The video that started it all!

Jedi Drummer: Episode 1 is back!

Drum Cam Footage (1.10.15)

Here I am, up close and personal at Loaded during the Cobra Venom set from my double duty gig.  This is "I Have Bomb In Trunk" from our album "Extinction Reality."

And for my second set that night, here I am with Cliff 'Em All playing "The Four Horsemen!" 

Learn drums in 2015!

It's that time again.  My next group of padawans takes their first step into a larger world on Saturday, January 31st.  Best deal in LA!

October

My Giants are on and winning again, my Rangers are back, lessons are in session and my bands are busy!  Any wonder why I love this month?  :)

Cliff 'Em All returns to Loaded for another round of Lara Gladstone's "Tribute To The Gods" series.  Got some Halloween surprises for everyone, too.

I also just finished tracking drums for the next Cobra Venom recording.  What will it be?  An album?  An EP?  A split 7"?  8-track?  Not sure but we're still supporting "Warriors" now and we're playing in Hollywood on Oct. 20th.

Finally, my LACC drum classes start up again at the end of the month.  Beginner and intermediate classes are available.  The difference?  Intermediate is for drummers with at least 1-2 years experience that can already read music.  If that's not you, go with the beginner option.

See you soon, Los Angeles!

Drums For Adults & Teens at LACC - starting February 23rd!

My drum classes are starting up again at Los Angeles City College.  The beginner class is for anyone that can't read music (yet) and has very little to no drumming experience.  For drummers that can read music and have some experience already, I have the intermediate class. See you in February!

"Trust your feelings!"

Cobra Venom is deep in the process of creating our new 7-inch EP and while we're very happy about what we did with Extinction Reality, we took a different approach for this new offering.  Extinction was very much a full-length album, a complete statement with the full range of instrument playing, songwriting and production capabilities we had at that point in time.  The new EP (name to be decided soon) is a raw, live-tracked sampling of our strongest current material.  The songs are focused while showing our band's musical growth at the same time.  We also made some major adjustments to these songs DURING THE SESSION and they sound way better because of it! 

"You must unlearn what you have learned."

My biggest challenge was trusting my live playing in a studio setting.  It has been a LONG time since I recorded without a click or backing track (at least 10 years, maybe longer).  It's also not that I couldn't use a click or track for these songs - it was a choice not to, in order to have a loose, uncontained, old school punk vibe for the album rather than a disciplined, technically precise and brutal performance by classically trained musicians.  The band trusted me to do well in this situation and I had to trust myself to make it work.  Fortunately, I'm very pleased with the end result and luckily for me, the rest of my band is also happy with my performance.  This doesn't mean that I'll NEVER use a click track again but it does mean that I can do either way in the future and be comfortable, confident, and effective behind the kit.

More info on the EP coming soon.  Our Indiegogo campaign video features the chorus of one of the new songs.  Thanks to everyone that has already contributed!  Please continue to spread the word and when it comes to your own creative endeavors, remember the words of Obi-Wan and Yoda....

My drum class at LA City College!

Sign-ups for Drums For Teens & Adults start this week and will continue through April 26th.  This is a group course for beginners and/or anyone completely new to music.  The goal is to get you to learn how to listen to and read music so you can jam with your favorite songs and other musicians.

As Lord Vader once said, "We would be honored....if you would join us."  ;-)

NAMM 2013!

I'll be there starting today!  Looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and making some new ones.  The NAMM Show is the official start of the music year for many of us and I'm really stoked about some big things in the works for myself, Cobra Venom, Cliff 'Em All, and an unsuspecting group of students in Los Angeles that are about to become padawan learners...

Say hi if you're in Anaheim!

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!