Nashville Drummers Podcast

Hosted ByDan Ainspan, Nathan Sletner

Meet the up-and-coming players within Nashville’s diverse drumming community, plus interviews with special guests from music cities near and far. Hear their stories, be inspired, and share some laughs with us along the way.

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Aksel Coe: A Career in Home Recording, Gear Talk, Sample Packs, Avoiding Burnout, Springsteen Movie

June 1, 2026

Season 1

Episode 88

02:21:32194.61M Comments Off

Welcome multi‑platinum Nashville session drummer, Aksel Coe! Since moving to Nashville in 2018, Aksel has quickly made a name for himself as one of the city’s most sought-after session drummers, having recorded on many of today’s top country, pop, and indie tracks. Recent recording credits include Ella Langley (ACM Song of the Year ‘Choosin’ Texas’), Role Model, Holly Humberstone, Zach Bryan, Sierra Ferrell, Willow Avalon, K. Flay, Margo Price, Orville Peck, Sasha Alex Sloan, Cody Jinks, Sam Barber, Wyatt Flores, and Joshua Bassett, among many others. We dive right into Aksel’s diverse musical upbringing and his journey from the West Coast to Nashville. Aksel shares invaluable advice and perspective on the home recording process — from creating efficient workflows on and off the drums, when and when not to cheap out on gear, and how to create and effectively market your own sample or loop pack. We discuss avoiding burnout, Nashville’s shifting studio landscape, and of course, his acting debut in the 2025 biopic ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.’ We hope you enjoy!

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:45 Welcome, Aksel!
5:25 Breathwork For Drummers
10:54 Engineer vs Drummer Hat
14:07 Practice?
16:55 Early Life and First Kit
25:46 Buy Cheap Or Buy Twice
27:52 Too Many Snares?
28:44 Session Preset Workflow
29:46 Rezo Custom Drum Heads (Sponsor)
30:49 First Drum Kit
33:23 Mentors and Vintage Pearls
37:42 Drum Box (Sponsor)
38:23 Vintage vs Modern Recording
39:23 Recording Trends
40:33 Burnout and Identity
42:10 Tracking 537 Songs
49:15 Live Band vs Studio Players
55:32 Free Jazz Influence
57:35 Recording As Improv
1:07:53 Session Nightmares
1:20:42 Splice Packs Strategy
1:25:26 Sample Packs Explained
1:34:15 Record Yourself More
1:35:06 Flaws vs Tendencies
1:40:40 Overdubbing Cymbals
1:43:31 Session Communication Skills
1:47:44 Low Boy Beaters (Sponsor)
1:48:25 Home Studio vs Commercial Rooms
1:55:19 Scarlett vs Apollo Debate
2:02:47 Drum Supply (Sponsor)
2:03:44 Aksel’s Acting Debut (Springsteen Movie)
2:11:32 Music City Audiology (Sponsor)
2:12:48 Rapid Fire Questions
2:20:37 Outro