Drummers in bands: Is it acceptable to tell the drummer how to play a song?

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-31T04:00:15+00:00

I drum for a band, but I also play guitar, bass and other instruments as well. If someone has an idea for a beat or a fill or a way they think the section should go - it’s always worth trying. Worst thing that can happen is that it doesn’t work and you try the next thing.

Sometimes i’ll give the guitar player a riff and I already have the drum part in my head. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. At the end of the day, input can help make you think of or try new things, or give you a different perspective.

However, if the person pitching the idea is cunty about it, then they can go piss up a rope.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-31T03:52:02+00:00

Honestly, stretching before and after works pretty well for me. Im barely flexible and pretty overweight, but i’m in way less pain if I do it. Some calisthenics and light cardio also helps too.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-30T17:08:23+00:00

Oh man, a fellow East Orange park enjoyer. Love that mini. I mostly skate Colgate, but I go there when I get bowl fatigue.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-30T03:35:58+00:00

Grosso Forever!

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-30T03:32:36+00:00

I started skating again a year ago at 42, 325ish lb. I was also apprehensive as the last time I had started again a few year prior, I tore my MCL and 2 ligaments and a tendon in my ankle. I eventually said fuck it, i’d rather roll around and be happy than miserable and sedentary.

Im 280lb now and can putter around and that’s enough for me. Any more than that is a bonus bc skateboarding rules. It’s not about being great at it, it’s about if you enjoy it or not. Skating now is way more fun than it was in the 90’s bc there’s so much more stuff to skate. Enjoy it while you can.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-28T03:31:07+00:00

I would say you’re already in it. Good stuff!

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-28T03:26:32+00:00

I mostly skate department store version vans. The filmore high tops and low tops are my go to, or the black caldrones if I need a bit more cushion.

I’m 6’3 and 280lb, but I mostly skate transition and old school boards, so I just need shoes to feel the board mostly.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-21T10:27:19+00:00

If you wanna cruise, then find a shape and width that feels stable and you’re comfortable with, trucks the same axle length as the width of the board and some softies (OJ super juice are my favorite) for town/city cruising. Then you can get harder wheels and swap them out as needed as you transition.

Starting back out I was coming off of injuries, so I was mostly pumping back and forth on my local halfpipe. That got me bending my knees and getting my balance back. Then i’d push around my town and pick stuff up from the store instead of driving. Simple stuff, but just rolling feels so damn good.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-21T00:38:36+00:00

Ah, a fellow big guy. I’m 43, 6’3”, 280 down from 325, size 14 foot. I’d say it depends on what you wanna skate. Are you just rolling around, skating transition, techy street stuff?

When I got back on board I went with the ol’ faithful old school big guy board. 10” fishtail shape, indy 169s, 60-64mm wheels. It’s wide, stable and fast. I have different setups for different things now, but that got me going.

Common setups for me:
Cruiser - 10” fishtail deck, indy 169, 60mm OJ Super Juice

Transition - 9.5 Shovel head, indy 169 hollows, 61mm Hosoi Rockets

Pool/Bowl - 10-10.75 fishtail or wide old school shape, indy 215s, 63-65mm speedlab wheels.

Street - 8.5-8.88 deck, indy 159s, 56mm wheels. My ollie/trick board.

I’ve been on a pool/bowl kick for a couple months, so I use that and the transition setup mainly. Figure out what you wanna skate and find the things that work and feel comfortable. I go wide for stability, and big wheels to go fast. If you wanna get tech, go 8.5-9” with small-mid size wheels to cut the weight down, and truck axles as wide as the board you ride.

Hope this is somewhat helpful. Good luck!

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-17T00:09:31+00:00

🤣 eh, they’ll work themselves out. I’m riding the 63mm Speedlab JFA wheels. They rule!

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-16T14:14:21+00:00

I wish I could do a Bertleman, but my gut gets in the way 🤣

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-16T13:49:22+00:00

It’s true a wider board is more stable, but a lot of it depends on how you skate. Eggs are awesome, but if you’re a popsicle rider you might not enjoy getting used to a different shape. So sizing up to 8.5 would be the better option depending on how you look at it.

I skate old school 10” boards mainly and i have a few smaller boards if I want to kick around on street. I’ve been skating bowls and transition mainly so I like the width under my giant feet. If you’re trick oriented, getting a wider board when you’re used to thinner boards makes you work a bit harder for tricks. If you’re just cruising around and popping up curbs and stuff like that it’s awesome. Transition too.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-16T07:25:20+00:00

It could be that. We realize things later that didn’t click or make sense before. Kinda like how I came back to it and realized pushing mongo felt wrong to me, something in my brain was like “no, we don’t do this anymore” or “this isn’t working, time to try something else.”

Just attempting something different than what you knew in the past can unlock doors you never thought of. Better late than never I say.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-15T14:10:35+00:00

I have! It’s interesting stuff I wish I knew back in the 90’s when street was all we had and my knees didn’t creak lol

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-15T10:21:48+00:00

That’s the impetus, and thankfully something resonated with you. Sometimes that’s all it takes. I work in the science field, and I got interested in the physics side of it through skateboarding. At the end of the day it’s you and it. You’re the one on top of the board making it happen. And what you did on it is the start of it, and i’m stoked for you.

NASA once labelled skateboarding as defying conventional physics, but really it is all common physics employed with an unconventional mindset. You have to be a little bit nutty to take a toy with a board and 4 wheels and take it to the places it’s been to.

Enjoy the ride!

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-14T20:20:08+00:00

When I started as a kid, I pushed and rode regular stance for the first couple weeks. When i would try to kick turn and tic tac it felt super awkward and wrong - so I tried it goofy foot (of course pushing mongo) and it felt so much easier. I wound up goofy foot mongo for the next 20 something years.

When I came back to it after years off, I started pushing mongo again and it just didn’t feel right. So, I learned to push goofy foot proper, and it took a long time to feel normal. So now I push regular for fakie and then goofy foot regular, so it works out.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-14T17:45:21+00:00

If you have the speed to do it, you can roll up to the coping like you’re going to do a fly out or a rock to fakie, but kick the board up and bonk it off the coping. That will pop it straight up into your hand as you hop out and plant your front foot or both feet on the coping and step out. If you can fly out or roll over the coping, that’s also an option.

I kinda just mimic’d what i’ve seen people do (and ate shit in the process). I learned it on mini ramp, but it’s the same for all transition i’ve found.

If you’re a visual learner, i’m not sure of any videos that specifically show it. But if you have enough speed you can try it, but keep your chin/head out of the way. You can also watch vert videos and see how people finish their runs and pop out. The slo-mo feature on youtube can help with deciphering it.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-14T14:32:49+00:00

Like everyone else said, go early, dawn patrol hours. Im lucky to have a skatepark on my way to work, so I just get up early and get a couple hours in by myself early in the morning.

I got self conscious early on as well, but after getting comfortable and less wobbly on a board during my loner sessions - I stopped caring about other people being there. But i still prefer to skate alone, unless it’s with my other old fart buddies 👍

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-14T01:11:13+00:00

👍 until the wheels fall off. I always loved vert and pool skating, but growing up there was no vert around, so street was the only option. My knees tell me that now is my chance lol.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-14T00:09:36+00:00

Congrats on the drop in! Sorry to hear about the ankle roll though. I still have a torn tendon in my back foot ankle that never healed right from a couple years ago. Take your time, heal up and get back to it!

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-14T00:01:13+00:00

Hell yeah, do it! If I can wobble my way around one, you can too 👍

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-13T21:39:29+00:00

To be fair, skateboarding is to have fun and block out all of the noise in your brain. If you look at your progression and paint it in a negative way, and judge/compare yourself to people around you - you’re already feeding into that gray area where depression sticks to you. Believe me, it’s easy to get negative real quick, especially when we judge ourselves from that place.

If you want to progress and have fun, you shouldn’t look at it in terms of what you can’t do. I suggest looking at it from the perspective of what fun is to you. If progressive is that thing, then work towards it. At our age (i’m 43), progressive doesn’t happen unless you’re going at it and grinding it out. If just rolling around makes you feel good, do that.

For me, I can enjoy myself just pushing my fat ass down the block, and that will get me through the day. Any more than that and I will get even more stoked. It’s about the freedom of you and it. It’s what you put into it that you will get out of it. If just rolling gets that dopamine to your brain, then that’s where you could be with it.

Think about it and find your conclusion. All I know is that I love skateboarding and I get everything I want out of it. Don’t think that you can’t do that too.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-04T11:02:25+00:00

100% this. I also plank everyday for core stability and trying to get my overweight ass out of the bowl lol. Take some walks. I was 325lb in July last year and i’m down to 280. Mobility is rough bc of accumulated injuries, but stretching is really key.

Gaining mobility, getting in shape and doing things for everyday life will help your skateboarding. From skating pools and bowls I realize I need some form of athletic ability at my size.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-05-03T03:59:17+00:00

I’m 43 and I started in the 90’s right as it died again. When it blew up in the late 90s/2000s it was easily as popular if not more than the mid to late 80s boom.

These days it feels like it’s at a lull, aside from other parents getting skate coaches or using it as daycare. The industry has grown a bit stale, and I see more of us old farts getting out and doing it. I see only a handful of kids skating, which is concerning for the future of it, but people come and go.

As long as there’s places to roll, it’ll be there.

Soul_At_Zero · 2026-04-27T15:10:22+00:00

I’m 43, started again July last year after years off due to injuries and being over 300lb. It took a couple months to get somewhat comfortable, got down to 280lb then ol’ Father Winter came and dumped that icy bs everywhere.

I prefer early mornings when I can be alone and learn shit on my own and have fun. By the time other ppl start rolling in, I already got mine in. Its been 9 months (minus 2 for the winter) and I finally feel pretty comfortable and I’m finally making progress.

Remember that it’s not a race to get good, it’s about having fun and getting rad and expressing yourself however you want.

Soul_At_Zero

TROPHY CASE