Quitting The Drums
Quitting the Drums
By Jon Powers
I quit playing the drums a couple times – the first was around 9th grade. I was tired of lessons and practicing, didn’t have a very exciting musical outlet and frankly was more interested in skateboarding. I guess the break lasted about a year.
The second time was a more complex situation. I’d just completed my first year as a music major at DU and was disillusioned with school and overwhelmed by the work. Certainly I was struggling with laziness, had some of the little fish, big pond thing going, but there were also frustrated expectations and some bad experiences.
My girlfriend at the time was moving to Portland so I decided to follow. Another complex situation. I worked odd jobs, went to CD and book stores and spent time with her. During that year I didn’t play drums and considered selling my set.
To circle back to my time at DU, one of the main reasons I felt overwhelmed was because of my sudden exposure to SO MANY phenomenal drummers. I felt like there was no place for me. If I had a band, I would’ve hired one of them over me any day!
After leaving Portland I moved back to Denver and ended up playing again through some connections with musicians I had from DU. There were 2 main reasons I decided to start playing again and they are the inspiration behind this blog post.
First, I saw that there were more opportunities to play than there were drummers. They couldn’t be everywhere at once so I’d get chances to play by default if nothing else!!
Second, and much more importantly, I realized that I was the only one who could be me. I was the only one who could fully realize MY artistic voice and at some point, others would need or want the perspective that only I could bring. All I had to do was keep trying and hopefully someday I’d be in that position. Obviously there was no guarantee, except that if I didn’t try, it was guaranteed NOT to happen.
These were powerful, inspiring ideas for me that have helped buoy me along ever since.
Check out my website for more blogs and info about my story and passion!