Drumming Live [in London]
Drumming live in London at a covers gig. Performed at the O’Neills venue in Wardour Street. This video gives you a unique view of my drumming from the front of the stage. Alas, The lighting leans towards the dark side, so my Go-Pro footage wasn’t at it’s best quality. None-the-less you can see the type of cover songs we play in the band Love Buzz.
Playing Live / Drumming Live
Playing live / drumming live is one of my favourite parts of the job. Making people move, dance and enjoy themselves is extremely rewarding. Not to mention keeping the other band members in-time as the time keeper. Also, being a London based drummer, it’s very convenient for me to gig in London.
Anyway, playing live [gigging]; whatever instrument you play comes highly recommended. One of my drum teachers always used to say “People will never see you practicing at home, only playing at gigs. So gig as much as possible”. Admittedly those were the days before people made a living playing at home via videos on YouTube. Still, the experience you’ll gain from playing live will help focus on what’s important regarding; feel, timing, playing with others etc. Important skills if you want to earn a living as a working / gigging musician. It’ll also give you confidence when performing with other musicians. Especially, if you’ve never met them before.
Playing live / drumming live gives you a valuable understanding of your instrument. Furthermore, it’s a great source of income – so why wouldn’t you want to do it?
Covers Gigs
You’ll find musicians who don’t want to play covers gigs but would rather focus on their own music. A valid point of view, but personally, I don’t see what can be lost from playing a covers gig(?) It’s always a win, win situation for me. Every gig you do is a chance for you to improve or refine your drumming live. Moreover, a chance to fine tune your ability to play with others. Skills you can bring into a original band set up or when on recording sessions for example.
Playing covers gigs also helps you understand what types of music, or songs, work with particular audiences. Whether it’s pop, R’n’B, rock, hip hop etc. Again, a good experience for writing your own music for example.
Incidentally, it’s advisable to learn a swathe of music / songs if you want to get hired consistently as a covers band player. That and (obviously) a competent playing ability with a good personality for good measure.
Getting the Gig
Getting the gig has many variables but the most common answer will be – who you know. This is taking into account that you are a competent player already. So, if you want to get gigs it also pays to get to know as many musicians as possible. Even better, PERFORM with as many musicians as possible. In my video above I’m performing with the Lovebuzz Band. We’ve been playing together in different line-ups for years, so forming this band was straight forward.
This may seem a daunting task but start with the basics such as; open mic nights, jam nights etc. Moreover, go to gigs and get to know the drummer who’s drumming live for example. Offer your services as a dep and exchange contact details. This is why it’s good to film yourself drumming live and have it up on social media. You’ll have an instantaneous ability to show off your skills. Because, once you have video content of yourself drumming, you have an online performance(s) for anyone to see.
Video Yourself Drumming Live
Don’t be afraid to video yourself drumming live. One reason being, you can analyse yourself and critique your playing from a third person’s perspective. Much as you would when teaching a student. At the gig you may find yourself having a great time drumming live only to find out (in actuality) you were rushing a beat for example. Or, of course, vice versa; you may have thought your playing wasn’t up-to-par but on reflection your drumming live was pretty good. By analysing your performance you can see what it is you need to practice in order to improve. As opposed to wasting time when you practice by practicing what you already know or indeed over indulgence with the fun stuff. Furthermore, if the analysis gains your approval, you’ll have content for your social media.
It’s easy to do. Simply use your smart phone or, if you have one, use a high definition camera. Some smart phones even have editing software included so you can post as much or as little as you like.
So, if you don’t already, give it a go, you’ll be pleased you did. Good luck and enjoy your drumming live!
Do you have any videos of you Drumming Live in London? Or, do you have any stories of you Drumming in London you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments section below.
