Birth name Ron (Rony) Thaler Role Musical Artist Name Ron Thaler | Years active 1988–present Also known as Blondie Boy | |
 | ||
Occupation(s) Record producer, drummer & percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, music arranger, educator Instruments Drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals Labels JVC, Virgin, EMI, Atlantic, Warner Bros., Epic, Sony, Arista, J, Island/Def Jam, Capitol, EFA, OMD/Universal, Hotwire Genres Rock music, Pop music, Americana, Folk music, Rhythm and blues, Funk, Jazz, Instrumental, World music, Jazz fusion Similar People | ||
Percussion 101 with ron thaler
Ron Thaler is a record producer, recording artist, drummer, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and musical director. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Thaler released an instructional program for drummers called Phraseology And Individuality On The Drumset, and has appeared at international drum festivals and music colleges.
Contents
- Percussion 101 with ron thaler
- Introducing Elite Drum Clinician Ron Thaler EvansDaddario
- Early Years
- The Evolution of Blondie Boy
- Producing career
- Lipstick Jungle
- Solo Projects
- Clinics Masterclasses
- Film Television
- Equipment
- References
Best known by fans as the drummer on Alicia Keys' double Grammy-award-winning No One and on NBC TV’s Lipstick Jungle, and with three Producer-of-the-Year Grammy ballot nominations and eleven Artist Grammy ballot nominations, Thaler has been a member of a large number of bands and ensembles, and spent a significant amount of his career backing recording artists as a sideman as well as a session player in recording studios, while continuing a busy schedule as a record producer.
Introducing Elite Drum Clinician Ron Thaler… Evans/Daddario
Early Years
Thaler was 11 years old when he first picked up drumsticks, after playing piano for three years. He joined the high school jazz-band, and played his first professional shows at age 16 with jazz saxophonist Gordon Clements and with The Island Big Band. In his late teens, Thaler moved to Vancouver, Canada and toured with electronica band Moev in support of their release Yeah Whatever (Nettwerk/Atlantic Records) which peaked at number 8 on the Billboard and Rolling Stone music charts, also appearing on three other albums with the group, In and Out (Rebel Records/SPV), Alibis (Nettwerk/Atlantic Records), and the compilation Brave New Waves (CBC/RCA). Thaler worked as in-house drummer and percussionist for various emerging artists on Nettwerk Records, Arista, Sony/ATV, Warner Canada and Atlantic Records, recording at Mushroom Studios, Greenhouse, The Armoury, Little Mountain Sound, and Curryhouse Studio. Thaler recorded with Sarah McLachlan (Arista Records) on her follow-up to Touch , and performed with Ultramarine (Rough Trade/Sire), Mark Hasselbach (Smooth), and Ian McDougall (Concord).
The Evolution of Blondie Boy
In 1993, Thaler began recording at Envy Music House & Ludlow Productions on music jingles for the Cartoon Network, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and ESPN, and performed in Latin-jazz group Conosur along with Manolo Badrena and Al Di Meola, and with Paul Simon/soukous artist Dominic Kanza. In 1994 Thaler recorded the east coast sessions for Arista Records artist Jonathan Robbins album "You Got Me", with drummers Jeff Porcaro and John Robinson tracking drums on the west coast sessions. Ron recorded drumset, percussion, and drum stool on the title track.
As a touring drummer, studio drummer and multi-instrumentalist Thaler has appeared on 450+ recordings, having recorded and performed with Dweezil Zappa, DJ Logic, Bethany Joy Lenz, Taylor Dayne, Sophie B. Hawkins, Jonathan Robbins, Taj Mahal, Moby, Gwen Stefani, Simaku, John Legend, David Guetta, Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys, Ashlee Simpson, Mercedes Ferrer, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Judie Tzuke, Yoko Ono, Diana Krall, Mike Stern, Rufus Reid, and Hiram Bullock. In 2004, producer Arif Mardin exclaimed "...Blondie Boy..." upon Ron's arrival to a recording session (in reference to Eli Wallach calling Clint Eastwood's gun-for-hire character "...Blondie..." in the movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), and the professional name stuck.
Thaler performed with Willie Nelson, Los Lonely Boys, Hank Williams Jr. and 5th Of July at Alltel Stadium during the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2011, Thaler toured the USA with Anita Prime, Robbie Dupree, Joe Lynn Turner (Deep Purple) and members of Orleans as part of the 2011 All Star Rock Tour.
Thaler has appeared on CTV's Canada AM, City TV's Out There with Melissa DiMarco, NBC TV's The Ellen DeGeneres Show, TV1 and TV3 New Zealand, Lounge Radio Budapest, Muzic 'N Me Radio (Australia), England's Hot 102.7, CBC TV, MTV and MuchMusic, and has been featured in Modern Drummer Magazine, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Talking Drums, France's L'Est Republicain, New York Times, Pulse Magazine, Canadian Musician Magazine, Batteur Magazine, Australia's DrumScene, Drums Etc., Le Délit Magazine, Rip It Up, Experience Hendrix Magazine, Drum!, NewsBeat, and others. Thaler was also featured in the hardcover book "Sticks "N Skins" about drummers from around the globe.
Producing career
Thaler is a multi Grammy-Award nominated producer and arranger, and is a credited songwriter on Kelly Saint Patrick's In The Margins (2009 Grammy ballot for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal, Producer of the Year), Project Grand Slam's Play (2009 Grammy ballot for Best Pop Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist, Producer of The Year), Jason Yudoff's Tragic Hero (2008 Grammy ballot for Best New Artist, Album of The Year, Producer of The Year), and also appearing on Alicia Keys No One (2008 Double Grammy winner, #1 Billboard). Thaler credits his time working with producers Phil Ramone, Matt Knobel, Frank Fillipetti, Jerry Wexler, Bruce Fairbairn, and Arif Mardin for teaching him the art of music production, for helping him develop "sonic landscapes... (that are) equal parts analog confection and digital sweetening", and for what the New York Times calls "a virtuosity that touches great depth, eliciting that special emotion from listeners well beyond the mere consideration of technical mastery".
In 2010, Thaler produced and co-wrote Anita Prime's Destiny, Lewis Copeland Roots at Sony/Tree, Oh Hello's One Trick Pony, and Heavy Road's Everything Changed.
In 2011 Thaler produced and co-wrote Anita Prime's single Complicated reaching #3 on Billboard, The Royal Canadians Lonely Whale, a VIMA Album-of-the-Year nominee, Mahavishnu Redefined's Timeless, and Isunray's Balancing Act.
In 2012, Thaler produced and co-wrote Gareth Barker's Hello World, and Project Grand Slam's Spring Dance (Cakewalk Records).
In 2013, Thaler produced Traum Diggs Major Journalism and Martin Rybak's Live For The Day.
In 2014, Thaler produced Darren Hodson & Southern Companion's 1000 Days Of Rain, Eran Phillips' The Beatles Lullaby, and produced and co-wrote several songs on Robert Miller's Twenty.
In 2015, Thaler produced Secondhand Habit's "Chinese Whispers" (Blackstream/Sony), Mark Edwards "Hallelujah Chorus 2.0", Dorothy Melody's "Walk On Water", Nate Jolley's "Love Apocalypto", and contributed vocal production to Joey Clarkson's single "Loving You Is Breaking Me" (37 Records).
In 2016, Thaler produced The Run Dogs "The Run Dogs" (RD/MusicBus), Andy Pratt's "It's Not The End Of The World" (Columbia Legacy), Kelly Saint Patrick's "Recover" (Willhemina/SBM), and contributed to new tracks by Shy'm (Warner), Wyclef Jean (Universal), as well as Capcom's game platform "Dead Rising: 4".
Thaler has also produced albums The Led Zep Project w/Dweezil Zappa's Jazzed & Confused, Eric Hill's Second Sight, Elimotion's Elimotion 1, The True Story Band's "Grain" (EFA/JVC), Jeff Fiorello's Jeff Fiorello, Nika Brightn's Television, Amelia Terry's "Road Less Travelled", and others.
Lipstick Jungle
Thaler appeared on NBC TV's Lipstick Jungle, a primetime series about New York City socialites with Brooke Shields, Andrew McCarty, Lindsey Price and Kim Raver. He played the drummer in character Shane Healy's (Paul Blackthorne) music band. Thaler had a speaking role as himself, and performed music from Project Grand Slam's Play (see "Producing Career") along with the band, who served as Shane's on-camera band. The show aired for two seasons before being cancelled in 2010.
Solo Projects
In 1994 Thaler began performing under his own name, showcasing his original compositions, and would record ...Works (TP Records/OMD) with jazz musicians Ray Anderson, Hiram Bullock, Rick Margitza, Rufus Reid, Adam Rogers, and Oskar Cartaya. The group performed at The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Vancouver Jazz Festival, The Zebrock Festival, and other venues in Canada and France.
In 1997 Thaler formed "The True Story Band", with jazz musicians Mike Stern, Chris Clark, Ron Bertolet and Jeff Carney. Thaler toured "The True Story Band" through Europe, Canada and the USA in support of the group's two releases, 1997's Medium Rare Grounds (TP/Factor) and 1998's Grain (EFA/JVC).
In 2000 Thaler took to reworking the music of Led Zeppelin for an instrumental context. Thaler recorded Jazzed & Confused: The Led Zep Project (TP) in 2001. The album includes Led Zeppelin compositions "Kashmir", "Whole Lotta Love", "The Rain Song", "The Ocean", and "Dazed & Confused", and 25 musicians including guitarists Mike Stern and Dweezil Zappa, violinist Miri Ben Ari, turntablist DJ Logic, harmonica player Hendrik Meurkens, trombonist Dave Panichi, trumpeter Vinny Cutro, and flamenco vocalist and dancers Amparo and Racquel Heredia. The album is produced by Thaler and Goo Goo Dolls/Maroon 5 alumnus Michael Landolt.
In 2008, Thaler formed the experimental music group Elimotion, with bassist Matt Garrison, turntablist DJ Logic and guitarist Elijah Steele. The group's first release, Elimotion 1, was recorded at Manhattan Center Studios NYC, and released in 2014.
Clinics & Masterclasses
Thaler has delivered 500+ drum clinics, seminars and educational workshops internationally. He has shared festival stages with leading drum figures Dennis Chambers, Steve Smith, Virgil Donati, Thomas Lang, Giovanni Hidalgo, Johnny Rabb, Mike Portnoy, John Blackwell, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Anton Fig, Ignacio Berroa, Jojo Mayer, Jimmy Degrasso, and Vera Figueiredo. He has performed at The 1996 Montreal DrumFest, The 2003 TUDW Ultimate Drummers Weekend International Drum Festival (Australia), The 2004 KOSA Drum Festival (solo performance and trio performance with drummers Johnny Rabb and Steve Smith), The 2006 Fort Myers Drum Festival, The 2010 Victoria International Drum Festival, The 2010 National Association of Music Manufacturers (NAMM) International Music Fair, The MIDEM Music Conference in Cannes France, The 2011 CMW Music Conference in Toronto Canada, The 1998 Music West International Music Conference in Vancouver, The 2004 Paris Zebrock Music Festival, at Drummer's Collective New York City, Music Academy International (France), University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, Music Arts Academy (Geneva, Switzerland), SAE College (Auckland, New Zealand), Prime Music Academy (Wellington, New Zealand), and others. Thaler has been featured on Drumeo TV, and on four segments for the Daddario/Evans Educational Webcast Series.
In 1998, Thaler released an instructional drumming video called Phraseology And Individuality On The Drumset. The video was voted one of the "Top 25 Must-Have Instructional Drumming Videos of All Time" by readers of France's Batteur Magazine in 2007.
In 2015, Thaler was invited to the prestigious Drummers Collective music school in New York City as a special "Artist-In-Residence" and professor of Music Business and Industry.
Film & Television
Thaler has participated on Film and TV projects as a soundtrack composer, music supervisor and sound-design content developer. In 1993, Ron teamed up with Envy Productions on music jingles for The Cartoon Network, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, ESPN, MTV, and Bravo. In 1994, Thaler created music publishing company RT Type Music Publishing (RTTM), and secured music placements for his compositions and those of production clients on internationally syndicated TV programs including The OC (Fox), One Tree Hill (WB), Lipstick Jungle (NBC), Rodzinka (PLN), Laguna Beach (MTV), Sweet Sixteen (MTV) and Auckland Daze (TVNZ). Thaler has composed music for films Tilt, Sex Chronicles, Three Vignettes, La Tropical, Bright, All Summer Long, and Contact. Thaler has contributed executive production, logistics planning and storyboarding to music videos of several production clients, including Anita Prime's Serenade, La La La, Destiny and Live At Galatos DVD, Kelly Saint Patrick's Shame On You, Gareth Barker's Making of Hello World, and Traum Diggs' Off The Floor.
Equipment
Acoustic drums: PEARL MASTERS MAHOGANNY CLASSIC LIMITED EDITION
Cymbals: SABIAN
Drumsticks: VIC FIRTH