Drumming away the calories

About ten years ago I had visited my doctor for an annual check-up.  Being a guy that has always fought weight issues, he decided to perform a bunch of exams to see how bad my "obesity" was affecting my health. He ordered blood tests, checked my thyroid, blood pressure, heart. You name it, and he checked it to prove just how unhealthy I was.

I returned for a follow-up to hear his prognosis, which I am sure he was looking forward to relaying to me. He flipped through my tests, and with each page turn I watched more confusion hit his eyes.

"OK, Mr. Larochelle. You don't have a thyroid problem, and your blood pressure is perfect, in fact it's better than mine. What are you doing?"

"I drum."

"No that can't be it" He responded as he flipped to the next page "and your cholesterol is lower than mine. How can that be?"

"I'm telling you Doc. I drum an hour every day."

"No, drumming isn't exercise. It can't be you are sitting down" he replied.

"Have you ever drummed before?"

"No"

"Then you don't know how much you move, how much you sweat, how high your heart rate goes" I replied.

Then I showed him what it's like to drum. I started to tap my feat (both of them) and move from left to right as though I was jamming around the kit.

"Do that for an hour every single day and see how good you feel."

"Well, you keep on drumming, because it seems to be working."

Many non-drummers would never guess just how many calories we burn while we bang on the tubs. For giggles I have been wearing a heart rate monitor and calorie counter for my past week of in home practices.  At times my heart rate hit 160% of my resting rate and I burn around 400 calories per hour doing what I love. And a 2008 study by Dr.  Marcus Smith of Chichester University in England proved that I am not the only one.

Smith found that during a performance, [a drummer's] heart averages between 140 and 150 beats a minute, peaking at 190. Levels comparable to other top athletes. But unlike top athletes who compete at this level for an hour three times a week, he found touring drummers are required to perform at these levels for up to two hours every single night. His conclusion after studying drummers such as veteran tub basher Clem Burke of Blondie "a drummer's fitness level needs to be outstanding."

Check out the full article here.

Now, I am not saying you should ditch your regular work-out routines. In fact the more exercise we do in our lives the better chances we will have at a longer healthier existence. What I am saying, is that when combined with your regular exercise regimens, drumming can really help you continue to burn calories. It should also remind us that what we do is a sport and properly warming up, drinking lots of water, and stretching will make our time on the kit that much better and more enjoyable.


*Jeremy is not a doctor. He doesn't even play one on TV. All workouts should be discussed with your health care professional. Even if they don't realize drumming is exercise.

Musicians Stop Using Old School Marketing in a New World.

In his book "Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap between Seller and Buyer through Social Media Marketing", Bernie Borges contends that we are at a huge shift in the way we market.  The age old practice of disruption (television commercials, direct mail, cold calling) in which the marketer tries to disrupt the potential customer from what they are doing is being replaced by the ideal of customer engagement. A practice based heavily on the web, and especially social media.

The funny thing is the recording industry and most artists in particular are moving in the opposite direction.

Let me explain what I mean.  Before the recording industry's digital crash, most bands made their namesake by engaging potential consumers of their brand with their music. They got you to go to their concerts, seek them out on the radio, visit the local record shop in search of "their" media, and got you to where their T-shirt like a flag. In essence they were following the marketing concept of customer engagement, and were quite successful in the practice.

Then the change agent of digital technology was introduced. Suddenly anyone could get your music anywhere (for free), but more importantly anyone can record an album with little investment. The question then becomes "how can I market my material with little to no money?". Most take to social media, where it doesn't cost a penny to potentially reach millions. But the majority approach the new medium in a marketing 1.0 mentality. They try to interrupt you. 

Think about it for a second. How many of you get bombarded with artists and bands on Twitter, FaceBook, Linkedin, Tumblr, Instagram, begging us to go check out their page, buy their album, or go to a show?  Most of the time they do this "right out of the gate", they don't even attempt to get to know you, engage you, socialize with you. They just attempt to "interrupt" you and hope you will follow them.

I see this a lot, primarily because I work in the music business. Every day dozens of musicians send me their links, email, and try to connect with me on all of my marketing channels. Now I don't mind, as it is part of my job to find new talent, but the marketer in me is awestruck at how old school many of them are thinking. For example I will get an email from someone through LinkedIn promoting their band who hasn't even viewed my profile. They aren't trying to connect with me, find out what I could and couldn't offer them. Instead they are just trying to disrupt me in hopes that I will give them an opportunity.

Musicians today must realize that we live in a world dominated by a social atmosphere.  You need to adjust your mindset from "what can you do for me" to "what can I do for you" or better yet "what can we do together". In the 60's and 70's music proliferated because of this ideal. The thought of "what can we do together" helped musicians and their fans change the world. And in some way this helped launch the legacy careers of artists that are still touring and recording to this day.

Where in the World Is...?

I admit it. I have neglected my blog, but I have a valid reason. 

In the middle of March I received a call from my former cruise ship agent Mike Moloney, who was looking for someone to help out in his Las Vegas based entertainment company, Mike Moloney Entertainment. So in the process of interviewing with Mike, making another huge life decision, acting on it, moving across the country, and settling in to a new apartment with nothing more than a suitcase, computer, and electronic drum set I have missed out on my writing. But hopefully I am back.

I will admit that my drumming has had to take a back seat to my professional career. I still play, but only in my apartment on my electronic kit with the headphones on. And to be honest, I am all right with that.  For close to a decade I made a living performing, and thanks to the drums I have seen most of the world, met some interesting people, and played some damn good music.

For all of you who read my blog, you know that I regard playing the drums as a spiritual endeavor. Over the years that spirit has been pushed aside and compromised so I could make a living via my craft. Then one day, as I found myself engaged in the usual band politics, I decided that I wanted drumming to be fun again. And that enjoyment was found when I played my kit alone with the headphones on to any song I wanted. So I decided that to keep my passion for drumming, I would have to stop drumming so much.

Eventually I will join another band and go play some music, but for now I am enjoying enjoying drumming once again. No pressure, no compromise, just me playing with whomever I want, be it Miles, Jason Aldean, The Cars, or Taylor Swift. I still read my modern drummer, keep up on drumming news, and interact with my drumming brothers. So the blog shall continue, and hopefully with some great insight that includes my continued passion for drumming, my music business education, graduate studies in marketing, and what I will learn "in the trenches" at a true entrainment company.

Blog to you soon!

Great Drumming on Spotify

I decided that I wanted to pass along some great drumming tracks to my percussionist brethren.   Using Spotify, I have started to develop a list of great drummers and great drumming to share with all of you.

Here is the link to the playlist titled Great Drumming

This first iteration is quite bare and I will be updating it weekly and monthly as I find more great tracks to share with you. My goal isn't to find just the fastest or technically proficient drummers out there, but rather to build a mix of musicians who bring a variety of qualities to the table.

On the first list you will find:

Steve Gadd performing Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover

Buddy Rich performing his infamous West Side Story (Live)

Bernard Purdie with Aretha performing Chain of Fools

Jeff Porcaro performing that nasty groove on Rosanna

Joe Morello performing Take Five

Stewart Copeland performing Message in the Bottle

Tony Williams performing Agitation

And many, many, more.

I would love to hear your comments on who should be added to the list. Once again you can get to it here.

Keep Drumming. 

This Drummer's Album will Inspire You!

When I was accepted to Berklee College of Music way back in 1997, I was both excited and scared at the same time. Excited that I had "made it" into the world's best music school, and scared because I knew that I would be challenged musically beyond anything I had experienced before.

Luckily, my cousin was in his junior year of the institution's Music Production and Engineering program and could provide me with some advice on the Berklee experience. While visiting a local music store, yes they did have those back in the day, he found a CD, handed it to me, and stated "if you want to become a great drummer listen to this.

That CD was Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich.

Now before you click out of my page because you are a metal drummer, a rock drummer, a country drummer, or some form of musician other than a jazz player, I want to share something about Burning for Buddy that may change your mind.

It was the production of Rush drummer Neil Peart. You heard me right, Neil "Freakin' Peart".

As it turns out Peart had taken part in the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert series, where he got the chance to swing with Buddy's original big band, but, according to Peart he couldn't cut the gig and wanted a second chance. So he contacted Rich's daughter, Cathy, and asked her about inviting the world's best drummers to play with the big band in a studio setting. This resulted in a killer line-up of the drumming world's best players, many of which, stepping out of their element to perform Buddy inspired tunes with a big band. This is the final line-up and proof that this album isn't just about jazz drummers.

1. "Dancing Men" by Simon Phillips
2. "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" by Dave Weckl
3. "Love for Sale" by Steve Gadd
4. "Beulah Witch"  by Matt Sorum
5. "Nutville" by Steve Smith
6. "Cotton Tail" by Neil Peart
7. "No Jive" by Manu Katche 
8. "Milestones" by Billy Cobham
9. "The Drum Also Waltzes, Pt. 1" by Max Roach
10. "Machine" by Rod Morgenstein
11. "Straight, No Chaser" by Kenny Aronoff
12. "Slow Funk" by Omar Hakim
13. "Shawnee"by Ed Shaughnessy
14. "Drumorello"  by Joe Morello
15. "The Drum Also Waltzes, Pt. 2" by Max Roach
16. "Lingo" by Bill Bruford
17. "Ya Gotta Try"  by Marvin “Smitty” Smith
18. "Pick Up the Pieces" by Steve Ferrone

Many of these drummers were far from the jazz idiom of music. Kenny Aronoff  was the studio go-to cat for such greats as John Mellencamp and Bob Seger; Marvin "Smitty" Smith was the drummer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; Steve Ferrone was the drummer for Chaka Kahn and Eric Clapton, and Matt Sorum was the hard hitting drummer for Guns n' Roses during their hugely popular Use Your Illusion I & II releases.

Check out this video where Neil Peart Talks about the quality selection of drummers and material Buddy helped craft for the album. 

This film was part of the "Making of Burning for Buddy" video collection that chronicled the making of the album with live performances of each drummer in the studio with the big band.  And if this album provides the inspiration for you that it did for me, it will be a welcomed addition to your library.  You can get it through Amazon.

Perhaps the greatest part of the video is when Neil Peart Talks about Billy Cobham.  Apparently all the other drummer spent months prepping their songs for the recording, when asked which tune he would perform, Cobham told Peart "whatever is left I will take", causing Neil to joke "OK, I guess Billy takes requests." Even more amazing is that after showing up at the studio and selecting his tune, the legend sight-read Miles Davis' Milestones in one take. 

This is just one of the amazing performances on this album and accompanying video. I encourage all the drummers out there to give this album a good listen.


You can stream this great album through Spotify, and download or buy a physical copy at Amazon. Sorry, it isn't available in the U.S. iTunes store.

And when you wear out Burning for Buddy Volume I, Peart and his band of percussionists gave the drumming community Volume II to check out, which is much more Jazzy. You can get that album only at Amazon.

The Risk Record Labels Take

Steven Knopper of Rolling Stone reported this past week that Lady Gaga will need to undergo hip surgery and will have to cancel the remainder of her Born This Way Ball tour. Gaga and her concert promoter, Live Nation, will have to refund close to $30 million in tickets, and due to doctors orders, most likely, will not see Gaga gross another $161.4 million like her 2012 world tromp.

You can read Knopper's full article here.

If anything, Gaga's tour cancellation proves the huge risk that record companies take on when they sign a new artist to their roster.  There has been a lot of negativity cast on the record companies introduction of the 360 deal, which allows them to take a percentage of the artist's entire revenue stream from record sales to touring, merchandising, and sponsorship income. Truth is, the record executives had to push for this new standard contract because musicians have moved away from selling tangible products such as CDs into offering a service to their fans.

For the record companies, artists, and their management a service based business provides a different set-of risk elements for the brand. The biggest in this instance is the concept of inseparability. Under this theory concert goers expect Lady Gaga and nobody else when they purchase a concert ticket, pay for parking, and buy a beer. And as we are witnessing with the current Gaga situation, once the brand must separate the artist from the equation there is no money to be made.

While I will not go on to justify record companies and the 360 deal, I will cut them some slack. Very few business models take on this level of risk and require the hefty investments they are willing to fork over. To get an artist "off the ground"  a record label will invest hundred of millions of dollars in crafting an album, promoting the artist and their music, establishing a brand presence online, in social media, and in the national market, and then fork over more money to establish a tour, merchandise, another album, etc.

That is a huge investment for any company, and while insurance will probably cover the losses for Gaga it often does not, leaving record companies hanging when their product, the artist, gets sick, injured, or goes AWOL.  I encourage all musicians out there to think about this when the time comes to sign that deal. It will help you respect where the label is coming from and provide you with a more educated bargaining position.

Make the most of an hour of practice.

Let's face it. As drummers, we rarely have the ability to practice for hours on end. So when we are afforded the opportunity to hit those skins, we have to make the most of it. Quite honestly, I would rather practice an hour a day for five to six days a week, than three hours every three days, but hey, that's just me.

So if you have an hour of practice time. How do you make the most of it and still enjoy what your doing?

Well, I found the answer lies in breaking apart your practice routine. This is how I roll (get the pun).


Module 1:
1 Hour of Available Practice (20 minute milestones):

First 20: play along to music that is outside your comfort range. I am a fan of using Spotify, MOG, Slacker, or any other Internet based radio station. I choose a channel, say Jazz, and play along.

Second 20: break out the study materials. You can work on your sight reading, Latin rhythms, independence, or anything else that "challenges" your skill set.

Final 20: free play. You should always have some free time in your practice routine. Again, I go to Spotify, MOG, Slacker, or any other Internet based radio station and jam along to the channel, playlist, tracks, or album of my choice.


Module 2:
1 Hour of Available Practice (more in depth study time):


First 15: play along to music that is outside your comfort range. Same rules as module one, but for only 15 minutes.

Middle 30: break out the study materials. Again, same as module one, but you will be devoting more time, about ten minutes, to more in depth rehearsal that challenges your skills.

Final 15: free play. Remember, you should always have some free time in your practice routine. Again I go to Spotify, MOG, Slacker, or any other Internet based radio station and jam along to the station of my choice.

Module 3:
1 Hour of Available Practice (10 minute style challenge):

This practice routine is designed to challenge your ability to play multiple styles. Again I use Spotify, MOG, Slacker, or any other Internet based radio station, and switch the station every ten minutes. For example: country for ten minutes, jazz for ten, rock for ten, pop for ten, funk for ten, and rap for ten. The goal is to move quickly between channels so you can get used to playing in any style "on the fly".

Feel free to use different modules different days of the week, or even make up your own. I find when you break apart your routine, you can accomplish much more in your practice time and really enjoy what you are doing.  So drum on and let me know how this works for you.

P.S. This works for any instrumentalist, by the way.