I did not set out to become a freelance drummer. In middle school, I played along to Van Halen and punk rock albums, and I envisioned being in an alternative rock band. However, when I turned 15, I began taking drumset lessons with Tommy Igoe. He showed me a whole other side of drumming. The “side guy.” Touring, doing recording sessions, drum clinics, teaching. He’d invite me to his shows in New York City, and we’d hang out before and after his gigs. I got to see the working-man’s side of music. Not necessarily the MTV rock star life. It helped me transition from student to professional, without having to wait for that one “big break.” Little by little, one gig at a time.

There was not a defining moment in which I chose to be a professional freelance drummer. I just fell in love with drums, and couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my time! The rest happened by accident.

Over the years, I have acquired a lot of knowledge regarding drum sounds by being open-minded, while experimenting and learning from others. You can’t always be married to what you think works. That attitude can be a dead-end. It’s helpful to be flexible and willing to adapt. Take a kit, preferably a good one, and learn how to tune the drums high, tune them deep, tune them wide-open, or tune them dead. This skill can help you achieve the best sound from night to night. Another secret is to befriend the front of house engineer. Remember, it’s not only about what sounds good while situated in the position of your drum throne. It’s equally as important to consider what the engineer is projecting to the audience through the PA system. If the engineer is not getting what he or she needs from the drum set, into the microphones, through the mixing board, and out to the people, then you’re going to sound weak. You might think that you have the coolest drum sound in the world, but that sound might not be transferring to all to the masses. It truly is teamwork. Both you and the engineer have to conspire together to invent the most wicked drum sound ever!

The skills I learned at music school were very valuable to me. My high school and college music professors gave me tools, inspiration, and encouragement when I needed them most. But, simply going to school will not make someone a professional musician. It can get you going in the right direction. Beyond being schooled, though, it is important to have the discipline to push yourself past the academics. You have to get out there in the world and play with working musicians. I think the best schooling one can have is the opportunity to go out every night of the week, by either watching or playing gigs with different musicians, clumsily discover what it is that works and doesn’t work in real-life settings. Patterns in textbooks don’t always work on a stage. There are many people who have never gone to a music school, but have risen to become very successful musicians. And there are others who have spent countless precious hours and dollars in schools, and have done nothing with their music degrees. I like to think of my experience in high school and at the University of Miami as my bachelors degree, and all the experience gathered since then as my post-graduate degree!

On any given night, many things can and will go wrong. Where do I start? During the set, a microphone may fall down, or a cymbal stand might vibrate off the riser. At an outdoor show, a strong wind could blow your floor tom or ride cymbal over. Cymbals crack; drumheads pop; drumsticks break; the coils on the bottom of the snare drum snap; batteries on in-ear monitor packs die; curtains don’t go up; risers get stuck; musicians space-out; sequencers shut down. All sorts of things can go wrong. All the electricity can go out on stage. That actually happened quite recently at an outdoor concert with Beto Cuevas. The entire stage went black, so we just kept the crowd clapping as the crew hurried to power up a back-up generator. If you sit there and expect every show to run perfectly, you’ll be sorely disappointed. I think the goal is to shoot for a perfect show, while at the same time, accept and anticipate all the chaos that could happen. In retrospect, the craziest shows seem to be the funniest, most memorable ones.