A Bit of Press.
". one of the best drummers this writer has ever seen" (Village Voice)
". an arena jazz octo-beast" (Village Voice)
"Fleming shines brightest in this stellar group; he is equally adept at Jaki Liebezeit's fluidly groovy metronomic beats and John Bonham's Leviathan-heavy thumping. He's also one of the few sticksmen who could play the songs on Miles Davis' psych-fusion classic On The Corner." (Alternative Press Magazine)
". a polyrhythmic fury" (Chicago Sun-Times)
"Blake is the father of most of the Mars Volta songs. He's the one that came up with a lot of beats for us. Even on Frances the Mute, "L'Via L'Viaquez" and certain parts [of the songs on the album] are Blake Fleming beats [that were taught to] Jon Theodore. Sometimes [we'd have] to not let Jon know that they were Blake's beats, because he'd have a bit of a problem with that, since Blake was our first drummer and tracks like "Cicatriz ESP" and "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" were Blake Fleming beats." --Mars Volta singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala (Verbicide Magazine)
"After the first track, I knew I'd heard the most rock-solid drummer since original Jesus Lizard beatbox Mac McNeilly." (Ink 19 Magazine)
A Bit of a Bio.
Blake Fleming started drumming at age 8, and spent several years in fife and drumming corps, bagpipe bands, jazz bands, orchestras, etc. While in the Alton Colonial Fife and Drum Corps, Blake studied with the East Coast Rudimental Snare Drum Champion from West Point, Jerry Whitaker. His first band was Dazzling Killmen, which he co-founded at age 15. The Killmen toured the US extensively, recording a handful of singles, two full-length studio albums, and one live album (Skin Graft/Touch and Go Records). They worked closely with Jeff Tweedy (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo) and Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies, PJ Harvey) and shared the stage with Fugazi, The Jesus Lizard, Neurosis, Helmet, Uncle Tupelo, Sleep, Shellac, Agent Orange, The Bad Livers and Jim O'Rourke.
Dazzling Killmen’s sophomore studio album, Face of Collapse, was named Heaviest Album of the 90s Decade by Alternative Press Magazine, the criteria for which included the dexterity of the rhythm section.
In 1996, he toured the US with the Japanese progressive punk band Zeni Geva and shared late night greek food with Jello Biafra and cheese sandwiches with Eddie Vedder. Afterward, he moved from St. Louis to New York City and formed the influential instrumental quartet Laddio Bolocko. Laddio Bolocko independently recorded and produced three studio albums. Laddio toured the US and Europe numerous times and gave Fleming the reputation of being a master drummer both in the US and Europe.
After Laddio, he moved to Los Angeles, co-founded The Mars Volta in 2001 and recorded their debut single for Grand Royal (The Beastie Boys’ Record Label). He also drummed on Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's solo album 'A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1'. He then returned to New York City to form Electric Turn To Me and toured the US and Europe extensively.
He rejoined The Mars Volta after drummer Jon Theodore's departure in June of 2006. Blake appeared with the Mars Volta on the Henry Rollins Show on the Independent Film Channel. After playing a sold-out arena tour opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers throughout the US and Canada, Fleming returned to New York City, devoting his time to teaching and session work with artists, including Evan Dando (Lemonheads), Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), The Ropes (Fleming drummed on their 2008 L.P. "What They Do For Fun" which was 15 in the ABC News top 50 Albums of 2008), Kim Taylor (NPR Artist of the Month), The Rollo Treadway, Father Divine, and Israel Gripka.
Blake has also composed soundtracks and performed for video artist Janet Biggs. Their collaborations have been featured at the Art Basel Festival in Miami (where he performed solo drumset poolside with Olympic synchronized swimmers); The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; Solomon Projects in Atlanta, GA; Smack Mellon in Brooklyn, NY; The Johnson Museum at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; The Mint Museum of Art Permanent Collection, Charlotte, NC; International Video Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain; The European Media Art Festival, Osnabrueck, Germany; North Sea Film Festival for Underwater Movies, the Hague, Netherlands; and the Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY.
Blake is proud to be an endorser for Truth Custom Drums, Vic Firth Drumsticks and Mallets, and Meinl Cymbals.
Blake has taught over 150 students in the past twenty years, ranging in age from 5 years old to fifty.
Currently he keeps a tight schedule of studio work and live performances in addition to focusing on his new band FUTURE BY NOW.
Artists interested in working with Blake are encouraged to contact him via MySpace.
