Aaron Pozzer was drummer in Canadian tech metallers Starring Janet Leigh until he was followed up by ex-The Number Twelve Looks Like You drummer Jon Karel.



Aaron Pozzer's biography, in his own words:

I've been playing drums for almost fifteen years now. I started playing in my first year of highschool in probably the stupidest of circumstances. During lunch one day, a few of my friends and I were all just hanging around and talking about music. The one guy had been taking guitar lessons for a few months, and was interested in starting a band. Everyone seemed to get on board for the idea, and by the end of the conversation, all positions had been spoken for, accept drums. So, I reluctantly agreed to try my hand at being a drummer.



Fortunately, I had always enjoyed beats and percussion. I remember growing up as a kid, and my neighbor (who was about 4 years older than me) would always play me things like Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and other classic rock favorites, and I'd always take note of the drum lines as I listened, and think "how would I play this if I were drumming".



My first kit was the most ghetto pile of crap you've ever seen, and it cost me $350, which, given the state of the kit, was probably way to much, but at the time I knew nothing of drum prices. A couple years after that, I upgraded to a used Pearl Export kit which became the kit I played for the next twelve years, adding pieces, a rack, and all sorts of cymbals. Recently, I decided it was time to spoil myself with the Cadillac of drums, and I bought the kit that will most likely be with me for the rest of my life. It is a 7 piece Carbon-ply Maple Pearl Masterworks kit, with a 4 sided Gibraltar rack, 11 cymbals, and 2 Pearl Remote Hi Hats. I love it.



I went through several bands over the years, starting of with a light rock band, then moving on to a more alternative "Nirvana-esque" band. Neither of those were very challenging, but provided a good foothold for the drumming basics, since I never took a lesson. Once I entered college, I teamed up with an old highschool friend, Steve Lancia, and we started a death metal band. This is when I started to carve myself out a niche and a style for myself. My largest influences during this time when I was learning the way of extreme drumming where Flo Mounier of Cryptopsy, and John Longstreth of Origin. To this day, I still hold both of these guys at the top of my list, and I try to incorporate elements of both of their styles in my own playing.



Two years ago I joined my current band, Starring Janet Leigh. This was probably what pushed me to realy push myself to the limits of what I could play, and beyond. After all, that's how you improve. To this day, SJL forces me to get better and better, and in turn I force the other guys to improve their skills. Its a mix of tech, hardcore, progressive, and jazz influenced tunes that are extreme, fast, and at times, incomprehensible. To this day, after two years of playing the older songs, I still cant play them perfectly due to all the time signature changes, tempo changes, and syncopated rhythms. But that's what tech metal should be, and I love a challenge. If the songs aren't hard to play, and they don't push my skills to the limit, it's not worth doing. Hopefully, this has put me on track to being up there with Flo Mounier, and John Longstreth, and all the rest of the drummers, including George Kollias

, Alex "Grind" Pelletier, Jojo Mayer and Dave Grohl, who have influenced me over the years.

(source: sickdrummer.com)