Author: Jason Lee
Drums and percussion were the first musical instruments in existence, at least according to anthropologists who estimate that the drum as we know it came into being some 2,500 years before the wheel and 4,000 years before the plow. The more you know!
Over the millennia, shamans and priests have routinely beat on animal skins and other membranophones to call down the gods and to reinforce sacred cosmologies, rituals and ceremonies, while other religions have banned drums altogether, or frown upon them at the least, fearing their primal power and the way they make listeners more tangibly aware of their bodies.
In other words, drums are holy and drums are profane. Maybe because they trip a switch in our mammalian brain—“fight or flight” converted into a rush of endorphins, the body’s natural opiates—which can feel pretty good when you’re not being chased by a wildebeest.
And if you take those drums and organize their sounds into rhythmic patterns the effect is even more powerful cuz as human beings it seems we’re hardwired to move in time to percussive timelines thanks to something called “entrainment” and perhaps even to dance if the feeling’s right and the groove is tight.
Rhythms seduce and rhythms provoke. From the bedroom to the battlefield beaten out rhythms can help with all sorts of situations so it’s no wonder drummers sit on something referred to as a throne when they play…
…but these days drummers are more rarely treated with this kind of reverence but instead taken for granted (at times!) not to mention being subjected to an endless array of dumb drummer jokes—jokes as stupid and lazy as their punchlines make drummers out to be even tho’ studies show that in reality they’re smarter than you.
I was in a band once, we locked the keys inside our van. It took us two hours to get the drummer out.
– anonymous drummer joke
None of which necessarily has much to do with the formation of the Brooklyn Drum Collective (but hey, it’s interesting!) an organization founded “in the summer of 2018 by three local drummers, Carlo Minchillo, Rick Martineez, and Zac Pless,” that in five years has gone from “a modest gathering of seven drummers” at the first meetup “to almost three hundred participants,” some of whom congregate for masterclasses, jam sessions, and workshops…
…where they talk shop and “share technique, inspiration, and experiences” not only between drummers but also among other musicians and collaborators, with an overarching mission “to perform, educate, and build a stronger music community” and I mean, heck, they even go around fixing up house kits at nightclubs…
…and if you read the existing testimonials you’ll see to what degree the BDC and Carlo M. are valued in said community (Rick and Zac too no doubt, get those personal testimonial pages posted my gents!) not to mention CM having performed and recorded with more Brooklyn/NYC-based bands than you can shake a Vic Firth Classic 5B drumstick with impressive girth at…
…which just goes to show how drummers can be nearly free of ego, sitting behind their bandmates as they keep the whole musical boat afloat, and by the way good luck forming a “guitarists collective” that doesn’t lead to a violent Flying V flinging altercation over whose finger-tapping technique is the best, but still I’ve got a feeling that the BDC army of drummers are merely lying in wait, waiting to reclaim their intended ritualistic roles as seers and healers, tasked with the task of healing all of humanity (we need it!) one sick-ass groove and kickass fill at a time…
…which they’ll be getting a jump on tomorrow/tonight at Our Wicked Lady (Tue. 8/15), celebrating five years in existence at the latest installment of their popular jam session/open-mic night occuring weekly at OWL’s downstairs bar as of late and there’s always a full slate of bands upstairs too should you be so inclined, but either way “Our Wicked Jam” is free and goes all night tho’ be forewarned the house kit may have a few less rototoms than seen in the video below…
…where anyone can show up and sign up to hop on any instrument at any time and lemme tell ya the couple times I’ve been there’s been some serious healing frequencies vibrating the room which you can tell by how much everyone is smiling and having a grand ol’ time (if only churches hosted jam sessions and had beer-and-a-shot specials it could be like this!) so come on out and share in the ecstatic communion if ya can and you may even walk away a card-carry8ing Brooklyn Drum Collective member with a new BDC logo butt-cheek tattoo to prove it…