Chad Szeliga

Chad Szeliga
Szeliga performing on stage at a Breaking Benjamin concert
Background information
Genres	Heavy metal post-grunge hard rock jazz jazz fusion gospel funk hip hop bebop
Occupation(s)	Drummer percussionist
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Hollywood
Associated acts	Breaking Benjamin Switched Leo Forever Oeuvre APG OurAfter Crystal Bowersox Hourcast Black Label Society Atomflower Black Star Riders

Chad Szeliga is an American drummer and percussionist from Elyria, Ohio. Formerly the drummer for the band Breaking Benjamin, he joined Black Label Society in 2013, replacing Mike Froedge.^[1] In 2017, he replaced Jimmy DeGrasso in Black Star Riders.

Breaking Benjamin

While with Another Path, Szeliga recorded an audition video for Breaking Benjamin playing drums for the song "So Cold".^[2] The video submitted happened to be the only VHS tape submitted. Ben Burnley was forced to borrow a VCR from his neighbor to view the tape. After Burnley reviewed the tape, the band decided he was the right guy for the job.^[3] His first official recording with the band was for the full-band version of the song "Rain" from We Are Not Alone in mid-2005, which was sent to modern radio, and later appeared on the band's cover of Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever". He recorded with Breaking Benjamin on their 2006 album Phobia, which was released August 8, 2006. He also joined the band on their tour supporting that album.^[4] Szeliga left Breaking Benjamin in April 2013 due to creative differences and notified his fans via a Facebook post on April 22, 2013. He went on to drum with Black Label Society until 2014 and also recorded and toured briefly with Scott Stapp.

On 5 May 2017, Szeliga was announced as the new drummer for Black Star Riders, replacing Jimmy DeGrasso.^[5]

Equipment

Chad currently endorses Tama Drums, Evans drumheads, Zildjian cymbals, and Vic Firth drumsticks. He currently uses new line of tama S.L.P Dymanic Kapur kit and has a tendency to put the mid rack tom to the left of his kit preceding the high rack tom, claiming that it encourages him to be more creative with his fills. In addition, for cymbals, he favors a mixture composed largely of cymbals from Zildjian's A, K, and K Custom lines. His previous endorsements were Yamaha Drums, DW Drums, Vater drumsticks and Remo drumheads.

Drums: Tama Starclassic Performer B/B in blue nebula blaze finish w/ chrome hardware:

• 22"x18" bass drum
• 10"x6.5" rack tom
• 8"x6" rack tom
• 12"x7" rack tom
• 14"x12" floor tom
• 16"x14" floor tom
• 13"x17" starphonic steel snare

Heads: Evans:

• Snare: Hybrid Coated/300 snare side
• Toms: Black Chrome or Onyx
• Bass: EMAD Clear

Sticks: Vic Firth:

• Vic Firth 5A barrel tip drumsticks
• Vic Firth Rock drumsticks
• Vic Firth RUTE505 wands
• Vic Firth Heritage brushes

Cymbals: Zildjian:

• 21" A ultra hammered china
• 13" A pocket hi-hats
• 14" A Custom hi-hats
• 6" Zil-bel
• 16" S trash crash/12" FX spiral stacker (stacked)
• 8" FX trashformer
• 18" K Custom dark crash/8" A splash (inverted)
• 6" A splash
• 6" A Custom splash
• 8" FX Oriental china "trash"
• 21" K Custom organic ride
• 19" K Custom hybrid trash smash
• 16" K EFX/12" FX Oriental china "trash" (stacked)
• 17" K Custom hybrid china

Discography

With Breaking Benjamin

• We Are Not Alone (full-band version of "Rain" only) (2004)
• Phobia (2006)
• Dear Agony (2009)

With Black Label Society

• Catacombs of the Black Vatican (2014)

With Switched

• Subject to Change (2002)
• Ghosts in the Machine (2006)

With Forever Oeuvre

• EP Unfinished (2008)

With Casey Honig

• Tragic Uprise EP (2016)^[6]

References