Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Bumb.
Hi Eric, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story begins at six years old when my father enrolled each of us siblings in piano lessons. I played piano for six years before eventually deciding I wanted to play something “cooler”. While in a Guitar Center at age ten, I was fascinated by the bass guitar. The strings were enormous, but it only had four of them. As I took lessons and developed those calluses on my fingertips, my middle brother started taking drum lessons. Now that was “cool”! When he wasn’t home, I would plop down on the drum throne and do my best to get each of my limbs to work independently. For about a year, I self-taught myself, trying to play my favorite songs. At age 13, my dad took notice of my “natural ability” and enrolled me in lessons. Thus the brotherly competition began.
From there, my drum teacher, Mike Jimenez, drummer of the rock band Rufio, expertly guided me and got me my first big break in joining the beach rock reggae band “Wheeland Brothers” at age 17. During my time with the Wheeland Brothers, I completed multiple cross-country tours, performed in the Virgin Islands, and sharpened my skills as both a live touring and studio drummer. At the same time, I enrolled in the music school at Shepherd University in Eagle Rock, where I was mentored by some of the top musicians in the industry, such as Jimmy Branly, Abraham Laboriel, and Louis Conte, to name a few. Unfortunately, during my third year of attendance, the school went bankrupt, and I was unable to receive a degree.
In 2016, I joined the Bay Area group The Holdup and completed several additional cross-country tours. At the same time, I joined a startup company out of New York, Gigzolo (now part of Glia), that developed an online marketplace of event experiences with a concierge service aimed at corporate event marketers looking to better engage their audience at events. In this role, I learned vital business skills such as managing people, lead generation and sales, and R&D. What’s more; I booked artists and DJs for events for the likes of Airbnb, New Balance, and Camp No Counselors before we were acquired in 2019.
Currently, I have been playing drums with the artists Kbong and Johnny Cosmic (who are the keyboardist and guitarists of the band Stick Figure) since 2020. I am also the Booking Manager and Talent Agent at the SoCal-based talent agency, Acoustic Spot, which is a turnkey live music agency for Corporate and Private Event Talent as well as quality weekly music programs for upscale venues.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have been extremely blessed to have been both given the gift of rhythm and the opportunity to be hired every year for a tour (or many) since I was 17 years old. The biggest challenges that you face with such opportunities are the pitfalls of extensive travel. While the type of travel varies amongst the artists you play with, a few things will always be certain: hours on hours of driving, often very late into the night, extended periods of time away from friends and family, etc. To give some perspective, a band may travel 4–8 hours in a day, load all of their equipment onto the stage, soundcheck, play for roughly 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, put all the gear back, and potentially drive another 2-4 hours late into the night to make it to the next city.
That being said, you can speak to any musician who truly loves what they do and would choose to do it over anything else (present company included).
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a professional touring and studio drummer. To clarify these terms, a touring drummer is someone who is hired by an artist to travel around and perform their songs alongside them. A studio drummer is someone who is hired to record their songs with them in the studio, meaning they get to make up the drum parts. I am most well-known in the reggae industry as a touring drummer; however, I have created drum tracks for artists in the studio. While reggae is not my personal favorite style of music, it is where my network began and grew to get me to where I am today.
With that being said, I am most known for my alternative approach to playing reggae drums using my background influences of Rock, Funk, and R&B. I am not a player who likes to solo, and I’m often complimented on my simplistic yet refined chops as well as my ability to keep time without a metronome. Outside of playing drums, I pride myself on being someone who is easy to work with, travel with, and perform with.
How do you think about happiness?
What makes me happy is seeing other people happy. I believe we are on this Earth for a greater purpose: to love one another as God has loved us and to use the gifts that we are given for the greater good. I’m blessed enough to have been given a gift to create and perform music that enables people to find hope, comfort, and happiness. I’ve encountered multiple people at shows who share stories of how music has done just that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ericbumb.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbumb
Image Credits
Top Shelf Music in The Barrell Photo Vin Le Photography SugarShack Sessions Handlost
