I want that.

Well I'm on an emotional tangent after watching the season finale of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, and I'm bored of my usual hobby of looking up cool concert pictures to collect and display on my desktop (I'm sure there's something more creative to do with them, I just haven't thought of it yet.) Today was uneventful at best, but I did "apply" the band to play at the Sugar Hill Fall Festival in October, so I can at least feel that I did something proactive.

Today in the mail my mom got a coupon for a sale on 500 business cards, so she suggested that I make ones for the band to hand out at our upcoming gig at the Homeowner's Meeting (if that's not rock n roll, I don't know what is) to maybe get some more promotion. I made a pretty cool little design, but as soon as I was done, that feeling hit me again. This is what I want to do with my life.

Now there are many people who say "YEAH MAN I WANNA BE A ROCKSTAR" and think about the fame and fortune, all of pay and none of the price. Well, for someone who is such an avid fan of someone who pretty much abhors being famous, you are safe in assuming that I have had second thoughts about my hopeful profession. I've read stories about stalkers, illness, relationships and all of the things that are hidden by the money and "greatness" of fame, and it can be scary. When you stand back it makes you wonder why anyone would want to do this outside of monetary reasons. But to quote Neil "I don't want to be famous, I want to be good." That is how I feel. I want to be the best at what I do, and if fame comes with that then I will accept it. If people like me enough that they want to see me do what I love on a stage every night for months, then I will do it. I will go up there when I'm sick and exhausted and keep going because I want that. I want to be the person that people respect as a drummer. They don't have to idolize me or want to be me, I just want to be acknowledged as "those years of practice paid off".

And of course as I read this over I realize how incredibly pretentious it sounds, but as anyone who knows me will agree that that is not how I intend it at all. I'm just saying that I want to be good. If I get good enough that people will pay to come see me, then I will deal with the ups and downs of fame. Respect > Fame.

Love your pretentious sounding drummer friend,
~S

I hate ebay.

I hate ebay. Because of a faulty listing by a new seller, I'm out 200 bucks. I have gone through every eBay protocol to get in contact with the seller and of course, they are a new user so they will have NO idea how to refund money, I'd be lucky to receive my product in the first place. So now I get to wait on the edge of my seat while both sellers eventually get on their computers and get around to my dispute. It's a great feeling for someone who has clinical anxiety and depression.

The moral of this story is, don't use eBay unless you could just care less about where your money goes. Or to sell. I'm sure it's lovely to sell from. For now, I'll stick to craigslist. Face to face is much easier. Or just saving up and buying new things is probably a good idea too. But of course I'm sure I'll have to lose this 200 dollars for me to fully feel the effects of the crap system that is eBay.

And now I've taken my happy pill, so no matter how hard I try, I can't feel bad about my eBay purchases. I am completely numb. It's a weird feeling. I want to care, but I physically can't. Lexapro is good stuff. I'm gonna go veg out while I'm drugged.

My Personal Summer Reading List

Now this is a task that most people my age dread, but I personally don't mind reading assigned books. Most of the time at least. Last year I read The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton and a Hercule Poirot mystery (Agatha Christie). I enjoyed them both very much. This year I have chosen A Farewell To Arms by the great Sir Hemingway and have been assigned the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor". Quite a pretentious title, but it's supposed to be a decent book apparently.

On top of those things, I have also taken it upon myself to read some books that I enjoy. Memoirs mostly, of people that I find interesting. Some notable ones that I have read recently are Steven Tyler's Does the Noise In My Head Bother You? which was a great book of honesty, humor and his struggle with drug addiction. I am a big fan of Steven, I think he is a great singer and overall a great person, and I absolutely loved seeing him on American Idol this past season; a show which I normally find boring and predictable.

Just before school was out, I finished my 4th (but his first) of Neil Peart's books, called The Masked Rider which chronicles his adventures bicycling in West Africa. I was not sure how interested I would be in this book, because usually that sort of thing isn't my "bag", but I actually really liked it. It's interesting from a biker's point of view because he has to live in the same conditions as a citizen there every day for a month as hotel accommodations there aren't exactly what one would call "luxurious". Most of the time your shower is a bucket of water and a sponge, your toilet is a hole, and your bed is a foam pad (if you're lucky). Neil's usual meals consisted of an omelette and instant coffee in the mornings (in almost every town too, it's weird how big on omelettes they are there), and for dinner "rice with junk on it". It's probably better that he didn't know what was in it. I wouldn't want to know. Meanwhile, he's riding his bike upwards of 30 miles per day on all sorts of rough African terrain, encountering drunken soldiers, buses, cars and many other strange things that wonder around the street, only to get relief from a few warm sodas during the day and a nice cozy foam pad at night. He mentions at the end how it puts it all in perspective: I should say so! But nonetheless I commend him for doing these things because I'm pretty sure I would die on the first day. I love Neil as a drummer, and almost more as an author.

Another notable book I read was surprisingly by Duane "the Dog" Chapman (known to most as Dog the Bounty Hunter on A&E). This was his first of two books entitled "You Can Run, but You Can't Hide". I put off reading this book for a while, kind of expecting it to be just short stories of his most memorable bounties, mostly told by an intermediary as that is how many other TV stars' are written, but when I was on my flight back from Crested Butte, Colorado, I decided to pick this one up. I'm glad I did.

When I first started watching Dog The Bounty Hunter, I was absolutely shocked at how totally opposite he is from everything he is presumed to be. Yes, he dresses like a tough old biker dude, and in some forms he is, but he is really a gentle giant. He is the big, bad Dog all the way up until he catches his man, and then a different side of him comes out. A friend. He believes that everyone deserves a second chance, so when he catches his bounty, he cuffs them and then treats them with the utmost respect. He talks to them about their lives and what's going wrong and what they need to fix and shows them that jail is not the end for them and that they can turn their lives around because well, he did.

Dog's book chronicles his young life, from being abused by his father to joining his first gang to his moment of truth when he was in Huntsville State Penitentiary for a murder he didn't commit. One day one of his inmates named Bigfoot had just learned that his momma had passed, and he ran frantically for the gates getting ready to break out. The sniper guard was ready to fire aiming down his scope, and here comes the Dog sprinting after Bigfoot to bring him back home. That's where his bounty hunting days began. This is really a heartwarming book, and it even covers his capture of serial rapist Andrew Luster in Mexico, and then his unfair arrest for kidnapping (bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico). This book follows all the ups and downs of Dog's life and career, and I would recommend it to anyone.

And for now I am in the middle of the New York Times Bestseller "Heaven Is for Real" which is a true story about a little boy who has a supernatural experience while having an emergency appendectomy. It's told by his father, a pastor, so he is more fascinated than anyone when he hears his son speak of these things. It's quite a convincing story for non-believers, I myself am still on the fence about the concept of religion, but it's a good story with quite an argument for belief in an afterlife. I just started it today but I'm almost done. It's a short but heartwarming read for anyone interested in such things.

Well that's it, I'm off for the night. Peace. Yeah, I just said peace.

Summer Drummin'

Greetings Earthlings!

Hola from Hotlanta.

Well this summer has been quite great to me in all aspects really, I went on a vacation to Crested Butte, Colorado which must be the MOST beautiful place in America and I have also been working hard on my drums, and making a lot of friends along the way.

The spark of all of this drum madness was me searching on eBay when I was bored one day, when I wondered upon a bass drum and tom shell that matched by drum set exactly. This normally wouldn't be an exciting feat for most people, but mine are discontinued and have a distinct fade design so this was a rare find. I've always wanted a double bass kit, even though I have a double bass pedal, it's just not quite the same. Now was my chance, so I jumped on it.

The price was really the most influential factor, the seller only wanted 90 bucks for both shells, although neither of them had any hardware on them besides the factory badge. So I was in for a project, but I knew it would be worth it. And about $200 and a few laboring hours later, it was! So now I introduce you to my new kit setup (I'm new to this blog thing so bear with me as I try to post this picture)

Ah! There we go. Well this is a loose translation of the setup using DW's Kitbuilder so ignore the DW hardware (even though it is very pretty). So here's what you're looking at:

1 22" x 18" bass drum

1 22" x 16" bass drum *yes it turns out the new one is deeper but no biggy*

10" tom

12" tom

12" tom (this one is an inch deeper but I don't know the original sizes)

16" x 16" floor tom

16" x 14" floor tom

13" suspended tom on the left side tuned low being used as a sort of mini floor tom

14" snare

I use Tama Iron Cobra pedals, with a Jr. IC for the hihats.

Cymbals (from left to right)

14" Agazarian China

18" Paiste 2002 crash

10" Agazarian Splash

14" Paiste 2002 sound edge hihats (primary)

16" Paiste 2002 crash

17" Paiste 2002 crash (yes they make 17 inch crashes)

6" Sabian AA Splash

20" Paiste 2002 ride

14" Paiste PST5 hihats (auxiliary hats)

18" Wuhan China w/ rivets (fun sizzly sound)

16" Paiste PST5 Crash (I call it my hidden crash because it is covered by the mass of other cymbals and it's in the very back hehe)

And not pictured are the electronics. Lots of news in this department. Well as of right now I currently have a Roland SPD-S sampling pad hooked up to a Simmons 200W drum amp. However, that will soon be expanding. I am using a (cheap) Ion Alesis drum set and basically dismantling it to scatter the pads around my set (between the toms, above floor toms, etc) for miscellaneous shenanigans and such. It will be run by a Roland brain which I am acquiring tomorrow for $20 (I don't know what model it is yet, but for 20 bucks I don't care).

More on that later. Now back to you, Johnny.

The Drum and the Stick: A Love-Hate Relationship

Sorry, I was always under the impression that these blogs had to start with some kind of deeper-meaning oxymoron title. I kind of like it.

Lately I have undertaken a drum project to add a bass drum and tom (that came with the bass drum, I didn't buy it) to my current setup. I couldn't be more excited to have it finished, but finishing it is not going to be easy. Or cheap :P

"Why on earth do you need another bass drum?" asks Jonas, my lovable bass player. "Why the hell not?" is my response. "So it's for shits and giggles I guess?" Couldn't have said it better myself. I wouldn't have jumped on this project if I hadn't happened to have found matching drums for my drumset; one of the disadvantages of buying anything used is the risks that come with finding fitting parts, much less finding MORE of the exact same product. But anyways, I came along these two shells for a mere $90 (miracle pricing in drum world) so by moral obligation I was forced to by them and begin this dastardly task.

It is amazing how much goes into one drum. And it is all absolutely vital! There is nothing "for show" on a drum. You have to have lugs for each side (the shiny parts that hold the rim on that hold the head on that hold the knee bone is connected to the footbone...) then you have to find the right length of screws, washers, and all sorts of smaller knick knacks just to hold the small knick knacks on.

For the tom shell hardware, I decided it would be cheapest to buy another used tom with hardware on it, and strip it from there. I did so, and it is a Tama as well, but unfortunately the Tama Imperialstar lugs don't match the sizes of the Starclassic lugs, so some drilling will be necessary. But it is still cheaper than buying the real Starclassic hardware.

And I have ordered comparable hardware for the bass drum, which I am hoping will not require any more drilling just because I don't like putting holes in anything valuable, even if it is to make it work :P That stuff should be here Friday, which is impressive since I just ordered it Monday using the "free shipping" option.

In the meantime, I am here. In my living room typing away on a laptop while watching the Braves and the Marlins battle it out in the 10th inning. My dog Wunder is staring at a treat he was just given (I guess it's not up to his standards). There's not much happening in my life other than this drum project, although I am looking forward to a Rocky (Horror) Mountain vacation in a few weeks with my lovely bass player, best friend and musical soulmate Jonas. Before that, I look forward to watching one of my top drum idols (and life inspirations) Neil Peart play on the Letterman show tomorrow night. Normally that wouldn't be a very special occasion, but considering how shy he is, I am very excited to see him get some exposure to a non-normal audience and show some people how brilliant he really is.

Neil is the type of drummer I aspire to be. NOT specifically skillwise, because I like to adventure on my own and that will certainly change over the years, but as a professional drummer. He is one of few drummers (famous and nonfamous) that does not annoy the living shit out of me. He does what he does, and he doesn't feel the need to go flaunting about saying "I'm a drummer, that's what I do, I'm awesome, I make people cheer for me every night". Or even those drummers who ARE professional and still need some false sense of security in their job by going around and promoting themselves saying they were in the studio a thousand times or they just got done working with someone more famous than them. It's like "Hey, I'm a plumber, and I just worked with a more famous plumber than me, chances are you've never heard of him, but I think it's really cool." It's like, that's nice, but I know you're a drummer, and therefore I know what your job entails.

When asked "Is music your life?" Neil responded strongly "No. How awful would that be? Not having time for friends, family and hobbies... why would anyone want to have music be there life?"

I once thought that music would be my life, until I read that. It definitely turns the perspective around in a very understandable way. I would never want to have drumming consume my life to the point that I didn't have other things I enjoyed. How boring and terrible would that be? So when I see these same pretentious and annoying drummers out there saying "Oh yeah man, music/drumming is my life..." I almost pity them.

There comes a time when a drummer (sometimes) gets to the point where drumming goes from a paying hobby to a job. That doesn't mean it is a bad thing, but it does need that it needs to be realized and recognized. With a job comes responsibility which the stereotypical drummer lacks. Yeah it's cool getting paid to have fun and stuff, but it is also now a responsibility NOT to go get drunk and party every single night, and save some semblance of health for your job. If history tells us anything, Keith Moon discovered the hard way that taking a horse tranquilizer before a gig is PROBABLY not a good idea. Probably.

But of course my pointless ranting won't change anything, not that I want it to. I want to be a one-of-a-kind drummer, specifically NOT like the ones I have just described. I am going to be a person, who just happens to drum for a living. I will have a life, a family, friends and hobbies, and I will enjoy the special job I have while still realizing that it is a job. It will not be easy getting to this ideal state, but I will make it happen, somehow, someway.

Wow how deep and inspirational. Fart, pudding, boobies.