There's a fairly new member here, his handle is 720hoursWorldRecord..
I was curious about his handle and PM'd him and sure enough, he's in the Guiness Book of World Records for playing drums 720 hours straight (w/ 5 minute breaks every hour).
I asked him if he was OK with me starting a thread highlighting his feat and he was OK with it, so here it is. I thought some here would find it interesting to say the least.
So Cliff, can you go into excruciating detail about the whole story?
How did you prep?
Did you play just what came to your mind the whole time or were you reading anything or playing along to anything?
Was anybody murdered? (This has relevance)
Was there sleep allowance?
How long did it take you to recover?
Was there anything else really interesting that I'm not thinking of?
Really curious about the whole backstory and front story.
I have a lot of people ask me about it, so this thread might actually free up some spare time for me!!
1) How did you prep?
That was the hard thing. I talked to some doctors that told me what would happen to me. They said that my mind could play tricks on me, could loose balance and when I did take rest breaks my body would do a ton of twitching. I tried to get as little sleep as possible for weeks at a time to get use to it, I was in a sense playing a war between my body and mind. I am a very head strong person, once I get something that I want to do - its hard to stop the thoughts. I asked the guy that held the 505 hour record (on a long phone call) how he did every thing and I made improvements to everything he did.
I found a bar with a large window in front (which I was put in). The bar was in a mall and was open 7 days a week. anyone that went past the window could see me face to face. I got a few companies to support me during the event.
2) Did you play just what came to your mind the whole time or were you reading anything or playing along to anything?
I had a PA around my kit and had music going the whole time - except when the bands played at the other end of the bar I was in. They had a lot of bands playing. I was at the other end of a long large room. I remember a time that the band that was playing asked if I could play a little softer.
My ultimate goal was to NOT fall asleep so I kept a good speed going, nothing too slow - that would make me crash. I kept up a ton of eating when I got tired. McDonalds was providing all the food to me and my witnesses. I remember after the first week, I could not stand the smell of Filet O Fish coming in the door.
3) Was anybody murdered? (This has relevance)
YES, the day I went to set up my drums there was a body outline in chalk within a few feet of the bar entrance and all I could think of was OH S*** what kind of place is this? As it turned out - a small man was an accountant who would just play pin ball once in a while was confronted by a large motorcycle gang member walking out the door. The accountant just happened to have a gun and fired "what he said" was a warning shot at the Big guy - he hit him in the forehead. The man was not convicted of anything.
4) Was there sleep allowance?
Yes 5 minutes for every hour of event. I stayed on the set for 3 days, then took approx an hour off each night for the next 27 days. The first week was really really hard. By the time of my 4th week it was almost boring.
5) How long did it take you to recover?
After I finished - for about 6 months I did not require more than 4 hours sleep a night. Now - I can sleep at the drop of a hat at anytime
6) Was there anything else really interesting that I'm not thinking of?
I was always amazed at how many people would tell me "You won't make it" That made me want to do it even more. My brother in law told me (after hearing about the 505 hour record) that "You couldn't do that if you tried" that was the DING!!! moment with me.
This event made me very sick. The bar owner and most of the customers smoked. I did not. I had lung problems (pneumonia) and needed to be treated for it after I stopped.