Tom Tom Magazine Issue 35: Marching

D I S P L AY FA L L 2 0 1 8

drummers • music • feminism

$10 | €10 | £10

CONTRIBUTORS FOUNDER | PUBLISHER

Mindy Abovitz Monk (info@tomtommag.com)

MANAGING EDITOR

Liz Tracy (editorial@tomtommag.com)

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Marisa Kurk (art@tomtommag.com)

REVIEWS EDITOR

Rebecca DeRosa (hi@tomtommag.com)

TECH EDITORS

JJ Jones and Kristen Gleeson-Prata (tech@tomtommag.com)

GEAR EDITOR

JJ Jones (tech@tomtommag.com)

AMANDA SELLS Editorial Intern

BECCA FARSACE Tom Tom TV Director

CAMILA ROSA Illustrator

ZOË PETERSCHILD-FORD Intern

WEB MANAGER

Lindsey Anderson (hi@tomtommag.com)

EDITORIAL

Jasmine Bourgeois (editorial@tomtommag.com)

OFFICE

(office@tomtommag.com)

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(shop@tomtommag.com)

MARKETING + PARTNERSHIPS

Shelly Simon (partner@tomtommag.com)

PRINT WRITERS Jasmine Bourgeois, Tammy Woods, Liz Tracy, SassyBlack, Geoff Shelton, Laura L Dunn, April Aliermo, Valerie Veteto, Kristen Gleeson-Prata, Angela Sells, Lindsey Anderson

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Sofiane Boukhari, Alonso Tal, Vegas Giovanni, Hayden Oliver, Sarah Klearman, Caleb Kuhl, Geovani Ayala, Martha B

ILLUSTRATORS Jenny Tang, Camila Rosa TECH WRITERS Rene Ormae-Jarmer, Kristen GleesonPrata, Amanda Muse, Zoë Brecher

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ON THE COVER: Sasha Berliner by Alison Brady, assisted

by Chloe Riley

TOM TOM TV

THE MISSION

DISTRIBUTION

Tom Tom Magazine ® is the only magazine in the world dedicated to female and gender non-conforming drummers, beat makers, and producers.. We are a quarterly print magazine, website, social media community, IRL community, events, drum academy, custom gear shop and more. Tom Tom seeks to raise awareness about female percussionists from all over the world in hopes to inspire women and girls of all ages to drum. We intend to strengthen and build the fragmented community of female musicians globally and provide the music industry and the media with role models to create an equal opportunity landscape for any musician. We cover drummers of all ages, races, styles, skill levels, abilities, sexualities, creeds, class, sizes and notoriety. Tom Tom Magazine is more than just a magazine; it’s a movement.

Becca Farsace PDG, Annas International, TNG

PRINTER

Publimax Printing (Queens, NY)

BRAIN TRUST

Rony Abovitz, Lisa Schonberg, Kiran Gandhi, Chloe Saavedra, Itta Abovitz

THANKIES

Ima, Rony, Shani, Chris J Monk, Col Col, Falky, Harriet, Roland, Podcast team, Reverb.com, Ace Hotel Chicago, Vic's Drum Shop, Artbook MoMA PS1

Letter From the Editor

We are thrilled to finally have dedicated an issue’s theme to the powerful women and girls of drumlines. I have always had an incredible amount of respect for drum corps percussionists. I admire their attention to detail, adherence to the rules of marching, teamwork, and competitiveness. So many of these traits have become part of my business practice but were never in my drumming application, since I was a self-taught drum-set player who got a relatively late start at age 21.

Though anytime I met a drummer whose roots were planted in marching band, I knew she would be a force to be reckoned with. And it is this special power that we dig into in the issue.

We asked past and present drumline drummers to share their secrets with us, their tips and tricks, and their struggles, both personal and general, in regards to the world of drumlines. We provided the newbies with a drumline glossary (p. 48) and included tech pieces like, “How to Write a Cadence,” where we show you how to take your favorite song and transcribe it for drums (p. 60). In addition to our drumline feature stories and drummer profiles, we stepped outside the marching world to bring you interviews with Matt and Kim (p. 26), Hamilton’s percussionist Katie Steinhauer (p. 18), and activist, jazz vibraphonist Sasha Berliner (featured on our cover). Tune in.

In love and drums,

Mindy Abovitz-Monk

6 THE BEAT + THE PULSE Bands to look out for.

14 DJ SMILES DAVIS Is on the Rise.

16 THIS IS PROGRESS The Equal Rights Amendment rises again in the #MeToo era.

18 TAKE A BOW Hamilton’s Katie Steinhauer on what it’s like to drum in Broadway productions.

22 KEEP IT TOGETHER Peach Kelli Pop and Bat Fangs on keeping how to keep sane while in a band.

26 ALMOST EVERYDAY WITH MATT AND KIM Kim Schifino discusses the band’s new album.

30 DRUMMER'S GUIDE TO TORONTO From poutine to percussion shops.

38 ACTIVIST VIBES Vibraphonist Sasha Berliner’s used her blog to fight sexual violence in jazz.

44 WHERE ARE THE GIRLS? Why are there few girls in drumlines, and what can we do about it?

48 GET IT RIGHT A need-to-know glossary of drumline terminology.

50 DRUMMING DAMES These young women stick out in drumlines.

55 MARCHING ORDERS The new Netflix series shows what it’s like being in a drumline—sort of.

56 TECHNIQUE

68 REVIEWS

THE BEAT

AND

9 to Know This column highlights important stories, music, and more in the global female and nonbinary music communities.

by Geoff Shelton

WE PLAY IT ALL 1. Black Belt Eagle Scout, Mother of My Children (Saddle Creek) Black Belt Eagle Scout is the music project of Katherine Paul. She’s a self-described “radical indigenous, queer feminist” who grew up in Washington’s Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Mother of My Children, her first LP, resonates with the specificity of this geographic location, like a road trip through its austere beauty with brief but impactful visits to the sonic palette of Seattle nearby. “I don’t play music to write songs,” Paul explains in her press release, “I play music to process feelings, and sometimes what comes out of that is a song.” Written in a time of grief, the tension builds in her singer-songwriter sound through the depths of minimalism and restraint only to wallop you with the catharsis of rock ’n’ roll distortion when the healing stage of anger breaks out. These songs “are about grief and love for people,” she says, “but also about being a native person in what is the United States today.”

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2. Kadhja Bonet, Childqueen (Fat Possum Records) This transcendental second album from Kadhja Bonet is like a lucid dream on a retro-futuristic planet where the power and grace of feminine strength and spirit hold its psychedelic reality together. The musical goddesses of this land have anointed their human representative to bring us their gospel. All hail the Childqueen, or as Bonet describes it, “that innermost self that you were truthfully and instinctively before the weight of the world came crashing in.” A pure being emitting a pure sound. In mortal form, it negotiates the realities and limitations of

These three records feature insanely talented creators who write, produce, sing, and play every instrument on their albums. Negative Gemini even runs the record label on which she releases. All you have to do is listen and enjoy their mastery.

this physical existence. It extols and laments in symphonic gestures and warm grooves.

Just as you reach out to touch it, you wake up, overcome with the feeling that you’ve lived here all along. The album starts again, and Bonet’s voice echoes the opening lines across the sunrise: “Every morning brings a chance to renew.”

3. Negative Gemini, Bad Baby (100% Electronica) Lindsey French’s latest EP displays new levels of mastery, as she intricately weaves various styles of electronic, pop, and rock music, making something all her own. With the opening angelic, drum ’n’ bass of “Infin Path” and the house-cum-rock anthem of the title track, French takes us on a joy ride through the lightness, beauty, and fun of being young and in love. Then things take a turn with “You Weren’t There Anymore,” as French processes the sudden murder of her sister that occurred while creating this album. The upbeat, danceable rhythm and lighthearted guitar notes contrast with the melancholy synths and vulnerable lyrics and result in one of the most compelling and emotionally complex pop songs I’ve heard in years. From there, things get beautifully hazy in the ethereal waves of “Skydiver” and end in the raw waltzing dirge of “My Innocence.”

With Bad Baby, French offers us an intimate, personal narrative that covers more ground musically and emotionally than some musicians’ entire catalog.

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THE PULSE

WE DO IT ALL

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These incredible indie record labels are owned and operated by women who took their passions to share and create music to the next level. Through their great efforts to revitalize forgotten works and amplify unheard voices, they’re rewriting history and building new futures.

4. Minimal Wave Records, Cititrax Launched in 2005 by music archivist, producer, designer, and DJ Veronica Vasicka, Minimal Wave Records has recovered an entire history of recorded music that would have otherwise been forgotten. Vasicka took crate digging to new levels with her East Village Radio show, unearthing hidden gems of early cold wave and minimal-synth cassettes from around the world. After receiving numerous requests by her listeners eager to buy these super-rare finds, she turned into an investigator and tracked down the folks who had created this music over 20 years ago and obtained the rights to re-release these tracks. She also uses her background in photography and design to create the album art for each release. After single-handedly recovering an entire era of music, she started sublabel Cititrax to release new artists who have become inspired by these sounds of the past.

5. Unspeakable Records This Los Angeles– based label is dedicated to releasing albums by forward-thinking females. Established in 2014 by producer, vocalist, and educator Kate

WE KNOW IT ALL 7. Pink Noises, Tara Rodgers This book features 24 interviews with several generations of DJs, musicians, and sound artists conducted by electronic music scholar Tara Rodgers from 2000-10. Her interviews were originally published on her website pinknoises. com, which she created to promote women in electronic music and make information about production more accessible. The book offers in-depth conversations on personal histories and artistic methods. As technology pervades all genres of music, and personal philosophies of creation benefit all artists, this book should be a standard text for music students of every gender.

6. Objects Limited In 2016, DJ and producer Lara Rix-Martin, aka Meemo Comma, launched this Brighton, UK–based label with an exclusively female and nonbinary roster.

It functions currently as a digital-only distributor, making a conscious choice to curb the environmental impact of CD and vinyl production. With eight riveting and diverse individual releases and one compilation created to raise funds for Black Lives Matter and an organization helping LGBTQ+ homeless youth, Rix-Martin is gearing up for EP releases this fall from new artists Edgeslayer and ANZ.

These books reflect an interplay of knowledge about the personal experiences, challenges, and philosophies of women working in electronic music and sonic art from authors who have lived, breathed, and created it themselves.

biases toward technology, the negotiation of styles in performers’ public identities, and the glass-ceiling politics of the production studio. Beyond the Dance Floor is a vivid time capsule, showing the roots of the beautiful, intersectional feminist dance music that is now blooming.

9. Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice, Pauline Oliveros The late, legendary Pauline Oliveros is the godmother of electronic and experimental music. Her brilliant work as a musician and composer is inseparable from her legacy as a teacher and philosopher. Oliveros developed a methodology to expand our sonic awareness that she trademarked as Deep Listening®. Her book explains the practices and exercises in which she led her classes and certification programs. They include energy work, bodywork, breath exercises, vocalizing, listening, and dreamwork—all focused on expanding one’s receptivity “to the entire space/time continuum of sound.” It is a book, not only for composers and musicians, but anyone interested in expanding their consciousness.

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8. Beyond the Dance Floor, Rebekah Farrugia Before the social network–boom made female and nonbinary DJ collectives like Discwoman and Siren easier to find, listservs, e-zines, and IRL events were the interface for an earlier generation. Rebekah Farrugia’s book serves as the culmination of scholarly research done through the early aughts, documenting that time and those DJs with a focus on Bay Area collectives.

Farrugia deconstructs our cultural gender

Ellwanger, aka DJ Dot, with a roster hovering around 17 artists as of publication, Unspeakable Records’ releases span the gamut of genres with an emphasis on the diverse flavors of current electronic music. From the loungy compositions of its founder to the noise-collage breaks of Dubai-based producer ROMIZVA, Unspeakable stands as a testament to the breadth of music being produced by young female artists across the globe.

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When I was a sophomore in high school, I had the opportunity to lead the marching band with a tap off.

A tap off is setting the tempo up for the next marching tune or canadance by hitting your snare drum with four steady 8th notes, which still allows the whole band to keep their feet marching together in unity. This was my first time leading the band, and I kind of wanted show of my snare playing skills.

The secret life of drummers

Drummer Girl Probs

THE BEAT

So instead of the regular 8th note clicks I decided to play triple notes, diddles, rim shot, and whatever my hand wanted to play at that moment to sounded cool and “hip-hoppy.”

Within those first few seconds of my tap off “solo” I manage to slow down the tempo, miss the down beat, and had the entire band shuffle their feet like sizzling bacon in order to find which foot is the correct foot to untie again. Needless to say, my drum captain at the time never let me, the naive sophomore, tap off the marching band again during that year.

—Melody Gonzalez Former drummer for Reading High School Marching Band (Reading, PA)

High school drumlines are the pinnacle of unorchestrated madness. I have endless stories—my section leader getting his foot stuck on his drum while trying to do yoga, my other section leader falling backwards into his tenor case, someone breaking their tooth on a cymbal, a cymbal player turning the cymbal inside out, our section leader at one point taking control of the entire band and our band director just sitting back letting it happen, someone bending a chair completely backwards and then another wind player accidentally sitting on it and falling to the ground. The drumline will always be a happy family, however, it never fails to be wildly dysfunctional. These are memories I will cherish forever.

—Shaina Grodi (Oak Harbor High School Marching Band)

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It was my senior year in high school and our last marching band competition of the season. Our theme was this warrior tribal thing. We were about to load onto the field when a marimba ran me over from behind. It launched me (and my drum) into the air, and I landed knees first on some hard asphalt. I ended up marching that show with both of my knees wide open and raw. It must’ve been pure adrenaline because an hour later I was in major pain. Luckily, the blood worked really well with the warrior theme.

—Emily Bloch (Miami Heat Street Band)

Photo of Amanda Muse

THE PULSE

Drummergirls United A Facebook group for female drummers.

by Tammy Woods It wasn’t until Gina Schock and the Go-Go’s hit the scene when I was in high school that I saw my first female drummer play. I was determined to drum and learned what I could from watching drummers on TV, at concerts, and listening to records. I played all the way through college, quit to raise a family, then took it up again about 15 years ago. I started getting serious around the same time that I was diagnosed with lupus, a few years back. That made me more determined than ever to make my life count and to chase my dreams. I started looking for other female drummers online. I was amazed at all of the talent: Anika Nilles, Emmanuelle Caplette, Hilary Jones, and so many others. I looked them up on Facebook and became friends. This sparked an epiphany that led to us launching a community.

So far, Drummergirls United has garnered national and international attention from Drum Talk TV, Around the Kit radio show out of New York City, Women's International Music Network (WIMN), Drum! magazine, and now, Tom Tom. I hope that our membership continues to grow in size and scope. My plans for the group are expanding, and I am in talks with Drum World in Tulsa to have a Drummergirls United weekend next year with masterclasses, clinics on gear, meet-andgreets, and time to hang out. Ladies from the US and several other countries are already interested in attending.

I’ve been told I’m one of the best connected “female drummer to other female drummers” in the industry. I love seeing the success stories of the gals I’ve met through the group. I am a naturally sunshiny and positive person, and I bring that to everything that I do, from playing in multiple bands to leading this Facebook group. My hope is that Drummergirls United will continue to grow and reach even more female drummers looking for encouragement and knowledge.

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I wondered, “How many other female drummers out there are like me and don't know any other female drummers personally? How many of us feel intimidated when shopping in drum stores or taking lessons from men?”

And then I thought, “I can fix this.” So, I created a Facebook group called Drummergirls United, for female drummers of all ages and skill levels. I started the group only last year, and we already have almost 900 members from more than 65 countries—professional drummers, beginners, and everyone in between. My goal was and is to create a positive, encouraging, safe environment to ask questions, share videos, collaborate on projects, and make friends.

Photo courtesy of artist

THE BEAT

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Dapper Drummer Age: 26 Current Home: Atlanta, Georgia Hometown: Born in Paris, France, and raised in Houston, Texas Band: Starbenders

by Jasmine Bourgeois Emily Moon’s punk, hippie look makes her stand out in a crowd. She beams with confidence and has a style that few others can rock so effortlessly. The Starbenders drummer got her start in a marching band and later moved onto a kit. Moon didn’t expect drumming would take her so far, but now it takes her all over the country, with fans in every corner of the globe.

Tom Tom: What's your gear setup?

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Emily Moon: I’m playing on a 1963 Gretsch Round Badge kit: a 9" x 13" rack, 16" x 16" floor, 14" x 22" kick. She’s wrapped in her original Midnight Blue Pearl but has been sun-faded to a really cool, pale green. My snare is an 8" x 14" vintage mahogany Montineri in Gold Sparkle. She’s super deep and gets all the love from other drummers but always pisses sound guys off. For cymbals, I’m using a 22" Zildjian A Avedis Crash/Ride, 20" Zildjian K Custom Dark Crash, and 15" Zildjian A Avedis Hi-Hats. On the floor, I’ve got a DW5000 kick pedal, and, for heads, I use Remo Ambassadors for my toms and a Remo Emperor for my snare. Bashing all of that with Promark 5B sticks and loading them up for travel in black Humes & Berg Enduro Pro hard cases.

How did you get into drumming?

I always go through the same process, in my head, of trying to find memories of early Emily Moon tearing through a kitchen and banging on pots and pans. That’s not how it played out for me, though. To be honest, I can’t even remember picking up sticks.

Drums have always been a part of me from

before I can remember. Growing up, being a famous drummer wasn’t an aspiration of mine.

I played percussion in the school band and was never forced by my parents to practice.

I just did, because I enjoyed it. I joined my high school’s drumline, becoming the only girl on snare, went to drum camp, and won best snare drummer. It was all very normal to me, like this is just what people do. I didn’t sit behind a drum kit until I was 15 years old, but already had all of the chops, technique, and coordination from marching band. I soon quit [marching band] after feeling the energy of what a full kit had to offer and what jamming with friends felt like. From then on, I was in bands.

How would you describe your style?

Runaways meets Jimi Hendrix.

Who are your fashion icons?

The band as a whole influences each other, but we all love fashion movements from the ’70s and ’80s. The new romantic/blitz kid movement, ’70s glam and punk. Bowie and the Spiders from Mars are killer. New York Dolls are a huge one.

Photo by Vegas Giovanni

What goes through your head while you're playing?

My mind wanders all over the place throughout a set. I can go from being completely immersed in the song and feel possessed by my drum kit to cheeseburger dreams to what happened that day to staring off into my lead singer’s butt (my nightly show view), and then have to reel myself back in like, “Emily! You’re playing a show right now!”

What's your favorite venue to play?

Currently, it’s a small venue in Asheville, North Carolina, the Odditorium. The place is jam packed with weird trinkets and baby-doll heads. It’s like Sid, Andy’s demented nextdoor neighbor from Toy Story, designed the entire venue. The stage is tiny and pretty much on the floor, so you’re right in people’s faces, which I love, because the energy from the crowd gets insane. Then there’s the pièce de résistance—the help-yourself popcorn stand. Guess I’m just a sucker for weird shit and butter.

THE PULSE

G Flip Out

by Jasmine Bourgeois Georgia Flipo—better known by her stage name G Flip—is a 24-year-old musician from Melbourne, Australia.

She got her first drum kit when she was nine and started taking lessons by the age of 12. Her love of drums increased in intensity, and she also taught herself piano and guitar and later studied music in college. Since releasing her first single in February, she has quickly blown up all over the internet—her music’s been viewed and shared by thousands across the globe, and she’s been reviewed by some major media outlets. Before pursuing solo music production, she drummed for EMPRA, touring all over America. G Flip makes music that’s charming, upbeat, and dripping with confidence. Her passion is tangible.

Tom Tom: How did your background in drumming lead into the solo music you’re producing now?

G Flip: Although drums were my main priority, I wanted to expand my skills as a teenager and taught myself piano and guitar and started writing my first originals as soon as I knew a few chords. I would never show anyone and kept my songwriting and singing private. When I finished high school, I went on to study a bachelor’s in music, and I majored in drums. I played drums in bands my whole teenage life into my early 20s, but always had a desire to break away from the drum kit, and do something with these songs and voice memos I’d been collecting.

How was the transition from a drummer to a solo artist been for you?

To be honest, it’s been fine. I think I just have way more of a workload, and I’m stressed more.

When I was drumming in bands, I had no input into the songwriting, or did not have a big role in the bands or wasn’t in charge of the artistic direction. Now, this whole project is my vision: I’m calling the shots. It’s my music. It’s all my creation. I think the biggest change that my friends and family can see is I don’t party anymore. I don’t have time to be hungover the next day, so I’m extremely well behaved now. When I was drumming in bands, I was a loose cannon [laughs].

What sorts of sounds and styles do you really want to try out? anything you’re itching to experiment with?

There are so many things I want to experiment with! More stacked cymbals; messing with drum triggers; building hybrid drum kits; writing songs based off Afro-Cuban, samba drum grooves; sampling bucket drums; more use of Latin percussion; learning how to play Indian tabla drums; putting kick skins on floor toms; setting up my kit entirely left-handed as an exercise to even out my hands. There are so many things I want to experiment and try out—it’s ridiculous!

That’s just all the drum-related stuff. Don’t get started on synths!

What are your upcoming music-related plans?

Release more music. So far I’ve only released two songs. A lot more touring, a lot more writing. And more drumming, of course!

Listen to G Flip on our Issue 35 Spotify Playlist

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After the band I was playing with broke up in late 2016, it was time to give my solo music a crack! I spent the entire 2017 in my bedroom teaching myself how to produce, and make the ideas in my head come to reality.

I then hustled out management to help me get where I wanted to be. And here we are.

Photo by Reuben Moore

THE BEAT

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Super Sneaks

by Jasmine Bourgeois Sneaks is the lo-fi, solo project of former Young Trynas member, 23-year-old Baltimore, Maryland, resident Tewadaj Eva Moolchan. Sneaks is a project rooted in minimalism. It sounds somewhere between Muzak and dark synth pop, and it’s made almost exclusively on a drum machine and bass. Moolchan’s vocals are cool and impassive, her lyrics charmingly simplistic. She has roots in the Washington, D.C., punk scene, and, like punk music, her sound is intentionally simplistic and genuinely fun.

Tom Tom: How did you get started playing music?

My dad taught me how to play figures at two. My life changed from then.

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You’ve talked about “making minimal music that takes up space.” Can you tell me more about what that means for you?

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Minimal music is fun to me. It’s all in the simplicity. It’s kind of derailing from the rock agenda and going into an unknown corner of many possibilities with fewer variations.

You’ve spent a lot of time in D.C.’s DIY punk scene. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the benefits and limitations of performing as an artist in the DIY scene.

I love D.C. punk. Nothing like Fugazi, Minor Threat, and Bad Brains. These bands kinda started me off on my punk journey. Not to

mention L7, Bikini Kill, and Slant 6. The D.C. punk is scene is lit as f**k. I’m happy to be a part of it, even though I’m not based there anymore. It’s ever- changing and continuously inspiring to see bands grow and tour other parts of the US, for example Gauche, Priests, Six Fix, Coke Bust, and Mary Christ.

What’s your songwriting process like? Are there sounds, ideas, or styles you feel more drawn to?

Yeah, I really enjoy people [who] make music around me. I was just telling my [former] bandmate Toyo how cool it is that he put out an album with my name on one of the songs. It’s called, “Do You Want to Ride”— basically pushed me to start recording Highway, my upcoming album.

Listen to Sneaks on our Issue 35 Spotify Playlist

THE PULSE

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TD-17 Series V-Drums

www.roland.com

DJ Smiles Davis went from working at Amoeba Records to sharing the stage with Janelle Monรกe.

by SassyBlack Photo by Alonso Tal

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Smiles Davis is a smooth operator who emanates bright light and exhilarating sounds as a DJ and producer. Based in Los Angeles, California, the Grand Rapids, Michigan, native has shared the stage with Erykah Badu, and Janelle Monรกe, and has produced for artists Bosco and Tabi Bonney.

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We spoke with DJ Smiles Davis about her early days, dealing with rejection, and successful collaborations.

Tom Tom: How long have you been doing music? What got you into DJing and producing?

DJ Smiles Davis: Music is really my first love.

I can’t remember a time when it didn’t play a massive role in my life. Music has been at the forefront of my existence since I was a dancer, from the age of 10, since I got my first job at Amoeba Records, since I produced my first record two years ago. My evolution musically has been rather natural, to be frank. It’s all stirred from the same pot.

Deep down there is an inclination to just create a vibe for folks to think less and live more.

When did you make the decision to do music as a profession?

I get such a high watching a song get made.

The creative residue it leaves behind, the inspiration from bringing things into fruition, which positively connect folks for years to come, is truly succulent. One of the greatest pleasures in life for me is watching the process of a song being created. Being in the studio, feeling the energy, watching the story unfold, then actually seeing it out in the world, being performed, actually having an effect on people. From start to finish, the process is rather sensual and addictive. Experiencing that for the first time was the ah-ha! moment for me that I wanted to do music professionally.

Blank, and enjoy creating sounds from other sounds, from field recordings. A big portion of my records are created from scratch, or actual samples from my own voice. If I’m having trouble finding what I’m hearing in my head, I’ll sing it, or hum it. This trick has mad legs, and gives my sound noticeability.

When did you know that you were a producer and fully realize it?

I started having more seats at more tables the day I looked up from the textbooks I’d been buried in for several years. I kinged a session with a top-liner who’d had a ton of acclaim, far more than I did. It was intimidating at first, but when we finished three hours later and had a complete song with lyrics to submit for [an upcoming] Rihanna project, I knew I’d come to that place. Being able to fulfill requests like that put it in my head that I could produce full-time, that I could compete.

What is one of the most challenging things about being a DJ and producer? What about one of the most rewarding things?

Work-life balance is the most challenging thing for me. When you really get deep, when you put in the work, really, though, there is no time for socializing. Friends be salty, but it’s not personal; it’s me in solidarity experiencing commendable growth. I’m no good to my duties if my tools haven’t been sharpened. The most rewarding thing, though, is making music with my talented community, my friends, and loved ones.

Who would you like to work with?

Rihanna, Miguel, Drake.

How did you start working with Tabi Bonney and Bosco?

I met Tabi eons ago outside a bar at South

by Southwest, long before big brands were fully infiltrating. We went on an adventure that night and spawned this idea of doing a project together. Our first collaboration was Postcards from Abroad, a mixtape we put out back in like 2011. It was basically me picking my favorite records of the moment, chopping them up, resampling them, etc. Tabi did pretty well with that project, but it’s a far cry from where we have come. We polished and refined our sound to a very specific niche that’s true to Tabi’s heritage. He’s from Togo, Africa, and we wanted to pull him as close to his roots on this new project as possible. Le Bon Voyage is just that: an accurate sonic depiction of a young, black, creative emboldened by his culture and DNA. I stalked Bosco on the Internet for like a year, then offered to bring her to L.A. to work on Morning Blues. We’ve been friends ever since.

DEEP DOWN, THERE IS AN INCLINATION TO JUST CREATE A VIBE FOR FOLKS TO THINK LESS AND LIVE MORE.

Where did the name Smiles Davis come from? You do have an infectious smile!

Stoned one night giggling over the pages in the autobiography of Miles Davis. Like, really, there isn’t much else to the story.

What type of gear, what DAW do you use to produce?

Of course! It’d be a lie if I said otherwise. Big life changes like changing careers is scary AF. I cut my safety net pretty thick. Secured gigs? Canceled. Not fitting the brand?

Canceled. Associates not understanding the vision? Canceled. Sacrifice is real; it’s fuel for the fire, especially when creatives are involved. Swimming without a paddle and nearly drowning a few times just made me stronger, though. The thick skin comes in handy when I’m in a room full of men, trying to have my voice heard.

What advice would you give to up-andcoming artists?

Put your head down, and do the work. Stop talking so loud. The work will speak for itself.

What do you have coming up next?

I’m looking forward to developing my own artist.

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I toggle quite a bit. You get to a certain place professionally, and you find homies willing to swap gear. My faves at the moment are the Prophet-6, a Wurlitzer, Roland Juno-60, the UAD plug-ins. But, to be honest, my secret weapon is my sounddesign pen. I mean that metaphorically.

I went to sound-design school at Point

Did you have any challenges transitioning into producing once you had been DJing?

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT RISES IN THE #METOO ERA After decades of obscurity, the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution is seeing new momentum, thanks to the #MeToo era and the Trump Effect.

by Laura L. Dunn, J. D., 2018 TED Fellow Illustration by Camila Rosa During the historic Seneca Falls rally in 1923, suffragist Alice Paul put forth a Constitutional Amendment that became the blueprint for the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Our foremothers were not merely seeking the right to vote; they wanted full gender equality under the law (amen!). The ERA is important, because it states, in part, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

After decades of obscurity, the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution is seeing new momentum thanks to the #MeToo era and the Trump Effect.

Passing a Constitutional amendment is quite a Herculean task. It took the women’s rights movement 49 years to lobby Congress to put forward the ERA to the states. And when Congress did in 1972, despite there being no time limit for ratification under the Constitution, it added a seven-year deadline to its legislative proposal.

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For the first two years, the ERA enjoyed immediate momentum, passing in 22 of the needed 38 states in 1972, and then another eight states in 1973. However, momentum began to slow with only three states ratifying in 1974, one in 1975, none in 1976, and one in 1977. This brought the ERA within three states of passing with two years left on the deadline. Activists lobbied Congress to extend the deadline until 1982. Despite these efforts, there was a growing conservative movement that took on the ERA to kill its momentum and leave the amendment sitting for decades without any progress.

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While women’s rights activists burnt their bras in the street and marched in support of the ERA, conservatives claimed the ERA would disrupt traditional family values, result in women’s service in the military, allow same-sex marriage, and reinforce reproductive rights, including access to abortion.

In response to this backlash, four state legislatures rescinded their ratification, and the ERA lost momentum and slipped away into obscurity.

Despite the popular vote being in her favor, the country failed to elect the first female president in 2016. Instead, the electoral college placed one of the most morally and ethically questionable male presidents in office. This man is accused of harassing and abusing women, and in response, people are resisting—women are running for political office and people are mobilizing in the streets. The Trump Effect helped spark the #MeToo movement, which is bringing new life to the ERA. In 2017, Nevada ratified it, and in May 2018, Illinois did, too. For those of you keeping count, this brings the amendment within one state of the three-fourths the Constitution requires for full ratification.

Though there are open questions regarding the effect (if any) of the congressional deadline, or four-state rescission efforts, many legal scholars believe all that is needed is the constitutional requirement of three-fourths ratification (TBD).

Of those the 13 states that haven’t passed the ERA, seven have passed it within one house of its bicameral legislature: Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia. These are the states that need a major grassroots surge of support, as well as progressive candidates pushing for the ERA as part of their political platforms. The Feminist Majority Foundation and National Organization of Women (NOW) are mobilizing today. Of the

remaining six states, three have not made any effort to pass the ERA: Utah, Alabama, and Georgia, and three have repeatedly failed to ratify the ERA even in one house: Arkansas, Arizona, and Mississippi.

While we #resist the abusive Trump administration and say #timesup to the sexual abusers revealed by #MeToo, we really need to start saying it’s time for the ERA. It is absurd that in this day and time, gender equality is not guaranteed in America at the core of our Constitution. While there are some protections against it within the Fourteenth Amendment, the venerable and notorious R.B.G., US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has argued this is insufficient to ensure gender equality. As a way to #resist and say #TimesUp, nothing could be more powerful than passing the ERA. As the famous Black Panther leader, Assata Shakur, famously said, “People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things.

But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.” Our foremothers left us with some unfinished business. Between the Trump Effect and #MeToo movement, we finally have the momentum needed to finish this job and pass the ERA today.

Contact the Feminist Majority Foundation (feminist.org, East Coast: 703-522-2214, West Coast: 310-556-2500) and National Organization of Women (NOW.org, 202-628-8669) to volunteer.

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ADMINISTRATION AND SAY #TIMESUP TO THE SEXUAL ABUSERS REVEALED BY #METOO, WE REALLY NEED TO START SAYING IT’S TIME FOR THE ERA.

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WHILE WE #RESIST THE ABUSIVE TRUMP

BACKSTAGE

Hamilton drummer Katie Steinhauer discusses what it’s like to play for major Broadway productions.

by Jasmine Bourgeois Photo by Hayden Oliver

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Though only 31 years old, Katie Steinhauer has been drumming for almost her entire life. Since picking up her first pair of sticks 20 years ago, she’s toured internationally through numerous musical projects, including the stage shows of Bring It On: The Musical, Guys and Dolls, The Producers, and Annie, as well as a number of bands and ensembles. Currently, Katie’s a touring percussionist with Hamilton: An American Musical.

Since graduating from the Roosevelt School of the Arts in her hometown of Fresno, California, in 2005, Steinhauer has played all over the globe and mastered her skills in a wide range of styles. Tom Tom caught up with the drummer to speak about what it’s like to play for Broadway musicals and hotel pranks.

WITH

Tom Tom: How did you get into drumming?

What do you like about drumming?

Katie Steinhauer: I decided to copy my younger sister—a flip from the usual! I remember going to a music store with my family, and my sister found a bin of drum sticks. She wanted a pair, and I decided I wanted a pair, too! On the car ride home, I was tapping on the back seat to every song that came on the radio. When I got home, I started tapping along to all the songs on my CDs. From there, my love and passion for drums and percussion took off!

I enjoy the fact that there are so many colors and textures with drums and percussion.

You can bring out any and every human emotion in whatever music you’re playing.

Something as simple as a cymbal roll can cause excitement, anticipation, tears, happiness, sadness, etc. There is so much power in drums and percussion, and I try to find the emotion in everything that I play so that I can properly convey that to whoever is listening.

Do you work on other projects? What's it like doing percussion for musicals?

What goes through your head while you’re playing?

Yes! Before I started touring with Hamilton, I was playing with a lot of different local bands. Rock, pop, ska, jazz, Latin, orchestral, musicals, even an Amy Winehouse tribute band. I spent a lot of time teaching group and private lessons, as well. I had a cruise-ship gig and toured with four other Broadway national tours. Now that I’m on Hamilton, it’s what I do! In my free time, I go sightseeing, find new favorite restaurants, sleep, and work on transcriptions.

[Laughs.] What a question! Well, for Hamilton, the percussion book is the hot seat. I have to be on top of the Ableton triggers, as well as synch up my “drum beats” with our drummer. So, basically, what goes through my mind is, “Don’t mess up!” I have a lot to think about: trigger Ableton here, advance DTX patches here, turn pages there, switch to mallets during this rest, etc. I’ve been playing the show for six months now, and I feel like I’m still learning it!

Playing drums or percussion for musicals is so much fun! In any show, you can play a variety of styles at any given moment. Percussion is fun for musicals, because you get to add color and personality to the show. Playing percussion for Hamilton is its own beast. I have an array of acoustic and electronic instruments, plus the Ableton program, which triggers the click track and other effects. I’m basically the drum machine for the show. It’s unlike any other percussion book out there!

What's the weirdest thing that's ever happened to you while touring?

What's one fun fact about you?

Fun fact. I moonlighted as a magician’s assistant in college! I quit, because I was burned when a human barbecue illusion went very wrong.

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PERCUSSION IS FUN FOR MUSICALS, BECAUSE YOU GET TO ADD COLOR AND PERSONALITY TO THE SHOW. PLAYING PERCUSSION FOR HAMILTON IS ITS OWN BEAST.

On my very first tour, Bring It On: The Musical, I was staying in a very creepy hotel—imagine The Shining. I got out of the shower one day and saw “redrum” written on the mirror.

I went into full on freak-out mode and ran out of the bathroom, only to see my roommate doubled over with laughter. Unbeknownst to me at the time, she was a bit of a prankster and took advantage of the fact that our hotel had the super creepy, murder vibe. I never trusted her after that!

Support Your Local Drummer.

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Shop online at CascioMusic.com

We talked staying sane as a musician with Peach Kelli Pop and Bat Fangs at Sled Island festival.

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Laura King (above) and Allie Hanlon (right)

by Valerie Veteto Photos by Sarah Klearman

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Sled Island is Canada’s version of Austin’s South By Southwest, thankfully sans the corporate sponsorship brouhaha. Set in dozens of venues across Calgary, Alberta, the promoters spread out an explosion of art over five days: music, film, comedy, a queer-zine fair, an art exhibition in homage to the indigenous Blackfoot population. Academy Award nominee Owen Pallett—who composed the score for Spike Jonez’s HER—played his songs with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and was followed by Shabazz Palaces rapping in a veteran’s center in front of the Canadian flag. It’s a festival squirreled away in a former cowpoke town, but it’s impossible to feel under stimulated with so many events popping off at once.

Between bouncing from venue to venue, we sat down with both Allie Hanlon of Peach Kelli Pop and Laura King of Bat Fangs to discuss how they stay sane while on tour and the difficulties of being a working musician. We were a little nervous about throwing two strangers into the fire pit of exposed emotions, but there was something about Sled Island’s focus on inclusivity that allowed for a more open conversation.

Adventuring through the open road as a paid musician is a blast, but it’s still a job. Personally, my friends and I have a code word for whenever we’re wandering close to the edge of destructive behavior: self-preservation. In times of hyper adaptivity, a musician’s priority has to be personal well-being. Just like during an emergency crash landing on an airplane, strap on that air mask first, then help others. So, how do Hanlon and King prioritize mental health with so many unknown factors? How do they ensure mid-tour maiming between bandmates never strikes?

“There’s so much melted chocolate in our van,” King laughs. “Coffee and chocolate are definitely things that I need every day.” She also makes a point to bring her running shoes and workout clothes. And in order to sleep as much as possible and to keep her energy level up, she quit drinking for the last year and a half.

The balancing act is about as effective and graceful as a panda pirouetting along a tightrope. “It’s like, ‘Do I sleep, or do I find food?’

You’re constantly compromising on basic human essentials,” Hanlon explains.

Government aid for the arts is a symbiotic relationship necessary for both parties, despite countries dragging their feet with funding. “If a city doesn’t have culture, it sucks. Musicians bring in tourists, and they completely affect how an entire city works,” Hanlon continues.

“It’s nice that Canada has found a way to help touring musicians.”

Rushing to catch soundcheck in a different city every day or every other day stretches you thin, to say the least. Thankfully, both Hanlon and King have noticed their set times have become earlier over the years. “Opening for Hop Along has been great, because we’re playing at 8 p.m. and then done early, usually wrapped up by midnight,” King says. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I remember the days when you wouldn’t be done until 2 a.m., 2:30 a.m.

There used to be four bands per show, and, just, why? I don’t have the stamina for that and neither do my ears.”

Hanlon chimes in, “It also depends on whether you participate in the drinking culture. I don’t, usually. I’ll have a drink sometimes, but I’m working. I can’t lose my stuff, be tired the next day, or get sick.”

Basically, if you want to champion a tour, and make it out alive, practice moderation.

I’VE LEARNED WHAT MY FLAWS ARE WITH MY SOCIAL SKILLS AND I’VE TRIED TO IMPROVE. THERE’S A MAGNIFYING GLASS ON YOU, SO YOU LEARN VERY QUICKLY WHAT YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES ARE.

Help Musicians, a music charity based in the UK, polled 2,200 musicians on anxiety and depression last year. A worrying 71 percent reported experiencing high levels of anxiety or anxiety attacks, with 69 percent saying they suffer from depression. But there’s a big difference in how different countries support their artists. The resources are rarely enough for a sustainable career.

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work. Some bands can make it work and others can’t. But for me, I knew I couldn’t live in Los Angeles, which is a very expensive city, and keep the band going without help.”

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Hanlon hails from Ontario, Canada, a country that from 2016 to 2017 doled out grants to over 2,100 Canadian artists and the same number to arts organizations. Canada Council for the Arts makes the process to apply for grants simple: deadlines, forms, and even guides are laid out on the homepage of their website in clear, concise copy. Though she lives in Los Angeles now, Hanlon recently signed to Mint Records, a Canadian label. Through them, she can apply for Canadian grants to supplement her income—grants that allow her to tour with a more stable state of mind.

“Before I signed with them [Mint Records] I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pay my rent. I have to do something else. Quit music, or do it on the side.’ And I was ready to do that,” Hanlon admits.

“All of my friends in the US and myself up until now—we’ve made it

Of course, if all you had to worry about was your own wants and needs, touring wouldn't be quite so tough. Let’s be real, though: there’s no greater intimacy than being crammed in a van with the same group of humans for weeks on end, possibly months. And with intimacy comes tension. Even if you’re lucky enough to be best friends with your bandmates, inevitably someone will be plagued with low blood sugar. (Pro tip: keep a hidden snack stash of granola bars for when they’re hangry.) You’ll know each other’s bowel movements. You’ll watch bandmates snap over nothing. At some point, and this is just how it goes, you’ll want to strangle someone Homer Simpson–style over the most innocuous thing ever.

Think of you and everyone in your traveling van like a Sim from the classic computer game, The Sims. Remember the colored bars at the bottom keeping track of hunger, comfort, fun, environment, bladder? And how the Sims would throw literal temper tantrums, stomping and screaming if too many ran red? That’s you and your lead singer, who has to stop at every gas station to stretch her legs, and your bassist who refuses to sleep on anything less than a bed.

“You only really get to know someone when you’re on tour with them,” Hanlon says.

Like a lot of things in life, open communication helps the most in keeping moods stable. King explains, “We check in with each other every morning. We’re really tight, so we ask, ‘How are you doing today?’ If someone reacts to you the way you don’t feel they should react to you, don’t take it personally. I used to take that shit really personally, but now I realize it isn’t about me. Just give them space, and everything’s fine.”

“You have to learn how to not immediately react to things, and instead take the time to process emotions,” King agrees. “You have to talk things out. And listen. Maybe put on some Enya to calm down.

We’re all just people.”

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She continues, “It’s important to respect everybody you’re around, because you’re in really tight quarters. I try be very aware of everyone’s emotional state. I try to be even-keel, but I can have highs and lows I try to hide. I think I’m a shower cryer. I’ll cry in the shower, come out, and then say, ‘Hey guys, what’s up?’”

Despite the ups and downs, or really because of them, touring is a huge opportunity for hyperactive personal growth. “I’ve learned what my flaws are with my social skills, and I’ve tried to improve,” Hanlon says. “There’s a magnifying glass on you, so you learn very quickly what your strengths and weaknesses are.”

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Kim Schifino of Matt and Kim on the new LP, Almost Everyday, and the band’s wild shows.

by Lindsey Anderson Photos by Caleb Kuhl As I sift through the discography of Brooklyn electronic indie act Matt and Kim, I realize that this duo has a supreme knack for crafting records to underscore the highest highs and take power from the lowest lows. With each of the band’s releases since 2004, Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino have consistently delivered unforgettable albums to the masses.

We spoke with Schifino about the new album, tour life after her injury, and what she hopes audience members gain from a live show.

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Their newest album, Almost Everyday, marks their first LP in three years, and their musical return is being met with loads of positive feedback. The tour for this endeavor is also supremely special, since it marks Schifino’s return to live performances after a serious knee injury she endured last year. Almost Everyday is 28 minutes of pure joy. It has the ebullient sound Matt and Kim are known for, coupled with candid lyrics that make a perfect staple for your summer playlist.

Tom Tom: How does it feel to have Almost Everyday out in the world?

Kim Schifino: So fucking good! I hate how you finish music and then have to sit on it for a few months before you can release it. I think it’s the vinyl pressing that needs such long lead times. How has that not gotten quicker? [Laughs.] But yes, I am so happy to have it out and for everyone to hear it.

Your last release, We Were the Weirdos, had a pretty quick turnaround time. Are there any lessons you learned during that process that you bought over to the making of Almost Everyday?

We Were the Weirdos might have been too quick. We release these vlogs called Matt and Kim SHOW YA STUFF, and one episode is the behind the scenes of releasing that EP. There was a last-minute change that was being tossed in at the final minute. It was stressful as all hell! So, I wouldn’t do it that quickly, again.

What are your favorite tracks to play from Almost Everyday and why?

We only play a few songs off of Almost Everyday right now. We feel like people like to hear what they know by heart, so we only pepper in a few new tracks off the album while on tour. We want to give people more time with the album before we add more stuff to the set. Right now, my favorite is “Like I Used to Be,” but that has a lot to do with the wall’s of my vagina! You got to come to a show to experience that!

What’s a track or tracks from your past albums that you love seeing audience members dance and sing along to?

I like “Now,” ’cause that usually has the biggest mosh pit!

What do you hope folks get out of a Matt and Kim show?

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I hope you don’t have to go to the gym or your therapist the next day, ’cause you have completely sweated it out, and you feel fucking happy when you leave!

If you could describe Almost Everyday in one sentence, what would it be?

Honest, personal, and fun. OK, so that isn’t a sentence, but it gets to the point.

I HOPE YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO TO THE GYM OR YOUR THERAPIST THE NEXT DAY, ’CAUSE YOU HAVE COMPLETELY SWEATED IT OUT, AND YOU FEEL F'ING HAPPY WHEN YOU LEAVE!

by April Aliermo Illustrations by Jenny Tang

An internet search for “most diverse city in the world” shows many entries related to Toronto, Canada. As a Toronto native, when I’m on tour—whether it’s across Canada, the US, in Europe, or Asia—I incredibly miss eating in my hometown. With dozens of international neighborhoods, we are spoiled with amazing cuisine from just about everywhere. Think jerk chicken hot off the oil-drum grill in Little Jamaica, and hand-pulled noodle soup and freshly made dumplings in Chinatown.

Papusas, kimchi soon tofu, chana masala, bangsilog, takoyaki, gaeng kiaw wan, spinach narguesi, yemiser wat with injera, seal tartare at Ku-Kum, roasted buffalo at Nish Dish. It’s true, I had PMS and cried for Toronto food on the road once.

In one night, you can have your pick of seeing an oud player, a Flamenco show, a klezmer band, a Latin jazz quartet, an electronic DJ, or some good old rock ’n’ roll. With nearly three million people at the core and six million when you include the surrounding areas, there is never a shortage of art, music, or culture to enjoy. I’ve toured in many cities, but there is still no other place I’d rather be.

This is a little slice of what Toronto has to offer.

Best Vinyl Shops COSMOS RECORDS +1 416-603-0254 I picture smooth, classy, cool music nerds when I think of this store.

It’s a tasteful vintage record shop where you can find jazz, soul, Latin, Brazilian, rock, disco, house, and hip-hop.

DUPE SHOP duplication.ca/dupeshop

Best Places to Get Gear CAPSULE MUSIC capsulemusic.com This is a next-level vintage guitar and bass shop, where your bassist can invest in that dream 1961 P Bass. They also have a repair shop.

The store upstairs is Century Drum. At thousands of dollars, I will have to keep on dreaming.

CENTURY DRUM centurydrumshop.com My drummers love it here. This is the ultimate drum haven in the way of vintage and handmade percussion. They buy, sell, trade, consign, and repair old drums, cymbals, and hardware. They also offer drum lessons. If you are from out of town and are dying to visit their store, you can make an appointment with them for an off-hours visit. They are real pros!

LONG + MCQUAIDE long-mcquade.com Even though this is a huge corporation, it’s everyone’s go-to spot.

They have an affordable rental system that lets you borrow everything you need for a DIY show or pretty much any piece of gear for a day, a week, or a month. If you can’t afford to pay for that new drum kit you’ve been coveting, you can sort out a monthly payment plan with them. (I am slowly paying them for my Moog Mother-32 synth!)

MOOG AUDIO moogaudio.ca

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Despite its name, this everything-electronic shop carries tons of brands. This is a good place to get synths, drum machines, electronic drum kits, and more. You can even rent equipment here to test out before you buy or for recording your next album. They also offer financing plans, so you don’t need to empty your pocket in one go.

PAUL’S BOUTIQUE paulsboutique.ca Nestled in one of my favorite neighborhoods, Kensington Market, this is where I get my butterscotch Peavey bass set up and my old Gibson amp named Thora repaired. Bands in a pinch can try renting practice space in the basement. The staff is made up of local musicians, including one of Toronto’s darling drummers Simone Tisshaw-Baril and her dog Roxy.

This is Toronto’s only cassette-tape shop! Used tapes, local tapes, and blank tapes. I love getting their colorful tape cases for my mixtapes. You can use their facilities to record your own tapes. They also sell boom boxes and have small shows sometimes.

FAITH/VOID faithvoidshop.com A punk community hub where you can find the finest in subculture tape, vinyl, shirts, and zines. Local kids kick it on the couch to plan their capitalist takedown, or to do their homework. It is the center of an amazing all-ages punk scene, and Ryan Tong who runs it has a dope band called S.H.I.T. GRASSHOPPER RECORDS grasshopperrecords.ca This record shop is open real late, so you can peruse their carefully selected collection of second hand hip-hop, reggae, hardcore, and other genres in between your bar hopping.

Grasshopper, the name of the guy who runs the store, has been part of the Toronto music scene for decades.

SONIC BOOM sonicboommusic.com At the edge of Chinatown, this has a great collection of new and used vinyl and CDs. They also have a nice collection of music books, doodads, and candy. The changing art installation in the window features different bands with new releases. They occasionally have in-stores, and a handful of the staff are my music pals.

OTHER NOTABLE INDIE RECORD SHOPS JUNE RECORDS junerecords.com KOPS RECORDS kopsrecords.ca SOUNDSCAPES soundscapesmusic.com ROTATE THIS rotate.com

Best Festivals BRICKS AND GLITTER bricks-glitter.com Run by Coalition Building and Unit 2, Bricks and Glitter is a community arts festival celebrating Two-Spirit, trans and queer talent, ingenuity, caring, anger, and abundance.

CAMP WAVELENGTH wavelengthmusic.ca This indie fest takes place in August and is a rare opportunity to camp out on the Toronto Islands by the beach. It has a feel-good community vibe, features new and established artists, and is fun to play.

MANIFESTO mnfsto.com This is a youth-driven hip-hop festival with tons of music, dance, art, and workshops that end with a massive free outdoor show at Yonge and Dundas square, at the center of downtown.

MUHTADI INTERNATIONAL DRUMMING FESTIVAL muhtadidrumfest.com Celebrating drums from different cultures, this outdoor festival is filled with performances, workshops, and good food. The founder of this long-running fest, Muhtadi, believes that because we each have a heart, we can each be a drummer.

NOT DEAD YET facebook.com/notdeadyettoronto This is the only 100 percent DIY hardcore punk festival in Toronto. For four full days in October, bands from all over the international punk community come to play, mostly all-ages shows. Greg and Sarde who run this fest are the best.

PRIDE pridetoronto.com The Pride Month of June culminates in one of the largest gay pride festivals in the world with a weekend of outdoor music stages, food vendors, and all kinds of parties. Events include the Dyke March, Trans March and Blockorama (a BIPOC event led by Blackness Yes! and Black Lives Matter).

LONG WINTER torontolongwinter.com

TONE is a DIY, experimental avant-garde fest in June, spread across different artsy venues. This is where you go to see avant-jazz piano mavericks, master gong players, metal-drone guitarists, and experimental saxophonists all in one place. Karen Ng, one of the organizers, is a killer saxophonist.

TORONTO CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL (CARIBANA) caribanatoronto.com Soca, calypso, steel pan, reggae, and the wild and beautiful colors of mas players’ costumes. This is North America’s biggest street festival. People come from around the continent to dance for the long weekend in August that coincides with Emancipation Day. VENUS FEST venusfest.net A modern-day Lilith Fair saying F.U. to the male-dominated festival scene. Last year, Tom Tom’s own Madam Ghandi headlined the new fest!

WOMEN IN PERCUSSION FEST This new October festival offers five days of concerts, workshops, and conversations, featuring percussionists ranging from Latin beats to Anishinaabe Indian tabla to thand drumming.

Emmanuel College, University of Toronto, Statement on Acknowledgement of Traditional Land, adapted from a revised statement by the Elders Circle (Council of Aboriginal Initiatives) from November 6, 2014: Tkaronto (Toronto) has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. The land is the territory of the Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory

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was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the meeting place of Tkaronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to rock out on this territory.

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Happening once a month during the freezing cold winter season, this all-ages, pay-what-you-can series takes over venues to present indie art, music, dance, conversation, and food in various nooks and crannies of the building. Really fun to wander around there.

TONE tonetoronto.tumblr.com

Other City Highlights CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY coc.ca

MUSIC GALLERY musicgallery.org

During most of the year, you can see classical virtuosos for free during lunch. If you’re under 30 years old, you can also see main-stage operas for $22.

This concert hall for experimental and avant-garde music has some of the most interesting and diverse shows happening in town.

BEGUILING beguilingbooksandart.com Beguiling is one of many indie bookshops in Toronto. This one is focused on comics!

FIRST THURSDAYS ago.ca Art Gallery of Ontario, our main contemporary art gallery, has a big party once a month. Their musical performances often feature amazing bands with women, BIPOC artists, and musicians from the LGBTQ community.

GIRLS ROCK CAMP girlsrocktoronto.org March break, plus three weeks in the summer, Girls Rock Camp offers female, trans, and gender nonconforming kids a safe place to learn instruments, write songs, and rock out. I love band coaching here.

INTERSESSIONS facebook.com/pg/intersessionsinfo

NEW HO QUEEN facebook.com/newhoqueen This collective that throws all-out parties and events celebrating queer Asian pride.

NOW MAGAZINE nowtoronto.com You can find out about all the endless happenings in Toronto in this free alt weekly. Newspaper boxes are just about everywhere.

REHEARSAL FACTORY rehearsalfactory.com When you walk into this warehouselike space, it sounds like you’re in a million concerts at once, but you can almost always find a place to rehearse.

RUDE COLLECTIVE https://www.facebook.com/TheRUDEcollective A group that creates spaces for marginalized queer folx to interact, explore their intersectional identities, and share important narratives through artistic and cultural expression (and parties).

Led by Chippy Non-Stop, this is a workshop series of artist-run seminars that addresses the significant gender and sexuality based imbalance within the music industry. It offers DJ- and electronic sound–focused workshops for women and the LGBTQ+ community.

Bands and Groups to Check Out

There is a plethora of female or nonbinary led projects of every genre and this is a small reflection of Toronto's diversity: BAOBÁ (Brasil, Colombia, Venezuela) instagram.com/baoba.musica

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BAQUE DO BAMBA (Maracatu) facebook.com/BaquedeBamba

PANTAYO (Kulintang/Filipinx Gongs) pantayo.bandcamp.com PAN FANTASY STEELBAND panfantasysteelband.com RAGING ASIAN WOMEN TAIKO ragingasianwomen.ca RAKKATAK (Tabla) rakkatak.com

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INDIGENOUS HAND DRUMMING CIRCLE FOR WOMEN nwia.ca

WORK WEAR MADE FOR WOMEN BY WOMEN W W W. H A N DY M A A M G O O D S . C O M

Aqueduct™ Vibrato Aqueduct™ is a vintage-inspired pitch vibrato with eight modulation modes delivering synth-like sonar pulses, touch-sensitive frequency modulation, gentle rolling pitch-wobbles, steady kosmische pulsations, rapid trills, slimy sonic squiggles, whammy bar wiggles, pitch bends, pseudo-flange, and anything else your pitch-warped brain can picture in your murky mind’s eye. www.earthquakerdevices.com

At 19, vibraphonist Sasha Berliner made a huge splash talking about sexual violence in the jazz world.

by Geoff Shelton Photos by Alison Brady

In late September of 2017, before the Harvey Weinstein articles and subsequent wave of #MeToo stories revitalized a much needed global conversation against sexism, sexual abuse and violence, jazz vibraphonist Sasha Berliner published a blog post on her website about her personal experiences as a young female musician dealing with these issues that quickly went viral.

In the post, 19-year-old Berliner outlined the sexism and inappropriate behavior that she endured already at her young age, while connecting her experiences to the deep patriarchal history that continues to dominate the jazz world. (And let’s face it, all worlds and histories.)

The post’s honesty and intelligence clearly resonated with others, as it was reposted and shared by many prominent musicians and writers across the globe. Soon after, Sasha found herself featured in articles in the New York Times, interviewed for the PBS NewsHour, and was featured in New York’s annual Winter Jazzfest.

Berliner continues to publish new written pieces to her website, sashaberlinermusic.com, on everything from environmentally conscious production of music media to white privilege to her own personal struggles with depression. Her commitment to open honesty with herself and others is complemented by her dedication to mastering her craft as a musician. Her skill is evident in the video posts of her music and performances, which are also available on her website.

I sat down with Berliner on the last day of her teens to discuss her activism and her music, which she feels will always go hand in hand.

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“I think art is one of the coolest ways to go about activism, and one of the most effective ways, too. It’s so intrinsic to our emotions. You can really learn how to control that with music. So in that sense, why wouldn’t I take advantage of that?” Berliner asks. “That is a very intentional message, and that’s something that I want people to know. That when I create music, there’s always a purpose.”

At 16, the musician had already written and recorded her first album, Gold, a four-song EP of beautiful and sophisticated jazzy pop tunes on which Sasha plays and sings. It is a polished album that seems ready to be marketed to a large audience. But it’s a sound that Berliner already feels she has outgrown. “There are still people who

really like it, but it’s definitely not how I write music now. I’m really excited to get out some new stuff and for people to see a different side of me. A more evolved side of me, I guess,” she explains.

This new evolved side is evident in one of her recent singles, “A Heroine’s Manifesto,” which features a beautiful jazz trio flying under forefronted samples of speeches, news, and interviews from alt-right rallies; The Daily Show; Angela Davis; and Donald Trump, all emphasizing our country’s racial injustices. “Artists have historically been some of the strongest activists. Especially when you play jazz music. That’s embedded in the civil rights movement and Black activism, and it’s always been a source of empowerment. You have to recognize your space in that. You can’t just block that out. You owe it to the music and the history of the music to acknowledge your place in it.”

With regard to her place in jazz history thus far, Berliner says that it took her a long time to build the courage to publish her now legendary blog post. “It’s really hard to be so young and so new to an industry and to be that vulnerable at the same time. A lot of prominent activists in music, or otherwise, make their impact over many years, being established time and time again. It was very

MY VULNERABILITY IS NOT NEARLY AS IMPORTANT AS FURTHERING THAT CHANGE.

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hard to do [as someone] still building [my] career. It could cost you some opportunities, and that’s a very genuine, scary thing to think about. That’s what stopped me from publishing it for a long time.

But then what inspired me to finally get around to it was going to the Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music, and we had like 50/50 female students to male students at the program. One of the female faculty had brought up the issue of sexism and harassment, and then every single one of [the female faculty] got emotional, because it happened to all of them. And it’s discouraged all of them. It just put it really in perspective that this isn’t about me. This is about all the people who are affected by this. You can forgive your own vulnerability.

Yes, I am telling my own story, but I’m also telling other people’s stories. You have to know that you’re doing this for a greater good. That made me think, ‘Oh, I do have to publish this, because it’s not just me anymore dealing with this, standing up about this.

It’s everyone who’s being affected.’” She explains, “Watching how affected these women [are], who have been fighting against this, working for decades against this, and are still dealing with it—that just really struck me, and it was like: this is something I have to do. My vulnerability is not nearly as important as furthering that change.”

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After publishing it, Berliner shared it on her Facebook page, and from there it took off all over the world. “I definitely didn’t expect it to go anywhere at all. I had no idea that as many people would read it as they did. I was nervous about posting it. I thought it just wouldn’t be shared that much, that it wouldn’t get across, because it wasn’t that heartbreaking, or maybe people just don’t care that much. I didn’t know,” she says. “My goal wasn’t to do some sort of paradigmshifting thing. I never went into it thinking about that. I just thought, if I can make a couple more people more aware, then I’m doing my job, because that’s how much it matters to me. So it’s really amazing that it reached as many people as it did, and that makes me really happy. Especially that so many people are like: ‘Thank you for sharing the experiences that I have literally also gone through.’ Also a lot of men who are like: ‘Thank you for helping me be more aware.

I had no idea.’ Or, ‘Thanks for teaching me how to be more actively aware of these issues; I want to make a pledge to make this community a better place than it was for you.’ That kind of thing is really amazing to hear. Also young women who were like, ‘You have inspired me to keep going.’ That’s amazing, because I feel like I didn’t ever have that when I was younger. I didn’t have anyone, any female role model to be like, ‘I know what you’re going through, and I wanted to tell you to keep going,’ or ‘You mean more than your stereotypes.’ No one was there to tell me that. I had to discover that on my own. I wanted to be that person for other people.”

ART IS ONE OF THE COOLEST WAYS TO GO ABOUT ACTIVISM, AND ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS, TOO. THAT IS A VERY INTENTIONAL MESSAGE, AND THAT’S SOMETHING THAT I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW. THAT WHEN I CREATE MUSIC, THERE’S ALWAYS A PURPOSE.

Sasha is currently continuing in her studies in her third year as an undergraduate in music at the New School in New York, while working on a new album scheduled to drop in early 2019, titled Azalea. “I’m trying to really just take my time with it. I want more people to hear more of my compositions and to have another album that people can hold on to and listen to and have this sort of composite of all of these songs that tell a collective story. That’s something that I really value in the concept of this next album,” she says. “Some of the songs are going to be instrumental. Some of them will have spoken word, which I do plan on doing myself, because I do write so much.”

What she won’t be doing much of on Azalea is singing. While her first EP, Gold, featured Berliner singing on every track, she says with this new album, she has the urge to go against a societal pressure for female musicians to also sing. “I don't want to be known as a singer.

My specialty is really in percussion and composition and orchestration, and I want people to know that. I feel like it’s such a common thing for people to be like, if you’re a female instrumentalist, you should probably also learn how to sing. It’s certainly helpful. It will increase your utility in some shape or form. But that shouldn’t be a prerequisite for female instrumentalists. They’re not approaching men that way. It feels like a product of a society that women are obligated to do that, and that’s their only way of becoming really successful. I just don’t think that’s true.”

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While Berliner is quite firmly rooted in her ideals, she is fully aware that as someone still in school and perfecting her craft, her sound and how she defines herself musically is in flux. “I’m still finding my voice,” she reflects. “But throughout my whole life, I’ll be finding my voice. I think inevitably by the act of publishing music, you are forced to have some sort of definition or understanding of what your voice is, even if it is still evolving. So in that sense, I do have the defined part of my voice, but I also acknowledge that it’s still growing and developing.”

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Why are there few females in drumlines, and how can we encourage more to join?

By Liz Tracy

“Girls can’t drum. Are you sure you want to play in the snare line? Maybe you want to play the bass drum or some other instrument.” Sixteen-year-old Mary Gromko Murray remembers hearing these words as she auditioned for Revere, Massachusetts’ 27th Lancers. It was 1977, and the prestigious drumline had never accepted a female drummer.

After playing with an all-girl drum and bugle corps in Norwich, Connecticut, for five years, she didn’t expect such a roadblock: “It didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t be able to be in this drumline just because I was female.”

Murray stood her ground and made the cut. It was a huge commitment that involved a private tutor, long drives, late nights, and much determination. In that first year, the other drummers and even her instructor, made fun of her, especially before she proved her chops. “There were a lot of snide comments, and I just had to ignore them and be the best drummer I could be,” she recalls.

Murray was the only female in a top tier, world-class snare line 40 years ago. Unfortunately, in 2018, there are still very few girls in that position or any others in high-ranking drum corps. Many girls set out to become drummers, but few are pursuing or succeeding in drumlines. Girls have to work harder to prove their worth; they are limited by perceptions of their gender, and, to add another hurdle, marching equipment wasn’t made for people with breasts. Girls need support from parents and instructors to help focus their skills and build their confidence.

Twenty-seven-year-old Raychel Taylor founded the organization Girls March in Dekalb, Illinois, to empower young women through music. She played mallet in Drum Corps International (DCI) groups and is familiar with the problems girls face in drum corps. “It is no secret that it is tougher for women to make it into the elite groups,” she explains. “There is not a single female corps director, brass caption head, or visual caption head in the top 12 groups. There is only one female percussion caption head and one female sound engineer in the top 12, and there is only one female music arranger in the entirety of world-class drum corps.”

There are, she explains, more girls in the lower-ranking drum corps.

“If you look at the broad picture of male to female ratios and representation, a corps may seem relatively balanced. If you take a closer look at specific sections or subsections, that is not the case.”

Women are usually in the front ensemble or color guard but not the battery.

René Ormae-Jarmer, 53, was born to drum and has worked in music her whole life. She is currently captain head at Oregon’s Kingsmen Thunder Drumline. Ormae-Jarmer remembers that as the lone girl drummer in her high school pep band, it was her job to put all the equipment away while the guys ran off to smoke cigarettes. But she was determined to tune out the negativity with her can-do attitude and fierce commitment to becoming a great player. She suggests that one reason there are so few females in drumlines lies in the history of the groups.

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“The drum corps has military roots,” she explains. “Drums were used for communication [on the battlefield] and for pageantry in the military. And because of the military aspect, there were no females.”

After World War I, drum and bugle corps were sponsored by the VFW or community organizations. In the ’70s, corps broke out and formed their own organizations like DCI. “It’s kind of macho,” she adds. “It’s a little bit of a boys’ club, but it’s also either you can play, or you can’t play.”

Murray agrees that how well you play determines your ability to succeed in a drumline. She emphasizes that girls need to step up and work harder to be ready for the intensity of the job. “Girls don’t

generally put themselves out there and dedicate themselves in as high numbers as boys. It’s not a very feminine thing, to be an asskicking snare drummer. You really kind of have to [act like a boy]. You have to fit in. You have to look and . . . be like them, and not all girls want that.”

There is even a masculine uniformity to the costumes drum corps members wear. Another issue mentioned by both Ormae-Jarmer and Taylor is that harnesses are built for men, so they’re uncomfortable and even painful for females. Taylor says drum companies could be doing more to make harnesses comfortable for girls.

As far as the challenge of perception, Taylor says, “There is also the possibility that someone will think [a girl will] cause problems just because she is a girl, like distracting the boys, flirting, causing ‘drama.’ There’s the assumption that women are smaller, weaker, or more dramatic than their male colleagues, so they are accepted in some positions and not others.”

Winter Guard International (WGI Sport of the Arts) Director of Percussion, Mark Thurston, shared a positive outlook on the matter of gender in drumlines. “Over the past 10 years, there have been more and more female percussionists participating in indoor percussion.

There have been several ensembles that have had membership consisting of a 50/50 ratio, males to females, and that’s great to see.” Of the two major drum corps organizations, DCI didn’t comment on the subject of women in drumlines, and WGI said it doesn’t track the number of females in sections.

When asked what can be done to encourage girls to join drumlines, he says, “I think it starts at a very young age, when kids first are introduced to musical instruments. Music educators and parents should never feel that because percussion involves sticks and mallets striking an instrument that it’s a ‘guy thing to do.’” He adds that there has been an increase in female performers at WGI in the past 20 years, which inspires others to play percussion. “It’s exciting to see this evolve,” he says. “We encourage more women to continue as teachers, designers, and judges. It’s time.”

Groups like Girls March encourage girls to feel like there’s a place for them in drumlines and offers them mentors and role models. Taylor says a well-developed curriculum for percussionists in middle and high school can help encourage females to play, and remove some of the stigma. At her summer camp, girls learn the basics of every instrument in the marching percussion section. The positive environment gives girls room to experiment and to feel free from pressure.

Taylor suggests educators cut out the masculine language—“let’s go, boys,” or “play like a man”—and make it more gender neutral.

“Jokes at the expense of the single girl on the drumline does not communicate a welcoming environment. The adults in the room need to take responsibility for creating a healthy environment for everyone.”

Photos courtesy of Girls March

As for what the next generation wants from their drumline experience, Taylor observes, “Most of the young women we have worked with just want to be seen as equals in their high school marching

band. They are tired of being asked if they need help carrying their drum when they’ve been carrying it just fine on their own for the last three hours, while they were learning drill.”

What girls need from educators, parents, and the drumming industry is encouragement, a welcoming space, and resources to learn the skills to become part of a drumline. They also need to have a desire to be part of a group that may not always accommodate them and will challenge them on every level. Most importantly, girls who want to join a drumline need to have faith in themselves that they can do it with hard work and dedication despite others’ perceptions of them.

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Females will find they have different experiences based on their instructors and even where they play. Murray, for instance, moved west to Sacramento, California, after her not entirely positive experience in Massachusetts. She became the first female section leader in a world-class drum corps, the Freelancers. “I was respected for the level of talent I had, and I was taken seriously as a drummer,” she shares from her home in Vancouver, Washington. Now, at 57, she has worked as a drumline instructor, and plays gigs several times a year with the other three female drummers from that Sacramento snare line who reunited as Chicks with Sticks. Neither before nor since have four women played together in a snare line at that level, she says.

by Kristen Gleeson-Prata If you grew up in Ohio, the Buckeye State, you've most likely been made an Ohio State Buckeyes fan for life. I remember watching the football games on TV when I was little. For me, the halftime show was almost as big of a deal as the game itself. It is widely contested that the Ohio State marching band, aka The Best Damn Band in the Land (or TBDBITL, as if that helps at all) was really that—the best marching band there was. That football and marching band frenzy infiltrated every area high school, making it every kid’s dream to be under those Friday-night lights. I was no different.

I had my sights set on being on the drumline since I started playing drums in middle school. It just so happened that the movie Drumline came out just a few months after I joined. Our ragtag group of drummers thought we were pretty great, until that movie inspired us with technique, discipline, showmanship, and precision we had never before witnessed. If you’ve never seen it, Devon Miles, played by Nick Cannon, joins the drumline with the sole intention of proving he’s the best, but he eventually learns (spoiler alert!) that it’s all about teamwork. The movie truly embodies the magic of being on a drumline and being part of something larger than yourself. This is exemplified by my favorite quote from the movie: “I love the sound of the line more than the sound of my own drum.”

It’s safe to say my years on the drumline made me who I am today. My adolescent life revolved around it. It made me decide to pursue music as a career. The friends I made there are some of my best friends to this day. I even met my husband on the bass line. I honed my skills as a musician by learning to play as a part of a whole, and as a writer by teaching myself how to write cadences and drum breaks. After I graduated from high school and went on to college, I returned to teach at my alma mater every summer for the next five years as the drumline instructor. It’s the best job I ever had.

DRUMLINE

SNARE LINE

The percussion section of a marching band, typically made up of snare drums, tenor drums, bass drums, and cymbals.

The section of the drumline made up of snare drummers. Marching band snare drums are usually much deeper than typical snare drums and have high-tension heads often made of Kevlar. Snare drummers usually play in unison.

MARCHING BAND A large group of musicians typically made up of brass, woodwinds, and percussion (and sometimes twirlers or dancers) that is usually associated with a school or organization and commonly performs at sporting events.

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CADENCE

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A piece of music played by only the drumline, typically played to get the drumline or the entire marching band from one location to another.

DRUM BREAK A drumline solo played in the middle of a piece of music.

CENTER SNARE A single snare drummer who is responsible for setting and maintaining the tempo of the entire drumline and therefore the entire band, and also often taps alone to keep tempo during drills or rehearsals. This position is usually held by the most experienced snare drummer.

TENOR LINE The section of the drumline made up of tenor drummers. Tenors typically include three to six single-headed tonal drums and are played with mallets. Tenor drummers usually play in unison.

BASS LINE

SPOCK

TRADITIONAL GRIP

The section of the drumline made up of bass drummers. Typically, the bass line plays tonal or pitched drums, with each player playing a differently sized and pitched drum. Each player plays a different part, and those parts are conceived as a whole, though they also often play in unison. Bass drummers play with mallets.

The name of the smallest individual drum(s) located in the center of tenor drums.

The stick grip in which the left hand is upside down and the stick rests between your thumb and pointer finger and also between your middle and ring fingers.

CYMBAL LINE

HARNESS

The section of the drumline made up of cymbal players. The cymbals are held one in each hand with leather straps. Sometimes the snare drummers play the cymbals like hihats or ride cymbals.

Also called a carrier, this is the contraption that hooks onto the drum to facilitate the carrying of it. It’s typically made of metal.

RIM The metal ring around a drumhead often used for accent notes or visuals.

LISTEN IN The practice of listening to the drummer next to you, who is listening to the drummer next to them, and so on, who is listening to the center snare—the person setting the tempo—creating a unison sound.

MILITARY STYLE The style of marching band characterized by mostly forward travel, a marching technique called high-step, straight lines, and constant tempos, all due to the band’s original purpose of military travel.

ROLL OFF A short musical command played by the drumline that tells the band to start marching or playing.

CORPS STYLE PIT

VISUALS Movements such as abnormal sticking, arm, and head movements, stick tricks, etc., that add visual aesthetic.

HALT

AT ATTENTION The state of being still, in military posture, ready for the next command.

MATCH GRIP

TRADITIONAL STYLE

The stick grip in which both hands look exactly the same.

The style of marching band characterized by high-step marching and mostly straight lines. Traditional style bands tend to play more popular music as opposed to symphonic music and have the primary intention of entertaining crowds on football fields. Bands at HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) are primarily traditional style, and the movie Drumline is a great example.

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A short musical command played by the drumline that tells the band to stop marching.

The percussion section separate from the drumline that can include any percussion instrument. Pits are often utilized in corps style bands.

The style of marching band characterized by curved line formations, a marching technique called the roll-step, the use of a pit ensemble, and an array of theatrical elements. Corps style bands play different kinds of music ranging from symphonic to popular.

by Jasmine Bourgeois with editing assistance from Angela Sells Photos courtesy of the artists

Annie Heffley

Tom Tom: What’s your background with drumlines?

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Annie Heffley: I started playing marching snare at Denton High School and did that all four years I was there. I was also a member of Roots Percussion Independent, an indoor drumline group, for three years. The summer of 2017—going into my sophomore year of college—I marched River City Rhythm, an open-class drum corps based in Minnesota, and my sophomore year of college, I was on the Green Brigade snare line at the University of North Texas. Currently, I’m marching Guardians, and it’s a lot of fun!

Do you rock a drum kit, too?

I wish I could play drum set! I’m going to have to take a couple semesters of drumset lessons at UNT, so I’m sure I’ll be significantly better after that. But as of now, I have very limited set experience. I can keep time but nothing fancy.

Any major marching band idols?

Corps-wise, I really look up to Santa Clara Vanguard. I only have one summer left after this one, but I’m going to put in a lot of work, and do my best to at least put up a fight for a spot there. People-wise, I’ve had a lot of really great teachers that have helped me immensely who I definitely look up to.

Photo by Geovani Ayala

Annie Heffley is a 20-year-old drummer from Denton, Texas, who drums with the Guardians Drum and Bugle Corps.

She started playing percussion in sixth grade and hasn’t stopped since, first playing snare all four years of high school and later becoming a member of Roots Percussion Independent, the River City Rhythm Drum and Bugle Corps, and the Green Brigade snare line at the University of North Texas.

What’s the coolest thing that's happened to you at an event?

The coolest thing that’s happened to me in a show is probably just the whole experience of performing in Lucas Oil for the first time last summer. Everyone was super hyped, and I had actually toured the stadium with my high school a couple years before and knew that I wanted to be able to play there someday. So, performing there was kind of surreal.

Plus, at the end, on all the big hits everyone was giving a ton of energy, and the guy next to me actually had his drum fall off on the last note, so that was pretty wild.

Emily Bloch Emily Bloch is a 24-year-old news journalist and drummer from South Florida who started playing as a young girl. Her ear for drumming and attention to rudiments served her well in her high school marching band and later helped her drum with Stryke Percussion. She currently plays bass drum with the Miami Heat Street Band, a funky dancing band that pumps up Miami’s NBA team before their home games. Bloch has also played in various rock bands over the years.

Tom Tom: When did you start drumming?

Emily Bloch: I started drumming when I was seven years old. I had awesome instructors over the years who drilled as many rudiments as you can into a kid’s attention span.

We’d do maybe a half hour of rudiments and then some full-kit work. The rudiments came in handy by the time I hit high school for marching band.

What's your background with drumlines?

I currently drum for the Miami Heat Street Band. I play bass drum with the group. We also double as the 305 Street Band for nonNBA affiliated events. I've been with the group since 2014. Before that, I did two seasons with the WGI group, Stryke Percussion.

Do you rock a drum kit, too?

I do! It’s been a minute, because drumming isn’t my full-time gig. I’m actually a journalist, but I've been in a good handful of rock bands over the years.

Any major marching band idols?

My idols are all of the badass babes that do DCI. I don’t care who you are. If you’re hauling heavy ass equipment in the hot sun day after day, and you’re dealing with added bonuses like your period—you deserve the entire world.

What’s the coolest thing that's happened to you at an event?

This was cool but also really intimidating. The Heat were playing against the Spurs in 2015.

A time-out was called, and the band ran onto the court to do our routine. Everything moves really fast, since we only have about a minute and 30 seconds to work with. If we go over our time slot, the team can get penalized. So, we’re running to our spots, and I look up, and Tim Duncan is in my spot arguing with a ref. He’s 6'11" and was heated, and my 5'2" butt is looking up at him like, “Um, excuse me, Mister Duncan, sir?" He and the ref ended up moving a few feet over, at best. We did our entire routine, and you could see the two of them still arguing in the background.

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Photo courtesy of the artist

Photo by Martha B

Melody Gonzalez Melody Gonzalez is a 23-year-old drummer from Reading, Pennsylvania, who recently moved to Brooklyn, New York, to pursue her passion for drumming. She fell in love with marching bands at a young age, and that led her to becoming captain of her high school senior drumline, which gained the title of regional champions. Gonzalez firmly believes drums are an important form of entertainment and creates videos through her Instagram for audiences far and wide. Soon, she wants to direct her efforts toward creating live street performances in New York.

Tom Tom: When did you start drumming?

Melody Gonzalez: The start of my drumming journey was at the innocent age of eight years old. It started when I went to my sister's middle school concert-band performance. All I did was keep my eyes on the percussion group that was playing. At that moment, I knew I had to join the band next year to be a part of the group who banged and thumped to the beat.

What's your background with drumlines?

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After joining the concert band, [drumming] became my life all the way up to high school.

I knew the drumline was going to be my next journey in life, when I started high school.

Reading High School has a reputation for their drumline. Of course, I was nervous, but I was also certain that I was going to make the line. I started as the small girl on the snare, but after three years of hard work and determination, I became the drumline

captain center snare. During my senior year, I had to lead not only nine men on the line but also a hundred marching band members. We became regional champions that year. After high school, I was distraught that they did not have a marching band at the college I attended. I was still determined, and kept my passion for drumming towards entertainment. I now make drum videos for my Instagram page. I am soon going to start street performing in New York to entertain the crowds around me. I am excited about my next stage of drumming and performing.

Do you rock a drum kit, too?

I rock the kit, too, mainly for my own enjoyment.

Any major marching-band idols?

My marching-band idol has to be Nicole Casino, the center snare of the Blue Devil snare line back in 2013.

What’s the coolest thing that's happened to you at an event?

The coolest thing that happened to me at an event would have to be my final pep rally performance. As the drumline captain, I had to perform a solo for the entire school. With this solo, I had to increase my speed constantly. The tempo I set was the quickest speed I ever did on my snare. The whole audience was silent as they listened to me play at a ridiculous speed rate, and after my solo, the crowd went wild and cheered me on. I received a lot of positive feedback from the students and faculty at my school. It was the best experience ever!

Shaina Grodi At only 15 years old, Shaina Grodi has been drumming for the better part of her life. The Oak Harbor, Ohio, native picked up her first pair of sticks in the fifth grade and hasn’t looked back. For the last two years, Grodi has played snare drum at the Oak Harbor High School marching band, through which she has performed at a number of parades and festivals, events,, and innumerable football games. Grodi is not sure at what level she’ll be pursuing drumming once she graduates, but she certainly can’t picture her life without it.

Tom Tom: When did you start drumming?

Shaina Grodi: I was in fifth grade when I first picked up a pair of drumsticks. Back then, I could barely play eighth notes, but when middle school started, another band director came who played percussion in college and really elevated our playing skills!

Do you rock a drum kit, too?

I know the basics of a drum kit and have played it once or twice, but I’ve never gotten the chance to completely rock one. However, it’s always been a dream of mine, and I look forward to learning more in the future!

Any major marching-band idols?

I don’t have any names in particular, as my marching-band idols, but I draw inspiration from every female drummer I see. Their focus, their skill, and their spirit inspire and motivate me to continue improving my skills as a drummer. However, some of my musical inspirations in general are Lzzy Hale and David Bowie.

What’s the coolest thing that’s happened to you at an event?

The coolest thing to happen at an event was when our band went to the Anthony Wayne Band Festival. There were somewhere between 10 and 20 different high school bands from our area there to perform their halftime shows, and at the end of it all, we all marched on the field together.

Someone started playing “Seven Nation Army,” and everyone seemed to know it, so we all played it together! It was very fun.

Photo courtesy of the artist

53 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

Amanda Muse

Photo courtesy of the artist

Amanda Muse is a 23-year-old independent artist, performer, and clinician from Orlando, Florida. She has been playing snare drum for over nine years, marching with ensembles that have performed at Bands of America in Georgia and Indianapolis, Florida Marching Band Championships, and New York City’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. While a member of Western Carolina University’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band, she received the 2016 Spirit of the Line Award and currently holds the position of Purple Drumline Instructor.

Her teaching experience spans multiple high school drumlines, private lessons, and interactive clinics. She is recognized internationally through the unique videos and music she produces on her social media handles, which total over 100,000 views. Muse has been featured in video collaborations with BYOS, AJ Drumz, the Grid Book Series, Old Bridge Elementary Drumline, and was a winner in Vic Firth’s 2017 global Rodger Carter SRC JAM video.

Muse has also been featured in articles by WCU’s marketing department and College Marching for being an inspiration by overcoming stereotypes and shattering glass ceilings. She performs at corporate entertainment events with an all-girl group, Orlando’s Lady and the Beat, and is currently earning her master’s degree from New York University. She is on the artist roster of Pearl Drums, Vic Firth, and Beetle Percussion.

Tom Tom: When did you start drumming?

54 TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

Amanda Muse: I started drumming as a hobby in middle school. My main band instrument was flute, however, the percussion instruments always caught my interest.

I put buckets upside down in my room, got my first pair of sticks, and started drumming for fun around the age of 11. My parents put me in drum set lessons when I was around 14.

Although I decided to continue with flute as my primary instrument in concert band and wind ensemble, I took a leap by auditioning for my high school drumline at the end of my ninth-grade year and was put on the snare line.

What's your background with drumlines?

After high school, I went on to play snare in WCU’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band. I spent my summers playing snare at Universal Studios Orlando. It was with a small drumline called Sweet Beats—two snares, two tenors, and one bass, with a parade float that was candy themed. This job completely opened my eyes to the entertain-

ment and performance world. I fell in love with the job and entertainment in general.

It was a dream! After a few years, the float's contract was complete, and we all went our separate ways. I finished up four years of snare at WCU, but then a solo career began.

In March of 2017, I started posting solos and different compositions on my social media handles. This led to receiving some fun opportunities to perform and teach clinics around the US and internationally.

Do you rock a drum kit, too?

I do also play drum set. I enjoy putting in my headphones and jamming out to some fun songs at home!

Any major marching band idols?

When I was younger, I was always inspired

by Florida State University’s marching band.

My sister went to FSU, and the first time I got to see them live made me fall in love, with not just the wall of sound, but the style and arrangement of songs they were playing. It looked so fun! I was able to participate in the same kind of experience at WCU.

What’s the coolest thing that’s happened to you at an event?

There are a couple of mind-blowing events that I have gotten to experience. The first one was marching in the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with WCU. We marched three miles, and it was the most painful, draining three miles of most of our lives, because of the pace, but I couldn’t stop smiling. You could look up, and see people crowding up their balconies just to catch a glimpse of us. The performance at the end was surreal. The trip holds a special place in my heart. The second coolest event I have been able to experience was having the privilege of teaching a clinic in Costa Rica and getting to judge their annual drumline competition. It was a huge event for the country’s drumlines. Everyone was always so happy, and I was very impressed with the skill level and passion they had. This event inspired me to market myself as a clinician. I am excited to do the same thing in Hong Kong this July! *See Amanda's gear set-up on page 64

The new Netflix series shows what it’s like being in a drumline—sort of.

By Angela Sells Photos via Stage 13 The 12-episode 2017 Netflix docuseries Marching Orders showcases the life of those in a marching band from Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college in Florida. The show is a great idea, in theory, but its execution leaves something to be desired. Each episode is barely over ten minutes long, so, as writer Mark Dolan states in his Common Sense Media review, “the viewer [gets] little context about the band to keep . . . invested.” A consequence of this is that there is little time to develop sympathy toward any particular character and his or her musical journey. Though we are told within minutes of the first episode that the band was featured in the 2002 film Drumline, we are not told why; the legendary and historical talent of Bethune-Cookman is never explored.

That doesn’t mean the series is entirely without intrigue. There is a compelling competitive atmosphere, especially when the all-female dancers reach Bring It On proportions of drama during tryouts. While all of the drummers on the drumline are male, it is refreshing to see men of color portrayed for their dedication, passion, and chops. Still, the scene editing is so quick that we are left with montages and quick-spliced images of other groups within the band to fill in the gaps.

Also, there are hundreds of moving pieces in the band, but we are rarely able to fully comprehend the impact that marching has on each student’s personal or collegial life. Perhaps if each episode focused on one particular person’s experience at Bethune-Cookman, or one particular “activity” within the band, the series could shine.

One thing is for sure—in this marching band, there is an inspiration and unparalleled energy, and a commitment to the craft that pushes players’ bounds—mentally, physically, and emotionally.

55 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

TECHNIQUE

BASIC TECHNIQUES IN

LONG-PATTERN EXERCISES

by René Ormae-Jarmer

If you think you’d like to audition for a drumline, the first step is to learn all 40 of the basic rudiments, and then start in on the hybrid rudiments. In this article, we’ll focus on the next step after rudiments: learning some typical long-pattern exercises that are used in both warm-ups and drumline show music.

EIGHT ON A HAND This exercise focuses on upstrokes and downstrokes—two of the most fundamental intro techniques when you first take drum lessons. Guidance from an expert instructor with an awareness of basic hand methods in marching percussion is crucial to ensure your strokes and stick heights are precise, economical, and efficient, and that you don’t waste time unknowingly using bad technique.

The upstroke is the basic rebound stroke. Start with your hands in playing position, sticks parallel to and about 1/2" to 1" from the drumhead. Upstrokes utilize open-hand grip, meaning your hand opens up but your fingers stay in contact with the stick.

No pinkies out, and keep your thumbs on the stick. When you strike the drumhead, let the stick rebound up to vertical (but don’t go past this, or you might hit yourself in the face!), because you’re about to play another stroke.

PLEASE NOTE: It’s important to mark time (meaning march in place) to a metronome while you’re playing each of these exercises. In performance, you’ll be marching in formations while you’re playing whole pieces, so marking time in practice is great preparation for doing those two things at once. As an added plus, it serves as an in-body metronome, giving you a pulse against which to play.

Please also note that the below exercises and transcriptions are for the whole drumline, but most of the explanations in this piece focus primarily on snare drum technique.

Start by practicing this exercise with a metronome set to a comfortable tempo (90–120 bpm) with a subdivision of eighth notes. This may sound simple, but here’s the catch: The eighth stroke of each hand is a downstroke. Downstrokes utilize closed grip (fingers don’t open) and only have a small 2–3" rebound off of the head. That eighth stroke is the last stroke with that hand, so by limiting the rebound, the stick is back to playing position, ready for its next turn.

Eight on a Hand is the most basic warm-up there is, but it requires focus and attention to technique:

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• Every stroke must be about 9–12" and must have the same velocity. While the passive hand is waiting to play, it stays in playing position.

TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

• Lead with the tip of the stick straight up—no windshield wipers or angles.

• Play through the drum. Whether playing drumline, jazz, or death metal, drummers tend to slow down when approaching the head, instead of speeding up. This can cause some strokes to not even make contact!

• Use just the hinge of your wrists for slower tempos, then add a bit of arm for faster speeds.

• Keep your hands in playing position with a firm fulcrum.

BEAT

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A nice set to practice starts with one repetition with large strokes (also called “bucks”), followed by one rep with taps (3" heights), then a crescendo rep and a decrescendo rep. Don’t forget to always mark time and use a metronome.

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8 on a Hand

                         R

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57 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

                                    L

Xyl. XYL.

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Tenor TENORS

BASS Bass

Alan Keown

TECHNIQUE BRIDGEMEN Bridgemen is one of the oldest and most basic drumline exercises around. It’s a hand-tohand exercise designed to address timing, accents, taps, and stick heights, while also introducing paradiddles for snare drums and splits for bass drums (splits is another word for tonal bass drum parts).

Dennis DeLucia wrote this exercise in 1982 for a group he directed called the Bridgemen.

I was introduced to it by Matt Savage and Alan Keown, both well-known marching percussion instructors who run two of the best drumline camps in the nation. Both camps are excellent ways for young girls and boys to get into the marching arts. Matt’s wife, Amy Savage, is highly credentialed in the marching arts—running the front ensemble at many camps—and is one of the few women involved in drum corps.

Bridgemen

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GRIP

A ACCENT TAP

Accent Tap focuses on stick height. Knowing the difference between an accent and a tap is crucial and one of the most basic elements of drumline. An accent is a full 9–12" stroke, whereas a tap is a 3" stroke (and is considered piano, or quiet). The goal here is extremes in heights, which makes for extreme dynamic differences. One of the cool things about this exercise is that you can split up the order of which the accents are played between sections (bass, tenors, snares), which causes a tribal-like overlapping of accents. Don’t be fooled though, as this is much easier said than done. It’s very difficult for players to not get distracted by another section and start playing the wrong accents.

HUGGA DUGGA BURR Hugga Dugga Burr, also called “Chicken and a Roll,” focuses on getting your open (double stroke) rolls clean. Simply put, Hugga Dugga Burr is four alternating single strokes followed by four double strokes.

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Getting a clean open roll takes a variety of exercises, patience, and some mentoring. Doing so at various tempos and with various dynamics separates the women from the girls, so to speak, so be the one who puts in the time and effort!

Look online for transcriptions and videos on how to play both Accent Tap and Hugga Dugga Burr.

If you think you might be interested in drumline and drum corps, know that it’s the most athletic of the percussion arts—truly a “sport of the arts”—and that it’s one of the most male-dominated forms of music. Also know that if the movie Drumline is your only exposure to the subject so far, most of what you see in the movie is stunt drumming. The best way to further acquaint yourself is to look online for WGI (Winter Guard International), DCI (Drum Corps International), or NWAPA (Northwest Association of Performing Arts), and check out the many videos available.

So what are you waiting for? Seek out your local program and get involved!

59 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

To get involved in drumline: If you’re in middle or high school, join your school’s marching band. If you’re between the ages of 17–22, audition for a local drum corps or winter indoor group (the max age in drumline is 22; to stay in the activity past this age, you can teach).

Attend a drum camp! If you love drumming, having drum corps experience in your skillset doesn't just make you better technically. You may just make some lifelong best friends. The discipline, focus, teamwork, and experience of doing something complex with a group of peers in this unique culture and art form is something very special. Many of the best drumset players in the world have serious chops and stamina because they trained technically in drumline.

TECHNIQUE

by Kristen Gleeson-Prata When I joined my high school drumline, we were playing cadences that were decades old. I wanted to play something new, so I thought I’d take a stab at writing my own.

The band director was open to it, so I deduced what I could from the ones I knew and taught myself from there.

If you’d like to write a cadence for a drumline, there are really only a few things you need to keep in mind. First, the cadence needs to be around marching tempo (120 bpm) since its purpose is band travel. Second, the cadence should be in 4/4 to facilitate marching with two feet (though it could technically be in other time signatures, but that can get complicated). Third, the beat should be easily felt at all times during the cadence. A steady beat will keep everyone marching in unison. If you follow these steps, you can pretty much write anything and the band will be able to get from point A to point B together.

DRUMLINE SECTIONS + THEIR FUNCTIONS

First, probably because my marching band experience is in the traditional style (and also because I’m a drum-set player), I like to approach the drumline like a drum set. As you might guess, the snares act as the snare drum, the basses act as the kick drum, the tenors act as the toms, and the cymbals act as the hi-hat/

SNARE DRUMS:

ride/crash. You can create drum-set grooves and fills, and basically copy and

• Play most consistently

paste those parts into the different sections of the drumline. Again, this is just a

• Create grooves by subdividing the beat with rudiments, accents, and different stickings

place to start because in this case, each part would likely be very simple.

To make everything more interesting, the snare drum part can be filled in by subdividing into 8ths/16ths and using rolls and more complicated rhythms. The

BASS DRUMS:

tenor part can also be filled in and be made very similar to the snare part (again, adding color with different tones). The bass drums can keep holding down the

• Ground the grooves with low end

groove while adding in some tonal runs in between, and the cymbals can play

• Can play in unison for full effect, or tonally for more melodic/intricate parts (see bass line in the glossary on pgs 48-49 for more info on tonal bass drum playing)

around with different rhythms and splits to make their part more interesting. Putting a disco style open-close-open-close hi-hat pattern over a groove is always a good idea!

Below, you will find I did just this with the Dua Lipa song “New Rules”: I transcribed

TENORS:

basically what’s going on drum-wise in the chorus of the song, and then trans-

• Add melody, color, and flare due to using multiple drums

lated that into a drumline version of the same chorus part. I followed the steps above, including copying and pasting the snare part, kick part, etc., into their corresponding drumline sections and then expanding upon and filling in those

CYMBALS:

parts to make them each more interesting.

• Have different timbre than rest of the drumline

(Drumset turned drumline)

"New Rules" chorus - drumline

• Can easily and simply tie the whole cadence together by making it groove

Dua Lipa

60 Chorus TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

Snares SNARES

°/ 4 Œ 4

> > > > œœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ

œ 4 / 4 œœœ œ ‰

Tenors TENORS

Basses BASSES

4 /4Œ

‰

Cymbals CYMBALS

4Œ ¢/ 4

‰

3

°

œœœ ‰ œJ j œ œ™

œœœ œœ ‰ œœœ Œ œJ

j œ

œœœ œœ‰

œœœœœ

œœœ œ

‰

œœœ ‰ œJ

œœœ ≈ œœœ ™™™ œJ œ™ J

¿

œ ¿

œ ¿

œ ¿

œ

œ

> > > > (play 3x) ™œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ ™

GET

Cymbals

4Œ ¢/ 4 3

Snares SNARES

°

‰

j œ œ™

j œ

¿

œ ¿

œ ¿

œ ¿

CHOPS

œ

> > > > (play 3x) ™ / ™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ œ œœ‰ œœœœ œ œœ‰ œœœœ œœ ‰ œœ œ œ ™™ / ™™ ‰ œ œ

Tenors TENORS

œ / ™™ œœœ

‰ œœœœ ‰ œœœœ Œ J J ™ œ ¿ œ œ™ Cymbals ¢ / ™ ¿ CYMBALS Basses BASSES

œœ œœ j œ

™ ‰ œœœœ ‰ œœœœ ≈ œœœ™ œ ™™ J J J

™™

¿ œ ¿ œ ¿ œ ¿ œ

™™

Drumline Adaptation of Dua Lipa’s “New Rules" Chorus Once you have some cohesive parts and grooves, it’s fun to highlight each section by giving each a solo (lasting as short as one bar, or as long as you’d like). Or you can go the other direction and utilize some unison parts. The options are endless! Put an intro and an end on that bad boy, and you have a cadence!

TIP: If you have a program like Finale or Sibelius, you can hear the parts you have written to see how they work together. If you’re using paper and pencil, you can recruit a few friends to play the different parts for you.

Another approach I like to take is using inspiration from music that already exists. Take the melody from your favorite song and let it inspire a tenor part or tonal bass drum part. If

Rough transcription of

there’s a cool African agogo bell part you like, recreate it using rims or cymbals and expand

"Lose My Breath"

from there. A more literal example of this is the drumline part that’s already in Destiny’s

Destiny's Child

Child’s “Lose My Breath.” As you can see below, I essentially just transcribed it the best I could and adapted it slightly.

Snares SNARES

œæ œæ œæ œæ œ ¿

° 4 ™™ Œ / 4

4 œœœ / 4 ™™ œ œ œ Œ

TENORS Tenors

Basses BASSES

4 œ / 4 ™™ œœœ

Cymbals CYMBALS

4 ¢ / 4 ™™ œ

œœœ œ

œœœ Œ œ

œ œœœ æ æ œ™ Œ ≈ œœœœ™™™™ J

¿ Œ

Ó

3 SNARES Snares

°

/ Œ

œæ œæ œæ œæ œ ¿

TENORS Tenors

œœœ / œœœ Œ

BASSES Basses

œœœ / œœœ œœœ œœœ Œ ¢/ œ

¿ Œ

œ ¿

œ œœœ æ æ œ™ Œ ≈ œœœœ™™™™ J Ó

Œ

œœœœœ œœœœœœ

Œ

œœœœœœœœœ ‰ œ

j ‰ œ ¿

¿

¿

> > > > œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ¿ ™™ Œ

œ œ ™™ œœœœœœœœœ

Œ

œœœœœœ œ œ œ œ ‰ ™™

‰ œj ¿

¿

¿

™™

Rough Transcription of Destiny’s Child’s “Lose My Breath” Drumline Section

The final approach I'll suggest to writing a cadence is simply getting ideas and inspiration from other existing cadences. YouTube is a great resource for hearing and seeing what other drumlines have come up with.

Once a cadence is written and learned, the cherry on top is visuals. Check out the movie Drumline for ideas. Drumlines are first and foremost about precision, but a close second is aesthetics. It should be just as enjoyable to watch a drumline as it is to listen to a drumline— a treat for the eyes and ears alike.

61 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

Cymbals

CYMBALS

> > > > œ œ œœœœœœœœœœ¿

œ ¿

TECHNIQUE

TRANSCRIPTION

by Amanda Muse “Odyssey� was a short snare piece I composed using some challenging back sticking and visuals. It was the second or third snare piece I had ever composed, so I was trying to push my personal limit! I pieced it together while listening to a track called "Odyssey" by No Wyld.

62 TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE Read about Amanda on page 54, and check out her gear set-up on page 64

SHOW

US

SETUP

Amanda Muse FROM: Orlando, FL LIVES: Cullowhee, NC AGE: 23

by ZoĂŤ Brecher Photo courtesy of artist

64 TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

Tom Tom: What marching band(s) are you in? Amanda Muse: I am in an all-girl entertainment drumline called Beauty and the Beats based in Orlando, Florida. In the past, I was a snare drum performer at Universal Studios and marched with Western Carolina University's Pride of the Mountainsmarching band.

What was your first kit or marching instrument? My first marching instrument was snare drum at the age of 15.

How old were you when you got it? I have not owned my own snare until recently (23 years old)! The schools and entertainment ensembles I have marched with in the past

have all provided the instruments. Now that I do more freelancing and clinics, I can finally own my own!

Why did you start drumming? I was always interested in the drumline. My ninth grade year, I marched flute, however, I was interested in being on the drumline because everyone in the band looked up to them.

After much individual work, I auditioned for snare at the end of my ninth grade year, and made the snareline.

How many drums have you had? 1 snare drum.

Where did you buy your current snare?

Pearl Drums.

YOUR

KITS

STICKS

1 14" FFXCC Championship CarbonCore Snare Drum

I currently use Vic Firth's Jeff Queen Solo sticks, and also Tom Aungst Indoor snare sticks. Both of these have a great weight to them while still being a little thinner around, which I enjoy because I have smaller hands! The reason we use thicker sticks in drumline is because it requires more sound and velocity to cut through an entire band. Also, the heads we play on are tuned very high in tension, necessitating durable, strong sticks.

Thicker sticks give us more power in terms of feel and sound, and are a lot more durable than thin drum set sticks.

HARDWARE 2 Pearl Marching Snare stand

HEADS Evans System Blue (top) and Evans MX5 (bottom)

Read about Amanda on page 54, and check out her transcription on page 62

65 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

DRUM

Fall 2018

shop.tomtommag.com

Eric Hernandez of Bruno Mars

#teampacificdrums

WWW.PACIFICDRUMS.COM

©2018 Drum Workshop, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

COLOUR ME WEDNESDAY Counting Pennies in the Afterlife Dovetown/ KROD Records May 2018

EBONY BONES Nephilim 1984 Records July 2018 British actress and musician Ebony Bones has a lot to say, and yet, her skillful mastery is being able to say so much with so few words. Her latest effort, Nephilim, is a frantic political knockout of an earworm. In her third album, Bones wrote, produced, and performed a varied genre that is arguably punk, alternative, and definitively Black. Calling to mind the Sex Pistols’ crass calls against the Queen and Bjork’s ethereal dark soundscapes on the Dancer in the Dark soundtrack, Nephilim energizes the spirit and makes the soul yearn for more.

The term Nephilim describes the offspring of the sons of God, presumed to be angels, and the daughters of man. These offspring were huge in size and would be called “giants” in our current vernacular. The implications of last year’s vote for Brexit, on top of Great Britain’s complicated history of nationalism and its relationship to stolen and chosen immigrants throughout history, and this album title is not hard to come by. There is a giant weight on the shoulders of nonwhite Brits simply trying to exist. The song “No Black in the Union Jack” addresses this head-on, no chaser.

Nephilim addresses other giant concepts as well. Ebony Bones’ collaboration with the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra explores the theme of censorship and the differences in oppression between China, Great Britain, and other westernized societies. Taking it further, Bones’ use of live strings versus digitized strings begs a look into the censorship of human emotional expression in our current music arena, as well.

It is without a doubt that if you’ve not heard of Ebony Bones, you will certainly encounter her brilliance some way, somehow. Do yourself a favor, and intentionally go listen to Nephilim, so you won’t be knocked on your ass during a surprise encounter with it.

68

Favorite Track: All. Of. Them.

TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

Listen to this: while passionately spray painting your latest We Are All Immigrants/Trans Rights Now/We Do Better When We Listen to Black Women! protest signs.

—Jyvonne Haskin

If you haven’t had the pleasure of listening to Colour Me Wednesday yet, then now is the time to start.

Hailing from London, the indie pop/ punk band formed by sisters Jen and Harriet Doveton have released their latest album Counting Pennies in the Afterlife, and it is chock-full of dreamy coming-of-age anthems. The album is playful and at times aggressive, bringing back the nostalgia of being a teenager.

Drummer Jaca Freer packs a flirtatious punch on their prereleased hit single “Sunriser” that makes you want to dance as Jen Doveton sweetly sings, “I want to feel alive again.” Further along, the track “Disown” kicks off with a revitalizing and momentous energy and a dynamic rhythm. The album ends on “Not My Turf,” which sneaks up from behind you and pounces with power and disarmingly pretty vocals. Just when you think it’s over, a surprising end awaits leaving you with a smile on your face. You’ll want to listen to this album again, and again, and again.

Listen to this: while you cruise through the city on a summer day with the top down, and don’t forget to make sure everyone sees you dancing.

—Christina Weinbaum

GALLERIET Send Me Your Daughter Self-released September 2018 Swedish electronic musician Galleriet is an up-and-coming, self-produced, D.I.Y queen, and her striking performances have been captivating audiences since the release of her album Romantic Gestures in October of 2017. The imaginative and extraordinary artist is seeking to break down barriers for women in the electronic-music community by recording, engineering, and releasing her music on her own—and it’s pretty stellar.

Romantic Gestures is magical and mysterious, and the only place from there is upwards. Galleriet’s EP Send Me Your Daughter is set to release in September of 2018, and it is bound to blow your mind into another dimension of ecstasy. Each song is pure pleasure and made for moving.

This release is sure to leave you spellbound and will have you begging for more.

Listen to this: when you are feeling yourself, and slipping into the swankiest outfit you own for a night out.

—Christina Weinbaum

MUSIC + MAGS

IZZY TRUE Sad Bad Don Giovanni August 2018 BLIZZARD BABIES Missing Time Don Giovanni July 2018 With catchy, surfy guitar hooks and effortlessly cool vocals pushed along by tight, driving rhythms, Blizzard Babies’ Missing Time is truly an indie-pop gem. No strangers to the art, Liz A (drums), Taylor Kay (guitar, vocals), Pamela Joy (tenor guitar, vocals), and Meghann Fae (bass, backup vocals) have been crafting melodic rockers with an edge, since the band’s inception, during, you guessed it, a blizzard, back in 2011. Recorded in 2016 at Benton, Michigan’s Key Club, Missing Time is a brilliantly produced album that sounds crisp and clear, even as fuzzy licks and hectic drum parts briefly flirt with pure cacophony. Lush and full, without feeling congested, there’s never really a lull in the action; it’s well-composed pop song after pop song, bookended by two short and sweet instrumentals.

Given the wealth of memorable tunes on Missing Time, it’s somewhat difficult to decide on a standout track or two. The four-song stretch from “MC to MP” through “Miss Me Miss Me” is particularly strong, though. The beautifully dark “The Management” chronicles the mysterious death of Elisa Lam in a downtown L.A.–hotel, and ends with a slowly building, repetitive mantra. “Miss Me Miss Me” strikes the ear as an upbeat love song but soon reveals itself to be about a suicide pact and the anxiety that one of the participants may not follow through on their promise. Sings Kay, “I’m leaving soon / And if you don’t come along, I hope you miss me.”

Missing Time is an impressive display of songwriting; it features impeccable use of vocal harmonies and choruses that will get stuck in your head for days. It gets musically adventurous at times, but never veers too far from its center—wellcrafted pop songs with a touch of grit.

Listen to this: when you’re ready to realize the unique beauty of your own painful memories.

—Stephen Otto Perry

Since forming in 2015, Izzy True has developed a musical voice drawn beautifully from the underground culture of upstate New York. In their latest album, SadBad, Izzy True pushes their sound in all the right ways, a process that started in an 11th-story apartment in Chicago and ended in Ithaca, with added support from Angela Devivo and Krya Skye, and guest appearances from Kyle Seely (Sheer Mag) and Curt Oren. The final product is a punk album that wraps you up and carries you through the True’s narrative in an inspiring, intimate manner.

SadBad is an exploration of life in the aftermath of ending, from breakups to death, and the awkwardness that accompanies uncertainty. Instrumentally and lyrically, the album travels the range of emotions that endings and finality induce. Leadoff track “Bobo” asks that anxiety provoking, post-breakup question, “Will I be comforted?” while the lush instrumentation and rich vocals give a sense of grounding and confidence. The thematic heaviness in “Grandma” is balanced by a degree of lightness in its storytelling. The journey of SadBad isn’t weepy or mournful but rather determined and assertive, acknowledging the discomfort and sadness of loss while championing strength and resilience.

Listen to this: To power you through a good cleanse, whether it be your closet or friends list.

—Kerrie Byer

CUMULUS Comfort World Trans Records September 2018 Cumulus’s Comfort World unfolds like a dream sequence for the ears. Alex Niedzialkowski’s sophomore album comes five years after her debut I Never Meant It to Be Like This in 2013.

Comfort World was inspired by more than a mattress store with the same name. It’s about what happens when everything familiar in life seems to crumble around you.

Listen to this: during a contemplative rainy drive alone through the woods.

—Kristine Villanueva

69 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

Niedzialkowski marries melancholic indie with hints of bubblegum pop. Comfort World shares the same airy vibe with some acoustic folk and electronica in the mix. Despite her sweet singing voice, Niedzialkowski’s songwriting on Comfort World discreetly presents itself with the angst associated with her native Seattle’s music scene, but is packaged in mellow heartbreak. Her track “Tough Crowd,” maintains her atmospheric sound while injecting raw attitude as she belts lyrics like, “We’re all fucked up, and we’ve always been.”

REVIEWS

MUSIC + FILM

TEENAGE SUPERSTARS Directed by Grant McPhee TriCoast Entertainment US Release July 2018 Teenage Superstars is an illuminating homage to the hugely influential and somewhat underrepresented independent music scene of Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s. In this documentary, narrated by Kim Deal of Pixies and the Breeders, we see firsthand how the lack of access to mainstream music and big-label finances paved the way for kids to pick up instruments and create their own subculture.

Appearances and interviews with significant post-punk bands like the Pastels, the Vaselines, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, the Soup Dragons, BMX Bandits, Strawberry Switchblade, and more, shed light on the insight and inspiration that led to the noisy pop melodies that swept the world and inspired beloved American rockers like Kurt Cobain and Thurston Moore.

The appeal of this documentary lies within the attitudes and motivations of the musicians. There’s no sugarcoating the struggles of building an underground music scene while dealing with majorlabel pressures to conform, but because the Glasgow indie movement was relatively nonexistent prior, there’s a deep sense of creative freedom that prevails throughout the community. These bands are making music for the sake of making music. Friends are starting venues and establishing labels, because they want to share that music. They’re doing what they’re doing, because they truly love it and in that authenticity and naïveté, something special is born.

As songs take off and popularity grows, some are left surprised by their own success. The road to fame is certainly a rocky one, as we witness the balancing act of trying to maintain integrity while gaining notoriety. These themes are as relatable and relevant for musicians today as they were in the ’80s.

There may be no gold albums gracing the walls of these artists’ homes, but the impact of their fuzz-pop creations and DIY culture continues to maintain its influence throughout the world today. This documentary is definitely inspiring, and if you’re looking to further explore the roots of hundreds of modern indie, grunge, noise, and pop bands, it is absolutely a must-see.

—Stephanie Gunther

BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY Andrea Warner Greystone Books September 2018 When 23-year-old Buffy Sainte-Marie emerged from the coffeehouse scene in the early 1960s, mainstream audiences had never seen anything like her. A Canadian First Nations woman with long black hair, a handmade mouth bow, and a guitar with unusual tunings, she sang passionately and unflinchingly about Indigenous people’s rights, addiction, incest, and war. It was unheard of at the time. But SainteMarie has never strived to be conventional. She has always considered herself to be an outsider—her art and her activism took precedence over trends and the trappings of show business.

Billboard named Buffy Sainte-Marie 1964’s Artist of the Year, and her songs have been covered by Donovan, Bobby Darin, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Cher, and Courtney Love, to name a few. Each of her albums explored new territory, crossing genres from folk, blues, country, and rock ’n’ roll.

Andrea Warner guides you through Sainte-Marie’s remarkable history one iconic song at a time. Warner taped over 60 hours of interviews with Sainte-Marie to give us a real three dimensional portrait of the woman whose relentless optimism kept her going through abuse, trauma, and the blacklisting of her music.

70 TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

Sainte-Marie broke new ground throughout her long career. Starting in 1976, she became the first Indigenous writer and cast member on Sesame Street and in 1977, she was the first person to breastfeed on national television. In the late 70s, she recorded a whole album on the Buchla 100 synthesizer, making her the first artist to create a quadrophonic electronic vocal album. Her 1992 album Coincidence and Likely Stories, was the first to be recorded over the Internet.

Now in her 70s, Buffy Sainte-Marie continues to make music and advocate for change. Her 2017 album Medicine Songs touches upon topics such as corporate greed, conflict resolution, Indigenous realities, and the environment. In the song “War Racket,” she speaks to those in power: “You pretend it’s religion, like there’s no one to blame/for the dead and impoverished in your little patriot game.”

She’s not afraid to speak the truth, and that’s exactly what we need right now, in a landscape filled with fake news.

—Rebecca DeRosa

When Mona Tavakoli hits the stage with multi-Grammy award winning singersongwriter Jason Mraz, she requires an instrument that will capture her musical personality and unique rhythmic approach. Introducing the LP MT Box. Crafted at the new California Cajon shop, this Spanish-style cajon includes a specialized, graduated port design and North American pine body with Baltic birch soundboard, offering a versatile tonal spectrum.

It’s dynamic, just like Mona.

#WeAreRhythm

©2018 LATIN PERCUSSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

LPMUSIC.COM

REVIEWS

PRACTICE PAD SHOOTOUT

by JJ Jones

I’ve been working on my hand speed pretty intensely as of late. After using an Aquarian 6-inch Quik-Bounce as my go-to practice pad for years, I wanted to try a variety of surfaces and rebound options in order to develop some new—and faster—sticking skills. But in researching practice pads online, the sheer number of choices felt overwhelming. So, to help narrow it down, below is my comparison of some of the most popular practice pads available, including some newcomers on the scene.

1

I’m defining “realistic” in this category as what feels the most like my own main snare—a medium-tuned Tama Stewart Copeland Signature chrome over brass, with either an Evans UV1, or Aquarian Reflector series drum head. Many companies advertise their practice pads as being “snare-like,” with a “natural feel” and “real stick response,” and for me, the Aquarian Super-Pad delivers on that promise, since playing it feels like just a slightly harder version of my Tama. As far as where on the spectrum of practice pads my snare falls exactly (based on hardness and resistance), it’s somewhere between the Super-Pad and the Prologix Blue Lightning. Prologix puts out some beautifully made rubber-surface pads with thick lathed wooden bases and fabric tops. The heavy resistance Blue Lightning feels very close to my medium-tuned snare.

3

Test Pads

Most Realistic TIE: AQUARIAN SUPER-PAD AND PROLOGIX BLUE LIGHTNING

2

1. REFLEXX CP1 CONDITIONING PAD (Double-Sided: WORKK Surface and FLEXX Surface) 2. AQUARIAN SUPER-PAD 3. AQUARIAN QUIK-BOUNCE 4. PROLOGIX GREEN LOGIX 5. PROLOGIX RED STORM 6. PROLOGIX BLUE LIGHTNING 7. PROLOGIX BLACKOUT 8. SABIAN QUIET TONE 9. EVANS REALFEEL 10. DRUMEO P4

Build and Durability

72 TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

TIE: PROLOGIX AND REFLEXX CP1

Quietest

All Prologix pads feature a dual density or open-cell rubber main playing surface, and are countersunk with a plastic nonmarking rim that not only produces a realistic feel for rim shots and crosssticking, it protects the playing material edge from nicks and gouges.

Each pad is double-sided with a harder recycled bottom surface in addition to the various top resistance surfaces, and each includes a lathed birch ply base. These pads are heavy, but super sturdy, durable, and built to last.

TIE: REFLEXX CP1, PROLOGIX BLUE LIGHTNING, AND PROLOGIX BLACKOUT

The Reflexx CP1 features two different unique playing surfaces adhered to a ¾-inch eco-friendly, nontoxic, 100 percent recyclable, colored wood called Valchromat. Its unique characteristics and manufacturing process involve individually impregnating wood fibers with organic dyes that are then connected with a special resin. This gives it greater internal cohesion, load resistance, and flexural strength than the fiberboard most pads are constructed from.

Since I don’t have a decibel meter, this category is purely subjective!

That said, I found the WORKK surface of the double-sided Reflexx CP1 to be the quietest of all the pads, with both the Prologix Blue Lightning and Blackout series as close seconds. The noise level of any pad is usually a direct result of the material it’s made from, with typically, the softest, highest resistance pads having the lowest volume and the hardest pads being the loudest (e.g., the Drumeo P4 was loudest of my test group, having two hard surfaces that simulate a cymbal and a high rack tom).

GEAR

4

5

6

7

8

Most Portable

Best Workout

TIE: AQUARIAN SUPER-PAD AND QUIK-BOUNCE, AND PROLOGIX DOUBLE SIDED

REFLEXX CP1

The Aquarian Super-Pad is designed to serve as both a low-volume acoustic drum mute (it comes in sizes to fit toms and bass drums), as well as a practice pad. At less than an inch thick and weighing only one pound for the 10-inch size (and 12 ounces for the 6-inch mini), the Super-Pad is much thinner and lighter than any of the other pads I tried—perfect for throwing in a backpack or a suitcase.

The 6-inch Aquarian Quik-Bounce is extremely small and light, with a high-rebound neoprene surface (it’s a bit harder than my snare but has been worth the trade-off for something that’s so easy to carry). I used this pad for years, taking it on countless tours and trips.

It comes with an 8mm threaded insert that allows the pad to be mounted on a cymbal stand.

Prologix made me a special 6-inch double-sided Blackout/Red Storm combo pad (high and medium resistance surfaces, respectively) for this review that, while thick at 2.75 inches, is also light and small. It’s another great travel option, and unlike the Aquarian pads, it has two sides: the realistic snare feel of the Red Storm, along with the extreme-resistance workout surface of the Blackout. Here’s hoping Prologix will manufacture a full run of these for sale to the public!

Best for a Beginner EVANS REALFEEL

10

By a wide margin, I found the Reflexx CP1 WORKK surface to be the winner in this category, with the FLEXX surface coming in second (along with Prologix’s Blackout, both consisting of a similar “opencell” rubber). Guy Licata, founder and CEO of Reflexx, wrote me that unlike the open-cell structure of the Reflexx FLEXX and Prologix Blackout, the air pockets in the WORKK surface rubber are actually trapped in the substrate, making for a much smaller cell or pocket (meaning it’s “microcellular”) and offering “a completely different rebound profile” than any other pad. I found the WORKK surface transmitted less shock to the stick—and thus I had less hand fatigue —due to its specific density (in other words, I could hit it hard, and it would absorb the impact), and I believe Reflexx’s claim that, as such, it engages and develops less articulated muscle groups in the hand.

The Reflexx WORKK surface is truly unique and is surely why I see their pad everywhere on social media these days, in pics from so many of my favorite drummers (Anika Nilles, Mike Johnston, and Mark Guiliana, to name just a few).

Most Diverse (multiple surfaces and sounds in one pad) DRUMEO P4 The Drumeo P4 has three levels and four playing surfaces meant to simulate various parts of the drum set: traditional gum rubber, neoprene, a soft bouncy rubber, and a very hard surface like a ride cymbal. The variety of sounds on the P4 gives it more of a performance aspect than other pads. You can get some really cool grooves going between all the surfaces, and it starts to sound like its own percussion instrument. Drumeo claims that this encourages the practicing of movement and musicality, like on a drum set. The P4 is definitely unique, and I had fun creating grooves, but as a practice pad, I find most of the surfaces to be too hard and often just end up using the softer rubber surface alone. It’s also the loudest pad of my test group due to its hard surfaces, and at almost 4 pounds for the 12-inch pad, it’s not easily portable.

CONT.

73 I S S UE 35 : M A RC HI NG

The two-sided Evans RealFeel is one of the most popular and ubiquitous practice pads in the world. It features a natural gum rubber playing surface and comes in both 12-inch and 6-inch models.

Compared to other pads I tested, it’s on the harder/louder end of the spectrum, and the 12-inch version is heavy at 3.5 pounds. But it’s the standard pad of choice for good reason: It has a large octagonal playing surface, good rebound (but not too bouncy), a harder opposite side for more of a workout, and it’s well built and durable.

These features make the RealFeel the best pad for starting a sticking practice, and I suggest to all my beginning students it be one of their first drum-related purchases.

9

REVIEWS Best Overall TIE: AQUARIAN SUPER-PAD AND REFLEXX CP1 My personal priorities in a practice pad are low volume, portability, and a realistic feel. That said, I’m now adding to my list the “workout” factor of the extreme resistance pads as well. Given these considerations, my overall winners for this shootout are the Aquarian SuperPad and the Reflexx CP1.

The 14-inch Aquarian Super-Pad fits snugly inside the rim of my snare and is thin enough that I don’t need to adjust the height of my snare stand or have the pad on its own stand. It’s extremely light, which makes it not only good for travel but also easy to just lean up against my floor tom and grab when I’m ready to do sticking work during a practice session. It’s also one of the quietest pads, being just above the extreme resistance surfaces in volume level. Lastly, it’s got one of the most realistic feels to my actual snare, the only other pads coming close in that category being the Prologix Blue Lightning and Red Storm.

Given how much I’ve come to appreciate the workout the softer pads offer, in that category, the Reflexx CP1 is really in a class by itself. I’ve just never felt anything like the WORKK surface—it’s totally different from any other pad I’ve tried. The CP1 is also well built, fairly small (10 inches), and portable, and comes with a nylon carrying bag. It’s a definite winner for me, and I look forward to many future practice sessions with it.

LOOP

EARPLUGS

by Juan Miguel Marin

If you’re a musician, going to see other bands is part of the job.

Protecting your ears should be too!

I recently tried out a pair of LOOP earplugs at a club called TransPecos near the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The show lineup that night had a lot of variety, both in terms of genres and dynamics: darkish indie rock by United Waters, warmer tones by female-lead Sooner, dream-pop noise by Creation Myth, and the minimal sound explorations by Chilean artist Hablemos del Alma.

74 TOM TOM MAGA ZI NE

Trans-Pecos is a gem of a venue, but it’s not the most controlled sound space, to say the least. If a band is loud, they will seem even louder there. But while wearing the LOOPs during the show I attended, I experienced a sense of sonic clarity and a lowered volume intensity (especially in the low frequencies). I was also able to comfortably talk with friends while the music was playing, even at the loudest volumes.

LOOPS look very slick and futuristic, so be ready to have people staring at your ears! And take your time removing them, since the tight-fitting silicon or foam eartips—they come with both options— can create a vacuum effect in your ear canal.

GEAR

INTRODUCING