harrymiree

Dearest Duderino, thanks for watching. Wait, is this me from the past? I sucked at high school! I went straight into a mediocre college right after and struck out even harder. Something about that experience liberated me. When you're inside academia, every signal around you is designed to make you think the school game is all that matters. Speaking from the other side of all that, I can tell you with certainty that nobody in my life gives two shits about any of my college experience. My true saving grace in music has been that people succeed together in this thing. If I had not surrounded myself who value music in the same ways I do, my passions could not have been nourished the way they are now. For some, those people are waiting at the punk club a few blocks from your house. For others, the haven is Los Angeles, CA. Whatever scale you can reach for. Make sense? <3

Thank YOU for being here my dude.

1.) When I was 15, I played a Halloween event for my school. Every girl I ever wanted to impress was in attendance (this AMA is beginning to take on a theme, I think I need to see a therapist), because dammit it was Activities Period and what else were they going to do? So my shitty band and I play this face-melting set of our horrible original songs, we trash can the ending, and having slain the beast of rock, I throw my sticks into the crowd just like Taylor Hawkins does in the Foo Fighters DVD. The throw was a little zealous and my fucking drum stick landed right in the eye of a dude called 'Stump' who was the biggest human to ever attend that school by about 3 feet. Blood dripping out of his eye socket, he rushed the stage and beat my ass to the floor, in front of everyone. I have video of it somewhere. I am inclined to dig it up and share it when I catch up on all these questions.

Oh, but also what was my worst? I had a band called The Ape Invaders and our first gig was shut down by the cops before we played the first note. See, I was trying to impress this girl... I'll stop.

2.) Cowbell son

3.) Cowbell son

4.) As fuck

Dude. Thank you for watching!

1.) My kit got lost lots of weight when I started auditioning left and right for country acts. So I started by going from 4 toms in '14 down to 2 toms in '15. I was having to imitate so many electronic samples that I gradually brought in stacks for white noise (like a 16" china nestled into an 18" china) and the side snare you mentioned. Also the cowbells have multiplied for drum solo purposes. I wish I were kidding.

2.) The short story of how I got into drumming: This girl I had a crush on said she was starting a band. I was 12 and didn't yet understand that you could just ask somebody to hang out if you wanted to spend time with 'em. So I told her, "Oh yeah? Uh, I play an instrument. I play the, um, saxophone." So then, I shit you not, I had to go get a saxophone and learn how to play it. It turned out to be the first thing that ever felt like it was taking what I was putting in and giving back ten fold (the saxophone, not the girl). I worked my way up to the school's 'varsity' music group where, instead of counting my 16-bar long rests, I'd realize 80 bars later I was just staring and drooling at the drummer. Every night I'd go home and beat on popcorn bowls and broken hard drives trying to replicate his licks (which were 4-stroke rolls, which he learned from Carter Beauford's 'Under the Table and Drumming'). That Summer, I saw "That Thing You Do", and when Guy Patterson got the girl, I knew I needed to ditch that sax and get some drums. Still haven't hung out with that girl but I'm playing the long game.

3.) HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME PICK ONE ZELDA GAME

3b.) I'll think about this and holler back

4.) http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+can+mount+Everest+have+snow+on+its+peak+if+its+above+the+clouds

I love your time dude. And I love your respect for the parts. It would bore us both if I only gave you praise, so here is my challenge to you, young Dood: bring us some personality on the next'n you make. Dig? I can tell it's in there by the way you type. Looking forward to it. Sincerely. Sweet Pearl drums by the way \m/

I raise the horns to your question and your username dude. Dig this. When I first moved to Nashville, I started playing for this talented local feller named Samuel Lee. At the time, he was just getting started on the road so he signed up for one of those college booking conventions (NACCA? something like that). The schedule you end up with is a total crapshoot: some nights you play in the corner of the school's b-cafetria at 2:00 PM when it's closed for maintenance, and sometimes you play these HUGE homecoming events in the quad - but either way, you can bet the thing is being run by student volunteers. So we set up our gear on the front steps of the campus' biggest building (right in front of the massive doors into the building), and they gave us a little green room setup just on the other side of the doors in the buildings main lobby. We sound check, goes fine, we go inside and get fed. What they don't tell us is that while we're eating, the 'lighting committee' is about to set up $10,000 worth of lights all over the stage, and since there's no ceiling to hang lights from, they put them on tripods. Then the emcee radios back for us to come out. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SAM LEE!" I bust through the door like an obnoxious overperforming asshole and immediately knock down at least $5k worth of lighting. 8,000 people stop mid-cheer and just go "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!". The first three songs were the most hilarious and awkward songs I've ever played in my life to 8,000 silent people. <3