THE NEW LABORATORY
I recently became a resident of St. Paul this past October. One of the pre-requisites I had for my realtor was to find a house that would allow me the luxury of having a "home studio". A place where I could actually woodshed on the drums & not have to go to a rehearsal space in another city to do so. (something I haven't had since jamming in the ol' basement whilst living at home with the parents) Needless to say... it became apparent that managing the volume of drums proved to be a bit of a challenge. (even though the volume wasn't loud enough to disturb any of my neighbors...I had a fiancée and a new dog that weren't exactly the biggest fans of sharing their living quarters with LOUD drums.) It was then... I felt... appropriate to make the rather expensive decision on converting over to the E-Drum world. Something I had "dipped my toes" into during my tenure with SWEET SIREN with the addition of the Roland SPD-SX sampling pad. But, this was a full speed, impulse buy on the grand-daddy flagship model of ROLAND V-Drums known as the VAD-706. A financial set-back, no doubt...but I had been eyeing this thing for MONTHS and this situation provided the PERFECT excuse to pull the trigger on buying the damn thing.
I DO have regrets in life ...purchasing this fantastic piece of modern technological marvel isn't one of 'em.
...I'M NOT DONE, YET.
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As some of you may know, I played (what was my final onstage performance) back on October 10th, 2020. The following October 15th...I tested positive for contracting Covid 19. At the time, the landscape of live performing was about as grim as I've ever seen it being, and I walked away from the notion of ever taking the stage again. My heart just wasn't in it any longer. These past few months have been an exercise in regaining the desire of, not only, playing the drums again... But, the passion and joy of even playing MUSIC any longer. As the world is slowly starting to shift back to SOME level of normalcy... I'm feeling much more confident that occupying the vacant position behind my drums onstage becomes more and more of an imminent certainty.
Along with the long overdue completion of the debut album from my band Daemonaut inching closer to fruition... I've managed to find myself in a brand new project, playing music I LOVE, with a collection of friends, both old and new. (More about THAT project at a later time!)
I recently decided to bring a new friend into my world... a LUDWIG 1975 3-ply Maple MONSTER in White Cortex (12" x 15"/ 16" x 18"/ 18" x 20"/ 14" x 26"!!!) As with every drum kit I've ever owned...I needed a name. The name that affectionately came to mind was none other than, "AHHHHHHZ"
Full name: "MR. BLIZZARD OF AHHHHHHZ"
...nope. I'm not fuckin' done yet.
