If you asked a hundred music nerds whom they'd pick if they could inhabit the body of any rock drummer in history, more than half of them would say Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

The upside of that choice -- namely, the unparalleled ability to bang on the pots -- is obvious. The downside is that the hard-partying Bonham wasn't long for this world -- the drummer died in 1980 at the age of 32.

In order to learn how to capture the pure rock-and-roll intensity that was Bonzo, only without the choking-on-your-own-vomit ending to the story, Asylum turned to Ian Lee, who plays the part of Bonham in the killer Zeppelin tribute act Led Zeppelin 2.

The look
For a Led Zeppelin tribute band to offer a satisfying experience comparable to seeing the original, one of the keys is looking like you've just stepped out of a time machine circa 1972. To that end, Lee dons a long wig, a headband, and what he describes as "1970s rock-and-roll clothes" in order to help create the illusion that he might be Bonham.

But that's not the most important part. "I look like Bonham because I play like a maniac," he says. Also, as the band has grown more successful, Lee's commitment has intensified. "I did grow a beard," he tells us. "I used a glue-on one at first, but it was really sweaty, so it didn't really work."

Read on for more tips on how to transform yourself into John Bonham.

The mindset
There's a large amount of hubris in calling your tribute act Led Zeppelin 2, as opposed to, say, Black Dog. But Lee says that the audience's expectations don't get to him. "I don't really think about it," he explains. "John Bonham is kind of in the genetic code of being a drummer, and I've been playing [drums] my whole life.

"I studied Bonham's approach for years," he continues, "and played that way in bands throughout my life. It's more of a responsibility to myself than the audience." It's hard to imagine John Bonham himself spending too much time dwelling on whether or not he was being Bonham-y, so we'll consider this another key to playing the part.

The preparation
"I practice for three to five hours a day," Lee says, before explaining just what that entails. (Spoiler alert: you probably couldn't do it.) "Practicing isn't something a lot of drummers do. They just get good, and then they play and tour.

"But being Bonham forced me to step up my game way beyond what I ever thought it could be. We play a full Zeppelin concert each night, so we're doing a three-hour set, and at some point, I'm going to do a 20-minute solo" [See video below.]

"So I rented a studio, just an 8-by-10 room with a drum kit and a full-length mirror," says Lee. "And the first day I went in there, I practiced for five hours. It was just a five-hour drum solo, basically. I'd sip Gatorade every hour or so, and just play.

"By the end of it, I looked in the mirror, and it was completely fogged with sweat, like I'd just gotten out of the shower. It was the coolest rock moment ever."

The drinking
Lee laughs when we ask him how he manages his drinking to avoid a Bonham-esque end. "I'm the only guy in the band who's a complete teetotaler," he explains. "It's not that I'm opposed to drinking on a moral level or anything. I'm just really bad at it. I had one beer on our last tour, and I went right to sleep.

"I go into character enough with my playing," he goes on, "that I don't need to go there. I'll repeat everything but that -- that was kind of his downfall. I'm dying to emulate Bonham, but I'm not dying to emulate Bonham."

Led Zeppelin 2 will be playing February 18-20 in Colorado. Check out their official Web site for more details.