Hi everyone! First of all, let me say thanks to all of you who enjoyed my last article (The Working Drummer). I received so many emails from drummers all over the world that really liked the article. Thanks for the support. I really appreciate it. So Meinl has given me the opportunity to do another one. I hope you learn something from it and it helps you in your drumming and dealing with the music business in general. (Make no mistake, it is a business!!)
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT GIG !
The phrase above "This is a very important gig" has been said to me before gigs since I was about 19-years-old. I didn't understand it then and I don't understand it now. I'm much older and have played almost every scenario there is, from weddings, to clubs, festivals, tours pulling a trailer with a van, a refurbished school bus made into a tour bus, hole in the wall bars, and anything else you can possibly imagine. I have paid my dues 3 times over. Just 3 months ago, I laid a track in the studio for a singing bird. No, I'm not kidding. Plus, after every take we had to applaud for the bird to keep his spirits up. I have seen it all. Once I even used my man hood on a track, but that's another story. I have been lucky enough to make my living playing drums and percussion for over 25 years. I have a wife and 3 kids so trust me, my overhead is not cheap. So giving 100% every time I play a gig, session, or just practiced paid off for me. I thought those "this is a very big gig" days were over. Well, I was wrong.
~ Joe Morris
I have never heard a musician say the words "This is a very important gig" before a show. It's always the management people. Not the tour managers but more like the higher ups, like the artist manager, and people from their teams. People that are not out on tour with you. They just show up once in a while to check things out. Especially if they have some money to gain in the future if the show goes well.
Let me state this right away: To me, since I was a little kid playing drums, I never, ever viewed any gig more important than the other. No matter how big the venue, or how many people show up to see you, to me it was always a big gig. Damn, when I used to practice in my room as a child, I would imagine I was playing in front of 50,000 people. With that said, let's look at a few examples so you know where I am coming from.
You never know who is in the crowd: You're playing a club on an off night, like a Tuesday or Monday night. Maybe there is like 20 to 50 people in the crowd. So you start slacking on your playing because there are hardly any people there to see you. The band starts screwing off and being very unprofessional. Basically, you're not playing with your heart and what I like to call "bringing your A game". Think about this, many touring players and studio cats or even the local town drum heroes don't work on the off nights. So lots of times, those are the nights they go out to see bands because they're not gigging. So maybe a bass player from a popular band is out to find a new drummer. Maybe a guy sitting out there is looking for studio cats for his new cd. Maybe the local hero drummer is in the crowd and you impress him. He would spread the word about you. The point is: Even if the band you're playing in is just an average band, you should stand out. You should be giving it your best. Personal Example: I played in a band in Philadelphia after college (I won't mention any names). I was like 20-years-old and still on my quest to become a pro player and make my living playing drums. That's all I ever wanted; just to be able to play drums for a living and not have a day job to make it. So before band practice, I practiced alone for 2 hours before the guys got there. (Hint) They would show up and we really wouldn't accomplish anything in my eyes. I didn't really dig the music either, but I was more interested in playing out so people would see me. So one night, we are playing this shit hole bar in Kingston, PA. There must have been 10 people there in a club that seated over 500. Well long story short, after the 2nd set ended I hear a guy yell from the bar, "Hey drummer, you need to find a better gig. What the hell are you doing here?" I walked closer laughing because I couldn't really see the guy that good. Well guess what? IT WAS BUDDY RICH. I almost wet my pants. He was playing at a club down the road the next night and just happened to stop in for a beer. To cut things short, I hung out with him for like 3 hours when the gig was over. He was very cool to me and it was a dream come true. He looked at me when I was leaving and said, "You play from your heart like that every time you play?" I said, "Yes sir. I do. I don't know any other way to play." He turned for a second then shook my hand and said, "Then I look forward to hearing about you in the future. You're going to go somewhere." It was a night I will never forget.
Leads to bigger gigs: If word gets around in your hometown that you're a great player when a more known band (which probably makes more money and gigs out more) is looking to replace a member, it could be you!! You have to network and keep your name out there.
Leads to studio work: My live playing reputation is what gradually had me turn out to be mostly a studio drummer. I just kind of fell into it from getting so many calls to play on artists CDs. They all saw me play live or found out about me by word of mouth.
Possibly lead to a record deal: You have been busting your ass in your band trying to get that record deal every band wants so badly. Usually, the goal is to be signed. As usual, you can't get anyone to pay attention to you. In that bar with ten people in it, one of those guys could be the head of a major record label. Who knows why he is there; maybe he was in town for a wedding, and maybe someone told him while he was in town to go see your band. Who knows? Maybe he hates his wife and had to get out for a few hours. If you are "bringing your A game", maybe you get signed. It's happened plenty of times before in music history.
Another Personal Example: About 10 years ago, I was invited by a certain drum company to play their drums in one of the lobby's at the NAMM Show. I had to play 4 times a day. Just drum solos by myself. People would stop by and listen, and plenty of times I had over 100 people watching me. Sometimes I had like 2 people watching. I played my best no matter what. It was like the third day of NAMM and I went in and did my noon solo, scheduled to be back on at 2 p.m. I did my 2 p.m. show and after it's over I look up and Dennis Chambers is standing right behind me. My God I am so glad I didn't see him while I was playing. I might have crapped myself. He says to me, " Do you know who I am?" I said, "Hell yes! I know who you are. You're one of my favorite drummers." Dennis says to me, "What time you have to be back on?" I reply, "In two hours or so." He goes, "Want to hang out for a while and go check out snare drums?" Of course I said "Yea!!!" He complimented me on my playing and said that he really dug it. I asked him about some of his experiences and cutting some records he had played on that I liked. We hung for a while, and then exchanged all our information. I still am in touch with Dennis, although because of schedules we don't talk that much. But think about that. We actually became friends. I thought that was a great honor and I still enjoy talking to Dennis.
So my point is, from personal experience you should "bring your A game" every time you play. Every time!! Not just if it's a big crowd or you know there are important people in the crowd. Plus, you will find out that if you view every gig as a big gig and play your best, when the so called "Big Gig" comes up, you won't be nervous. You have been throwing down every night, so this night won't be any different. It really helps you to relax and play well.
I remember a few years back I wasn't touring so much, so a few of my endorsement companies sent me out to do some clinics. I consider those different than live gigs. They are like microscopic gigs. People come to see you, not the band your in, and you're right out there. Plus you have to talk, be interesting, inspire the other drummers with your playing, and sometimes put up with some drummers who are arrogant and try to cause problems at the clinic or they are just to uninformed to know any better. I try and am very nice and helpful in my clinics, but there was only one time in NY at a famous music chain that a guy got out of hand. First of all, I had to explain to him what a double pedal was because he only saw one bass drum and he wondered how my foot was so fast. So I answered the question and literally told the crowd of about 200 people to chill because they all laughed when he asked the question. Hey not every drummer is hip to the gear; they might not have the budget to even buy a double pedal. So that didn't irritate me at all. So I play a solo and a few tunes to some tracks. The guy raises his hand again. (Now remember, I was very helpful, encouraging, and nice to this guy.) He goes, "Well Joe, to be honest, I don't think you're that good of a drummer and I want to know how you go about getting endorsements and notoriety in the business because I think I can already play better than you." I immediately got pissed, but I saw one of my endorsement reps back stage looking at me like "Please Joe! Don't let this guy have it." I am known to have a short temper on certain subjects or if I feel I am being disrespected in front of a crowd. My rep. probably thought I was going to tell the guy to go F------------k himself and have him thrown out. Instead my reply was, "So you're better than me huh? How many records have you played on?" His answer was none!! "How many tours have you done?" His said none! I said, "Do you make your living playing drums?" His reply was again no! He said, "No. I am a telemarketer during the day and play in a band locally a few times a week." I thought to myself, "OK. Now I get it. He's bitter!!" I said, "Did you get a flyer in the mail from the music store that I was coming?" His reply yes!! Now remember there are about 200 people in a famous music store in Manhattan listing to this. You could have heard a pin drop!! I said, "Did you see the poster out front that said I was coming? He replied, "Yes." I asked again, "Did you see the article in the newspaper that said I was coming?" His reply was, "Yes and I saw it on a few drum web sites." I said, "Your very well informed, but let me ask you something oh great one! On any of the promotional material did it say I was coming or I was good?" He didn't know what to say. I then said, "Do you want to come and play? Maybe I could learn a few things from you." Needless to say, he walked out, and the crowd was laughing and applauding while he walked out. Another yelled out, "You give drummers a bad name."
Clinics are different from any other gig. You're naked out there. They kind of remind me of Nascar and Indy car races. Either people just come to meet you, people come to hear you play and learn something, or people come to watch you crash and burn. This all relates to the "Big Gig" theory. I used to get really nervous before clinics and it would tighten me up. First of all, I don't like to talk. I would just rather play, but you have to talk. It gets easier as you go, unless you have a crowd that just stares at you all night. My good friend and Aquarian drum company president Roy Burns helped with this. By the way, Roy Burns is one badass drummer. I called him after I thought I just sucked at a clinic the night before. I didn't play bad, but I had to work hard for everything and my nerves kept me tight. I hate that. I could not "bring my A game". It just wouldn't come out. I called Roy and said, "Dude can you help me at all with some advice? I can play in front of 150,000 people that look like a sea of humanity and I never get nervous. I played bass day in NY with my Vic Firth Rep, Jo Jo Meyer, Victor Wotten, Christian McBride and some other bad cats sitting in the front row watching. I wasn't nervous for that; I just wanted to play my ass off in front of peers, so I did what I have done since I was a child. I "brought my A game", and became friends with all those guys. They were so complimentary and nice." Roy Burns's advice to me was, "Why get nervous at clinics? 95% of your crowd is drummers. They are not going to call you for any gigs anyway." HA!! I cracked up. I still get a little nervous but not like before.
Two things prompted me to write this article. One is when I have time I will post threads on drummerworld. It's my favorite web site for drummers. Great site, so check it out if you can. Anyways, I posted a little thread about always "bringing your A game". I couldn't believe how many drummers disagreed. Some of them thought it was ok, just to not give it there all if no crowd was there or the venue sucked. Many of them said they just turned it up a notch for the larger gigs. Seriously, I just could not believe it. Like I said though, these are just my personal opinions. To each his own. I guess it's just never been a question for me. The other thing that really prompted me to write this article is about a month ago, I was playing in Vegas just for the Vegas Press, Casino owners, booking agents, and many certain management people who were interested in giving Esteban and the band our own room, not a lounge, like an 800 seat theatre. We are getting tired of touring and want to sit down for a while. It might happen, it might not. I'm not sure yet. So about 10 minutes to show time, the manager walks into our dressing room. He wishes us luck and then says, "I don't know about you guys, but this is one of the most important nights of my life, this is a VERY BIG GIG SO PLAY YOUR BEST. There is a lot at stake for us to have a great show. So give it your all. It's a very big gig." Well I'm a bit older now and haven't heard that phrase in years. When I was young, I wouldn't say anything, just nod my head and hit the stage. This time I couldn't help myself. The band was quiet and you could tell they were irritated. The manager says, "What's up with you guys?" I stood up from my chair and said," Look dude, don't come in here and try to pressure us. Do you think we slack off on gigs? Every gig is a big gig and we always bring it no matter who is watching. Every time I sit down on a gig it's a big one for me. No gig is more important than the other. You always bring your A game so get the f------k out of our dressing room." He didn't appreciate it, nor do I think he understood, but he's a management guy. What he was really saying is "Please do well tonight so I can make a ton of money".
When you tour and play as many shows as we do, sure some nights are better than others. Not because we are all not "bringing our A game", but because some nights it's just not happening. It happens. It's still a good show but sometimes it doesn't come as easy, you have to work harder for it. Sometimes, I sit down and wonder if I ever played the drums before because it doesn't feel right. You just get through the show and have a better one the next time and hopefully you're not in a slump. Even if you are, it will go away in a few days. Besides, those are the nights the band members tell you that you killed the show that night and played great, while you're thinking you sucked.
Moral of the story: Always play your best no matter what. I have plenty of other stories, but this article is already too long. I have been picked out of almost every band I have been in, either to a better gig or a studio session. Bring your A game guys. Always play from your heart and give it your best. If you don't understand any of this, look at it this way. Say you're dating a beautiful woman. When you make love to her, your going to bring your A game. Now say, you go out with a girl that's just average and not that hot. When you make love to her you still have to bring your A game or she will tell all her girlfriends you suck and then you never get the real hot ones. Same thing goes for gigs; bring it every time because if you don't, your reputation is at stake every night. Hope that helps!!! Ha!
Best of luck !
(Article originally posted at http://www.meinlcymbals.com/)
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