Jack Marley – Drumstars Live Drummer’s Blog

I have been taking lessons with Amy at Drumstars for a year and a half now and from no prior experience I am currently playing through the grade 7 Rock School book. I am inspired by groups such as the Foo Fighters, Lostprophets, Blink 182 and the Artic Monkeys and find my playing style influenced by the drummers from these groups. 

I formed a band with two of my friends who play guitar and bass. We currently play covers but are looking ahead to write our own material in the future. In the last 6 months we have practiced at the Oxclose Music Project. The project is a good place to attend as you play alongside other bands that help and advise you. Playing at the project also gives you opportunities to play gigs that can get you into the music scene and improve confidence in performing.

We had a last practice at the Oxclose Music Project in preparation for Biddick School’s Rock Night that we were to perform at. This went very well. We had been given a cap of two songs to play as there were many other bands going to perform at the event. We chose “Munich” by the Editors and “Debaser” by the Pixies as our two songs. I felt we got the songs nailed down which always feels good so that you are confident going into the performance night.  

On the day of the performance we turned up to have a run through our set list on stage and we also found out that we were to be opening the show. At first I was nervous about this as the openers always have a difficult task to warm the audience up. By getting on stage before the show, the band got a feel for the sound and the equipment being used. This was good for me being a drummer as the kit was being shared on the night by all the performers.

Once the sound check was complete we waited backstage until we were called for the start of the show. There was a large audience of over 200 people and although slightly nervous I was excited to start performing. I felt the set went very well and it was a really good performance. We had practiced a lot for the show and I felt that it was confident and tight. The whole night was a success and it is good to listen to other musicians and bands so that you can hear other influences and styles.   

Jack Marley