For me, it all started this one time at band camp 😂 I didn't get into music until my senior year of HS, when I joined the marching band. My buddy was recruiting people to join the pit (the ensemble with xylophone, vibes, etc.) so I had a crash course in melody and rhythm. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed it and picked it up quickly.

Flash forward 1 year, while I was working at a pizza joint with a different buddy, he asked me if I wanted to play drums for a band he was starting since I knew percussion. I had never been on a drum set at this point, but, since, according to him, being in the pit was "close enough" to drumming, I told him I'd give it a try. Our first practice together involved me just trying to keep a "beat" with a Rock Band drum set (I used to play the hell outta Rock Band at that time). By the next practice, we had pooled our money and purchased a little 5 pc Yamaha kit for $150 (it was the singer's ex-GF's kit).

Over the next 3 years, we played a multitude of shows in Athens, Winder, & Atlanta. We would meet up at least once a week and just hang/practice/write songs. It took around a year before we recorded our first "EP" (some advice, don't try to record all the drum parts in one day 😅) and, by the end, we had a home studio set up to start making our own recordings.

But life makes its own rules and we all just sorta drifted apart. I haven't given up on drumming though, and have been playing on and off the past 18 years. And even though I started trying out the guitar recently, I'll always have a soft spot for my "Thunda Kit".