John Chominsky, drummer for L.A.-based Final Gravity, took a little time out from preparations for the release of the band’s debut CD, H2O, (and a series of shows) to chat with Gearwire about his DW drum kit.

What DW kit do you have?

I actually bought my DW kit over 17 years ago! I still love it. It consists of 8”, 10”, 12” toms, 14”, 18” suspended floor toms, and two 22” kicks. They’re called the DW Classics series with maple shells and rims mounts.

Why do you like this kit and why do you like DW in general?

The great thing that Drum Workshop does better than any other drum manufacturer (in my humble opinion) is they balance the right amount of attack with tone. That goes for both the toms and the kicks. I usually put Remo Pinstripes on the toms to get a bit of extra bottom end. I don’t use any type of muffling. I use Aquarian Super-Kick II’s for bass drum heads. They have a bunch of clarity in the attack of the note while still keeping a tight, punchy low end. All the drums are really easy to tune and stay in tune for a long time, even with some heavy hitting and shuffling them from gig to gig. Because of the type of music that I play, it’s really important that you can hear all of the hits / parts clearly, yet I want it to sound musical. I don’t want to hear cardboard boxes with reverb. Whether at a live gig or at a recording session, I want to hear the tone of the drum shell.

Tell me how it compares with other kits you have played?

It’s funny but that’s one of the reasons that I’ve never changed kits. I haven’t played anything that sounds as good to me as DW. They are great in the studio and equally as great live. We played a show at the world famous Whisky a Go-Go in Hollywood and the FOH engineer told me at the end of our sound check that they were the best sounding drums he’s heard in there as far as he can remember. And they’ve got a bunch of great bands going through that place everyday!

What sort of drummer, what style, genre would your kit most appeal to?

I’ve set up my kit to be a bit unique. I’ve got the full-on Gibraltar drum rack going. Even my 14” and 18” floor toms are suspended on the rack. I set up my kit to compliment the hard rock / progressive rock style Final Gravity plays. Some of my biggest rock drumming influences from bands like Rush, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Queensryche, etc., have all played bigger sized, unique setups. Even when I’m writing a drum part for one of our songs, I incorporate my drums’ setup into creating the part. For example, the song "Shadow of the Wolf" has this triplet tom fill repeating up and down 4 toms. "The Darkness" is another song in which the multi-tom set is written into the drum part. It’s hard for me to play some of our songs if it’s not on my set.

Is there anything about the drums that you are less than thrilled with? Anything you would alter?

Sound-wise I’m covered. It’s probably an aesthetic thing that I might want to change. My kit is solid black with chrome hardware. Like I said, I’ve had them for such a long time. They’re still in great shape, but maybe a cool custom paint job might be in order. We as a band work hard on trying to create a unique sound. When we write our songs, we put a lot of effort into NOT sounding like everyone else. It might be cool if the look of my drums reflected that same mantra.

What cymbals and snare do you use with the kit?

That’s were I go a little nuts. I’ve got about a dozen different snares. I’ve got a 13” Pork Pie maple that I probably use the most, but I’ve also got ones from Pearl, Yamaha, Mapex, Tama, and a few others. Oddly none by, DW but I’ve got to get one! I’m the same with cymbals. I’ve got a few by Zildjian, Paiste, Sabian, and Wuhan. I like variety; can you tell? I use a variety of different sized crashes, splashes, and chinas. I mainly use 13” main hi-hats and often use 14” remote hats paired with a 22” Zildjian projection ride. I also try to rotate in some percussion like a Factory Meal Cross Crasher, or a tambourine, or cowbell, or even some electronic triggers. That’s one of the funnest things about being a drummer: introducing new sound-flavors.

Final Gravity has several upcoming gigs in the L.A. area-notably the Oct 10th L.A. Beerfest gig at The Music Box (Fonda Theater) in Hollywood.