"I recently had the chance to check out some Vater sticks and was really impressed with their feel, variety and killer quality! I've been using the West Sides ever since I've checked them out and they're my new stick of choice. They're really versatile and I dig the unique tip design. I'm happy to be on board as a Vater artist!"

About Gil Sharone
For Gil Sharone, his power as a drummer is reflected in three invaluable traits he brings to any situation: musical versatility, razor-sharp instincts, and refined, but inspired technique.

As a teenager, Sharone's fundamental experiences with drumming were organic; he learned how to play from watching and listening to players of all styles while his twin brother complimented him on bass and guitar.

His dedication and his love for the craft turned into well earned opportunities that allowed him to play with many artists he came up listening to like Fishbone, Dillinger Escape Plan, Otep, Dave Wakeling, Maynard James Keenan, Tom Morello, HR, and Eek-A-Mouse to name a few.

With his capacity to come into any professional environment and instinctively play exactly what is needed, Gil Sharone has gained a reputation as a veritable drumming ninja. In a shining example of Gil's amazing ability at sonic absorption and understanding, the drummer was called-in last minute to replace Travis Barker on his tour with Plus-44 after Barker broke his arm. Gil memorized all his parts on a plane ride over to Europe and played the next afternoon without even a rehearsal. His success landed him a retainer on the Australian and Japanese leg of the Plus-44 tour.

Over the years, Gil Sharone channeled his Zen-like concentration and passion for all types of music into a varied skill set that allowed him to demonstrate his massive drumming vocabulary. In 2005, Gil started doing drum clinics and also played his first international drum festival Cape Breton Drum Fest. In 2006 and 2011, he was invited to do a clinic at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC).

On top of being featured in all the top drumming magazines worldwide and being voted #2 up-and-coming drummer in Modern Drummer Magazine reader's poll in 2008, Gil continued to play world class drumming events like the Modern Drummer Festival 2010 and the 2012 Tam Tam Drum Fest in Spain, as well as other clinics worldwide.

Paying homage to some of his biggest influences, Gile channeled his lifelong love of Jamaican styles of ska, rocksteady and reggae drumming into a self-produced award-winning genre-specific instructional dvd called 'Wicked Beats', which was named dvd of the year in 2011 in Drum! magazine and fifth place as dvd of the year in Modern Drummer’s readers poll 2012.

Gil's other film and television credits include drumming and co-production of the Slackers movie score, drumming and record engineering commercials for Nike and Miller Beer campaigns, and most recently, working on hit reality television show X-Factor.