I’ve played percussion for a while now, drums (namely electric drums), as well as shakers, Cajon, Bongos, bells, tambourines, etcetera. Percussion is the driving force behind the music, it keeps the tempo of a song, as well as keeps the feet tapping and heads nodding of those listening to it. It’s been well-established that some of the very first forms of music in human history, were drum and percussion oriented.
My stepfather who helped raise me was a studio drummer for some large names in early rock n’ roll; Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Chubby Checker, and Fats Domino, and so he has been a huge inspiration in my percussion journey. When he passed away, my mother gave me his electric drum set, and I immediately put it to good use in practice.
I also love hand drumming; bongos, Cajon, Djembe, Darbuka, and the like, are a passion of mine, as it turns the hands into a part of the instrument and makes one a part of the music. You become the rhythm, you become the tempo, and every bit of the music played, flows through you at that point. In a lot of the modern music I write, there is a lot of varied percussions leading the music and adding to its background of it all. With metal music included, you’ll find elements not commonly associated with metal music, such as tribal-sounding Cajon.