MIKE JOHNSTON: The Drummer Who Changed Drum Education

In this episode of The UK Drum Show Official Podcast, Ollie Winiberg sits down with drum education master Mike Johnston.

Mike will be hosting the Education Room throughout the entire weekend of 18th–19th October, alongside his talented friends Jay Postones (Tesseract), Dexter Hercules (Ed Sheeran), and Jost Nickel (Jan Delay & Disko No. 1).

Mike shares his excitement for the event and how he—and the rest of the team—can’t wait to teach, inspire, and connect with drummers from all over.

Grab your tickets now for the hottest drum event of 2025: HERE

00:10 – Remembering the Europe Drum Show

05:55 – What to Expect at The UK Drum Show

11:40 – “This is How The World Could Be”

12:50 – Ask The Questions

15:50 – The Rest of the Music Industry Want This

17:35 – Drummers LOVE Extras on Movies

20:15 – Pat and Debbie Boon (with BBQ Sauce)

Mike Proudly Plays…

Gretsch Drums

Meinl Cymbals

Aquarian Drumheads

Audio Technica Microphones

Vic Firth Drumsticks

For more interviews with some of the biggest names in drumming please subscribe to The UK Drum Show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@theukdrumshow and click on the bell icon to be notified as soon as each new video is released.

Also, be sure to check out our sister-site: www.drummersreview.com where you can find many more big name interviews along with completely impartial video reviews of all of your favourite drum gear.

Hosted by the legend, our Main Stage Host, Ollie Winiberg, we’re sitting down with every drummer performing at the UK Drum Show

BIOGRAPHY:

Mike Johnston is an American drummer and educator from Folsom California. He currently runs one of the world’s largest educational website for drummers, Mikeslessons.com, where he offers live and pre-recorded drum lessons. He also hosts 10 drum camps each year at the Mikeslessons.com studio in Folsom California.

At the age of 21 he received his first major label record deal with his band Simon Says and spent the next 6 years touring the world. During that time, he received a gold record for his contributions to the Varsity Blues soundtrack and appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman as well as on MTV’s Fashionably Loud.

Mike left the touring world behind in 2006 and has focused solely on education ever since. Teaching and performing in hundreds of clinics and drum festivals around the world over the past 14 years including the Meinl Drum Festival, P.A.S.I.C., The UK Drum Show, The LaBag Show in Paris, and countless others.

Mike is the only drum instructor in history to be featured on the cover of the 4 major drum magazines (Modern Drummer, DRUM, Rhythm, and Drummer UK) as well as iDrum Magazine and SA Drummer.

Awards
2013 – DRUM Magazines award for educational website of the year- (mikeslessons.com)
2016 – Modern Drummer Readers Poll winner for educator/clinician of the year.
2020 -Modern Drummer Readers Poll winner for educational website of the year (mikeslessons.com)