Ralph Alexander Interview - Poppy, Mom Cams, and Negative Spaces

While wandering through Brooklyn, you’ll never guess who we ran into — our old friend Ralph Alexander! We got to hang out with him in our studio last year for a chat and intense playthrough. But this time we got to meet him before taking the kit for a Poppy show at the Brooklyn Paramount and see how things are going on the They’re All Around Us Tour to promote the newest Poppy album, Negative Spaces. Check out the interview now!

It almost seems like just last year Poppy was opening up for 30 Seconds to Mars on their “Seasons” tour. Oh wait, it was! But now Poppy and Ralph Alexander are back on the road. And this time, they’re headliners.

The latest Poppy tour, They’re All Around Us, is to promote the latest album, Negative Spaces. And to say it’s a banger is an understatement. You’ll hear everything from double-bass thumping metal all the way to pop and even disco glam. Every song is a good time, and Ralph told us the audience definitely feels it, too.

The shows have all either been sold out or very close to sold out. And according to Ralph, the response has been incredible. They “still have two circle pits during the chilliest song of the set.” He even told us a story about an exasperated security guard mentally preparing for walls of death when they played Toad’s Place in New Haven. Yeah, the shows are crazy. If you get a chance to see Ralph Alexander and Poppy out on the road, definitely take it!

• Favorite songs to play: New Way Out, Crystallized, Cost of Giving Up
• Hardest song to play: They’re All Around Us – “It’s an onslaught.”

Filling out the kit are plenty of Zildjian cymbals. Ralph recently struck up a deal with Zildjian, which has always been a dream of his — and what drummer wouldn’t wish for a deal with Zildjian…?

If you look hard enough, you’ll also find:

• Vic Firth sticks
• Remo heads
• Low Boy beaters
• Rock Locks tension rods
• Destroy A Drum muffling system
• Gibraltar rack

Ralph Alexander doesn’t typically use a rack. The last time he used a rack was back when he was 15 and dreaming of becoming Joey Jordison. He used to carry the giant rack from gig to gig, filling up the tiny stages of his local venues for 20-minute shows.

For this tour, Ralph picked up a Gibraltar rack so he’d fit on the riser. He typically plays on a 8x5 rug on a riser. But for this tour, Poppy wanted a circle riser with a 6-foot diameter. Not only is 6 feet small for Ralph’s kit, but the circle also takes away the corners. Ralph swapped to a rack to keep all his drums from falling off the riser.

However, the rack ended up doing more than just keeping everything on the riser. Ralph ended up liking it! No matter how many times the kit is set up and torn down, everything is exactly the same for every show.

You might think a drum kit would be like a favorite guitar or keyboard: an instrument you take everywhere that best fits your playing style. However, Ralph Alexander has a different method to set building. He builds his drum kit based on the setlist.

For Ralph Alexander, there is no “set in stone” kit. It all depends on what songs he’s playing.

Before heading out on the They’re All Around Us tour, Ralph looked over the setlist and set up his kit based on the songs. For example, he doesn’t have a ride cymbal in the traditional position. He realized that he only used the ride on a few select songs, so he moved it to the side and put a cymbal he used more frequently in its place.

Poppy also likes to jump genres, which means she needs different drum sounds for different songs. Ralph had to add specific pieces to his kit for the set, like a 70s disco tuned snare for “Crystallized.”

While this kit might be much different from his “regular” drum set, Ralph admits that this kit has been a lot of fun to design and play — which is good because it certainly gets a workout!

Last time we talked to Ralph, he was in the process of moving and building a new home studio. Well, he did it! He finally pulled the trigger on a new Nashville pad, complete with detached studio space.

Of course, a new studio is great. But that also means you have to fill it with all sorts of gear. And being a drummer, Ralph never really concerned himself with silly stuff like mics, cables, mixers, and that sort of nonsense. So the first thing he did was call a bunch of producer and engineer friends for a list of recommendations.

After talking to 12 pros, he made a spreadsheet of all their suggestions. Then cross-referenced which pieces were most recommended to fill out his studio space. Needless to say, he ended up with a killer setup!

Here are his expert-recommended mics:

• Shure Beta 91 inside the kick
• AKG C414 overheads
• Shure SM57 snare mic
• Sennheiser 421s for tom mics (swaps to Mackie Onyx for metal songs)

He never thought he’d become a “microphone guy,” but Ralph does admit that it’s been really fun setting up the studio and getting into the recording aspect of things. He never realized how much of a difference microphones make!

Ralph Alexander used his brand-new studio to track all the drum parts for Poppy’s Negative Spaces album. This is actually the first project he recorded all the drums on his own! Before every track, he’d facetime his audio engineer to make sure he was doing everything right. Then he’d hit record, lay it down, and ship the track off for mastering. And that’s how a Poppy album is made.

You wouldn’t really say Poppy’s music is “mom friendly.” Moms aren’t usually huge fans of double bass and screaming. And that’s what inspired Ralph to give his mom a “mom cam” when she came to see him at a Poppy show in Cleveland.

When Ralph’s mom got to the show, he walked her to her seats and handed her a camera. He was 90% sure the little experiment wouldn’t work, like she wouldn’t turn the camera on or it wouldn’t get the best footage, but he was happily surprised. He said it was funny to see her reactions to the projectors, pyro, solos, and the overall production of the show.

What was mom’s overall take? “I don’t like the screaming, but everything else is great!” But wouldn’t we all be a little concerned if our mom asked for more screaming in music…?

Ralph’s mom is a good sport and is actually into the heavy stuff. She’s been very supportive of Ralph’s career choice and taste in music.

Of course, we still want to see that mom cam footage…

Once Ralph Alexander finishes up the current Poppy tour, he’s going to get a much-deserved two-week break and then it’s off to Europe for a month with Babymetal on an arena tour.

Afterward, Poppy is going to do a festival circuit, hitting all the big festivals like the Download Festival — which has always been a dream for Ralph.

But the big news is that Poppy is going to do a show with Mr. Bungle in Mexico City in October 2025. And Dave Lombardo just so happens to be Ralph Alexander’s favorite living drummer!

Ralph Alexander is such a huge Lombardo fan that he has worn the same Slayer t-shirt for every big gig since he was 13. He told himself way back then that he’d continue to wear it until he played Madison Square Garden, a feat which he accomplished!

Now, the t-shirt still comes with him on the road, but it usually stays in his backpack. He never travels without it. It’s become something of a good luck charm on the road. He even gets nervous that he’s going to leave it somewhere.

However, now that he’s finally going to meet his idol, he has a retirement plan for his beloved Slayer shirt. He’s going to fan out when meeting Dave Lombardo and ask him to sign it. Once it’s signed, the t-shirt will have lived a full life circle and can be retired in peace.

A huge thanks to Ralph Alexander for taking some time to chat with us again. We wish you well on your t-shirt retirement plan and the rest of the Poppy tours on the horizon. Don’t forget to come hang out again next time you’re in the area! And extra don't forget to subscribe to the AMS YouTube Channel for more amazing content just like this.