Maturing as a Drummer

I've been reading drum magazines for years now. A repeating theme is drummers saying that, when they were young, they cared a lot about how fast or complicated that they could play. They cared about having "chops." But that as they aged and matured, it became more about "serving the song" and playing tastefully. That they scaled back their playing and simplified and that the result was so much better.

I always wanted to punch those dudes in the face.

It is really obnoxious to say that chops don't matter...AFTER you yourself have gained chops. As a beginning drummer who can barely put a beat together, the last thing you want to hear is "chops aren't important." Because you know very well that everyone in the room is thinking..."wow, that drummer isn't very good." It is only possible to say that chops aren't important AFTER you have them.What having chops gives you is the ability to make choices.

I've been playing drums for about 9 years now. Sort of towards the middle of that time I tried to buckle down and get more serious and improve my skills and what I learned was that I didn't enjoy buckling down and that I did not have a natural talent for big improvements. I could get better bit by bit, but probably I was never going to be fantastic. And really, I didn't NEED to be fantastic. To do the things that I enjoyed, I just had to be "pretty ok". It is hard to accept that, because I still feel like a failure when I see people who play better than I do and I still worry that people are saying behind my back "that drummer isn't very good." But honestly, I play well enough for what I need/want to do.

Last night the song writer in our band brought a new tune in. Usually the way I approach this is that I play what seems to go with what he is doing...whatever comes out naturally. I start simple, because the most important thing when the band is learning the song is for me to keep a steady beat so everyone can lock together....and then as the song develops over time I try to make my beat more complicated. I try to never play the same beat twice...to do something a little different with each song. Some times this means I force weird things that don't come naturally and I end up spending a long time trying to make the part work so that I can play it.  But the last two songs he has brought out, including the one last night, I just did what felt right and didn't worry too much about if it was complicated enough or different enough from other things that I've done in the past. I was sort of amazed at how easily the part came to me, and how good it sounded. It was so simple. I really did serve the song. And I thought..."maybe I will just leave it like this." It was one of the first times when I really believed (and wasn't at some level just consoling myself for lack of skills), "yeah simple is better."

Here's the song that we played last night. So the singer and one of the guitars is the song writer. The other guitar and the drums...we had never heard this song before. We were playing along the first time we'd ever heard it (there are some guitar misses for this reason but they aren't too bad). I gotta say that I mostly nailed the drum part. It is simple, but I DID have to make choices. I'm particularly proud of the instinct that I had at 1:35...just felt it and went with it.

SVFD at Punk's Picnic 8/15/2015

Got invited to play a cool party at Indian Lake County Park.

Setlist:

rascal

metro

superman

sergio

wallet

lost

point

somewhere

Encore: I will survive

SVFD at Frequency 9/11/2015

Opened for Gentle Brontosaurus (who was a last minute fill in) and Tin Can Diamonds. TCD brought in a huge crowd. We took home $200. It was odd.

Setlist:
mr smiley
about a girl
i don't love
spiderwebs
superman
lost
Sergio
wallet
somewhere
i will survive
encore=metro

SVFD at Frequency 7/29/2015

Opened for Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings and Beefus. Not an empty room but not packed. Was concerts on square day. I played pretty well except biffed transition out of solo on Point

Setlist
Freedom
Came Out
About Girl
I don't Love
Spiderwebs
Lost
Point
Wallet
Mr Blue
Red Rubber
I will Survive

Breeders Tribute Progress

I've now completed and posted 66 songs.

Last weekend I put down drums parts for "Overglazed,"  "900," "Lord of the Thighs," "German Studies," "Regalame Esta Noche,"  and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun."  I admit that, as I get into the weeds I am more prone to cut and paste parts than to try for perfect performances.

After those are done, that leaves just "Mountain Battles,"  "The Last Time,"  "Chances Are,"  "Climbing The Sun," "Collage," "Wicked Little Town: Hedwig Version," "I can't help it if I'm still in love with you," and "Buffy Theme." These are pretty deep cuts.

I'm either out of town or busy most weekends this summer, so things are probably going to slow down a bit until October. I took a moment this weekend, while working on the drums for the last of the main tunes, to reflect on the accomplishment to date. I know that no one else notices or cares (or maybe people noticed and just thought the whole thing was utter shit) but it is quite a body of work. Certainly it will be finished before I hit the two year mark...perhaps in a year and a half time...which is pretty quick.

SVFD, 5/2/2015, Red Zone

Opened for Gin, Chocolate, and Bottle Rockets and VO5 for a GRC fundraiser.

Played pretty well. Feel like I'm starting to lock in better with NS, but maybe that's just cause I played guitar with her for three days straight last weekend.

I like the lead pedal that CT gave me, but it seems really finicky. Sometimes the boost is mild and sometimes over-whelming (the latter at this gig). Not sure how to correct that.

I also am still fucking up the solo on Point. It doesn't seem to matter how much I practice it. I think I have a block.

Setlist:
Rascal
Thigh High
Sergio
Spiderwebs
Point
Dandelions
Lost Again
Superman
Wallet
I Don't Love You
Somewhere in Betwn

More on Breeders Gear

I've been coveting  cheap gold top Les Pauls with open pickups over the last few months (like Kim's). I almost bought one in Indiana at the start of the year, but it sold before I could get to it. There's one available, a red quilt top classic (like Kelley's), available at my local GC for $299 right now. I'm basically waiting to see how much my car repairs are going to be (mechanic is mere blocks away from the guitar) before I go look at it (and maybe hoping it will sell before I touch it). I was trying to figure out how close it looks to Kelley's and stumbled across these excellent circa 2008 pedal photos by "dietspritezero."

At first I was just looking at the photos and didn't notice who's account it was. Then I saw and was like...right. Of course. I have a long history of bumping into "dietspritezero" online. She's the person who taught me (via youtube video) how to play Debaser. I think we chatted briefly about the fan-only Music Box Pixies show once on a forum too. It's fun to cross paths with the same super fans from time to time. 

UPDATE:

Found some good pics of the red les by searching under Cheryl instead of Kelley (photo in Kim's basement by Glass, natch):

And the one for sale, a "classic":

It isn't an exact match. Kelley's doesn't look like it is a quilt top and it has old-style tuners, but in my price range it might be close enough ($299 for this Epi. It's a discontinued model so no comparable price new).

For comparison, here's the gold Epi Traditional Pro I've been eyeing (they run ~$450 new or ~$350 used):

and Kim's below (she has one black and one white pickup as opposed to the zebra, but I kind of like the zebra. I suspect the pickups on Kim's have been changed out from stock):

In the end I think any gold top or red les that I can get for under $350 that has uncovered pickups will fit the bill so long as it isn't one of the super shitty models (100, studio, junior, etc). I know that newer models allow you to split the coils in all kinds of weird ways, but I really don't think I'd use that function.

And, as I find myself less than 20 songs away from finishing the tribute project (and unlikely to ever play the tribute project out live) this is all basically a waste of money anyway.