proud of myself: I just joined a band.

[indecks]

I'm now officially a punk band drummer. Why is this significant?

Because I've been playing guitar since 1992. I don't SOUND like I have, but I have been. I've only been playing drums since 2007 - because of RockBand, lol. Always wanted to play the drums, but never could afford a kit, and I figured that since I could already play guitar, why bother. But after enjoying RockBand and improving my timing in the game (it helps, dont knock it) I decided to take the plunge and bought a kit back in 07. While RockBand drums aren't exactly a real kit, you do have to admit that it's the closest instrument to the real thing in the game, not counting the keyboard.

Anyway, I don't practice every day (see guitar since 1992 comment) but I can play simple, old school punk beats. I'm not Neil Peart, or Dave Weckl, or Mike Portnoy by any means. But I can keep a beat.

Anyway, I auditioned for a band called Serfs Up! here in Austin. I went to their place, borrowed their kit (took my ride cymbal and throne though) and played for 3 hours. I learned 4 or 5 of their songs, covered a lot of Misfits, Ramones, and Queers songs, among others. My hands blistered, and they popped. I literally duct taped my fingers and kept going. It was fucking awesome.

After 3 hours of playing, I get asked "so you want in the band or what dude?" I say "yeah if you'll have me." Then they all shook my hand, welcomed me in and I'm now an old school punk rock drummer.

One of the best friday nights ever. I cant wait for next practice or our first show. Here's a pic of my right hand.

[Luke]

Congrats man.

You get along with the band mates well? Have plans for your first gig? Will you be involved in the writing of the songs? Do you know someone will probably make a masturbation joke about your blisters?

[indecks]

Congrats man.

You get along with the band mates well? Have plans for your first gig? Will you be involved in the writing of the songs? Do you know someone will probably make a masturbation joke about your blisters?

Thanks! And my bro-in-law beat you to the joke.

They seem like nice guys. They're easygoing and from what I can tell they have a similar sense of humor as I do. I actually met these guys by responding to an ad in the musicians area on Craigslist. As far as show plans go, the bassist said he's glad to have a full band and is already planning a set list so we can play some shows soon. I don't exactly know what soon means, but I'm hoping at least a couple months (practice is one a week) so I can really hone in the drums for their songs and hopefully STOP DROPPING STICKS. Writing involvement.. possibly. I'm a god awful lyricist, so I have no problem not writing lyrics. As far as tunes go, possibly. Not real sure yet.

[AppleQueso]

I'm sure they'll let you write your own drum patterns at least.

I've tried to get a band together a couple of times. Never really went too well. Scheduling conflicts and just not agreeing as well musically as we would've liked seem to always prevent it.

[Luke]

Thanks! And my bro-in-law beat you to the joke.

... so I can really hone in the drums for their songs and hopefully STOP DROPPING STICKS. Writing involvement.. possibly. I'm a god awful lyricist, so I have no problem not writing lyrics. As far as tunes go, possibly. Not real sure yet.

Yeah, it's the most obvious joke.

You sound stoked, and not so stoked. Its a process, and I hope it works out for ya.

I think a big positive you have going for you is that you don't seem the controlling type, and that playing drums for a punk band usually doesn't require a lot of fills. One of the reasons I love the Ramones is that they had either little or no fill on the drums, just banging it out.

Keep us updated and drop your tracks in the music thread.

[indecks]

Well, I actually sent them a link to a soundcloud page where I put up 4 songs so they could have a listen. The songs there aren't any of theirs, and there's one cover of Some Kind of Hate by the Misfits. You can hear my drumming there. Just some info on the songs.

White Russian: Im on drums, and I am NOT singing. That's Dave from an old band I was in called Entropy.
Some Kind of Hate: Me on drums. Dave singing once again.
Dark Passenger: I wrote and performed everything on this song including vocals. It's a song I wrote inspired by Dexter on Showtime.
Shadow of a Fallen God: Another Entropy song, with a guy named Tommy on vocals, not Dave. I'm on drums.

As I said I'm no professional, but I can keep a beat, lol.

www.soundcloud.com/indecks-1

Once we get some stuff recorded with Serfs Up I'll post some in the musicians thread.

[Luke]

Well, I actually sent them a link to a soundcloud page where I put up 4 songs so they could have a listen.

Your drumming is the best thing in every song you on that page. Take that as you will.

[jay_red]

Congrats on getting into a band! It was funny reading your story, as it seemed like I wrote it, as I just joined a band a few months ago, and I got into drumming the exact same way, and even "played" the guitar for years and never really took off with it.

I played rockband drums extensively for a couple years, and when we moved into our house, one of the first things I got was a drumset lol. That was about 2 years ago, and I practiced almost every day. Recently a guy I know from work that was in a band said they lost their drummer and I said I would like to try out. The practice went well and before I knew it I was in. We have already had one small gig, and are currently finalizing our demo/ep. We do all original stuff, we have about 15 songs currently, we are a ska/punk type band.

Sorry for the thread jack, do you guys plan on doing all originals when you perform, or will it be with some covers?

[brunoafh]

You're a pretty solid drummer. *thumbs up*

White Russian was pretty metal. That's a pretty cool idea, jamming out to someone suffering from a heart attack with a mic.

Dark Passenger was a good piece, nice work. The most well produced song of the four.

I played in several bands throughout high school, but I have little interest in doing that sort of thing anymore. Too much work and too hard to get along and work with people. It's a good time though, especially if you've got a group of interesting individuals. Hope you have fun with it and have some good experiences.

[indecks]

Sorry for the thread jack, do you guys plan on doing all originals when you perform, or will it be with some covers?

From what I understand, yes the guys want to do originals. The few songs I played sounded pretty cool. Very old school punk sound, and they're slightly politically charged. Im not real big on political music (or at least writing it, tbh) but I got no qualms about playing if the tune is good.

You're a pretty solid drummer. *thumbs up*

White Russian was pretty metal. That's a pretty cool idea, jamming out to someone suffering from a heart attack with a mic.

Dark Passenger was a good piece, nice work. The most well produced song of the four.

I played in several bands throughout high school, but I have little interest in doing that sort of thing anymore. Too much work and too hard to get along and work with people. It's a good time though, especially if you've got a group of interesting individuals. Hope you have fun with it and have some good experiences.

lol thanks on all counts. It actually means a lot to hear that you liked Dark Passenger. I'm fairly proud of it. It needs a little work (i need to stop belting out vocals and actually sing properly) and it could use a little more mixing. I also play the drum part a bit different now too. I like it a lot. Though I will have to admit it's VERY inspired by a song called "A Skull Full of Bats" by Disappearer. Just not as heavy.