4.20.2011

officially speaking


last week, in a response to some random facebook post proclaiming my intent to start a punk band, i got a phone call inquiry from karl blau.  as a result, this evening at five is my first practice as drummer with his new group.  it is met with anxiety and excitement.  initially, i wasn't sure that i would go through with it, i'm already in a band that i love, after all. but after talking with daddy treetops, our locally heroic prodigious blues guitarist and music aficionado, i am encouraged:  he told me that any opportunity to broaden your skill and gain more experience is beneficial to the musician.  so i decided, what the heck, i'll at least give it an old college try.

by no stretch of the imagination am i a professional drummer.  in fact, i've only been playing maybe two years.  it was the summer before last that we happened to hear word that a neighborhood kid wanted to sell his "first act:discovery" miniature drum kit.  we went straight for it, because you can't go wrong for thirty bucks.  i embellished the tiny drums with some masking tape and a picture of our nephew, plus our band name on the kick drum, and i was off to the races.  i practiced regularly by turning on the songs i liked, mostly by beck and starfucker, and playing along.  i'm not a technical drummer, but found out quickly: i'm steady.  i attribute this to my dancing years: enough "kick-ball-changes", dance routines and mall performances drenched in spandex and sequins, enough "80's dance nights" saturated with beer at the 3B, and you're going to have an internal tempo.  it wasn't but a few months later that i was awkwardly attempting to play my first show with our new band, me, james and tom as the daffodils. as the band practiced and grew tighter, so did i.  people seemed to love my tiny anomalous drums.  feeling a bit like a hack, i wanted something more substantial.  so just a week ago, when i was visiting my dad, i found the perfect drum kit at a resale joint called trade up music.  i splurged a whopping $150 (not bad, i'd say, when most drums go for a heck of a lot more) for an all white, great sounding, no name kid's kit, complete with an extra rack tom and newly replaced heads.  and now, folks, i can finally say: it's official.  i'm a drummer.

3 comments:

  1. Woo Hoo! Hope the audition went well! Not too shabby for a 'faker'.

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  2. My favorite drummer (besides you) is Micky Dolenz

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  3. well, they didn't fire me, practice went well, first show is in june for What the Heck fest!!

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