Happy Anniversary, Jedi Drummer!

For as long as I've been a drummer, I've always thought about what kind of videos I could make of myself playing.  I'm a big fan of live performances and instructional videos but I also like behind-the-scenes stuff, shot in the studio during the production process.  I'm also a major Star Wars fan and wanted to find a way to incorporate my love for the Lucas legacy into my love for this awesome instrument.  Most importantly, I wanted to do something different and unique that would showcase my playing but also give people a taste of my personality and stage presence.

With a little (ok, A LOT of) help from my good friend and mentor, Charlie Waymire, the first Jedi Drummer video was created and unleashed on my YouTube channel at the end of July in 2010.  The immediate response from my friends and family was awesome so I decided to promote the video at the Star Wars Celebration V convention in Orlando and The 2011 NAMM Show in Anaheim as well as online through the usual channels.  I'm glad I did it because after each of those conventions my views went up considerably and I started getting comments from people that I didn't know personally.  It seemed they loved it just as much as my friends and family did and so the video began making its rounds through the inter-webs.

Many of my friends have told their friends about the video, posted links on their facebook pages, twitter feeds, etc and Jedi Drummer still gets great responses from people over and over again.  I'm lucky that John Williams gave us such an amazing and inspirational cue (and that Lucas' lawyers tend to look the other way on these kinds of things) but I'm even luckier that I was able to do my thing musically and have it be so well-received by musicians and Star Wars fans alike.  I hope you guys continue to have as much fun watching it as I did making it.  To all those who have been asking - yes, there will be another one.

May The Force Be With You!

The Starmind Record

This has been a very busy year for me.  The good news is that creatively, it has been one of the best years in a long time.  I’ve taken on several new musical endeavors as a drummer but I’m also writing more actual music.  One thing I’ve always wanted to do is score a film or TV series and luckily enough, some very talented actors and writers approached me about composing the music for one of their original productions. 

The Starmind Record is the story of two Los Angeles documentary filmmakers that encounter an extra-terrestrial intelligence.  It begins with the filmmakers discovering a strange man in the desert.  Soon afterwards, an extra-terrestrial intelligence begins to affect the world at large and people start showing up at the filmmakers’ home, looking for this intelligence.  The filmmakers have to deal with this situation and well….let’s just say things gets a little scary. 

I was really excited to work with writer/director Tennyson Stead to tell this modern sci-fi story and being a big fan of Mark Snow (X-Files) and Brad Fiedel (Terminator and T2), I wanted to go with a synthy, electronic sound for the score.  Tennyson was very open to that idea and the results have been awesome!  The series is just about wrapped now and you can watch the episodes on YouTube, vimeo and at the series’ homepage, http://www.thestarmindrecord.com.

8 Sided Films is a very creative, dedicated, talented collective of film, theater and television industry professionals.  In addition to the projects they’ve released, they’ve also built an online community for actors, writers, directors, producers and other creative types, so after you watch The Starmind Record please feel free to poke around on their web site.  Check out the 8 Sided Forum for blogs, profiles and videos of the ensemble members doing what they do best.  Let ‘em know that I sent you, too. :)

Enjoy!