No post in 3 months?
And that was a fake one. 4 months since I've put any thought into it. Here's a glimpse into my life:
Just had Rocky Horror Weekend which was one hell of a show. For those of you who didn't know, I directed Rocky Horror Picture Show this year. It was the first of any kind of directing experience, and I haven't done much theater outside of Rocky. What I lacked in directing skills, I made up for in knowing the movie like the back of my hand from seeing it SO MANY FUCKING TIMES. More than that, it was very much an exercise in Staying On Top Of My Shit, and I always welcome a challenge. Stressful times were had, but the show came together very nicely- many said it was the best show they've seen (although I think I hear that every year... maybe we're just getting better). For me the most important part was that the cast was excited and enthusiastic enough to want to make the show awesome. A lot of things just happened naturally because of this. This was a pivotal year because a lot of the people who have been running the show are graduating/leaving, but the cast this year was roughly half freshmen who got really into it, so the Rocky Horror torch will be passed!
So... that's been sucking a good deal of my free time and creative energies over the past two months, particularly in this past week! I have played very little music recently. Now that Rocky is over, I'm ready to dive right in and redirect all that creative energy to its rightful place in my soul. I just want to create, sing, feel. I started singing what I play when I play drums. I'll imitate the sounds of the drums with onomatopoeias, some sort of scat-beatbox cacophony that speaks my soul. Baboom toom da da da baboom deeeee ta! It's blurring the line between singing, speaking and playing drums. It's telling a story. It's something I've put thought into the implications but never just went ahead and did it.
I'm starting to bring those sort of things to life. Focusing on my weaknesses. Developing a repertoire. I have three heroes at the moment; three legends of early jazz drumming. They say if you're going to play this music right you have to fall in love with it first- don't do it from that academic perspective. Well I'm well past that part and I feel something real. Tony Williams (mid-late Miles Davis drummer) praises these three drummers as epitomizing the three aspects of the perfect drummer: creativity (Philly Joe Jones), feeling (Art Blakey), and technique (Max Roach).
I thought about what that means to me and then I realized how I came to be the drummer I am today. If I can say anything consistent about Funk Apteryx's approach to music it has been to seek out creativity and originally at the cost of quality and reproducibility.
As for feeling, I've spent 2 years in an African drumming ensemble which has by far had the most impact on my music intellectually and metaphysically (it has also been the catalyst between many revelations about how society/philosophy/life/music/art/love/language/just about anything works but that deserves its own post if I ever get around to it). But the teacher is the most brilliant man just trying to make it in the music world armed only with his ideas, he did something I will never be able to thank him enough for. He taught me how to FEEL music. I can't explain it any other way.
As for technique, this is where I am by far the weakest. The physical ability to perform what I FEEL and what I want to CREATE. Kind of important, eh? I've had some amazing teachers over the years for this, including the guy who first told me how to hold the sticks, another person I will never truly be able to thank. I'm taking lessons now from a hardcore technique guy. Ain't nothing that can stop me now.
So there you have it. A glimpse of what's going on in my head/in my hands. A glimpse of what's to come. The music part of my soul is getting restless, it's a needy child. It's jumping up and down screaming to be let out. I'm gonna do something with it. I'm gonna baboom boom chaaaaaa, if you know what I mean, because the secret to life is that if you can sing in rhythm you can rule the world.
Ain't nothing that can stop me now.
Just had Rocky Horror Weekend which was one hell of a show. For those of you who didn't know, I directed Rocky Horror Picture Show this year. It was the first of any kind of directing experience, and I haven't done much theater outside of Rocky. What I lacked in directing skills, I made up for in knowing the movie like the back of my hand from seeing it SO MANY FUCKING TIMES. More than that, it was very much an exercise in Staying On Top Of My Shit, and I always welcome a challenge. Stressful times were had, but the show came together very nicely- many said it was the best show they've seen (although I think I hear that every year... maybe we're just getting better). For me the most important part was that the cast was excited and enthusiastic enough to want to make the show awesome. A lot of things just happened naturally because of this. This was a pivotal year because a lot of the people who have been running the show are graduating/leaving, but the cast this year was roughly half freshmen who got really into it, so the Rocky Horror torch will be passed!
So... that's been sucking a good deal of my free time and creative energies over the past two months, particularly in this past week! I have played very little music recently. Now that Rocky is over, I'm ready to dive right in and redirect all that creative energy to its rightful place in my soul. I just want to create, sing, feel. I started singing what I play when I play drums. I'll imitate the sounds of the drums with onomatopoeias, some sort of scat-beatbox cacophony that speaks my soul. Baboom toom da da da baboom deeeee ta! It's blurring the line between singing, speaking and playing drums. It's telling a story. It's something I've put thought into the implications but never just went ahead and did it.
I'm starting to bring those sort of things to life. Focusing on my weaknesses. Developing a repertoire. I have three heroes at the moment; three legends of early jazz drumming. They say if you're going to play this music right you have to fall in love with it first- don't do it from that academic perspective. Well I'm well past that part and I feel something real. Tony Williams (mid-late Miles Davis drummer) praises these three drummers as epitomizing the three aspects of the perfect drummer: creativity (Philly Joe Jones), feeling (Art Blakey), and technique (Max Roach).
I thought about what that means to me and then I realized how I came to be the drummer I am today. If I can say anything consistent about Funk Apteryx's approach to music it has been to seek out creativity and originally at the cost of quality and reproducibility.
As for feeling, I've spent 2 years in an African drumming ensemble which has by far had the most impact on my music intellectually and metaphysically (it has also been the catalyst between many revelations about how society/philosophy/life/music/art/love/language/just about anything works but that deserves its own post if I ever get around to it). But the teacher is the most brilliant man just trying to make it in the music world armed only with his ideas, he did something I will never be able to thank him enough for. He taught me how to FEEL music. I can't explain it any other way.
As for technique, this is where I am by far the weakest. The physical ability to perform what I FEEL and what I want to CREATE. Kind of important, eh? I've had some amazing teachers over the years for this, including the guy who first told me how to hold the sticks, another person I will never truly be able to thank. I'm taking lessons now from a hardcore technique guy. Ain't nothing that can stop me now.
So there you have it. A glimpse of what's going on in my head/in my hands. A glimpse of what's to come. The music part of my soul is getting restless, it's a needy child. It's jumping up and down screaming to be let out. I'm gonna do something with it. I'm gonna baboom boom chaaaaaa, if you know what I mean, because the secret to life is that if you can sing in rhythm you can rule the world.
Ain't nothing that can stop me now.