INTERVIEWS WITH AUSTRALIAN DRUMMERS
Name: Caitlin Thomas
Where are you based? Melbourne (Thursday – Monday) and Shepparton (Monday – Thursday) How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I have been playing for about 12 years. I always went to see live bands and felt that if the drummer was tight, the band was good. I thought the drummer had a lot of influence over the product of music and wanted to learn as much as possible about that. Do you play any other instruments? I first started playing guitar before I began drumming and have picked up some shabby piano skills throughout my music career. I also really enjoy singing. What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? I lead a project called Alpaka Maraka, which is heavily inspired by The Cat Empire. I also regularly play in a folk band called Dylan and the Observable Universe. I also fill in for other projects here and there as required. What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? Far too many to name. Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about? I love writing music and have been doing it for several years. I love the community that can be created around music-making and music-sharing. I believe strongly in doing my best to contribute to the arts community by virtue of providing opportunities for musicians to get together, play and perform. The most active project I am writing for currently is Alpaka Maraka. I am long-standing friends with most members of the project and had always wanted to be in a project that mimicked what The Cat Empire was doing. The songs are usually a mix of pensive lyrics party-based grooves that celebrate life, love and the mysteries of the human experience. What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run? I really like collaboration, but I think the parameters of collaboration are unique to each project. The idea of writing a song collaboratively will look different depending on the circumstances. I think that it is usually good – even in highly collaborative settings – to have a clear idea around where the group is going or what a group is trying to achieve, and usually the articulation of that idea rests on the shoulders of a smaller subsection of the group. With that direction being clearly defined, there’s less room for misunderstanding and – I believe – more room for creativity. I think that for people to ‘think outside the box’, the box needs to be given a specific definition. Only after than can the rules be broken, and conventions ignored. But if you’re going to be sophisticated about breaking rules, you need to know what they are first. Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? I have been enjoying a great German folk band called Bukahara, and an American band called Ripe lately. They’re both very fly. Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? One of my favourite Australian drummers is Salvadore Adione, who is the drummer for the band Closure in Moscow. His drumming actually inspired me to move to Melbourne and study at Monash. I ended up being taught by his same teacher, Tony Floyd. That was really cool. Tony Floyd was very inspiring, and a little bit whacky, which was even more inspiring. I also received a lot of encouragement from Al Kerr, and really enjoyed all of the Brazilian music he teaches and plays. I’m also really inspired by the members of Alpaka Maraka – I love working with them and am always learning so much because oft hem. How would you describe the kind of musical projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs? Alpaka Maraka is upbeat, highly energetic and fun-loving music that has some pretty introspective lyrics. Dylan and The Observable Universe is much more mellow music that you could lose your thoughts in, and I think it is equally as introspective. Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises? Not at the moment, I have to say. Most of my practise is actually on piano these days, and I usually start by playing this Montuno pattern that Luke Drohan (the piano player of Alpaka Maraka) wrote. I love it so much. Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? Social media is not my strong point, but I am lucky enough to have people around me that are all over it. I only learned what a B-reel (?) was thanks to a guitarist friend of mine, and am still learning how to navigate Instagram stories. Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? (no worries if this is a bit personal) I do not make a living from music, currently. This was a pretty deliberate decision in the short-term following COVID-19. However, every decision I am currently making is done in a way that I believe will maximise the potential to eventually make a living out of music while also ensuring that I keep sane. Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? I did an awesome tour around Australia a few years back, including to some pretty remote parts of the Northern Territory. That was really special. Big thanks to Tony Flloyd for getting me that gig. What kit/cymbals/gear do you play? I have a Tamar Jazzstar kit and Sonor Soundforce kit and will use whatever is most appropriate for a given gig. My cymbals are mainly Zildjian K Custom mixes, with a few Avedis and Istanbul cymbals thrown in too. What piece of gear would you buy if money were no object? Goodness me. Probably some really, really, really good in-ears, actually. If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be?
Other thoughts/info I do really like trumpet. Website www.cthodrums.com.au
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Name Emma Ford Where are you based? Originally from Sydney Australia, but now based in New York City. How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I’ve been playing drums for 18 years and playing professionally for 10 years. I’ve always loved music, Clarinet was actually my first instrument, but I always had my eyes on the drums. It wasn’t until I sat down at a drum kit when I was 10, played some beats and realized that was the instrument for me! I’ve been obsessed with playing drums ever since. Do you play any other instruments? Just Drum Kit and Percussion. What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? I am currently subbing for Moulin Rouge on Broadway and as of May 2023 I will be the drummer for the new Broadway Musical Comedy, Shucked. What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? I have subbed on drums for a number of Broadway Musicals including, Head Over Heels, Come From Away, Tootsie, Jagged Little Pill and Almost Famous. In 2022, I held the drum chair for Paradise Square and Broadway-bound musical Come Fall In Love. What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run? I think collaboration is very important in the Broadway world, especially because there are usually so many musicians in each orchestra/band for each show, working in a very small pit together. It’s very important that we can all contribute equally to the music and work together seamlessly to provide the soundtrack for the stories that are being told on stage. Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? I’m really listening to a mix of music but I will always find my way back to Anderson Paak, Masego, Lawrence, Tom Misch, Vulfpeck and Emily King. Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? My favourite drummers would have to be Nate Smith and Steve Jordan, their grooves are so solid and in the pocket. I love really funky grooves with a strong backbeat and those guys just lay it down! How would you describe the kind of musical projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs? I mostly play for Broadway shows and to do that you have to be a very versatile musician that can play a number of different genres and styles. I have been lucky enough to study Jazz Drumming, Classical Percussion and have played many different genres including Rock, Pop, RnB, Funk, all of which have prepared me for a career in Musical Theatre. Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises? I usually warm up before each show with full body stretches to get the blood pumping and then a variety of rudiments to warm up the hands. Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? I have never been great at regularly posting on social media, however I do use it to promote the big projects I’m working on at the time. I mostly use it for networking and inspiration but I’m hoping I can get more into posting videos. Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? Yes I am a working musician, mostly playing for Broadway shows but I also freelance and play drums for various concert’s, cabaret’s, gala’s, gigs and artists. Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? A few highlights include playing at Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House and I toured in the United Arab Emirates. Very grateful for all the amazing places I have been lucky enough to play! What kit/cymbals/gear do you play? I play Pearl Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Remo Heads. What piece of gear would you buy if money were no object? I would buy a new Rock N Sok Drum Throne with a back rest! Sitting on a stool without back support for 3 hours during a show, can be very tiring and uncomfortable. It is a welcomed relief to sit back on the stool in between songs, so that would definitely be my first purchase. If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be? Keep working hard, believe in yourself and your ability, you’re going to achieve those dreams that you thought were impossible. Website www.emmaforddrums.com Name
Rebecca Clarke Where are you based? In Sydney’s Inner West How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I’ve been drumming for 31 years. I started out on piano when I was about 7. A few years later I wanted to join my primary school band. Back then they didn’t really use keyboards in school bands, so the teacher put me on glockenspiel. This meant I was in the drum zone! I would often look across at the two boys doing bass drum and snare drum and wish I could try that. It never occurred to me to ask for drum lessons back then. It was still considered a boy’s instrument (80’s). So, I stayed on glock and did the occasional wood block or triangle part. One of my cousins had a drum kit in his bedroom and I always loved going in and looking at it. I don’t know why! I was just drawn to it. I never played it, just looked! When I got to high school one of our music class lessons was about drums. The teacher showed us a basic beat on the kit, and I was able to play it straight away. From there the teacher talked to my Mum and suggested I should have drum lessons and join the school band. Mum agreed! Do you play any other instruments? Piano was my first instrument, but I don’t play much anymore. Just a tinkle here and there! I play a bit of guitar and bass, though not very well! I also studied orchestral percussion at The Conservatorium (marimba, xylophone, timpani, snare drum etc). I haven’t played that stuff for a long time though, but the knowledge has been great for my teaching. What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? I’m in a blues/soul band called Whiskey Empire, an all female Cold Chisel tribute band called Ita And The Choirgirls, and a bluesy/psychedelic band called Third Stone Blues. What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? Heaps off stuff! After I finished uni I played in lot’s of different community orchestra’s and musicals. After a few years I felt I wanted to return to my true love, rock drumming. I answered an ad in Drum Media and joined my first rock band. From there I did lot’s of gigs around Sydney and gradually got asked to join other bands. I think I’ve been in about 15 different bands, but my main band for years was Girl Most Likely. We released a couple of EP’s and an album. All our music is available for streaming everywhere! Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about? I like writing my own music and songs. The music is mostly instrumental. Sometimes in my holidays I’ll make a random video and then put some music on it. Purely for my own entertainment! I’ll usually share it on Facebook or if it’s about drumming I’ll share it on my Instagram. I’ve written a few songs. Lyrics don’t come to me easily, so I usually give up! My band Whiskey Empire does perform one of my songs though. It’s actually pretty good! I think so anyway! The songs I’ve written are about things that were happening in my life at the time or inspired by something that I saw in a TV show or film. Sometimes they just come about because I wanted to write music based on a particular style or feel. Most often I start with a drum beat and then see (hear) what else sounds cool with that. Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? I have a few core favourites that I’m always listening to. Kate Bush is right up there, along with Judy Garland, Sarah Blasko, k d lang, Muse, Silverchair (as well as both Daniel Johns and Ben Gillies solo stuff), Radiohead, Liza Minnelli, Massive Attack and Soulwax (their most recent album has some awesome drumming on it! Two drummers!) Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? I love Ben Gillies from Silverchair. He’s a good solid hitter and comes up with nice beats and fills. I also love that he’s a songwriter. He wrote or co-wrote a lot of Silverchair’s early stuff and I really like his solo projects too. I love Darryn Farrugia’s drumming. I grew up watching him as the drummer on Hey Hey It’s Saturday. He’s a very tasteful player. He has a brilliant YouTube channel. He shares heaps of beats, concepts, fill idea’s and rudiment applications. He’s very funny too! Bill La Vorgna is another favourite. He drummed a lot for Judy Garland in the 50’s. He played on her famous Live At Carnegie Hall concert record. He does a lot of fast cymbal work and it sounds so cool! He went on to be Liza Minnelli’s drummer and musical director for most of her career. His kit would be placed front and centre and he’d conduct the band/orchestra and play at the same time. The drummer in full control of everything is a concept that I like! He also played a Brady kit in the 90’s which I though was pretty cool. There’s a billion other drummers/muso’s I could mention, these few came to mind first. Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises? I don’t have a particular routine. I’ve been trying to improve my doubles. I was shown Gordy Knudtson’s open/close technique several years ago and I’ve been working on that ever since. My double strokes are sounding a lot better, but I still have a ways to go! I really love the George Lawrence Stone “Stick Control” book. I try to sit down and do a full page of that as often as possible. I’ve also been working through “Future Sounds” by David Garibaldi for the last 6 years or so. It’s really helped me with accents and non-accents on the snare, as well as being able to play linear beats with more interesting cymbal patterns. Lately I’ve been enjoying playing single paradiddles as triplets around the full kit. Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? Social media (Facebook, YouTube and Instagram) is the only way I promote myself and my gigs. I do have a website, but it just points to my socials. For my teaching, it’s always been word of mouth. Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? I make a living from teaching drums. I give lessons at a private boy’s school on Sydney’s North Shore a few days a week. I also do private lessons at my house a few afternoons each week. Throughout the year I tutor at band camps and workshops for various schools. I do 1 or 2 gigs each month and get a little bit of pocket money from that! Where’s the coolest place that music has taken you? Not really a place, but music led me to my amazing wife! We met in a band and have been together for 15 years and I think we have a pretty cool life! What kit/cymbals/gear do you play? I’m lucky to have a few different kits and a collection of snares and cymbals. I have a Pearl Prestige Session Select (wine red, mahogany/maple) with a brass Sensitone snare, a DW Collectors (blue oyster, all maple) with matching snare and a Gretsch Renown 57 (motor city blue, all maple) with matching snare. I also have a custom built 18” bass drum from Evetts Drums (matte black, Tasmanian Black Wood), a vintage Ludwig Blue Vistalite snare, a vintage Hayman snare in Gold Ingot, a Pearl Masters (piano black, maple), a Pearl Red Brass Piccolo, a Gretsch Retroluxe (black and grey wrap, thin maple) and a Brady Jarrah Ply in blue fiddleback. I also have a collection of rides, crashes and hi-hats from Zildjian, Meinl, Paiste and Sabian. Mostly Zildjian K’s (my faves!). And for quiet time I have a Roland TD-6V! I’m a bit of a gear head! I love it all! What piece of gear would you buy if money were no object? There’s a Le Soprano snare drum that’s been at Newcastle Drum Shop for a few years. Last time I saw it the price tag was $2000! That would be a nice drum to have! I’d also love a Pearl Reference kit! If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be? Play drums every day, even if it’s only for a minute! Website rebeccaclarkedrums.com Name Mia Rowland Where are you based? Melbourne How long have you been playing drums? And what initially drew you to the instrument? I’ve been playing drums since I was 12. I was actually put on to drumming by my dad and had never really considered learning drums. I was having a tough time at school dealing with a bully and he thought I needed to let my frustration out somehow, so my options were taking up the drums or BMX racing. I chose drums. I was instantly obsessed from my first lesson and I’m lucky that my dad supported me and could see my passion for it from this early stage. Rhythm and coordination came relatively easily and quickly for me which gave me a strong initial drive to keep going, along with how fun and badass it seemed to me. Do you play any other instruments? I learnt jazz piano from Jeremy Woolhouse from age 7-12 and can still play a bit. I tend to use piano and guitar for composing. What bands/projects/collaborations are you involved in right now? Since bonding in our first year of university over being the only female rhythm section players in our cohort, I formed alt-rock trio Gecko with Ashleigh Howell (bass) and Uyen-My Pham (guitar). Uyen-My has recently left the group and we are welcoming a new guitarist, but throughout these four years interrupted by lockdowns, we did heaps of gigging and eventually released an 11-track album titled ‘Miss’ in 2022. We are currently in the works of recording an EP to encapsulate our newfound sound before Uyen-My departs from the group. We’ve found that through our studies, our sound and attitude has evolved due to our increased knowledge, skill levels and confidence which is really exciting. Gecko is definitely my main musical endeavor and I’m super excited to keep exploring new sounds with my ‘groove sister’ Ash and grow our audience. At the end of 2022, I was very fortunate to be chosen as the Monash University elected student to be involved in the Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival. Through this, I was granted the amazing opportunity of putting together my own band and performance at JazzLab, as well as having Adam Simmons as my mentor throughout the process. I performed three of my original compositions alongside Night in Tunisia (Steve Smith style) with my incredible band, all of whom were involved in my final Monash recital at the end of 2022. We decided to name the group ‘Mia in Motion’ in reference to Paul Motian, due to one of my lecturers, Rob Burke, mentioning in performance classes that I seem to be channeling his style in my playing. My band is made up of Ashleigh Howell (bass), Adam Davidson (piano), Alice McDonald (voice), Jacobus Barnard (tenor saxophone) and Uyen-My Pham (guitar). It was a great honour to have this space in the festival supporting Andrea Keller with Sandy Evans and Morgana. I’m organising another show at Jazzlab with the same group this year, that will include more original works. Over the course of six years, I’ve released only three Youtube covers, but am finally committing to making it a more regular occurrence going forward this year. From March, I will be releasing covers with accompanying downloadable sheet music that I’ve transcribed, so other drummers can learn the songs as well. I’m really excited to begin publishing these videos and hopefully it will be found useful and fun for other drummers! What else have you previously been involved in (bands/shows/projects etc)? In my teens I was involved in the Australian Ultimate Drumming Weekend’s ‘Australia’s Best Up and Coming Drummer’ competitions in the Junior, Intermediate and Open Female categories, placing third in each of them. I was a finalist in the junior competition with less than one year’s drumming experience, which was definitely a big motivator for me to keep pushing early on in my journey. Up until the end of last year, I was the permanent drummer for London jazz style band Busted Chops and had been with the group since its formation by my friend Jess Mahler. I was also the drummer for garage rock band Naked Mannequin and soul band The Sunnehs which has now disbanded. As well as these more permanent roles, I’ve drummed temporarily for many of my peers in the industry, most notably for pop group Bares and horn band The Seduceaphones. As a past music student at Monash University, I’ve had ample opportunity to play alongside many of my peers for their recitals, which has been a great experience. Do you write music or develop your own shows? What are they about/how have they come about? I compose quite often and have many notebooks filled with lyrics and poems. I write a lot for Gecko, which is often a collaborative process. Many of the songs from the album ‘Miss’ such as Prick, Boys Night, Local Anaesthetic and Sweet Dreams, were compositions I brought in fully formed, but were brought more life through the joy of workshopping with my band mates. Prick and Local Anaesthetic were songs I wrote in high school, which naturally means that they carry a lot of angst. I find it organic to compose as an outlet for my emotions when I’m feeling down, which is why I was able to pump out so many ideas when I was pretty regularly in a low mental state during my late teens. However, I’m beginning to embrace structured writing as I mature as I’m generally a lot happier in my adulthood and don’t want to rely on my emotions equating to musical productivity. What are your thoughts on collaboration in music and in the projects you’re involved in or the projects you run? In terms of writing, collaboration is such a special thing that can bring new elements to take ideas to the next level. With my limited theoretical knowledge compared to my nerdy jazz theory-obsessed band mates, there’s so much they can bring that I would never have thought of since I compose through noodling on the guitar and not knowing what I’m actually playing. In saying this, my blind noodling often brings out chords that are later identified as some tricky extension, which is cool to find out. I believe that there is always space for new additions to all elements of a song which can make it truly magical. It’s definitely important to have like-minded people to an extent so that you can mesh well with when writing and playing together, which is why I’m so lucky to have met the people I did during my studies. Networking was definitely such a huge part of my university experience which happened quite naturally since the girls in the course, being a minority, seemed to organically gravitate to one another. Who are you listening to/whose music are you enjoying right now? I love nearly all genres of music but particularly love progressive and alternative rock. At the moment I’m really enjoying listening to Australian prog-rock band Karnivool and have been listening to Arctic Monkeys’ new album as they’re one of my favourite groups. I’m also getting more into Melbourne-based JK Group, Nitin Sawhney and Freddie Gibbs. Do you have any favourite drummers? Or other musicians who inspire you? why? My favourite drummers to name a few, are Elvin Jones, Mitch Mitchell, Steve Smith, Taylor Gordon (a.k.a Pocket Queen), Anderson Paak, and Vinnie Calaiuta. Elvin Jones is the blueprint for so many drummers today through his intricate feel and tasteful phrasing and I find his applied musicality on the drumset truly beautiful. In terms of Mitch Mitchell, he really opened my eyes to the possibility of applying jazz style drumming to a rock context, which is what initially lead me to study jazz. Steve Smith is just such a master of technique and basically everything and you can’t fault him. He’s like a god of drumming with an unreachable level of skill. Taylor Gordon and Anderson Paak have incredible feel that is impossible to emulate, feeling so natural alongside their craft. It’s just so fun to listen to and attempt to match on the kit. Finally, Vinnie Calaiuta has played incredibly with many musicians whom I deeply respect and instantly rekindles my love of fusion drumming with each listen. Other musicians I’m inspired by are Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey, Frank Zappa and Thelonius Monk. How would you describe the kind of musical projects you’re mostly involved in? And what kind of unique perspective/sound do you bring to these gigs? I would say that my band Gecko has a unique perspective and sound, not only through its leadership by female instrumentalists but also the fusion of so many genres we are inspired by. I love pushing the boundaries of rock which of course has so many forms, and ultimately being raw and free in my writing and playing. We rip a lot of solos and have unexpected sections and ultimately love being unpredictable. As a female lead group, it is often hard to separate ourselves from that and be taken seriously at times. Nearly every gig we get someone coming up to us saying ‘I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that’ and we are thinking yeah… because we’re girls and you thought we’d be shit… At the end of the day, we’ve always avoided labelling ourselves as a girl band, and find that our gender mainly comes into play through our lyrics which are often from perspectives that many would never hear a rock band sing about. For example, the first time we performed Boys Night, which has self-explanatory lyrics alongside unhinged screaming and solos, so many girls were into it and so many guys were coming up to us saying, ‘wow, I’ve never heard someone sing from that kind of viewpoint’. That’s the first real time I realised that we do stand out as girls and can embrace that, not for superficial reasons but for the messages we end up conveying, no matter how silly they are. Ultimately, we perform and write quite edgy sounding material, but we want audiences to feel connected to us and have fun, especially since beneath most songs are silly elements. Plus, once you hear me MC at a gig with my dry and awkward humour, you’ll realise we aren’t actually that intimidating. Do you have a particular warm up or practice routine? Or favourite exercises? I’m a really big fan of properly warming up ever since I developed an RSI in my left wrist mid 2021. Instead of resorting to my old warm up of starting my practice with single strokes at my absolute maximum speed for one minute (insanely stupid I know), I work on my finger stroke in French grip one hand at a time by running through pages of ‘Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer’ by Ted Reed. I’ve incorporated this into my practice thanks to Danny Fischer and his infinite knowledge on drum history and the importance of proper technical use whilst playing. To warm up my wrists before playing, I work through a 2-page-worksheet handed to me by Tony Floyd, which involves progressing from simple rudiments to more complex ones. The point of this exercise by John Beck, is to start slow and gradually increase to your maximum tempo in each phrase, without any sense of straining. This is a really safe way to ease into practice whilst challenging myself with rudiments. I also mix this up by applying the same goal to other hand-based worksheets. As a coordination exercise, I love mixing together foot and hand combinations to a metronome and seeing how long I can have a continuous flow of improvised combinations. I also like to experiment with different rhythmic groupings, for example switching from triplets to semiquavers, and keep this going with only my left hand and keep time with my right in a straight or swung feel. Does social media play a big part in how you promote yourself as an artist and your various projects? Do you promote your work in other ways? I use Instagram to post on my band page and have found building a presence on social media to be super important in this day and age in maintaining a physical following. It’s great that we have such an accessible and unifying tool to update followers on upcoming shows, recordings, interviews, etc., that they can check out. It’s also great for us to have fun with it and show our followers our authentic selves on the platform as well, to build that deeper connection as a collective. I also use Facebook for events when we have gigs which everyone does, making it really easy to track interest and to promote. Do you make a living from music? What different types of work does this comprise? I have decided through my past four years of saying yes to every opportunity during my time at university, that gigging most nights to make ends meet is not the path I want to take. I always thought I would enjoy taking each week as it comes with different schedules, but I have come to accept that I thrive on routine and minimal late nights at venues. I’m fortunate enough that I’m living at home still as a student and don’t have to worry about rent, which has given me this time to figure myself out and not feel pressured into getting into anything too quickly. I’m starting my masters of teaching this year and as a graduate, plan to teach part time and pursue music for the other half of the week. This is a goal that I feel will work really well for me since I have multiple interests and thrive on balance. I make some money from gigging and was more so when I was drumming regularly for other people. For my own projects, I tend to place money earnt back into a fund for upcoming band expenses. Since I was sixteen, I’ve done part time work which have always been my main source of income. This has involved private teaching, waitressing, cashiering at a butcher, retail, and most recently nannying. What kit/cymbals/gear do you play? I have a 22inch Meinl Byzance ride, 18inch Istanbul Mehmet crash and 14inch signature Benny Greb sand hats which are also Meinl Byzance. My first kit which I still use for rock gigs and recording is my PDP Mainstage kit with a dark blue shimmer. My dad snatched it up a few weeks into lessons and it was only $800 with a full set of hardware, kick and snare from Billy Hyde! Even with the low price point, I’ve reskinned it and it sounds pretty good for my standards. Since then, I’ve purchased new hardware and have my own snare and kick. My snare is PDP Ace snare which I won in the AUDW intermediate category in 2015. When I won it, I wasn’t super stoked with the sound, but have since reskinned and taped it so the pitch is better and the ring that used to drive me crazy is very minor and balanced. I didn’t fully realise what a nice snare it is until I started gigging and had heaps of gear heads coming up to me complimenting it. I used to play an Iron Cobra and absolutely loved it, but have since gotten used to my DW 5000 double kick set up, which I use for practice on my electronic Roland kit at home. I also sometimes use a Gretsch kick for gigs. I bought a Gretsch Catalina 4-piece kit when I started university and am in the process of reskinning it and cutting a hole in the bass drum because I’m not super happy with the sound. I’m ashamed to say that I’m not that into gear, and it takes me a lot to spend money on equipment, which is why for so long I’ve tied a tote bag around the tom rack so that it hangs down over the bass and mutes it when I kick… I really need to sort that out… What piece of gear would you buy if money were no object? I would definitely get a vintage or vintage style Sonor or Ludwig kit, or a DW jazz set. I’d also love a set with a natural matte finish where you can see the textures of the wood without any coloured paint applied on top. If you could give your younger drumming self some advice what would it be? Never feel like you don’t deserve to be somewhere. If that’s how you feel, do more practice and show yourself that you do! Website: www.miarowlanddrums.com.au Insta: https://www.instagram.com/_hitgirrl/?hl=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@miarowlanddrums/featured Gecko: Insta: https://www.instagram.com/gecko.band/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/official.gecko/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gecko_band/featured |
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