Eric Carr - Influences and Style

Influences and Style

Carr was a powerful hard-hitting drummer and one of the first drummers to adopt the classic 1980s snare drum sound : a highly reverberated and low-tuned sound. In his 1980 resume sent to Kiss, Carr stated that his drumming style ranged from heavy metal and hard rock to pop and new wave claiming that "I can adapt to most situations easily." Furthermore he listed drummers John Bonham, Keith Moon, and Lenny White as influences.

In addition, Carr was an avid fan of The Beatles and the band's drummer Ringo Starr. In an interview he recalled, "I was caught up in the whole Beatlemania thing. I guess I was attracted to the drums because of the feeling of the rhythm and how it moved you, just sitting in your seat. I loved the way Ringo moved. I identified with him at the time ..." Photographs of Eric during his high school years show him wearing his hair like Starr did (See Early Years above).

Carr's interest in double bass drumming came from his admiration of Ginger Baker and John Bonham, once telling 16 Magazine, "I just loved the way John Bonham played drums".{16 Magazine, March, 1983 "Rock Round-Up"} Eric also had a love of all types of music; songwriter Adam Mitchell once described Carr as knowing a lot about folk, R&B and other non-rock styles.{Tale of the Fox DVD interview} In a 1983 interview, Carr told USA Channel interviewer Al Bandero that he listened to "a lot" of Neil Young, and liked many different types of music. Simmons has stated that Carr's harder drumming style pushed Kiss into becoming a heavier band than it had been when jazz-inspired Criss was the band's drummer.