Hey, everyone, my name is Andrew. I’m twenty years old and I’ve been playing the drums for over ten years now. The fact that I started playing drums was by pure chance. I originally wanted to play saxophone. I only chose to play drums after being informed by my school music teacher that there wasn’t any other positions left in the school band—and this turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. After getting lessons for many years, my passion for drumming and music grew to the point where it was one of the biggest parts of my life. After finishing secondary school, I was fortunate to spend a year studying at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Australia, majoring in jazz drumkit. This opportunity is something I am still very grateful for. Not only did the experience improve the technical aspects of my drumming, but it also helped to develop me as an all-round musician. Being surrounded by so many amazing musicians, it was hard not to be inspired.

I am very much a groove/pocket player. When I sit down behind a band, my main focus is the complement the music as a whole. Flashy chop playing just isn’t my thing. I find it so much more satisfying to work with the space of a groove, exploring tonal and dynamic expressions. Drummers such as Steve Gadd, Benny Greb, Dave Garibaldi, and Gavin Harrison are huge inspirations to me and have helped shape the way I play the drums. I have found that as I’ve gotten older, my appreciation for “time” has continued to develop as well. One of my favorite things to do is to just play to a click track. If you can make the click sound good, you know it’s really cooking.

I enjoy playing and listening to all sorts of music—jazz, funk, rock, pop, Latin, classical, and everything in between. A friend of mine once said, “If you can’t find amazing music in every genre, you aren’t looking hard enough”—a statement that I completely agree with. Advertisement

I currently play drums in a band called Oceanics. We play mostly indie/pop/rock stuff and have just released our second EP, Bright People. Although it might not be a technically demanding gig to play, there is something special about writing music that is both meaningful to your and that connects with other people as well. That is what I enjoy most about playing original music—seeing people that you have never met before loving your music. There’s nothing quite like it. If you like to have a listen, we have our tunes up on soundcloud, or check us out at facebook.

Thanks for reading, and take care.