Anyone who plays an instrument but doesn’t have access to their own knows what it’s like to get as much practice (and inspiration) in where you can fit it. Aside from the few inspirations i had, another one was Bill Ward. A lot of people don’t seem to list him in the pantheon of great drummers, but dude was the heartbeat of Sabbath- arguably, the foreparents of heavy metal… even though they were essentially a blues-inspired rock band. i’m obviously not as good as him, but admittedly, ‘Behind The Wall Of Sleep’ was a MASSIVE drum inspiration for me over the years- i definitely sent some nods to it in a few songs i’ve played.

So i decided to play along with it, in my own simple way.

…And being from NYC (and always hanging out on the Lower East Side/Loisaida) it was inevitable to run into some of the elder punk cats, and the Ramones would not be an exception. i met Joey (while i was DJing at a bar) and Dee Dee (at another bar, where i was taking pictures at a photo booth). The greatest irony is that, despite being born and raised in NYC, despite having a bunch of their records over the years, despite covering their songs in bands and despite having met a couple of the OGs, I HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM LIVE. Their first album was released seven months before i was born, and their final concert was three months before i turned 20.

Obviously i have seen footage of their concerts, and had the live albums. i used to bring Ramones tapes to school, and a bunch of kids would say, ‘Howard Stern is in a band? Word?’ (They were also (semi) regulars on Stern’s show, so another major irony (or not) happened- the band made their official breakup announcement on his show). It amazes me that father down the line they got, their live performances got even faster.

…So… i decided to have a little fun drumming to a couple of songs from their final show. i think people sleep on/underestimate how not easy Ramones drumming is. Each drummer carried a different style; however, Thomas Erdelyi laid the foundation by which proceeding drummers went by. As with anything else, i’m just having fun (and getting some practice in at the same time).