Despite being half a century in a few years (which is weird to say) and experiencing massive things as an adult, i’ve done my best to live life as simply as possible. i’ve never really been that interested in all those things you’re expected to be into at my age- the long career where you begin to identify with your job, ‘investing’ in a house, the so-called ‘2.5 kids and a dog’… i actually quite like being an adult, and have no desire to relive my youth. i just don’t support the societal expectation and limitation that adulthood entails.
There are definitely things from my childhood that make me smile when i think about them though.
i saw Rainbow Brite And The Star Stealer in the theater when it came out. It was released just after i turned 9. i honestly don’t remember anything about the plotline; i do, however, remember the song that played during the end credits. i do remember the film credits being similar to the end credits of the tv show- Rainbow Brite riding the horse (Starlite), with a rainbow palette constantly moving in the background. i guess i remembered wrong, because while the credits DO have a rainbow palette constantly moving, it’s the credits themselves that are rainbow.
i absolutely looooooove ‘Rainbow Brite And Me’. Yeah it’s sappy and the synth drums are bad, but i don’t even care what anyone says. i’m absolutely sure the machines behind the Rainbow Brite franchise are horrible (the Hallmarks, the Mattels, the DIC enterprise, etc.) but that song makes me cry of happiness.
And rainbows themselves are some of the most beautiful things on earth. There should be more songs about rainbows. Kermit is wrong- there’s not enough of them.
Still in the ‘land of synth drums,’ i decided to play around with another memory of my youth- The Facts Of Life. The theme was one of many co-written by Gloria Loring, Alan Thicke and Al Burton, and was sung by Loring. Like many theme songs, there’s a longer version (which i am playing to here). Again, though i watched the show a lot as a kid i don’t remember a lot of what happened. One thing i do remember was the introduction of Geri as a primary character for a while. It was really cool to see someone with cerebral palsy living their life on a popular tv program, because as i mentioned in another post, you don’t see to many folks in the disabled community as primary characters in popular culture in a way that’s not pathologized.
And heeeeeeere’s where we get out of childhood and more into teenager-ism, with Wire. Pink Flag is one of my favorite ‘post punk’ albums, and ‘It’s so obvious’ is a pretty great deep cut. i was thinking of playing it on drums, but i decided to just play it on the (still unnamed) bass.
It feels really good to be reunited with the drums… The thing is though, not having the drums gave me more space to give love to the other instruments. So of course i became inspired, and said, ‘Lemme just do some full songs.’ i am just a punk kid, and am not at the point of virtuosity (which you can see if you’ve been paying attention to these posts- HA!)
i felt inspired, and got the guitar, bass AND drums out to do some D.C. hardcore (or harDCore). i wore out the Flex Your Head compilation (blurry cover vinyl edition), and there were a couple of songs i felt would be really fun to play. i don’t have the crunch of the early D.C. bands (interestingly, i sound like i’m playing Cali skate punk, with an east coast accent- the best of both punk worlds, i guess).
i don’t drink alcohol or do any type of drugs- i don’t even take so much as an asprin, nor do i do caffeine…. except for the time i laid there in the hospital for two months in an immense amount of pain, and i had to take a gang of painkillers and muscle relaxants. i don’t wish the feeling of morphine, dilaudid (or any narcotics) on anybody. i was so out of it, and had intense nightmares a few times. Also, i couldn’t go to the bathroom.
As i said, i wish that on no one. i was extremely fortunate to not have developed a dependency or addiction. i ran out of the prescription, and never reordered, because i didn’t need to. i am saying all of this to say that for all intents and purposes, i would be considered ‘straight edge’, save the time in the hospital (and i’m sure some reactionaries out there would call me a traitor for even using drugs in the hospital. Whoever thinks that way, good luck with having survived a massive traumatic accident and a limb amputation with no meds). i don’t call myself straight edge, and despite being drug and alcohol free i don’t judge others for partaking.
i love me some straight edge punk though. i mean, ‘Master Of Puppets’ is one of the greatest straight edge-themed metal songs of all time (despite it being written and performed by a band who were alternately called Alcoholica). i was once in a band in the 90s where we were all ‘straight edge’. And of course, even though there were prior songs and artists which eschewed the drug-addled life, there was the (reluctant) foreparent of straight edge hardcore, Minor Threat. Flex Your Head featured other straight edge bands like Government issue and SOA.
One of those songs is ‘Waste Of Time’ by Youth Brigade. As i said, i don’t judge people for partaking, but yo, i love this song. Always have. It definitely was not a waste to do this song. All the instruments got some love- Jerome (the guitar) and his bass and drum siblings.
Help me to name them.
Another song from the compilation i did was ‘Nic Fit’ by The Untouchables. i love the song but i honestly have little idea what Alec MacKaye is singing (save a few words)- so i took what (i guess) were some lyrics from the Sonic Youth cover, and made up a few of my own. Also, i think on the OG Danny Ingram is playing on an open high hat, but i’m playing it on closed.
i actually started this one out on drums, then played everything else around it. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Crass is one of my most favoritest punk bands of all time (Bad Brains is, to this day, number one for me). They are easily in the top five. The foreparents of the anarcho-punk movement (which is some of my favoritest type of punk), they were a collective that fused art and music, challenging the capitalist ideology/ethos (and all which fall under the umbrella of it, such as patriarchy, imperialism, neoliberalism, commercial media and consumerism).
i love that (being a staunch anticapitalist myself) i don’t even necessarily agree with all of Crass’ viewpoints- they’re Anarchist and i’m a Nkrumahist-Tureist. i mean, there have been a number of Anarchist individuals and organizations who have definitely struggled with Crass on particular positions. There are many shades of particular objectives and ideologies. That said, i have no qualms with paying respects to a band who contributed to my burgeoning ideological development as a teenager. The first person i need to thank is actually Ronald Reagan. i saw him at 10 years old and he inspired me to begin developing even then, an intense hatred for capitalism. i just didn’t have the words for it.
On the music front, one of my favorite things about Crass is Pete Wright. i absolutely love his bass playing, and sadly i don’t really hear anyone talk about him. i honestly can’t even pick a favorite, but ‘Do They Owe Us A Living’ (both versions) and ‘Darling’ (which i do here, but only the bass) are a couple off the dome.
An even bigger thing i love about Crass is that even though they were tagged with the ‘punk’ label they heavily critiqued ‘punk culture’ as being conformist and nihilistic. As someone who identifies as a punk kid (because it was punk that shaped the person i am today), i actually can’t be mad at their sentiment. Also, their primary influences were blues, jazz and various aspects of ‘counterculture’ visual art.
i hope i do his playing at least a modicum of justice. Especially since the bass kept trying to fall!
The final contribution to today’s post is another Crass song, ‘Shaved Women’. This song is interesting because it really does ask us to look dialectically and question our position on particular things. The song does refer to women in France who were seen as ‘collaborators’ to the nazis during the war. After the allied forces won, those women had their heads shaved as a form of public humiliation. Due to the band’s consistent antipatriarchy/antimisogyny messaging, it does force the listener to ask if the women were willing collaborators (for sleeping with nazis), or were they forced to do so in order to survive? Were they assaulted (or worse)? People do things every day of their lives in order to survive (such as have their labor exploited); so we are forced to ask ourselves, how ‘low’ is one willing to go just to feed our ‘screaming babies’ and ourselves? Sexual violence has historically been a major factor in war (which Crass actually did songs about). So would this situation be any different?
The other widely held interpretation is calling to question women who shave their bodies (and adhere to other patriarchal beauty standards). Are these women collaborating with the enemy? The desire to fulfill unrealistic standards (and the consumerism it entails) contributes to the “decadence” that occurs, while “people die.” The more we consume, the quicker it leads to our death.
But! If that’s all we know, do we understand the role of being a collaborator?
Questions, questions…
Crass were pretty open in stating their contradictions. They called for the listener to make up their minds about how something was interpreted. That’s not always necessarily the best thing, considering there are too many people who don’t actually listen to messages, and react to something based on a surface-level reading. However, i do understand what the band means when they say that, especially since they were pretty open about where they stood, when they were a solidly functioning collective.
i am playing Jerome, along with the yet to be named bass and drums…. along with vocals, and a couple of train samples. i’m certainly no Eve Libertine, but… i don’t have to be.
i’m just a bumblebee.
So there you have it… el uno abejorro banda musical, lejos de la colmena por el día. i hope it’s not too bad.
(This post is dedicated to Cicely, Eli and Shamole)
It might be a few days before i get back on the drums (as i am waiting for some materials to do some further soundproofing)… i miss playing- a lot, but playing other things, that’s fun too!
i don’t have a lot of space (or a lot of money), so i feel like i accomplished something with building a mini studio (with the help of Casey, who is much more tech oriented than i am. i have been extremely grateful for his knowledge, and his assistance). i’m using a Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD audio interface (for the drums and keys), and a Spark 40 amp (which is technically a practice amp, but again, i don’t have money like that to get both a bass and guitar amp. The Spark works for both). For vocals, i have a Shure SM7b.
Now that you know the equipment, you can now hear what it does (HA)! Today, i’m playing some punk rock on the Ibanez GSR105EX 5-string bass. The interesting thing about the bass is that i kind of play it like a guitar, and i play the guitar kind of like the bass. i cannot tell you why. i know i also don’t play songs like how they’re ‘supposed’ to be played; my guess is because i’m just playing by ear, as opposed to reading the tabs… but then again, from what i hear a whole gang of tab books are wrong.
Recording all of this was an interesting process. Usually when i film drum stuff it’s recorded directly from the phone (until i get a better/more dedicated camera some day). i realize that filming piano stuff isn’t that easy, because there’s no good place to put the camera. In terms of guitar or bass, the Spark app is on the phone, so i have to record the song, then film myself playing to what i played. It’s not ideal, but if i’m gonna be on film then that’s what i gotta do for now. (i may opt for just audio later, who knows?). i know there is a way to film through the Spark app, but i haven’t explored that yet.
One thing that’s a bit different about this post is that you also see my legs… well the one and a half of them. Say hi… i see my legs all the time, but i don’t look in the mirror much, so i don’t see ALL of me. So seeing this is kinda interesting and strange. i have to prop the right leg (her name is Mbuya) on a pillow, so the guitar or bass won’t fall.
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i was doing some writing and cleaning, and i was listening to Agnostic Front’s United Blood EP (which to me is one of the greatest hardcore records of all time) and i said to myself, i’m gonna play some AF. i remember being 15 years old and seeing them for the first time at CBGBs- someone gave me their wristband, and the rest is history. i had a few of their albums at that point, but Victim In Pain was the one i wore out.
So the title track it is.
This next song is definitely one of my favorite hardcore songs of all time, from another record i wore out. i had Out Of Step on vinyl, and the Minor Threat compilation on cassette. The folks i was in my first band with, we actually met at a Fugazi show. We covered the song ‘Minor Threat’ in that band (where i played guitar).
And now, i play ‘I Don’t Wanna Hear It’ on bass. It comes full circle.
And finally… we actually have a repeat here- but not really. A number of posts ago i played drums to the final live performance of (the) Ramones’ ‘Pinhead’. Here, i’m playing bass to the album version. In between, there are posters of the film Freaks, which the song is based off of. i haven’t seen it in almost 20 years, but i remember that it was a big deal, because it’s one of the few movies that have folks in the disabled community as clear protagonists. That of course was a big deal at the time it was made. Does the film (and its promotion) have contradictions? Of course. Still, the film industry hasn’t greenlit many films with disabled actors as primary characters to this day; and when they do, the stories tend to be tragic.
Yes, i know i play it more like Johnny than Dee Dee… i have met Dee Dee though. He was quite nice.
i continue to try an seek out other amputee drummers, and so far, i’m so amazed at all of the things i see. i am literally a baby in this experience (well, technically a toddler), and i have a ways to go before i can get to the level of a Caleb Graves, Jack Thomas, Jason Barnes and most famously, Rick Allen. It’s mostly dudes i have seen highlighted in the community- no surprise there.
i’m here representing those of us who are less known or acknowledged- or not known at all (raises hand here).
i thought about all of this because figuring out different things amid the limitations has been interesting. For instance, in a traditional set people who use double kick obviously use the left foot. i have never used my left leg for the kick before, so i was surprised at how fast i adapted. There are other things i have to sort out while playing, such as playing a particular pattern in place of the alternate open/closed high hat- such as the following song.
‘Is It My Body’ is probably my favorite Alice Cooper song. Frank Zappa found them interesting (and strange) enough to put them on. Their first few albums (of which Love It To Death (where the above song is on) is among them) were more straight ahead rock, as opposed to the metal of the proceeding years. Neal Smith seemed to be a pretty big fan of the open high hat.
But alas, i did what i could do.
Soooooooooo… i finally got a keyboard again, after years of not having one. i used to play piano all the time (and even wrote whole songs), but i was never proficient at it. i kind of forgot how to play; i hope it’s like what they say about bicycles- when you know how to do it you don’t forget.
i hope that’s true though, because i intend to ride again.
i can still play some notes, but the technique is TERRIBLE. i wouldn’t even call it a technique. i have never seen anyone play this bad- HA! But i wanted to show it anyway. Because you have to start from somewhere.
Go ahead. Make fun of me. i know i look like a little kid playing on a small Casio.
It’s okay though. i have Touré the octopus by my side.
‘Every Little Step’ at a time counts.
Speaking of… i got a request to play to some ’90s R&B. i did play to the one SWV song a few posts ago, but i couldn’t think about what else to do. Then i thought about the severely underrated Bobby album, by of course, Bobby Brown. My favorite BB song is the one i played above on piano), but Bobby is a much more mature work.
‘Get Away’ is the jam, but of course i had to punk it up (shoutout to Infectious Grooves). And of course, Lars was (subconsciously) all over this. i have to laugh about it at this point.
Drums are definitely a way to get away…
And finally, we have Toto.
My first exposure to ‘Hold The Line’ was actually Millie Jackson’s version (If you haven’t heard it go check it out). i have the album now, but the only Toto songs i remember knowing as a kid (besides the Thriller association) were ‘Georgy Porgy’ and ‘Rosanna’. Toto was one of those bands (like The Police, Hall & Oates, Wham!, The Doobie Brothers, Kenny Loggins, Ambrosia, etc.) that crossed over into the hood.
Jeff Porcaro was one of those drummers who prominently put the swing in rock music. i hope i did him justice here.
i was watching a Mike Portnoy video, where he was demonstrating unconventional time signatures. While i have done a few odd ones myself during playing (and being in the midst of writing music right now), there were only a couple i could do with him, especially not having double kick. i’m also not as good as him. That’s not a good or bad thing. He’s been at it way longer than me, in all the years i’ve been drumming combined.
i guess i mentioned this because i am finally at the point where i am getting more comfortable with playing (after 20-odd years of not), to the point where i can write some basic (not yet Portnoy level) odd signatures. That’s a huge step from the first time i sat in front of the drums.
The next step: Practicing and getting decent at blast beats. Old school ones of course, since i am only using one foot for now. An even larger drumming goal: Blast beats with a prosthetic.
Until then, i’m just gonna continue to work on building the confidence, and having the fun.
A band i have seen live a couple of times and have always been a lot of fun is Rocket From The Crypt. There’s not too many rock bands that have a horn and organ section. i was listening to them one day and said, ‘they would probably be fun to drum to.’ Out of the many i could do, i narrowed it down to two.
At least for now. And i just realized that rhymed.
The State Of Art Is On Fire and Hot Charity are two favorites of mine in their catalog, and i decided to do one song from those- ‘Cloud Over Branson’. The other song is from Scream, Dracula, Scream (another great album), ‘Ball Lightning’.
Maybe i’ll drum to some Drive Like Jehu next…
My favorite part about ‘Lithium’ is Novoselic’s playing. He’s a solid player, but doesn’t seem to get a lot of credit. The bass is a bit more prominent in the version here (which was at the Reading Festival). i was really into Chad Channing and Dale Crover’s playing (they seem to be forgotten about as well); however, Dave Grohl goes hard on them drums. The dude is also a multi-instrumentalist, playing all the instruments on more than one Foo Fighters album himself.
i am bigger on Bleach and InUtero; but ‘Lithium’ is my jam.
i was just having a little fun here; nothing too serious.
When i was a young punk kid (and not a middle aged one like i am now), i played guitar in a band that covered The Misfits. i don’t remember the exact moment i heard them, but the first Misfits tape i bought was Walk Among Us. ’20 Eyes’ set the stage for the rest of the album.
One of my other favorites is, i would say, a favorite of many others as well- ‘Green Hell’.
i couldn’t round out this (halfway) punk set, without playing to my second favorite punk/hardcore band (after the Bad Brains), The Dead Kennedys. The lyrics will always be timeless, despite the very prominent past (and present) actions of band members (outside of Jello Biafra, who’s been pretty consistent since day one).
‘Police Truck’ speaks for itself. The band (the version i acknowledge anyway) only had a 6-year run, but it was a very impactful six years.
i’ve always been that kid to sing the harmonies to songs. i don’t know why, but the melody never interested me as much. Obviously that’s not totally true, since you need a melody to build the tune. And i definitely love a good melody- but there was always something much more needed (and all of those things were in my head).
i’ve also never been much of a good singer, even though i absolutely love to sing. Like with playing other instruments i haven’t (yet) reached the heights of some of my favorite vocalists- Ella Fitzgerald (my favorite of all time), Sarah Vaughan, Donny Hathaway, Rachelle Ferrell… Being a punk kid, i wanted to, at the very least, be able to growl too, like barney Greenway or max Cavalera. i always wanted to have the simultaneous roughness, power and melody of Patti LaBelle, of Betty Davis, of Joyce Kennedy, of Phil Lynott. i wanted my voice to travel far like R.J. Dio, like Rob Halford, like Bruce Dickenson… i wanted to have that guttural YEAH like James Hetfield…
But i am just me. i don’t even have the warmth of a Tracy Chapman or Joan Armatrading, or a Joni Mitchell.
i don’t even sing like a Greg Graffin. i’m not saying this is a good or bad thing. It just is.
One of the songs where the harmony stayed in my head (shout out to the Buzzcocks) was ‘Struck A Nerve’ by one of my favorite ever punk bands, Bad Religion (of which Graffin is in). This song has one of my favorite intros of all time, and the song itself has some of my favorite chord structures. And the ‘stream of consciousness/self-reflective’ lyrics are always there.
The version i drummed to was from the live album Tested. Sadly, i missed them when they recently came to town. i found out about it a day later. i hope i get to see them at some point.
After drumming, i felt inspired to sing it a capella. i’m not the greatest singer, but as i said, i love it! No one else is gonna hear all the sounds going on in my head…
i was a kid who played with trucks as much as i played with dolls (i withdrew from all those gendered expectations early on without even knowing what that was). i loved playing with barbie dolls, but i never wanted to BE Barbie! i mean, her feet must hurt standing on her toes all day…
Being the burgeoning punk kid i was though, i was MASSIVELY into the Barbie vs. Jem battle. i knew of the Misfits before i got into The Misfits (if you know, you know). Jem and the Holograms went a little bit harder in the rock section than Barbie & the Rockers (but NOBODY went as hard as the Misfits- i mean- they had motorcycles shaped like guitars!). Jem & the Holograms were more like Cheap Trick, and Barbie & the Rockers were more like the E Street Band.
i used to wear out the Barbie & the Rockers tape though! One of the songs on it was ‘Born With A Mic’. It’s so bad, but good at the same time. i already know i am a basic drummer, but i don’t know how Marky Ramone does constant fast eighth notes for an hour. My arms were getting tired the few times playing through this song.
i need more practice!
i like both corn and chickens- though i only eat one of them. Brushy One String made a great song to groove to, discussing both of them. i did a little search of drum covers of ‘Chicken In The Corn’, and i actually found more than i expected to. So i figured, how can i groove to this in my own basic way?
Just like how i would always look at the deejay at a hip hop show, i would always tend to focus on the drummer when going to see bands. i never became a turntablist, but i did end up deejaying at clubs and bars off and on for years (and also doing radio solidly for 11 of those years). You look at the hundreds of drummers over time, and some of those end up being your favorites. And you say to yourself, ‘i will never get there.’ But is ‘getting there’ really the point? You want to be able to have inspiration from your favorite musicians, but you should never want to BE them.
i have no idea why this thought was just in my head… It’s gonna take me a long time before i am ‘as good’ as my favorite drummers (or ANY of my favorite musicians). Still, i try to visualize the first time i sat in front of a drum set and somehow knew how to create a beat (after time and time again of air drumming and banging on random things). It still seems very unreal, sitting in front of a set and banging on things.
i mean… i’m not horrible. It could be worse right? But i’m also realistic. i will never profess to be the greatest basic drummer of all time. But you know what? Someday i will graduate to being alright.
As for now, i’m just gonna keep messing about, and keep practicing.
And i decided to mess about and play to one of my favorite songs by The Jam, ‘Going Underground’. Like any great song, the lyrics are always on time.
…Can’t explain why the drumming i do seek (and destroy)…
i actually mistakenly erased a bunch of the video, so you get a brief one here, of me playing to SWV’s ‘Weak’. It’s nothing too complex (obviously). This is a ‘why not??!!’ situation. Let’s have some fun and bang on things, making a beat or two.
Remember to sing along…
i actually love ‘This Charming Man’ more now after playing drums to it, because for some reason (after hearing the song 50,000,000 times over the years (and even having the record)) i didn’t realize it was missing an 8th. i mentioned a couple of posts ago how i absolutely loved rhythmic illusions; this isn’t necessarily a rhythmic illusion, but it is a thing that will mess you up and confuse you if you’re not paying attention.
The reason i bought all those Smiths records was honestly, Johnny Marr. He was the best at doing that jangly guitar (and was also inspired by great players like Nile Rogers). The rhythm section of Mike Joyce (drums) and Andy Rourke (bass) were pretty dope too.
i wanted to be funny and put some gladiolas here, because… you know who.
i ended up getting an Alesis Surge mesh kit. i am still figuring it out (of course), but it’s nice to have this along with the SPD 30, where i can make some extra patterns and sounds to compliment the Alesis. The hi hat pedal is open (echoing an acoustic set) so i had to put rubber bands on it in order to keep it closed (i only have one leg, so i gotta do what i gotta do). The other adjustment i made was to put the kick on the left side (because, you know, one leg and everything). i’m a below the knee amputee but my knee doesn’t bend so well right now. Whenever it gets to that point though i can use the prosthetic and eventually do some double kicks!
While i’m still new at playing around with this kit i ended up actually writing a song- well, sort of.
i am absolutely in love with rhythmic illusions- where a song is playing one rhythm and your brain is interpreting it to be another. It is fairly common in jazz and in the polyrhythms of traditional African music. In terms of popular music in the west, The Yellowjackets’ ‘Top Secret’, Metallica’s ‘Blackened’ and ‘Battery’; ‘Solitude Standing’ by Suzanne Vega, ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin are among some.
The first song i recognized as having a rhythmic illusion (despite hearing others in the past) is ‘Swap meet’ by Nirvana. i think the song begins on the 3 instead of 1 (Don’t quote me on that; i cannot read music and i am not great at tabs). i would always get mad (not really) when the drums kicked in, because they always ended messing up the beautiful rhythm in my head. Despite knowing the way the song is, i still see the ‘preferred’ rhythm.
And so i made a song around it. i also took the opening bass line from ‘Blew’ (also from Bleach) and pulled an Ulrich and Hetfield by arranging the drums as the primary driver to these particular riffs, then writing the lyrics last. It’s a silly little song about a cat- because cats are the best! Despite being inspired by Metallica (with a nod to Slayer) here, the song interestingly/unintentionally ended up sounding not unlike something Sonic Youth may have done.
You be the judge…
Thinking about all the songs i could have fun with, for some reason, one song did come up.
Y’all, tell me why it was ‘Billie Jean’? MJ is my favorite artist, but ‘Billie Jean’ is a song i’m okay with never hearing ever again. i said ‘Well, since you came up all in my face, why not switch you up?’ i envisioned something other than the very recognizable 4/4 ‘on the floor’ pattern. i messed around, and it ended up being mostly half time (which is kind of a running theme of this post. It also helped me enjoy the song a bit more. it just puts the song in a different space).
RUN DMC was my favorite group in hip hop as i was coming up. A simple beat could be one of the dopest, and Jason, Daryl and Joseph took inspiration from Billy Squire’s ‘Big Beat’ to create one of the most classic tracks with ‘Here We Go (Live At The Funhouse)’ (which many a hip hop, house and pop record have also sampled from themselves).
i love how Jam Master Jay (RIP) messed up a bit, and they kept it in. That threw me off as well, but i came back in. i hope.
One thing i do know is that i can’t count. HA!
You can consider me hiding under a rock, because i hadn’t heard all of ‘Seven Nation Army’ until i played drums on it. It’s pretty easy to see how not familiar i was with the song, but i went for it anyway. i know that Meg White is also a pretty basic drummer, so i’m just going along with her for the ride to the land of basic drummers. i’m just going where i am wanted.
Or am i? i didn’t get an invite.
Playing drums on it, i only heard all of the drumless version. So i still technically have not heard the actual song in full. What i did hear of the song, i know it’s more of a 4/4 rhythm. So i decided to play around with the half time as well (as you do)…
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).
