Sing, Sing, Sing!

I started playing drums when I was about 7 years old. My first foray into music was the clarinet however, I told my parents it was too heavy, and I quit after 1 week. My mom did not give up on me and my schools music and teacher and my mom met to talk about my future as a young musician. They eventually presented the drums as an option. All I had to do was carry my sticks to school. I was sold!

I played drums for years but I was close to giving up. The teachers of that day pushed classical music on all the students. There was no School of Rock. There was only one way to learn how to play music andt hat was through sight reading and the use of classical music standards.

I was really not into playing classical music pieces and still to this day, classical music makes me cringe. I can appreciate the talent however; grade school traumatized me. We weren't being taught the Who, The Beatles, or the Doors. We were being taught classical pieces by Bach and Beethoven. Reading music was not my thing and I found it boring and uninspired. Classical music, if you love it, is great, but it never really moved me and still feels emotionless.

In middle school I got to experience a different side of drumming. My music teacher introduced me to a song called Sing, Sing, Sing by Louis Prima and made famous by Benny Goodman. This song changed my trajectory and brought the drums to life. The moment I heard this song I fell in love. I loved the sound of the toms. It was like rolling thunder and reminded me of a pack of wild horses. My favorite version is Gene Krupa's. This was swing and to this day, this song continues to influence my playing.

I have always tried to incorporate this sound in many of my prior bands. You can hear its influence in Death's Like Candy from my old band Punko Sharp and more recently in Favorite Creature by my current band, Bamberdost. My influences show up everywhere and the swing sound of my early days continue to follow me to new projects.

I think the point of this post is simple. Never give up. Keep at it. When something is uninspiring try something new. Take a new approach and come at it from another angle. There is something out there for you. Also, I am who I am, and I play how I play because of those influences of my past. The influences are many but Sing, Sing, Sing taught me to be my own person while still paying tribute to those who came before me.