Last Night's Entertainment

Went to two shows last night...The Drain with No and Maybe Game...and So Dang Yang. I know someone, or multiple someone's, in each of the bands...and have played music with someone from each of the bands. My drum instructor is also in So Dang Yang.

It's nice to be able to talk to musicians that you respect as relative equals and to get advice from them. It was also fun to see my instructor in a performance situation...with all of the little things that preoccupy you. Makes me feel normal.

I think there are some small finesse things going on with Johnny Sucrose that are maybe a few months ahead of my playing level...but overall he's not doing anything crazy with the songs. He's mostly laying back and playing the groove. It's mostly stuff that I can do now...but couldn't do a year and a half ago. The ironic thing is that it was only leaving that band that inspired me to try harder and learn more and practice. It sucks to get kicked out of a band, and I genuinely miss playing that music...but it was the best possible thing to happen to me as a drummer. I probably would never have advanced in my skills as quickly if I was still playing with them.

Lessons, Week 50

Zeroing in on one year.

I thought we were going to do followup on rumba clave and son clave...but instead he had me go through paradiddle exercises with right hand on high hat and left hand on snare.

RLRRLRLL
LRRLRLLR
RRLRLLRL
RLRLLRLR
LRLLRLRR...etc

There were also moving accents...and triplets. He played a recording of Elvin Jones using it in a jazz context...and another recording in a funk context. The accents are hard to do...as is doing the exercises up to speed and keeping the overall volume low except the accents. Not the hardest thing I've tried...but it would take practice to do it well.

Female Drummers

I don't really consider myself gender normative, so the whole idea of existing in the world as a female drummer is bizarre to me. I don't think of myself as female (or male for that matter). But I guess that other people perceive me as female and that's how it is. That Kate Schellenbach interview in the previous post about female drummers got me to thinking about how I'm treated.

Mostly I feel like people get excited and think that I "rock" merely because I am "female" and play the drums. This happens at gigs. Women especially come up to me and make a big deal out of it. This annoys me because it means that I can't trust what they say. They have no idea if I'm a good or bad drummer...but they say I'm awesome. I also worry that the men don't evaluate me objectively...I worry it's more of a "that girl isn't bad" pat on the head thing...like the fact that I have the guts to play and don't totally suck means I'm okay. Both are annoying.

I've noticed this wrt to Kim Deal too...people say all the time how much she rocked in the Pixies. But from what I can see...she wasn't much of a bass player. What...just because she's female and picked up a bass she rocks?

There's probably a level of discrimination too...but I'm not sure that I'm aware of it. There are probably guys who wouldn't want to play with me. Certainly I've learned that, because I have a gender neutral name, when I respond to a Craig's List ad the person always assumes I am male. And I kind of like that, because it gets me past the front door...and it shields me from creeps. I know that they aren't planning to rape me and they aren't hoping I'm a hot chick (only to be disappointed that I am fat and masculine)...cause they think I'm a guy.

I think that, once I'm in a band, I assert myself pretty quickly personality wise, so it doesn't seem to be a problem once things fall into place. Usually I forget that I am being perceived as female by the other members once I'm in the band. I feel like one of the guys.

And then there is the concept of the "all girls band." I love the Go Gos...but it is for their music, not their gender. I kind of don't like "all girls bands" and I don't think I'd ever want to be in one...not on purpose anyway. If I happened to start a band with only women in it that's be different. I kind of don't get it.

Kate Schellenbach

Whilst digging through Pixies to The Breeders bass fax I stumbled across the name Kate Schellenbach, who was apparently the original drummer for The Beastie Boys and for Luscious Jackson.

I have not ever really listened to The Beastie Boys OR Luscious Jackson. Just like, until recently, I'd not listened to Pixies or The Breeders. So I don't have much to say about her.

Myspace here.
Fan page here...includes interviews with Drum magazine like this one about female drummers.

Luscious Jackson - Here (1995)


With The Beastie Boys in 1983:

Gig, High Noon, Dec 19th, w/ Underculture

Really nice photos of this show up at You Be the Mouse.

I didn't properly rehash this gig in a post yet (think it was part of another post).

I used my own kit. Rested well before the show. Had 2 PBRs before playing. My performance was better than at Mickey's on Dec 12th, but not as good as at Frequency on Jan 8th. We cleared $53 after paying the door and soundguy. Turnout seemed low to me, so I was suprised that we made as much money as we did...but the High Noon is so big that it is really hard to judge attendance. I had a number of friends there.

Set list:
1. WARSAW
2. WE ARE THE ONE
3. YOU STUPID FUCKING LIBERALS
4. THE WAY I LOVE YOU
5. THIS SIDE OF PARADISE
6. MANIAC
7. TEENAGE KICKS
8. FABLE
9. SUSPECT DEVICE
10. DANCE (4X) TO THE RADIO
11. EVERYBODY’S HAPPY NOWADAYS
12. PART TIME PUNKS
13. HELICOPTER
14. POLITICAL SONG FOR MICHAEL JACKSON TO SING
15. BOSCOBEL BREAKOUT
16. FUCKED UP AND WASTED

Gig, Frequency, Jan 8th w/ The Gomers

I haven't been doing a very good job of organizing gig posts. I think that I might have been trying to hide who I am a bit too much. So here's the start of better tracking.

The show on Friday was the best performance that I've had since the Labor Day show. The only glitch was that I was sharing a kit with The Gomers. I thought I'd have time to adjust it to my liking before starting to play. But the set change was quicker than I'd anticipated, and there was a microphone to be dealt with. So essentially I didn't get a chance to move anything. This was possibly for the best from a gig flow standpoint, since we were switching back and forth between bands. That would have meant three sessions of adjustments. I at least had the fore site to bring my own throne, so that I knew how high I'd sit. This was a major problem at Mickey's. I will always bring my own throne from here on out.

As to the setup, basically, he plays with his snare angled away from him (he plays traditional grip) and with his toms essentially flat. I play with my snare and toms angled towards me. I could live with the toms flat...but the snare meant I kept hitting the rim. I don't mind rim shots, but this was all rim and no head. I tried a quick adjustment, but he had the stand turned so that the angle maxed out...so it couldn't be changed quickly.

We played a 15 minute set and then took a break. Right before our second 15 minute set there was a cartoon showed. The Gomers were done for the night. So during the cartoon I crawled up on stage (under where the cartoon was showing) and turned the snare drum around and adjusted the angle. After that I was pretty golden.

His setup was as follows. Pretty old trashed kit. K series crash:


Even with the set up problems, my playing was excellent. I don't know why, but his snare was really easy to play. Fills came off of it super easily. It was weird. After the show I asked him how he tuned...pretty high with a loose snare. 13 " drum. Don't know why it was so nice.

My right foot too was spot on...which I guess they heard in the green room and complimented. I was like a different person from the last two shows.

The throne was one point of success...but other than that I'm not sure what the difference was. I've been practicing, but I've still been totally inconsistent one day to the next. I tried to rest for a few days before the show (no strenuous exercise on my ankles)...but actually forgot to get enough sleep. We had dress rehearsal 8-9pm the night before the show. It was an early show...6-8pm. I had 3 beers before the gig (more than usual) starting at 5pm...and 1 at set break. All PBRs. I also had two glasses of water. I ate a cheeseburger and fries an hour before the show. We cleared $40 after The Gomers met their "reserve" (whatever that was). Turnout was really good...I'd guess in excess of 50 people (@ $5 a pop...you do the math on the "reserve"). Celebutards MC'ed and did glam makeovers...prizes, cake, promo on radio. Photos by JW, who was my only guest.

Set list:
1. HELICOPTER
2. PART TIME PUNKS
3. BOSCOBEL BREAKOUT
4. YOU STUPID FUCKING LIBERALS
5. THE WAY I LOVE YOU
6. DANCE (4X) TO THE RADIO
7. MANIAC
Set 2
8. WE ARE THE ONE
9. TEENAGE KICKS
10. EVERYBODY'S HAPPY NOWADAYS
11. WARSAW
12. SUSPECT DEVICE
13. FUCKED UP AND WASTED
14. Starman w/ Gomers

Next show Jan 22nd at Mickey's. Also sharing a kit, a really nice one.

Shoddy Heart

The jazz-esque hat and ride work on this one gives me fits.