You, then & now. Same guy?

A

aydee

Platinum Member
...

Yesterday, I had a reunion of sorts with some old bandmates from back when I was a wee lad.
A few brews were in order, and during the course of the chatter, I was a little taken aback by the fact that a few of them were listening to/and playing some of the same music that they did back when they were kids and nothing else .They are now all a distinguished grey & 50+. AND they almost mocked my interest in 'other music'.

Now this got me thinking about myself.

I consider my lifetime of 52 years quite a musical journey in itself, and to me its important to have a journey. From rock, pop, blues, R&B, funk, world, experimental, jazz, I've loved and traversed it all, over the decades.

Dont get me wrong, Im still very attached to a lot of music from my past which I love, and still enjoy playing & listening to, but I would consider myself 'under- developed' if I hadnt exposed myself to 'other' music during all these other stages of my life.

Or that there was no difference in musical tastes between the ages of 18 and 'older'.

I know there is a counter view to this and a lot of people say that they love what they love, and it remains a lifelong passion with no room for anything else.

What are your views?

...
 
Last edited:
aydee said:
They are now all a distinguished grey & 50+. AND they almost mocked my interest in 'other music'.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much about that, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, your interest in different style musics simply reflect this, and your insiration and tastes have evolved alonside yourself as a person, you would probably mock some of my interest in certain type of music, perefectly acceptable in my book :)

aydee said:
I consider my lifetime of 52 years quite a musical journey in itself, and to me its important to have a journey. From rock, pop, blues, R&B, funk, world, experimental, jazz, I've loved and traversed it all, over the decades.
Click to expand...

I feel exactly the same, and these various choices, influences and inspirations had a positive effect on the prespective and approach to my drumming in general terms :)

aydee said:
Dont get me wrong, Im still very attached to a lot of music from my past which I love, and still enjoy playing & listening to, but I would consider myself 'under- developed' if I hadnt exposed myself to 'other' music during all these other stages of my life.
Click to expand...

I agree, many a time, my experiences from different tastes in music have served me well within my playing, I became a more rounded player, not just in technical terms, but to be able to approach a piece of music with a more anthentic feel within my capabilities as a musician, although, sometimes to "switch" between different style can be a hard task in itself, especially if you haven't played a given style for a very long time, I discovered this in a recent rock jam with fellow friends a few months ago :)

aydee said:
Or that there was no difference in my musical tastes between the ages of 18 and 'older'.
Click to expand...

Paul Simon said that the music you love when you're 16-18 years old will remain a music that you'll love for the rest of your life :)

aydee said:
I know there is a counter view to this and a lot of people say that they love that they love what they love and it remains a lifelong passion with no room for anything else.
Click to expand...

True, you can be an "expert" at what you do, and "master" a given style to phenomenal level of musicianship, but the drummers who really influenced my playing always had a very profilic approach to drumming in a wild variety of music :)
 
aydee said:
...
a lot of people say that they love that they love what they love and it remains a lifelong passion with no room for anything else.
...
Click to expand...
I meet players like that all the time. No issues with that, but I believe those that exclude other music forms are really missing out. Even if you're in the one genre camp, an appreciation of other forms can often provide welcome flavour & influence to import into your chosen genre. I suppose that's where I sit. I don't have the breadth of appreciation you have Abe, I'm still quite limited in my musical excursions, so I take flavours from other genres & (in a simplistic way) apply them to my own crap as appropriate (or sometimes not). Regrettably, I'm constrained by my lack of instrument mastery & age/life induced laziness to truly express influences I've picked up along the way.
 
I guess that most people get set in their ways and they don't explore as much as others.
When I was a kid I was kind of a misfit because I didn't like the music that my friends liked.
I always went my own way and I didn't flock with the birds so to speak.
Today I have different groups of musical friends that I play different musical styles with.
Some are old friends and some are new friends.
So I guess that I am the "Same Guy"
 
The two instruments that I have always loved throughout my life have been the piano, and the drums. Growing up as a young man, I loved the music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. I had every Elton John Album, and listened to them all the time. Luckily Elton had a pretty good drummer in his band as well, Nigel Olsson, so I got a good fix of both. I took piano lessons a few times in my life, but never enough to get over the hump of being able to really play. Just lazy I guess. As I grew older the drums became a bigger part of the equation for me, so in my late teens I latched onto who I thought was the most creative drummer of my teen years. Neil Peart, just did it for me. He was busy, calculated, precise, creative, and had some of the nicest looking kits out there. I put up with Geddy's high voice, just so I could listen to Neil's mastery of the kit. I listened to many other bands growing up, but Elton, and Rush, were my biggest influences.

My dad played the trumpet, and loved the big band music. My brother was actually named after Gene Krupa. I was named after Glen Cambell! :( Maybe that is why I don't like country music to this day! :) I was exposed to both big band and country growing up, because of my parents, but never really latched on to it.

Today, I still love bands that use the piano in there music. I really liked Evanescence when they first came out because of Amy Lee's playing, and my wife and I, went and saw her in concert. She was very good. I still gravitate to bands with great drummers in them like Tool.

I guess my point is, I like what I like, so that is what I play and listen to. I have tried to listen to Jazz, and give it a chance, but all I hear is triplets. I listen to Country and all I hear is twang. Like your voice changes when you become a country star. My one son listens to Rap, and I want to kill myself, every time I hear it. I will say the Big Band still gets my foot a tappin. It is almost automatic. It just happens.

Give me a beautiful grand piano, and a large drum set in a Rock Band, and I am there. That is what I have always liked, and probably what I will like till I die! :)
 
Some people just don't grow in certain areas. I think the best musicians have a need to better themselves...noticeably improve over time. I know some musicians, while they are really good, have stayed at the same level since I've known them. Some guys seem to get worse. Not very many improve quickly. Some improve too slowly for my liking. But most stay static, more or less. I am the same guy, but hopefully improved. It's all about growth, how much, or how little. I am surprised at the amount of adults who stay more or less exactly the same. If I didn't improve, I'd have to slit my wrists.
 
larryace said:
Some people just don't grow in certain areas. I think the best musicians have a need to better themselves...noticeably improve over time. I know some musicians, while they are really good, have stayed at the same level since I've known them. Some guys seem to get worse. Not very many improve quickly. Some improve too slowly for my liking. But most stay static, more or less. I am the same guy, but hopefully improved. It's all about growth, how much, or how little. I am surprised at the amount of adults who stay more or less exactly the same. If I didn't improve, I'd have to slit my wrists.
Click to expand...
I just hope you aren't saying that you have to start playing other forms of music, in order to improve. I am becoming a better Rock drummer, every year, and that is me growing, towards something I like and care about.
 
Not necessarily Glen, but it helps. As long as you improve yourself as a *whatever style you choose* drummer, then that's good enough for me. It's the guys that clearly are at the same place they were 3 years ago that I don't want to be like. I don't necessarily listen to a huge range of music, but the music I am passionate about, I keep trying to improve at. If I feel I can't improve any more at what I do....I'm not sure if that's even possible.
 
larryace said:
Not necessarily Glen, but it helps. As long as you improve yourself as a *whatever style you choose* drummer, then that's good enough for me. It's the guys that clearly are at the same place they were 3 years ago that I don't want to be like. I don't necessarily listen to a huge range of music, but the music I am passionate about, I keep trying to improve at. If I feel I can't improve any more at what I do....I'm not sure if that's even possible.
Click to expand...
Glad you clarified. I don't like this evolutionary ladder that some guys like to put you on. You start out playing country, then when you get better, pop. Go on to hard rock. When you mature a bit you will do some swing, then end up at Jazz. You and I can probably play the music we like, and keep getting better at it, until the day we die. That will be just great for us. I still have a long way to go to be like Neil Peart, Mike Portnoy, and Danny Carey. I may never get there, but it gives me more than I need to work on. :)
 
Last edited:
keep it simple said:
By drama & trying to cry, read: feel, emotion, immersion, deep connection. Wow, you have a very clinical outlook for a sensitive guy.
Click to expand...
Come on! I was being honest. She kept squeezing her eye lids to get some water out. She just started the piece. At least take some time to get emotional.

You have to let me be honest. Just how I felt. You see it one way, and I see it another. That is ok right? :(
 
I had this very conversation with my Uncle some years ago. I have always tended to like what was popular at the time, even disco because I liked to dance. Today it's a little different. My uncle, up until the time we were speaking and until he died, he liked what he called Jazz which to me was 40's big band. That's all he liked and all he listened to.
 
I don't care if your listening choices never change, as long as what and how you play improves. Its all about the playing.
 
sticks4drums said:
Glad you clarified. I don't like this evolutionary latter that some guys like to put you on. You start out playing country, then when you get better, pop. Go on to hard rock. When you mature a bit you will do some swing, then end up at Jazz. You and I can probably play the music we like, and keep getting better at it, until the day we die. That will be just great for us. I still have a long way to go to be like Neil Peart, Mike Portnoy, and Danny Carey. I may never get there, but it gives me more than I need to work on. :)
Click to expand...
I agree... I don't view it necessarily as evolution as much as cross training that aids ones overall development as a musician... although I admit I'm enough of a snob to believe that some genres are superior to others, for any number of reasons, mostly cerebral. I certainly will never go with any contention that claims best is what produces enough emotion to create a kinetic reaction with the crowd, because even the Hey Song can do that at a basketball game. For example, I doubt few people will ever tap their foot to Webern's pioneering minimalism, but it passes any number of high judgment criteria, and must be allowed to remain great in of itself regardless of anyone's lack of reaction to it.

However, I've always believed that a musician can learn from anything considered in that genre to be of at least good quality. Heck, look at my own present situation. Fate has recently taken me towards a country adventure. But it's Nashville, meaning it's the best of that genre...and the guys I'm with could work in any number of classifications if they so desired. In fact, the violinist I play with now has chops and musicianship on a level comparable to any good working classical musician or the great folk musicians I heard in Romania. Then you notice there is so much crossing over here, that one could easily see work with a solid Nashville touring outfit morphing into Taylor Swift or the American Idol crowd. Heck, even Elton John records here. I was also recently surprised to learn that my primo jazz snob father had worked with Roy Clark, Crystal Gayle, Glen Campbell, Charley Pride and many others. So in those instances, you're certainly right that the evolution premise is flawed.

The only styles I don't see in that mix for me are metal and punk because I just don't feel them, although I thought about metal for a quick minute when Black Dahlia Murder once asked if I wanted to audition.

But anyway...sorry to deviate from the theme of mid career reflection...Carry on, and in some instance around 2042, I will search this thread and add a more relevant post.
 
Well I can leave this forum now, because Matt agreed with me on something! :) :) :) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top