Born in the suburbs of Leiden, The Netherlands (just outside of Amsterdam), Dennis Leeflang picked up a pair of drumsticks for the first time at age 8, joining a local marching band. Once in high school, the explosion of grunge and rock music of the early 90’s prompted the then teenager to beg his parents for a drum kit. At age 13, Dennis was practicing drums 8 to 12 hours a day and quickly caught the ear and eye of local bands and musicians. In 1996, having just turned 17, Dennis was a founding member of Within Temptation, Holland’s biggest musical export product since The Golden Earring. After successful collaborations with other Dutch bands such as Sun Caged and Epica, Dennis traded windmills for skyscrapers in the early 2000’s. Having connected with guitarist/singer/producer Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal on an earlier trip to New York City and having become his touring drummer in Europe, Dennis became Thal’s full-time drummer upon his arrival in NYC, recording three full-length albums since 2005 and touring all over the world. Catching the tail end of the “old” NYC music industry before the record industry collapse of the mid-2000’s, the vastly diverse scene and abundance of musical opportunities shaped Dennis’s playing and work-ethic. Next to his work with Bumblefoot, Dennis collaborated with dozens of local NYC bands and musicians in genres ranging from jazz to metal, with the majority being many of the fine singer-songwriters New York is famous for. Apart from touring extensively with Bumblefoot and various other artists such as The Saturnine, Ted Poley (Danger Danger) and Lita Ford, Dennis built his own recording studio in Queens in 2007, enabling him to collaborate through remote recording as well as record music with local musicians. With the major shift the music industry was experiencing, owning his own recording studio and offering remote drum sessions proved to be the perfect way to stay ahead of the curve of an industry being reinvented completely. With major label budgets becoming a thing of the past, Dennis was able to offer quality drum recordings at a fraction of traditional budgets.
Between his own studio and many of the famed New York recording studios like NoHo, Tainted Blue Studios (formerly Quad Studios, later Terminus Studios) and Water Music, Dennis has collaborated with musicians such as Angus Clark (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Joe Lynn Turner), Ted Poley (Danger Danger), Shane Gibson (KorN), Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob), Tiffany Giardina (Disney), Morgan Clamp, Milan Polak (Falco), Kip Winger (Winger), Barend Courbois (Vengeance, Blind Guardian), Richie Castellano (Blue Oyster Cult), Fabio Trentini (Guano Apes, H-Blockx), and Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Devin Townsend), as well as some of the industry’s most celebrated producers, including P.J. Bianco (Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato), Nick Sansano (Sonic Youth, Ice Cube, John Spencer Blues Explosion, Galactic) and Easy Mo Bee (Miles Davis, Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, Wu-Tang Clan).
In 2015, Dennis relocated to Los Angeles, where he has since toured, performed and collaborated with artists such as Dilana (Rockstar Supernova), Mitch Perry (Cher, Edgar Winter), Megan Ruger (The Voice), Kenny Kanowski (Steelheart), T-Bone Andersson (Gov’t Mule), Francesco DiCosmo (Evanescence, Thin Lizzy), Steve Fekete (Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani), Paulie Z (ZO2, The Sweet), Victor Brodén (LeAnn Rimes, Thompson Square) and Eric Dover (Slash’ Snakepit, Jellyfish, Alice Cooper).
As he has since 2007 in NYC, Dennis now runs his own recording studio in Van Nuys, Los Angeles (across the street from the famous Sound City studios), offering remote drum tracking sessions as well as free-lance engineering/recording sessions. He has been the drummer for up and coming LA-based country artist Liam Mogan since 2015.
Apart from performing and recording, Dennis has been a drum instructor since 2000, teaching private drum lessons, clinics, master classes and workshops all over the US, Europe and Russia. When not on the road, Dennis is available for private drum lessons in Los Angeles.
Dennis proudly endorses Q Drum Co. drums, Paiste cymbals, Promark sticks, Evans drumheads, Drumtacs, AHEAD Armor Cases, AHEAD Products snare drums & accessories, and Steinberg.
