AS FEATURED IN OZ DRUMMER '07 ' The Nando Pettinato Story' As a pupil at Willoughby Public School in the late 70’s Nando Pettinato was one of those kids in the class tapping away at his desk much to the annoyance of his teacher and class mates. It was only during a class room sing-a-long to “Rockin Robin” that his 6th grade teacher Mrs Doyle actually asked him to tap along. Both teacher and class were shocked to hear the solid beat coming from the back of the class room with the timing of a metronome. Little did they know that Nando had spent countless hours copying the drum parts by Ringo Starr and by the age of 10 could play along to every Beatle song. “Music, especially pop has been a major passion of mine and I naturally gravitated towards the drums because I spent so much time concentrating on the parts I heard. Luckily I grew up in the golden period of 70’s pop.” Once he got his first drum kit at the age of 12 there was no stopping his dedication and passion for playing. Nando played his first professional gigs at the age of 18 and has since played over 750 shows all around Australia with artists ranging from Shannon Noll, The Beatnix, The Australian Blues Bros Show, Abbamania, The Australian Prince Show, Bop Til U Drop, The Soul Commitments, and many more. “I was lucky to travel to Brunei to perform for their royal family in 2006 and had to perform a show without any rehearsal. I really thrive on that challenge.” It was under the eye of the renowned American drummer Chad Wackerman (Frank Zappa, Allan Holdsworth) that the aspiring drummer made leaps and bounds in progress. He studied with the virtuoso drummer for 4 years. “Chad opened my eyes to the discipline required to master certain techniques and I often tell my own students that it is the equivalent of having one to one sessions with Roger Federer if you wanted to be a tennis pro. That period was very intensive and I was playing about 4-5 hours a day.” Nando also cites English drummer Gary Husband as a major influence and has formed a friendship with his formidable English colleague. “I met up with Gary in London in 2002 and he invited me to watch him perform with Level 42 at the Royal Albert Hall and then also invited me to the after show function backstage where I met the rest of the band”. It was also on the same trip that Nando spent time at the legendary Abbey Road studios in London and Peter Gabriel’s famed Real World recording studios in Bath. He also recently met another idol, drummer Andy Newmark (John Lennon, Roxy Music, George Harrison) and was fortunate to hear stories by one of the all time great session drummers. Andy has played on albums that have sold in the tens of millions. These experiences have been priceless. It is all a long way from a young boy practicing in his room in Willoughby. These days Nando runs a successful teaching practice and at last count has taught over 12,000 individual lessons since 1990. He has also taught at workshops and band camps for numerous schools and colleges on the lower North Shore as well as a being a Master Teacher at a local music store for ten years. Recently Nando has opened his new teaching studio in Willoughby. For those interested in learning from a well travelled, experienced drummer Nando can be contacted on 0412 076 213.
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