Hello, everyone, my name is Shane Gaalaas, and this is my first contribution to the blog at Modern Drummer. I feel very privileged to be a part of it.

I’ve had the good fortune to play music for a living for the better part of my life. I started out on ice cream pails and made the transition to my current Pearl Masters Custom kit decorated with some lovely Zildjian cymbals. It can’t get much better than that!

I’ve played in a variety of musical situations thus far in my career. Most recently I’ve focused much of my attention on my band Cosmosquad. It’s a very expressive outlet for me musically and as a drummer, plus it’s just a whole lot of fun! Making a living being a musician can have its challenges, and sometimes you can just plain spread yourself too thin trying to do every session, gig, etc. It’s important to take the work so you can eat, HELLO! But you have to balance it with the stuff you are really passionate about. It will ultimately carry over to the more academic side of your musical journey.

On the C-Squad front, we’ve done several dates recently, including a live performance at MI in Hollywood that was filmed/recorded and will be available on DVD early next year. We also have a new record out called Acid Test, which marks our third studio album to date. Advertisement

Two thousand and eight is going to be action-packed, as I will be on tour with Japanese Icons B’z. They will celebrate their glorious twenty-year career and 100 million records sold with an anniversary tour that will take me from stadiums to the most remote parts of Japan. The tour will keep me busy deep into ’08.

I have to say it’s a very opportune time to be a drummer, with such a vast pool of talent to draw from. There are so many great players/music out there these days, it’s just staggering! The best part of the deal is that everything is so accessible now, with online instruction, youtube—the list goes on. To be a young aspiring drummer these days means you can see/study with virtually ANYONE, ANYTIME at the click of a mouse. It’s overwhelming to see how the drumming community has evolved in recent years. You don’t have to live in New York or LA–or any big city, for that matter–to experience it. Providing you have a high-speed Internet connection, you can live anywhere, set up your kit by the computer, and study with anyone. So “bollocks” to the lame-o “The music/players ain’t what it/they used to be” attitude. In my opinion, that is just—well—just BS! The Internet does nothing but enhance our muse, PERIOD! It blows my mind how many up & comers out there are raising the bar into the stratosphere. With all the shared info there is these days, and all the knowledge that is at our disposal, it is truly inspiring! ALL YOUNG DRUMMERS TAKE HEED: Seize the opportunity to learn and grow!

Thanks for the chance to rant,

Shane

For more Shane Gaalaas info, check out www.shanegaalaas.com, www.myspace.com/shanegaalaas, www.cosmosquad.com, or www.myspace.com/cosmosquad.