Abe Cunningham

Abe Cunningham, born in Long Beach, California on July 27, 1973, is an American musician; he plays the drums in the popular alternative rock band Deftones and has also played drums for Phallucy. He is known to for his use of ghost notes and other technical drumming techniques.

Born July 27, 1973 (1973-07-27) (age 34), Long Beach, California
Genre(s) Experimental rock, Alternative metal, Trip-hop
Instrument(s) Drummer
Years active 1988-
Label(s) Warner Bros. Records, Maverick Records

He first started playing the drums for Phallucy as a teen in the early 90s. During this time, he also drummed for the Deftones on the side, usually whenever the Deftones had a problem with a drummer who dropped out. Abe knows how to play both the guitar and the drums, but growing up with a stepfather (Neil) who played the drums, he took a deeper passion with the drums. Sid, Abe's father, was also a musician and an early influence for Abe before his untimely passing. His influences are the Police's Stewart Copeland, Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell. Cunningham is known for his frantic, pounding rhythms on such songs as Knife Party and clever usage of tempo, while at the same time refusing to indulge in the double bass drum setup of many metal traditionalists. However, he does use a double bass pedal as part of his kit, as seen in a recent issue of Drum! magazine and Modern Drummer magazine.

He has two sons with wife, Annalynn Cunningham. She made a guest appearance on "MX" singing along with Chino Moreno.