Eric Kretz (born June 7, 1966) is an American musician and producer, best known as the drummer for the rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He is of German descent. He has also played for Talk Show and Spiralarms. Eric, who was born in San Jose, California, attended and graduated from Willow Glen High School in San Jose in 1984. He currently owns and operates Bomb Shelter Studios in Los Angeles. While in STP, Kretz has kept somewhat of a low profile but still contributed to the band\'s songwriting, most notably writing the music to the band\'s 1996 hit "Trippin\' on a Hole in a Paper Heart." Along with lead vocalist Scott Weiland, Kretz also wrote the lyrics to the Grammy Award-winning hit "Plush" off STP\'s 1992 debut Core. Kretz has worked with several notable artists, particularly engineering and mixing the live recordings for The Henry Rollins Show of songs by artists such as Thom Yorke, Ben Harper, Damian Marley, Slayer, Jurassic 5, Death Cab for Cutie, and more.\n', '

Kretz has a natural lilt in his timing which translates into less than perfectly aligned drum hits per beat. Compared to Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins), who uses a deliberately executed 'push-pull' feel in his phrasing to influence the song, Kretz achieves his feel by accident and appears to be riding the moment to moment dynamic of the song he is in. Many of his drum patterns have exaggerated spacings, leaving the listener to wonder if he is actually ever going to provide a backbeat. \n", 'Kretz uses a fairly deep snare. He is not known for elaborate drum fills, but will occasionally hit the toms to the delight of the fans.\n', '

In the Core era, Kretz used a Yamaha Rock Tour Custom drumset before switching to GMS Drums in late 1992/early 1993. He also used Paiste cymbals but switched to Zildjian in 2008.\n', '

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