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Drummers on Drumming · Jul 1, 2026

NEW EPISODE - Big Fat Five: Carla Azar (Autolux, Jack White, PJ Harvey)

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Drummers on Drumming · Drummers on Drumming

What is up?

We’re back with a new installment of Big Fat Five.

This week, I’m joined by Carla Azar. Carla is the drummer, a vocalist, and a creative force behind Autolux…a band that exists in their own weather system. She has also worked with artists like PJ Harvey, Jack White, T Bone Burnett, Jim Keltner, and more. But as you’ll hear in this conversation, the résumé is only part of the story.

Carla’s playing has a rare kind of tension to it. It can feel mechanical and human at the same time. Heavy, strange, precise, loose, hypnotic, and deeply musical. She doesn’t play the drums; she responds with the drums.

In this episode, we get into the records and drummers that helped form her voice.

Listen to the full episode HERE

CARLA’S BIG FAT FIVE:

Artist - James Brown
Album - Star Time
Release Year - 1991
Key Track(s) - “Funky Drummer,” “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud”
Drummer - Clyde Stubblefield, Jabo Starks
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Artist - Can
Album - Tago Mago
Release Year - 1972
Key Track(s) - “Mushroom,” “Halleluhwah”
Drummer - Jaki Liebezeit
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Artist - The Beatles
Album - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Release Year - 1967
Key Track(s) - “A Day in the Life”
Drummer - Ringo Starr
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Artist - Jimi Hendrix
Album - Are You Experienced
Release Year - 1967
Key Track(s) - “Manic Depression,” “Fire,” “Are You Experienced?,” “The Wind Cries Mary”
Drummer - Mitch Mitchell
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Artist - Aphex Twin
Album - Come to Daddy
Release Year - 1997
Key Track(s) - “Bucephalus Bouncing Ball,” “Come to Daddy - Mummy Mix”
Drummer - Richard D. James (Aphex Twin)
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HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Charlie Drayton

- The first person Carla met and saw play in person and thought, “I want to play exactly like him.” He turned her onto the Star Time box set and the soul music that helped shape her playing.
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Arist - J Dilla
Album - Donuts
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Artist - Timbaland
Key Track(s) - Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” “Nigga What, Nigga Who”

Listen to the full episode HERE

P.S.

How would you describe your own playing in three words?

Big Fat Five is a recurring series on the podcast Drummers on Drumming, powered by Big Fat Snare Drum

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- Jared Falk

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