Shawn Drover (born May 5, 1966) is a Canadian drummer, best known for his work with the American heavy metal band
Megadeth.
He began playing the drums at the age of 13. In 1993 he founded the
power metal
Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...
band
Eidolon
In ancient Greek literature, an eidolon (; grc, εἴδωλον 'image, idol, double, apparition, phantom, ghost'; plural: eidola or eidolons) is a spirit-image of a living or dead person; a shade or phantom look-alike of the human form.
Liter ...
with his brother
Glen. He uses
Sabian cymbals and
Yamaha drums
Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation founded in 1967. The company manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits as well as percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware.
Production
Most of Yamaha's drums a ...
,
Pro-mark
Promark is a Houston, Texas-based American drum stick company. Since 2011, it is part of strings company D'Addario. Promark is a widely known stick company generally played in drum set, drum and bugle corps and concert bands.
History
Promark w ...
drum sticks, Toca Percussion,
Evans Drumheads
D'Addario is a family-owned and operated American multinational company that specializes in musical instrument accessories headquartered in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.
D’Addario is the world’s largest musical instrument accesso ...
and Extreme Isolation headphones.
After ten years in Megadeth, Drover along with guitarist
Chris Broderick
Christopher Alan Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the heavy metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four of Jag Panzer' ...
announced their departures from the band in November 2014. The pair formed the extreme metal supergroup
Act of Defiance
Act of Defiance is an American heavy metal supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2014 by guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover of Megadeth after they both resigned from the band on the same day, vocalist Henry Der ...
together in late 2014.
Notes
While in rehearsal for "Blackmail the Universe Tour" in October 2004, six days before the first show, Shawn replaced newly returned drummer
Nick Menza
Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician best known as the drummer for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: ''Rust in Peace'' (1990), ''Countdown to Extin ...
in
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
band
Megadeth, who was unable to prepare for the physical demands of a full US tour.
Shawn also has been playing guitar since 1980, which he learned from watching his brother, Glen Drover play. Shawn wrote most of the music for all 6 Eidolon records as well as all of the lyrics for all Eidolon records except "The Parallel Otherworld". He was playing guitar during Megadeth's "Blackmail The Universe Tour" in Kawasaki, Japan (April 3, 2005). Shawn and his brother
Glen Drover
Glen Drover (born May 25, 1969) is a Canadian heavy metal guitarist from Ottawa, Ontario. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of Megadeth and King Diamond, along with his brother Shawn Drover who also performed with Megadeth.
Histor ...
switched instruments playing "Paranoid" and the second half of "Peace Sells". Glen sat at the drums, and Shawn played the guitar, during
Gigantour
Gigantour was a sporadically organised traveling heavy metal music festival organized by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. The tour was founded in 2005 with dates across North America (see also Gigantour 2005), and the 2006 and 2007 line-ups also t ...
show in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
on September 3, 2005. Shawn co-wrote the Grammy Nominated song "
Head Crusher" from 2009's ''
Endgame
Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to:
Film
* ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film)
* ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film
* ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...
'', as well as "Built for War" from 2013's ''
Super Collider''.
While on the
Gigantour
Gigantour was a sporadically organised traveling heavy metal music festival organized by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. The tour was founded in 2005 with dates across North America (see also Gigantour 2005), and the 2006 and 2007 line-ups also t ...
in 2005, Shawn became the third Megadeth guitarist on stage during "Peace Sells" while
Mike Portnoy
Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure ...
previously of
Dream Theater played the drums. Shawn also did one solo of the song. The night after the statements were released that Shawn's brother Glen had quit Megadeth, Shawn and Glen recommended
Chris Broderick
Christopher Alan Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the heavy metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four of Jag Panzer' ...
as a possible replacement. Shawn then proceeded to show Dave a video of Chris playing both classical and electric guitar. Dave was immediately won over and soon managed to get in contact with Chris. Two weeks later, Broderick was officially declared the new guitarist for Megadeth.
As opposed to many drummers, who cross over their sticks to play the hi-hat with their right hand and snare with their left hand, Shawn instead keeps time with his left hand, keeps a ride cymbal on the left side of his set, and relegates his right hand for snare drum hits (similar to
Gene Hoglan
Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his pla ...
and
Simon Phillips). Although the role of each hand is reversed. This is known as "
Open handed drumming". Shawn Drover is himself left-handed.
As of 2015, Shawn Drover was Megadeth's longest-serving drummer, having been a member of the band for just over 10 years, and had the third-longest tenure in the band after only bass guitarist
David Ellefson
David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth.
Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadi ...
and guitarist and frontman Dave Mustaine. On November 25, 2014, Drover announced his departure from Megadeth, wanting to pursue his own musical interests. Following his departure from Megadeth, Drover teamed up with Chris Broderick, who left Megadeth the same day as him, to form
Act of Defiance
Act of Defiance is an American heavy metal supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2014 by guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover of Megadeth after they both resigned from the band on the same day, vocalist Henry Der ...
with vocalist Henry Derek and bassist
Matt Bachand
Matt Bachand (born April 29, 1977) is an American guitarist. He has strong death metal and thrash metal influences. He is rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the heavy metal band Shadows Fall, and the bassist for Act of Defiance.
He is k ...
.
Personal life
He currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia, has a wife, a daughter, a son, and grandson. On May 5, the same date as his birthday, 2010, his first grandson was born.
Shawn is a huge fan of the
NFL, and College Football. His favorite team is the
Pittsburgh Steelers. He is also a huge NHL fan citing favorite teams such as the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning,
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
, and the Calgary Flames. Shawn is an avid golfer as well, and participates in several charitable golf events each year.
Gear
Shawn Drover endorses
Yamaha Drums
Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation founded in 1967. The company manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits as well as percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware.
Production
Most of Yamaha's drums a ...
,
Sabian,
Evans Drumheads
D'Addario is a family-owned and operated American multinational company that specializes in musical instrument accessories headquartered in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.
D’Addario is the world’s largest musical instrument accesso ...
, Toca percussion, Extreme Isolation headphones and
Pro-Mark
Promark is a Houston, Texas-based American drum stick company. Since 2011, it is part of strings company D'Addario. Promark is a widely known stick company generally played in drum set, drum and bugle corps and concert bands.
History
Promark w ...
Drumsticks. The "MegaKit" used on tours from 2004 through 2010 was manufactured by Ferguson Fabrication out of
Tempe,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. The structure was revised and redesigned making the cage lighter and easier to assemble. Shawn formerly from October 2006 to February 2014 endorsed the
DDRUM
ddrum is an American based Swedish company, currently a division of Armadillo Enterprises, Inc. that manufactures acoustic drum sets, electronic drum sets, and Electronic Triggers.
Ddrum was originally a brand of Clavia, makers of the Nord ...
maple kit and electronic DDRUM triggers with Sabian cymbals.
[ ]
Bands
![Megadeth live in Bucharest, June 15th, 2005](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Megadeth_live_in_Bucharest%2C_June_15th%2C_2005.jpg)
*
Eidolon
In ancient Greek literature, an eidolon (; grc, εἴδωλον 'image, idol, double, apparition, phantom, ghost'; plural: eidola or eidolons) is a spirit-image of a living or dead person; a shade or phantom look-alike of the human form.
Liter ...
(1993–2007)
*
Megadeth (2004–2014)
*
Act of Defiance
Act of Defiance is an American heavy metal supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2014 by guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover of Megadeth after they both resigned from the band on the same day, vocalist Henry Der ...
(2014–present)
Discography
Eidolon
* ''Zero Hour'' (1996)
* ''Seven Spirits'' (1997)
* ''Nightmare World'' (2000)
* ''Hallowed Apparition'' (2001)
* ''Coma Nation'' (2002)
* ''Apostles of Defiance'' (2003)
* ''The Parallel Otherworld'' (2006)
Megadeth
* ''
Arsenal of Megadeth
''Arsenal of Megadeth'' is a DVD by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on March 21, 2006 via Capitol. Presented as an anthology of the band's first 20 years, the two-disc DVD set contains music videos, live performances, interviews, h ...
'' (2006)
* ''
That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires'' (2007)
* ''
United Abominations
''United Abominations'' is the eleventh studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. Released on May 15, 2007, ''United Abominations'' is the first Megadeth release distributed through Roadrunner Records and, with the exception of the ban ...
'' (2007)
* ''
Endgame
Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to:
Film
* ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film)
* ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film
* ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...
'' (2009)
* ''
Rust in Peace Live'' (2010)
* ''
The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria'' (2010)
* ''
Thirteen
Thirteen or 13 may refer to:
* 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14
* One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013
Music
* 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band
Albums
* ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013
* ...
'' (2011)
* ''
Super Collider'' (2013)
* ''
Countdown to Extinction: Live '' (2013)
Act of Defiance
* ''
Birth and the Burial'' (2015)
* ''
Old Scars, New Wounds'' (2017)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drover, Shawn
1966 births
Living people
Canadian heavy metal drummers
Canadian male drummers
Anglophone Quebec people
Musicians from Montreal
Megadeth members
20th-century Canadian drummers