returns” on improving as a drummer.

I’m afraid I don’t remember where this interview took place. Yes, it is an interview for Modern Drummer magazine, but I don’t know in which issue this interview appeared. I’m relying on someone listening to this to inform me.

Finally, Neil sent me the photo used here of he and his daughter. Neil is so happy in this pic. I attributed Neil’s happiness to his triumph in reaching his goal of becoming a pro writer, while focusing less on his former role as “Rush’s drummer/lyricist.” Because Neil published this photo elsewhere, I am comfortable using it here.

NOTE: There are some glitches in this sound file. The original sources were cheap cassette tapes. Digitizing these tapes exposed low-volume and loss of some data. So there are perhaps eight spots where the sound is missing. I shortened the “dead air” spots, but left them in place so listeners will know what they are.

I think Neil’s writing fans will especially enjoy hearing him here. This is the Neil I remember. A bright, curious guy with no airs about him, enjoying our conversation.

Blog post: HERE

ABOUT SCOTT:

Scott K. Fish was part of the original team that created Modern Drummer, he started as a freelance writer in 1976 and was the Managing Editor of Modern Drummer magazine from 1980-1983. By the time he left in October 1983, he had written almost half of Modern Drummer‘s feature articles. His interviews and articles were enjoyed by readers and artists alike, his questions were not run of the mill, as Bill Bruford put it, your questions are about “life beyond the cymbals.”

Scott K Fish is a public relation, writing, marketing, and communications expert across all media, with a 25-plus year track record in high profile positions.

Scott is an extremely active blogger and he often posts the original interviews with the artists that he used as reference for his article.  We encourage you to follow Scott’s blog at www.ScottkFish.com, we will continue to post one of his posts weekly.