Everybody comes to play music in different ways. The beginning though is the best part because it’s unique for each musician. That first exposure shapes the way you’ll experience music forever. When I was sixteen years old my mom was pushing me towards taking up an instrument for school so that I’d become a more “well rounded” student. Mike, my twin brother, had been playing guitar for two years so guitar was out of the question. Mom said that she’s spring for either a bass or drumset but that it could only be one. I didn’t really have a preference so apathetically, I flipped a coin; heads I play drums, tails I’d play bass. Heads it was! By the end of that week, mom bought me a Pearl Forum drumset that Mike and I set up in our attic along with his little guitar amp. Needless to say, it was hard to get us to come downstairs after that point for anything less than a hot meal or school.
The first musical influence I can remember was Nirvana. Mike only knew how to play a few their hits and some Jazz he learned from his teacher. Naturally, we riffed on the more fun grunge rock music on In Utero and Nevermind. Even though I was terrible and could barely keep a solid tempo, we would play “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and headbang all the way through it until we ended up sweaty messes. These sessions with Mike brought me into the high-energy rock drumming of Dave Grohl.
At the time, there was nothing else more interesting than pounding out groove with tasty fills here and there to accent the arrangement’s changes. I can remember watching Nirvana start “Rape Me” on the ‘92 MTV Music Awards, stop the song, and start the most reckless version of “Lithium” I’d ever seen. Dave just murders the kit and sticks all of his parts with ferocity while athletically headbanging. The band’s performance was so intense that it compelled people to push through security to stage dive! Krist got a little too carried away and tried to pull the rock-star bass throw and fucked up when he caught it with his face. Regardless, that’s the effect I wanted to have on people when I played the drums. I had the sound caught in my head and the image of what it should look and feel like.
While studying at Dwight Englewood with their accomplished faculty, I simultaneously wrote and played music with all my buddies. Mikey and I had the drumset, amp, and house to play music in so we always were able to rock. Soon we began playing with our best friend Steve Sternschein and grew with him as when picked up bass guitar and studied at Dwight (Steve is now our manager and is just awesome). We were all type A personalities and loved to broadcast what we were up to, especially if we played house parties or school assemblies. Our best friend Keith had a sick house in New Jersey that he threw parties in and offered us the most fun gig we could ever think of: New Years Eve. From then on, it was the party vibe…the fun, unadulterated energy of youthful expression that charged us on stage.
In addition to rock music, I was also interested in Hip Hop. A year before I started playing drumset, I bought myself two cheap turntables and taught myself how to mix and scratch. It really helped me develop my sense of rhythm and musical taste. Discovering The Roots from a friend at school, I immediately bought as many of their records as possible. It was some of my favorite stuff to listen to and blast while driving. When I started studying drums, I noticed ?uestlove’s genious. The guy is soooo cold!!!! Straight tempo, no mistakes, incredible dynamic and emotion mixed with vicious chops and the deepest pocket. The fact that all those songs are full drum takes still blows me away today. I set out trying to learn how to play those incredible grooves. ?uestlove’s drumming led me to the original OG drummer, Clyde Stubblefield. I got so into funk after being exposed to it that everything else fell by the wayside. I wanted to be Clyde!!!!! That’s where ?uestlove got a huge amount of his chops from. Luckily, the studio we recorded in, Hickory Street Studios, had this incredible vintage yellow Yamaha Rock Tour Custom that Clyde had just finished two records on. Mike was interning for them at the time and convinced his mentor Lenny Post to sell me the kit. I still rock it when I play with Shinobi Ninja.
More than anything, the release I get from playing influences me in a huge way. Drums are loud, bombastic and respond in kind to the way you treat them. When I play with Shinobi Ninja, I’m probably covered in sweat by the second song because the energy on stage compels me to hit my parts harder than I did the last time. Everybody in the band pushes each other to perform with more intensity and passion. The reality of the situation is another huge piece of it. We’re a DIY band and put a lot of love and effort into the live events we create. By the time we’re all on stage, we will have promoted four to six weeks for that set…and we go maaaaaad hard on that promo!!!!! Its totally an everyday thing. After all that, those priceless moments on stage really count. We live it for all its worth.
Since playing with Shinobi Ninja, our persistence and hustle has brought us through a grueling live schedule with over 200 gigs since August 2008. Each show shapes me bit by bit. Whether I’m hitting new energy highs or learning how to deal with the unexpected while recklessly performing, it’s the most fun and fulfilling thing I’ve ever done with my life. Its just awesome…I live to play the drums:-D