SKF NOTE: In January 1988 I did a phone interview with 21-year old Jason Bonham. Parts of this interview were published as a profile in a magazine whose name I’ve forgotten. Jason was in England. I was living in Maryland. 

Jason’s band, “Bonham,” recorded their debut album, The Disregard of Timekeeping, in 1988, released it in 1989. I heard the album, liked it and Jason’s drumming very much, but can’t remember if I heard the album at the time of this interview. It seems to me I must have. Perhaps I had an advance copy of the album.

I rediscovered the typed transcript to this interview today, read it again, and there are several Jason stories I think should be on the public record – as they were meant to be. This is one of them.

Jason Bonham: The last time I remember my father showing me anything was when I was 12- or 13-years old; where there was a great drum fill on…”Turn It On Again” by Genesis. There was a time change in there, and I couldn’t get this time change.

[My father] came and he said, “Very easy. What you just do is, you clip the hi-hat, and it changes. And this is what the snare drum sounds like.”

Okay.

We were both at these two kits playing to it. And he use to love playing to that song. It was one of his favorites to play to. And he respected Phil Collins’ drumming very much.

But it was one of those songs where it really got me going, because I couldn’t figure out the little hitch in the timing. That little hi-hat part. He said, “Come on. Play it together, then.” We were there for hours and hours and hours, and we had great fun.

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