Connor Donnegan has spent years moving between cities, bands and creative projects, building a path shaped by curiosity, hard work and a genuine love for making music. His journey eventually led him to Eternal Champion, where he has become an important part of the band’s live and studio presence. We spoke about where it all began, how he found his place behind the kit and what lies ahead.

Interview

TheNwothm: Hey Connor it is great to be chatting with you? How are you doing?

CJD: What’s up! Can’t complain at all. It’s a beautiful day here in Washington, DC.

TheNwothm: Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and what bands you play/have played for apart from Eternal Champion?

CJD: A little about myself… I’m originally from Hartford, Connecticut (shoutout Fates Warning!) but grew up in a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina. I’ve been living in Washington, DC since 2013. I’m a big sports fan and supporter of the Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, University of North Carolina, and to a lesser degree Manchester United FC because that’s who my fiancee likes haha. I play drums and guitar in a few different things. I love buying records and checking out local restaurants everywhere I go. 

I’m admittedly guilty of always spreading myself thin and playing in a million bands at once, but I do it because I love music. Right now I play drums in Eternal Champion, Genocide Pact, Innumerable Forms, Wits End, and Laughing Corpse. I play guitar and/or sing in The Final Agony and Brain Tourniquet. All the bands I play in are some sort of variety of Metal / Punk / Hardcore. 

TheNwothm: When you first got into music, were drums always the instrument you wanted to play?

CJD: Initially I actually wanted to be a bass player, but my parents forced me to start with guitar first for some reason haha. Ultimately I’m thankful for that, but bass was definitely my first point of major interest. I got into drums a few years later when my brother got a drum set.

TheNwothm: And who were your drum heroes going up?

CJD: I’d say my first drum hero so to speak was Bill Ward from Black Sabbath. The first thing I taught myself how to play was the “War Pigs” intro, that slow swung ride cymbal beat. As I progressed as a musician and a listener I got heavily into all the players I still worship today – John Bonham, Billy Cobham, Vinny Appice, Cozy Powell, Tony Williams, Dave Grohl, Iggor Cavalera, Gene Hoglan, Sean Reinert, Mackie Jayson, Reed Mullin, Brandon Ferrell, Justin DeTore, Ginger Baker, Mike Bordin, and John “JR” Robinson are the main ones that come to mind.

TheNwothm: Over time, how long did it take you to know what style of drumming you wanted to play?

CJD:  Punk was (and still is) a major part of my identity as a musician. I remember finally feeling like a real drummer when I figured out how to play the intro to “New York’s Alright If You Like Saxophones” by Fear. I think physically learning how to do that kind of thing made me realize that I liked playing fast, loud, and aggressively. Anything I play will have a little Punkiness to it no matter what. That feeling came to me pretty early on in my musical journey, so I think I’ve always kinda known who I was as a musician to a degree.

TheNwothm: Can you give us a breakdown of your typical drum setup and how it differs between the studio and the stage? And is it also different for the bands you play in?

CJD: In a perfect world I’d always be playing a 24” bass drum, 13” and 14” rack toms, and an 18” floor tom. That setup always works perfectly for me no matter what band I’m playing with, but unfortunately it’s not always available. A lot of the time I’ll play a simple 4-piece set up – 24/14/18 ideally, but a lot of the time it ends up being 24/13/16. As long as I’m not stuck playing some kit with a 20” bass drum and 10” rack tom I’ll be ok haha. 

TheNwothm: What do you remember about joining Eternal Champion?

CJD: Arthur was recording my old band Red Death in 2019 and mentioned that Eternal Champion might need a drummer. Red Death was winding down so I offered my services and Arthur seemed into it. I was initially going to play my first show with EC in early 2020, but as we all know the world shut down around that time. My live debut with the band took place about a year and a half later in July 2021 and they’ve been stuck with me ever since!

TheNwothm: With Eternal Champion using backing tracks for other instrumentation live how long did it take you to dial to playing with those and I presume a click? 

CJD: It definitely took me a second to get used to playing to a click in a live setting. I will say, one of my strengths as a player is being able to play to a click, but it’s a totally different animal when you’re on stage vs being in the studio. Luckily I’d say I adapted pretty quickly and now have basically no issues with it!

TheNwothm: When you look back at the music you have created for both Eternal Champion and your other bands, can you name your favourite tracks to play and the ones you finds most challenging?

CJD: My favorite EC track to play is definitely either “A Face In The Glare” or “I Am The Hammer”. “Skullseeker” is really fun too! Most challenging for me is “Coward’s Keep” just because the drum parts are so strange (in a good way). It took me a while to adapt to playing Arthur’s parts on that one. At this point though I’m comfortable enough with all the songs so I have a blast playing any of em! 

For my other bands I really like playing “Gone” by Brain Tourniquet, “Induction / Agnogenesis” by Genocide Pact, “Built On Wrought” by Innumerable Forms, “Culprit II” by Wits End, “Demented Thoughts” by Laughing Corpse”, and “Eye Of Horus” by The Final Agony

TheNwothm: And if you had to go back in time are there any sings where you would changed your direction of playing? 

CJD: The entire first Genocide Pact LP was record to tape and done completely live. If I could I’d go back and play things at a more relaxed and groovy tempo rather than sounding like an overcaffinated 20 year old (which I 100% was when I recorded that album).

TheNwothm: The band has become a major force in the traditional metal scene, and fans always seem to snap up your merch the moment something new drops. From your perspective, how does it feel to receive that level of love and warmth from the community?

CJD: It’s awesome man. And well-deserved too! I say this as an OG fan of the band before I was a member. I was at the Sumerlands / EC show at Union Pool in NYC in 2016. Got a t-shirt that day that I still have! I still feel like “the new guy” in the band even though I’ve been in it for 5 years now. I’ll always remember when The Armor Of Ire came out and how much I listened to it on the train to and from work every day. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Eternal Champion is a great band and I’m happy that we get so much love from the Heavy Metal and Hardcore communities worldwide. It means the world to us and we’d be nowhere without our supporters! Special shoutout to THE GUARDS OF LOURN.

TheNwothm: With the current metal landscape being as vibrant as it is, which bands have caught your attention lately, and who’s been getting the most play on your personal rotation?

CJD: There’s so much good Metal being made right now so it’s tough to say! But I’ll always have Dream Unending, Mortiferum, Caustic Wound, Faceless Burial, Blood Monolith, and of course our brothers Sumerlands in the rotation. My tastes tend to lean on the Death Metal side as far as newer stuff goes.