Light Your Drums On Fire
dannie@deathoftheweb.com
This book is dedicated to all the awesome people in Southern Ohio. Ohio is truly a special place and is often misunderstood and under appreciated. When I talk about Ohio, I don't mean just the natives. I'm talking about all the awesome people that come and go. This book is copyrighted. You can download it and share it if you want. I give you permission. Email me: dannie@deathoftheweb.com I run a social networking site called Deathoftheweb.com. That is where we upload all our music. Check it out. If you can't get in, just send me an email and I'll sign you up.
deathoftheweb.com
You Are Not A Drummer The first step towards becoming the world's best drummer is to hate the drums. I know this sounds weird, but its the truth. The world works in strange ways and I've learned that the more you want something, the harder it is to get it. If you love playing the drums and you want to be a good drummer, there is a very good possibility that you will be terrible at the drums for the rest of your life. Drummers have the ability to get too wrapped up with identifying themselves as drummers. You are not a drummer. You are nothing. You are are you. When you start thinking of yourself as a drummer your ego will take over your music. You should always assume that you are such an amazing drummer that you have no reason to impress anyone. Insecure drummers try to show off and play the drums in such a way that turns people off. Remember, you are an amazing at playing the drums. What people think of you doesn't matter. You know you are good, so you shouldn't try to impress them.
Throw out the drum magazines and all the fancy drum equipment. Who cares about drums? You know what you should care about? You should care about learning how to write really amazing songs. You should learn who you are, so that you can accurately express your energy through the music. You should learn about the world, so that you have good song material. You should learn how to rock so hard that girls, want to shake their butts. Everything in the Universe is connected to each other. You have the potential to learn more about playing drums, doing something completely unrelated to drumming. Try learning how to play the piano, learn how to play the guitar, or learn how to sing. Or you could even crazier and learn how Kung Fu, or study Tibetan Bhuddihsm. You have to expand your mind beyond the idea of playing the drums. Abandon the drums. Hate the drums. They are your enemy. Pick them up and throw them through a window. They are useless, annoying, pieces of junk. Once you have realized this, you can begin to learn how to play them properly.
How To Rock Hard Many drums think the primary purpose of playing drums, is to express to the audience how good of a drummer they are. This style of thinking is very, very wrong. If you play drums for this reason, immediately go to your drum set and kick it as hard as you can.
Ultimately, divisive forces feed on energy that divides and alienates human beings from each other. Most of this energy is created through your perception of reality. Your mind loves to feed off this negative energy and most musicians cannot control it.
Once you have kicked your drums out of pure disgust for their existance, come back and finish reading this section.
So this is why so many drummers sit behind a drum set and start thinking to themselves: "I"m such an awesome drummer, I wonder if those girls out in the audience think I'm a good drummer, Man, that girl over there is hot, I bet she thinks I'm super awesome. Man I'm so good at drums. Watch me do this drum fill, oh yeah that was awesome. I am so awesome. I bet that girl is going to go home and tell her friends 'Yeah that drummer in that band is good.'"
(Go Kick the Drums) Ok. Now that you are back, we need to discuss some very cosmic and deep topics so please pay close attention. There are two cosmic forces in the universe. Many eastern cultures call them "Yin and Yang." Christians refer to the forces as God and Satan. Regardless of what you want to call it or how you want to define it, these two forces are powerful. These two forces are extremely powerful in themselves and can represent a positive versus negative aspect. Here is how I view the two cosmic universal forces. All energy in the Universe is either being divided away from each other or is being attracted inwards. The divisive forces of the Universe is what separates and classifies human beings into categories. These categories can include race, religion, class, ethnicity, musical taste, age, gender, sexuality, nationality, etc. The list can go on and on.
This type of thinking will be the downfall to your musical career. What happens when that thinking arises, is you are dividing yourself from the band. Not only are you dividing yourself from your band, you are dividing yourself from the audience. According to your mind, the entire night is all about you proving to everyone how good you are. But this should never occur, because you are not a drummer. Since you're not a drummer, who cares if people think you're good or not. If you don't care if people think you're good or not, then there is no reason to even think about anything when you're playing.
You need to abandon the negative and divisive energy that flows through you. If you have trouble controlling the negative energy, then just become aware of it. Realize that your mind is being controlled by negative emotions and thought processes. Once you realize their existance, you will eventually be able to ignore them. Now its time to embrace the positive energy. The positive energy is the force that attracts all human beings to each other. Many people when they go to a rock show, feel very self-concious about who they are, the way they look, and what they're wearing.
Some people are fat, some people are skinny. Some people are bald and some people have acne. Some people are very tall and some people are short. Some people have lots of money, other people don't have any money. Positive energy is the force that allows human beings to stop worrying about these superficial aspects of the human experience. It allows people to feel comfortable with who they are and it creates deeper and meaningful connections throughout the human race. This is the energy that you need to tap into. Instead of trying to find ways to make people think you're cool. Try to tap into an attitude where you can show other people how cool they are. This will cosmically reverse the direction of your drumming. I know this is a very far out concept, but it works. Trust me. You don't have anything to prove to anyone. You don't have to impress anyone. Your band and the audience are all in this together. You all have to work together in order to have a fun show.
So now that you, your band, and the audience are all working together to have a good time, you can begin to rock out harder then you ever have before. Now remember, you have a lot of power as a drummer. You control the songs. If you stop playing, everyone else will immediately lose the energy. This is why its very important for you to be able to communicate with everyone on stage and the audience, non-verbally. You need to learn how to read body language and read people's eyes. Your ultimate goal when you go to strike the drums, is to make girls shake their butts. Girls want to dance and guys want to watch them dance. So you need to play drum beats that will make girls dance. Focus on playing your drum beats in a very solid manner. You should be super relaxed and your back, neck, and head should be straight. Play the drums loud, clear, and tight. Don't try to show off by playing too many notes or drum fills. Just focus on making girls dance. However, you're not going to be able to make the girls dance all by themselves. You have to cosmically unite with the bass player. Bass players and drummers have to be very good friends. If they aren't good friends, then the band will never work. Drummers and bass players have to form a psychic connection in order to lay down grooving bangers. The singers, keyboardists, guitarists are going to be the ones that are going to have to get the girls to dance. This job is very important too. In a band, the musical foundation relies on the bass and drums. The Rhythm section will be focused on just creating the beats and bass lines, but its up to the front men to encourage people to put their egos aside and join the community on the dance floor. They can do this by dancing themselves, or talking directly to the audience. The one thing you always must remember, is that you're not alone. Everyone has to work together to make girls dance.
Last Winter/Fall I tried a diet plan to add muscle and weight to my body. I mainly focused on adding meat and dairy to my diet. I focused on using dairy products such as whey, milk, and ice cream to add the extra pounds. I gained a few pounds, but the entire process was disgusting and hard. To consume the amount of dairy it required for me to gain weight, made me sick and feel very bad. I quickly learned that if it doesn't feel right, then it isn't right. Here are the list of foods I plan on focusing on: Beans, Bread, Hummus, Pita, Bananas, Apples, Nuts, Soy Milk, Tea, Water. I'm going to ditch the coffee and drink green tea. I actually ate a beans and bread dinner last night and it filled me up in a way that meat and dairy products have never been able to do. Think about what kind of break through this will be, if a vegan diet is successful in generating muscle mass and strength. My exercise plan is currently focusing on meditation, yoga, kung fu, push ups, and pull ups. I bought a pull up bar at the sporting good store and I think its going to be a good investment. I'm not a big fan of weight lifting. It has never been effective for me and I think many people don't know how to do it properly. My old way of working out involved me straining my body as hard as it could go and then consuming large quanities of animal products. This went along with my old philisophy of life, which involved completely trampling over the universe's energy. My new exercise plan involves working with the Universe and trying to conform to the natural flow of nature. I'm going to workout in a more relaxed and natural way. If I don't feel good doing something, then I'm not going to do it. Abandoning the animal products is also a way to respect nature more and work with the flow.
Build a Drum Set Every drummer in the world has their opinion on what kind of drums and cymbals are the best. If you keep identifying yourself as a drummer you're going to try to buy as many drums and cymbals as possible. This is why drummers like Neil Peart and Terry Bozzio suck. They have way too many drums. I can't imagine having to carry around ten drums and ten cymbals. They're heavy and take forever to move. Think about all the time you're wasting carrying all these drums around. You could use that time to stretch, cosmically focus yourself, or talk to hot chicks. Whatever drum set you have works. I don't care what it looks like or what it sounds like. It works. Keep it. Don't buy a new one, ever. The only time you should buy new equipment is after you smashed your old equipment after an amazing show. Your drums sound perfect as they are. If they are loud, noisy, and ring too much, thats perfect. Drums are musical instruments and they need to sound unique. Lets the bass drum pedal squeak. I also recommend taking all the blankets out of the bass drum. The blankets kill the tone of the drum. The bass drum has to be the noisiest drum, because its what going to rumble girl's body parts. You want that thing as rumbly, noisy, and low as possible.
The snare drum needs to be pretty tight so you can hear it. I really don't recommend piccolo snare drums. Just tune the drum up high enough to where people can hear it over the guitars. Tune the toms down low to. As far as cymbals are concerned, you need to find the biggest and the heaviest cymbals you can find. The heavier they are the more they'll rock people's faces off. A lot of drummers are very particular about drum sticks. This is stupid. Who cares what kind of drum sticks you're playing with. Play with whatever you can find. Just make sure they're not cracked. If they are cracked, then just play with them anyways. If you do have a choice in drum sticks, just grab the heaviest sticks you can get. You need to scale back your drums. I only play with 1 bass drum, 1 snare drum, 1 floor tom, 1 high hat, 1 crash cymbal, and 1 ride cymbal. Its a very small drum set. I don't like having drums in front of me, because I want hot chicks to see me play. If you have a million drums in front of you, the girls can't see you rock.
Having tons of drums is extremely geeky and stupid. Not only does it look stupid, it makes you play terribly. Believe it or not, you'll actually be a better drummer if you cut back on drums and cymbals. Having a small drum set allows you to focus more on playing rock solid beats, rather than playing silly drum fills. It changes the way you think about drums and actually forces you to be a good drummer, because there isn't much you can do other than rock. If you really insist on having cowbells or additional drums, then I suggest getting a second drummer or a percussionist. Drummers have to keep the beat rocking. That is their main responsibility. If you want a bunch of extra stuff added, get another member in your band.
Practicing and Rehearsing You're not going to get any better by not playing drums. I hear so many people say "I can't play drums," but most of these people haven't spent a lot of time working at it. I don't recommend learning how to read music. Western notation is an old style and was created before the days of youtube and Ipods. You don't need to learn how to read music. If you already know how to read music, thats fine. Just try to forget everything you've ever learned about reading music. In fact, you should probably just forget anything anyone has ever told you about anything. The only way you will ever get good at playing the drums, is by playing with other people. That is really the only way it will happen. You cannot get good at playing drums, by playing the drums in a room alone. Thats very sad and depressing. In fact, the only time I ever play the drums is when I'm playing with other people. I don't even warm up before a show. Find some people to play with. I don't care what they play. If you can only find someone that plays the Saxophone, thats fine. Start a band with a drummer and a saxophone. In fact, that sounds like a really good band. If both of you aren't very good, thats ok. Who cares if you're good or not. Start out by just making stuff up. Don't try to play songs, just make stuff up. You can play really simple stuff to get you started. You need to learn how to improvise and make songs up on the spot. Don't yell at the other people in the band and tell them they're playing badly. If they are playing badly, chances are they are aware of it.
If your band sounds terrible, who cares. My first bands were really, really bad. Eventually if you stick with it, you'll get better. If you can't find anyone to play with, then you will need to play the drums along with CDs or MP3s. Put headphones on and practice playing along with your favourite music. I really recommend playing drums along to music made with drum machines. For example: Hip hop, rap, disco, drum n bass, trance, and house music are perfect genres to learn to play. Trust me, if you can learn to play drums like electronic drum machines, girls will shake their butts. You don't always have to play those genres of music, but they are excellent for developing a sense of time and a solid grooving foundation. Remember playing the drums is all about grooving. You also need to develop stamina. Play for very long periods of time and make sure to pay attention to your timing. If you can play a hip hop drum beat for 10 minutes straight without stopping, then you're on your way to becoming an excellent drummer. Remember to keep your muscles loose. Don't strain yourself and try to be comfortable. Drumming should always be fun. If you're not having fun, then you are doing something very wrong.
Recording Recording music is the single most important thing a band can do. Many bands focus heavily on live performances and neglect recording and writing. Thats not to say live performances aren't important, because they are. I grew up in a small rural village where there weren't any music venues anywhere. So the bands I was playing with, had some difficulties getting people to hear our music. This is why my bands became very dedicated to the art of recording. Live performances are often forgotten about the day after the show. However, if your band has a recording, your music will live on forever. Think about it this way: Nobody ever would listen to Mozart if he hadn't left written records of music. If his music was just played live, everyone would have forgotten about it. Since we have records of his music, we can go back and recreate it. Even though Mozart has been dead for hundreds of years, he's still one of the most popular musicians to this day.
The use of computers has also made the process extremely easy and fast to demo songs. I've been criticized in the past for the over use of computers and drum machines, but these are from people who have no recordings and will not be remembered for any musical contributions. Not to mention I've got plenty of recordings of me playing live drums, so their arguments are irrelevant. My advice to drummers and musicians who do not live in big cities, is to really focus on writing and recording. I know it can be frustrating not to have places to display your music, but you can always record and distribute your music. I know many musicians in developing nations and conservative cultures have many difficulties trying to express themselves musically. This is why recording is critical to the success of your musical career.
So this is why I'm very dedicated to the art of recording. By the age of 24, I've recorded over 12 hours worth of music. Thats not counting the material that I've lost over the years. Part of the reason I record so much, is that I'm always pushing the envelope on song writing. I love writing songs and I'm always trying to write new styles of music. Justin P. Setting Up Mics for a Recording Session
When I started recording in the late 1990s, I had a couple radio shack microphones, a 4 channel mixer and a Karaoke machine. The process produced the worst sounding recordings you could ever imagine. All the recordings had tons of room noise and high pitched hissings and noise. I guess when you're 12 years old, its not a big of a deal. However, I quickly knew that I needed to get something better. By the year 2000, I decided to go digital with computer recording. I got a personal computer running Windows M.E. and a 8 track free version of pro tools. The digital recordings instantly increased the quality of the music I made, but there was still a noticeable level of noise in the music. However with free software and being a teenager, it didn't matter too much. The editing capabilities of Pro Tools was mind blowing and completely changed the way I thought about recording. All my early bands demoed and recorded with free pro tools. Eventually one of my band mates purchased an SM57 Microphone by Shure. This single piece of studio equipment dramatically increased our recording qualities and sent us on a path to produce more music then ever before. From 1999-2008 was a nightmare making computer technology run. Compaq and Hewlitt Packard computers mixed with Microsoft software can be a massive nightmare to make work properly. The computers I had during those periods were terribly unstable. Eventually my Pro tools machine crashed and I was forced to find a new computer system. I purchased a Hewlitt Packard with Windows XP. It didn't support Pro Tools so I was forced to find new software again.
Trevor Denounce and I recorded one of our bands in highschool called Logic 9 in the year 2002. Trevor engineered the album with Acid. We decided to stop using guitar amps to reduce microphone noise and purchased a J-Station Guitar Amp Simulator. This technique we've stuck with all our lives. I was never able to make guitar amps sound properly with low budget equipment and the best answer was just to find ways not to use them. Eventually I put computer program called Cool Edit on my computer that year with the sequencer Fruity Loops. The main reason I started using Fruity Loops was to use it as a drum machine. In order to reduce excess noise even further, I decided to start replacing live drums with a digital drum machine. I eventually got rid of the J Station and upgraded to a Line 6 Pod Amp Simulator. Using that with the Fruity Loops sequencer and Cool Edit produced some very high quality recordings. I used them system for years. I eventually got sick of using Microsoft related products and some of my fellow producers started switching to Macs, so in 2008 I bought a Macbook. I started making recordings with Garageband. Later that year I purchased the Torq Mix Lab and began remixing and DJing.
Many artists try to get the most expensive equipment they can. I've never cared about expensive gear and I've always kept my recording rigs very simple and easy to use. I've got so much creative energy, that I care more about the quantity of music I write, as opposed to the quality. Not to say that the quality of music is bad, because it isn't. My advice is to just work with what you have. I've never upgraded a computer recording system, unless my current one completely crashed. Save your money and focus on your song writing. Thats what really matters in the long run.
In the Studio with Banderas
Metallica Sucks And Here is Why Napster was one of the first file sharing programs that I ever used for music. The concept of Napster was that you could log in, type in the artist you wanted, and instantly download their songs straight to your computer. To me, it wasn't about stealing music. Napster allowed me to download music that I normally would have never heard of. You could also easily make friends with people from all over the world who had similar music tastes. Back in 2000 and 2001, this was an incredibly liberating way of distributing music. This was the beginning of an explosion of music sharing and networking with other music fans throughout the world. During this time, I could record a song and send it instantly to anyone in the world through Napster. Words can't express how mind blowing this was for me. Eventually the blood sucking recording industry, controlled by the military industrial complex, partnered with Metallica in a lawsuit to destroy Napster. They were successful and the quest for an efficient online music distribution system would continue for another decade.
Those of us who wanted to distribute our music to the world would face massive problems and repeat instances. By 2004, Myspace was quickly becoming a hott way of uploading music and networking with music fans. The website got really popular, really fast and was bought out by another totalitarian media conglomerate known as News Corp. It didn't take long for Myspace to go straight down the toilet and become the most uncool website on earth. My bands turned to Facebook and Last.FM, which also saw similar fates. Bit Torrents websites have also suffered similar fates of attacks and buyouts by massive corporations. As of right now, I feel like there are no effective ways to distribute music over the internet. Maybe the internet is a failed experiment. Maybe global music distribution was never meant to happen.
Banderas at The Mockbee. 2007. Cincinnati, OH
In the Studio Recording in a band can either be a really fun experience, or an experience that will kill your band. I've had both experiences and the older I get the more I realize why these experiences came about. As far as I'm concerned, playing songs should be really easy to do. You shouldn't have any difficulty recording your songs. If you do have difficulty, then something is wrong. Always warm up before you start recording. Stretch, do some yoga, and practice some beats to get you loose and comfortable. Try to keep your mind calm and cool. Make sure you eat some good healthy food. Don't drink soda pop or eat junk food. I recommend drinking tea and eating easily digestible vegetarian food. If you're going into the studio, you've really got to let go of your ego. Try to ignore any negative and divisive emotions. Be nice to the people your working with and always listen to what they have to say. Playing in a band is all about compromise. I've had to learn this the hard way. However, always trust your gut and your instincts. If you feel like something should be done a certain way, try to explain it to the band. Don't trust what your mind tells you to do. Don't do what you think other people want. Just try to do what you FEEl is right. Always go with your feelings. There is no room for analytical minds in the recording process.
I've been in so many situations in life, where you have way too many people making decisions. Try to stay out of other people's affairs when you're in the studio. Just focus on playing the drums the best you can. Don't worry about the guitarist, bassist, or vocalists. They have their own issues to worry about and if you start cramming advice down their throat, they're going to get upset. This could cause some serious bad vibes in the studio. Recording is suppose to be super fun. You should be laughing, smiling, and experimenting with new songs and sounds. I always look at recording as a creative process. Being in the studio, is your chance to make music the way you want to, without any limits of the stage. Take advantage of it. Add some bongos, shakers, and hand claps. Go nuts. The trick with modern recording is that you can always take stuff out after you've recorded it. If your guitarist wants to add something to a song and you don't think its a good idea, just let him do it. He'll have more fun and it will keep him in a good mood. If it sucks and sounds like garbage, he'll be smart enough to realize that in postproduction. Just take it out later. Always remember that music is not a serious business. You're not curing cancer and your not building homes for the homeless. You're playing the drums. So don't worry about it. If you record something and it sounds like garbage, the absolute worst thing that can happen is you have to rerecord the song. I think you can deal with that.
If you're having trouble recording a song, don't keep focusing on the same song over and over. Move on to another song and come back to it later. Music is all about vibing and if you can't vibe on something then it isn't going to work. If your band is having arguments and difficulties, there is no reason to get upset or mad. Really smart and cool people don't argue with each other. They just deal with the situation like a self-confident mature adults. Step up and be a leader if you have to. I don't mean start telling people what to do. Don't do that. Instead, try to see both sides of the story and focus on getting your band members to let go of their egos and be more constructive. Remember really cool people don't get mad at each other, unless they're talking about ridiculous topics. One trick my band has been using in the studio is this: Whenever we start running into trouble and the energy isn't there, we just go outside and start talking about something completely unrelated to music. After we finish our conversation we go back in and we usually play way better. The reason for this, is that we're getting our minds out the music. Try to experiment with different ways to get your mind out of the music. After you're done recording, make CDs and listen to the songs in your car. Its really hard to tell what sounds good or what sounds bad after you've been banging on loud drums all day. It will take a few days to tell if what you recorded was any good or not. If its not good, thats ok. Just figure out ways to make it better. Remember recording music is suppose to be easy and fun. If its not easy and fun, then you're doing something wrong.
In the Studio With Banderas
Creativity I don't understand how anyone could have trouble writing songs. I never suffer from writers block. If you have trouble writing songs, then perhaps you're not channelling your creative energy.
Bands start running into serious trouble with song writing, when they start using their minds to construct songs. Minds are dangerous, diabolic, and manipulative. Don't trust your mind to write a song.
Every musician knows deep down inside what and how they want to play their instrument. If you are connected with your inner-self, you can channel that energy and rock out. If you have trouble listening to your inner-self, then you have problems. I've run into this many times, when bands have told me what to play or how to play the drums. Eventually you can get yourself into a situation where you start playing what you think everyone wants to hear, rather than what naturally flows out of you.
So many people always think to themselves "I don't know what to do." This is in regards to everything in life such as: careers, romantics partners, or song writing. I don't ever believe someone who says "I don't know." These types of people are always using their minds to let them rationalize situations. That is stupid.
Drummers have a natural deep fire inside of them. In order to truly be creative, you have to figure out ways to completely ignore your mind and let your inner energy take over the instrument. Notice when people drive cars, they don't even think about driving the car. They don't worry if they're driving the car correctly or what people think of them. They just drive. Thats how playing music needs to be. Don't think about it. Don't worry about what people think. Just tap into the innerenergy and let it flow out of you. Don't control it and don't worry about it. Just go. Music does not come from the mind. Well, some music comes from the mind, but thats how we get terrible music. Good music comes out of the heart. Its about a group of people who have a natural passion and fire inside of them, letting that energy out of their body through the use of a musical instrument.
I might not know what the best thing to do is from a logical stand point, but in each and every situation I know what my hearts wants. When you have the ability to really connect with your inner-self and let your heart take over the music, then writing songs will be super easy.
Justin P. Rocking Out In Our Studio
Shows Abandon the self-destructive bar scene. Drugs and alcohol aren't helping anyone, except the CEOs of the companies that make them. I'm not saying you shouldn't ever play in a bar, but I think you should be very picky about what kind of bar shows you play. Here in Southern Ohio, we have a lot of non-profit art/music venues that are dedicated to giving people a voice in the community. The people that run the venues aren't motivated by money, egos, or sex. Instead they feel its important that there should be a community of people that can come together and promote positive lifestyles. These are the types of venues that you need to play in. We also have a lot of charity fund-raisers here in the Southern Ohio that support many different causes in the community. If you live in a rural part of the world and don't have access to positivecommunity based music venues, then start making steps towards creating one. When I was in high-school we started music venues out of garages and basements. Find a place to play. It could be a barn, basement, or a garage. Make friends with other artists, musicians, writers, and poets. Get all these people together and have an event where you could utilize the talents of all these different people. You don't have to have shows all the time, but good shows come in groups. If nobody shows up to the first show you have, that doesn't mean people aren't interested. Have another one, and you might have better success.
The goal of your show should be to bring people together and to break down barriers between people. Don't do it for superficial reasons such as money, sex, or other ego related thinking. Once you have a community full of people, try to branch out to other cities, states, or countries. Try to communicate with them by using technology or word of mouth. See if you can book other musical acts to come and perform at your space. Diversity of cultures is always a good goal to have. After you have successfully helped other touring bands, then they will be more than happy to help you perform in their city. I really suggest trying to branch out into communities and territories that other bands don't usually go to. Remember, your goal as a musician is to bring people together. Don't have an attitude that one place is better than another. That isn't cool.
Banderas at Cincy Punk Fest 2006
Slavery You're never going to be able to become the greatest drummer of all time if you have 5 kids, a wife, a job, a mortage, and massive credit card debt. All of those things will bog you down and force you to do things you don't want to do. So many people wake up in the morning and do exactly what someone else tells them to do. They do this all day long. Some of these people do this everyday of their lives. There are tons of people out there that tell you what to do: Cops, banks, employers, wives, husbands. So many people are completely oblivious to the fact that they are living their lives, without doing anything they actually want to do. In fact, as far as they are concerned its completely natural to live in complete slavery. Well, its not. You can do what whatever you want to do. I know this is probably hard for you to believe, but its the truth. You don't have to go to work. You don't have to pay your bills. You don't have to blindly obey your girlfriend. Stop. Take a look at what you're doing right now. Who is calling the shots in your life? Do you eat lunch when you're hungry? Do you sleep when you're sleepy? Do you have the ability to concentrate on matters that you think are important? People have been completely brainwashed and manipulated into being heartless zombie slaves. There are tons of different ways people are pressured into this and there are a lot of people involved: Religious institutions, governments, families, big businesses. Even people in your own family maybe systematically training you like a puppy.
Banderas in 2006. Photo by Ryan Thomas
Business Its completely pathetic the state that men have found themselves in these days. Instead of being businessmen, they're adopting pathetic jobs such as waiters, house keepers, and Wal Mart employees. Instead of taking risks and trying to manage their own finances, they depend on steady paychecks from large corporations. Once they get their pay checks, they instantly hand all their money over to the banks. There was a time, when Men could take care of themselves. Now they are dependant on corporations and banks to provide everything to them. But thats what we're told right? Get a job. Open a bank account. Thats what people have told me my entire life. What do you even need money for anyways? It won't make you taller. It won't make you better looking. It won't make you smarter. And believe it or not, it won't even get you laid. Yeah thats right. Regardless of what anyone tells you, money will not solve any of your problems. So instead of focusing all your attention on how to get a job. Maybe you should refocus your attention on yourself. You need to figure out a way to make yourself a stronger, happier,smarter, and healthier person. All you will ever have in life is yourself. So YOU need to be your number one priority.
Your job is not more important than your mental and physical health. Your hot girlfriend is not more important than your mental and physical health. Nothing is more important than your physical and mental health. Money is really easy to make. Its really, really easy to make. In fact, you could probably get someone to pay you a bunch of money to sit around and write a book about how to play the drums, like I'm doing right now. So now you ask: "If money is so easy to make, then why are there so many poor people?" The reason there are poor people is because those people have been conditioned and brainwashed into being slaves. They can only do what they are told to do, rather than doing what they want to do. There for, if there isn't a spot for them in the slave army, then they are screwed, because they are completely dependant on everyone else. In fact those slaves, are the ones who want money the most. Thats why they are brainwashed into doing whatever they are told, because they believe that one day they might get into the club of rich people. In order to make any progress in your life, you're going to need to learn how to be happy, confident, and strong, regardless of how much money is in your bank account. If you have any serious dreams of playing the drums, you can't fall into that trap. You will more than likely have to find a way to earn money yourself, without the security of having a job. That means becoming a businessman.
Businessmen call their own shots and make their own decisions. They aren't forced into doing things they don't want to do and they have the ability to pick and choose who they do business with. Corporations are legally binding entities that are required to make as much money as possible. In other words, corporations are all about money. However, if you're an independent businessman, your goals can be whatever you want them to be. You can use your business to promote any type of lifestyle or agenda you choose to. You need to learn how to survive and be happy without any money. Because face it, life is unpredictable and weird. One day you might be very, very broke. When that day comes, you don't want to panic and freak out, you'll want to be prepared. Lets start with your internal knowledge. You need to go out and face situations where money is completely useless. I highly recommend backpacking in very remote places. I do this as much as possible with a few like minded individuals. America's wilderness is absolutely beautiful and stunning. Throw out your expensive vacation plans and rough it with a backpack. Its a much cheaper vacation and you can learn more about yourself in the wilderness then you can at some disgusting theme park. Learn how to live without electricity. Learn how to cook on an open fire. Learn how to gather food and build a shelter. There are tons of people out there, that know way more about this stuff than I do. I highly suggest you learn from them or read some books on those subjects. Go out and experience life. Camping gear isn't very expensive. Enter the wild.
Survival isn't just about the wilderness. There is urban and suburban survival tactics too. One time my friend and I took a weekend trip to a music festival in a neighbouring city. We were broke and just had enough gas money to get there and back. We survived the whole weekend by talking to people and being nice to people. People took pity on us and fed us. While another group of people let us stay at their house. Experiences like that will teach you that people are genuinely good hearted. Once your realize that you have the ability to depend on people for help in the time of need, you'll realize how beautiful the world really is. Don't get me wrong, I think its very important to be self-sufficient and independent. But when trouble arises, you need to turn to ordinary people for help. Don't rely on governments and corporations for help. Food is relatively cheap. Learn how to cook. Experiment with different types of food. Learn about food from other parts of the world. Food, clothes, and shelter is all you legitimately need. All three of those things can be very cheap if you are smart and prepared. If you lost your place to live, you should be ready to sleep anywhere. If you're a person who has serious comfort issues then you need to get over them. You have to learn how to be comfortable in all situations.
All of this is extremely important for drummers to understand. Being a musician is a very strange and unpredictable lifestyle. You might be required to travel a lot or hang out with very weird people. The only way you'll be able to do it, is if you learn how to handle crazy situations. Most of that comes with experience. Learning to live without money is extremely important because it also teaches you about what you really need. You could be surprised to learn that things you're spending money on are actually ruining your life. Money is a mechanism that is used to brainwash and manipulate people. People are persuaded into doing things they hate, just because they are afraid of not getting any money. Once you realize that you could live your life without ever having any money, those people will have no control over you. It gets even worse with the use of corporate advertising and ridiculous stereotypes. Many men are told that they will never get a girlfriend unless they have money. This is a disgusting and sexist myth that is used to keep guys chasing the corporate dragon. Men that have trouble getting women are the ones that are living in fear and slavery. Corporate propaganda teaches men that following their boss's every command is somehow a ticket to getting women. Its not.
Drug Abuse Musicians are notorious for getting bad omens. Most bad things that will happen to you, are going to be attracted to you by your internal thoughts and feelings. Music is a very, very powerful force and many musicians are very sensitive to unbalanced cosmic energy. If you have a long period of time where bad things keep happening to you, you might have a BIG problem. Listen to yourself. Do you feel like you? Or sometimes do you feel like your intentionally destroying yourself? How does your body feel? Are you happy? Are you comfortable around a group of people? A lot of drummers have a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. I'm not telling you that its terrible to ever experiment with drugs or alcohol, but you need to be very careful with what you do. When people think about the use of drugs and alcohol they think of the damages it could cause to their liver or their lungs. They often ignore the trauma that it can bring to their emotions or their feelings. When you start using drugs, your going to start thinking and feeling differently. You better be very aware of those feelings and emotions. How do you view the world when you're using drugs and alcohol? How do you view the world when your sober? Do you feel better or worse?
If you're not careful, you could seriously damage your internal self or quite possibly bury the real you. Maybe drugs and alcohol can help you see the world in a different way, but who says that way is any better. Many musicians dig themselves into very dark psychological places. Instead of trying to help themselves, they selfmedicate with drugs and alcohol. This fuels the dark aspects of their minds and bodies. However, drugs have been used throughout world history to provide enlightenment to many great minds. If you use drugs or alcohol, I urge you to be very aware of the way it makes you feel. If you think you're developing a bad omen, then you need to immediately seek out help. You can go to a medical doctor, if you wish. The first step is to realize that something is wrong. Once you become aware of your problem, then the solution will appear in front of you. There are tons of people on this planet who are harbouring secret wisdom, find them. They'll give you the answers.
Many musicians are overly dependant on alcohol, when it comes to relaxing in social situations. Alcohol is very popular among drummers, because it encourages them to do things that they already want to do, but might be afraid to do. Many drummers drink a lot of alcohol before they go on stage because it allows them to relax and play their best. The problem with alcohol, is that it can severely alter your emotional and psychological state. It also makes people wreckless and stupid. If you really want to be the best drummer in the world, you need to learn how to loosen up and relax without the aid of drugs and alcohol. If alcohol makes you do things you already want to do, then why can't you just get to an internal state where you just naturally do what you want to do. Its almost as if, people are conditioned to ignore their natural feelings and desires. One of the reasons why drummers are afraid to go up on stage and let loose, is because they are worried about what people think of them. This is because many drummers lack confidence with themselves. Your main goal with learning to rock hard, is to develop confidence. There is a huge difference between being confident and acting confident. Many people act cocky and arrogant, but deep down inside they are scared to death of everything and everyone. Those people are very unlike-able and give off bad feelings to everyone around them. True confidence comes from having deep internal peace with yourself and the world. The path to developing true confidence can be much harder for some people then it is for other people, but its a path you have to take, if you want to be a good drummer.
First, you will need to break your ego. You need to realize that the thoughts in your head are just random processes of information that fire off randomly. Your mind isn't a representation of who you are. Its just a tool that your body uses to process data and provide logical reasoning to decisions. What you think and what you do are two completely different things. Just because something goes through your head, doesn't mean its reality. Its your mind's job to look at situations from different angles. Once you become aware of the thoughts in your head, you will need to learn how to ignore your mind. Music is all about playing from the heart. If you want to rock out hard, you're going to have to learn how to shut your mind down and just roll with the flow. Yoga and meditation techniques are perfect for balancing yourself out. You don't have to turn into a weird hippy or anything. Just learn a few stretches and breathing exercises. Whenever you start feeling panicked or nervous go through the exercises and you'll instantly chill out. The next thing you'll need to do, is to learn how to let go of all your frustration, anxiety, and fear. You need to make sure that deep down inside, your motivations in life are pure and healthy. If you are trying to do bad things with your life, you're going to feel scared all the time. If your life purpose is pure and good, then you'll instantly feel more comfortable and happy. When you step on stage or go into the studio, without being afraid or scared, then you'll truly be able to perform straight from the heart.
Vibrations When you strip it down to a scientific level, music is just vibrations. A musician is someone that has the ability to manipulate these vibrations in an intentional way, that will generate certain feelings and emotions. The better you can tap into these vibrations, the better musician you will be. Now most people consider music to just be an audio sensation that you experience through vibrations hitting the ear drum. This is only part of the story. Ludwig Van Beethoven was a German classical composer and pianist during the early half of the 19th century. If you haven't heard his music, then you need to go listen to him. Beethoven was a master at generating powerful emotions with his music. In other words, Beethoven rocked really hard. During his career he developed a massive loss in his hearing, which caused him to go deaf in one point in his career. Did Mozart quit playing music? No he did not. In fact, he kept on writing and conducting, even though he couldn't hear anything. Beethoven was so sensitive to the vibrations of musical instruments, that he had the ability to feel and experience music without even using his ears. In fact one of the most famous pieces of music in world history (Symphony #9 aka Ode to Joy) was written completely without the use of his hearing.
So in order to completely experience music, you will have to learn how to feel the vibrations of the instruments. This will require deep relaxation techniques that will allow you to calm your mind down and feel the body. Learn to pay very close attention to your body. Most people are so wound up with their thoughts, that they ignore what their body is telling them. Remember this: Pain, hunger, thirst, anxiety, fear, and joy are all aspects of the human experience that can be felt. If your body feels a certain way, you need to listen to it. It probably knows a lot more than your obsessive mind does.
Genres You need to listen to as much music as humanly possible. Try to keep a very open mind when it comes to music. Most people I know are very snobby when it comes to their taste in music and use bads as a way to identify themselves. For example, I'll ask someone "what kind of music do you like?" and they'll respond with I like "insert random obscure punk band." They do this because they are identifying with a specific genre of music. Some how them liking a certain band, represents who they are. If you want to be a good drummer, I highly recommend just adopting an attitude that you have really terrible taste in music. All my life I've had people telling me how much my music sucks and the music I like to listen to is really bad. When I was younger, these things use to upset me. Now I just intentionally try to make terrible sounding music. If you're always worried about impressing a music scene, you're going to end up in some sort of psychological prison. You can't worry about what people will like and what they won't like. You just have to play what is in your heart. If you just automatically assume people will hate your music, then you don't even have to worry about impressing anyone. You'll have the freedom to make good creative decisions. Try to listen to as many genres of music as you possibly can. Listen to music from different parts of the world. Africa, Latin America, and Asia have some of the slickest drummers in the world. You should definitely check out the music that comes from those parts of the world.
Stay away from classifying music. Dividing music into categories is just a way to divide people into categories. Really good musicians are more concerned with bringing people together then they are with dividing people apart. If you want to write really original sounding music, I highly recommend borrowing ideas and styles from different genres. If you just listen to the same bands over and over again, you're going to sound very stale and unoriginal. There is this concept in academia called "comparative research." In the old days, when someone was conducting a research project, they would pick a very specific area and studying it. Then they would report their findings. Researchers began seeing that looking at things from only one point of view, doesn't really tell you much about the Universe in general. In order to understand the world in a much better way, they began trying new techniques. Comparative researchers study multiple things at the same time and then try to find ways to connect and compare them. This is what you have to do with music. If you want to be the best rock musician in the world, try listening to non-rock music and see where that takes you. For example instead of listening to Led Zeppelin all day long, try listening to some Latin Jazz, Hip Hop, and Indian Spiritual music. Your mind is going to take cool things from all those genres of music and then mix them up to create something really original. That is how creativity is born. You don't have to listen to the genres I mentioned. You can listen to whatever you want. Just try expand your mind as much as possible. Listen to tons of different types of music. This will really enlarge your perspective of what can be done with a musical instrument.
Conclusion This is a positive book. I encourage musicians to take good care of their minds and bodies. It doesn't matter how much money you have or what kind of car you drive. The only thing that matters is being healthy. Be kind to people, stay away from excessive drama, and do what you want. Not what people want you to do. Oh yeah, Rock hard. Peace.