Meet Joey Lefitz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Lefitz.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Joey. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started formally playing music as a 9-year-old kid. My neighbor’s older brother had gotten a drum set and upon seeing it, I was hooked. For my 9th birthday, after some discussion about how I needed to learn a “melodic” instrument before getting into the drums, my parents got me a Samick electric guitar and a bundle of lessons at what was then Agoura Music. Around a year into guitar lessons, I was still dying to play the drums. My parents got me a pair of sticks and practice pad, and from there it was full speed ahead.

I was lucky to go to public schools with excellent music programs. My middle school band director Matt McKagan and high school band director John Mosley are local legends. About halfway through high school, I began studying drums with master teacher Bruce Becker. Being around these great educators helped me see a clear path to attending Berklee College of Music from 2006-2010. At Berklee, I was fortunate to regularly study with Ralph Peterson, Francisco Mela, Hal Crook, and other masters of music, not to mention the countless other students I was attending with who I continue to learn from.

After Berklee, I moved to NYC to pursue my career as a drummer. After a couple of years of waiting tables and taking any gig I could get, I unpredictably got hired to accompany classes as a hand percussionist and pianist at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Eventually, between dance accompaniment, gigs, teaching lessons, recording, and the occasional tour, I was able to quit my day job. In 2015, after the untimely passing of my dad and a health scare from my mom, I left NYC and headed back to Los Angeles to be closer to family after nine years back east. Shoutout to Keith Rice for flying out to NY on his birthday just to jump in my car the next day and knock out the drive to LA. That was June 2015, and since then I have been here working as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and drum teacher.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’m not sure anyone has a “smooth road”. As a creator, the idea itself isn’t all that appealing, since discomfort breeds growth, at least in my experience. Being a freelance artist comes with a built-in amount of rejection and embarrassment. Sometimes, especially early on, you might not have the skill-set or experience for the task at hand. Being ok with that and learning from mistakes along the way is a huge piece of the pie. Besides, nobody forces you to become a career musician. In that sense, some of the struggles are self-inflicted. We are fortunate to do what we do.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
These days I have a healthy flow of live gigs, recording, production and teaching. Most of my work is as a drummer, and I am lucky to work with a lot of great artists and composers, live and in studio. As a producer, I think that my comfort level on various instruments combined with lots of experience in disparate musical situations has given me an honest ear for what a piece of music needs, or doesn’t. For a good representation of my work as both drummer and co-producer I would recommend checking out the project “Hounds”, an EP made with collaborators Keith Rice and Rob Finucane. My production and playing can also be heard on network tv shows, commercials, theme park rides, and various loop libraries.

What’s your favorite memory from childhood?
When I was about 14, my first band, which I played guitar in, booked a gig at the Whisky. We were called Earborn, which is a funny, but that’s besides the point… It was a “pay-to-play” situation, which we at the time did not see a problem with. The weeks leading up to the gig we relentlessly practiced and sold tickets at our school. As a kid, the process of going through the preparation and being so bright-eyed about playing a Hollywood stage with my best friends sticks out as a highlight. I am still close with most of those guys today.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joeylefitz.com
• Email: jlefitz@gmail.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/joeylefitz
• Other: www.soundcloud.com/jlef

Image Credit:
Donald Fisher, Pia Vinson, @SubtleDimensions

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