Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Abrams
Hi Derek, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started playing the drums at the age of seven. I have been laser focused on everything to do with the instrument since. It’s been 39 years of roller coaster like excitement. Good and horrible.
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?
There is nothing smooth about working in the music industry. To give you an example of how much it goes up and down, I was in a band that was on tour with a major national act supporting another major legacy act. We played a sold out show at Madison square garden, and two sold out shows at the Forum in LA. I was fired from that band one week after the last show of that tour, and two weeks after that the pandemic hit. I went from playing in one of the biggest industrial metal bands of the 90s to a factory job. Building guitar pick ups. With the way that the music industry is right now. It’s extremely difficult to really make a livable wage. Lately I have been working as a Drum Tech for several national bands of toured the entire planet with one metal band. I’ve toured the US Canada and South America with others, and to be completely honest, it actually pays better to be on the crew than it does to be in the band as a hired gun.. i’ve done lots of work as a hired gun. Unfortunately, I’ve made more money in the last 5 years as a drum tech than I have my entire career playing music as a drummer. I really wish it was the other way around. I hate sounding like the old guy in the corner complaining about how these kids don’t want pay for music anymore, but I find it absolutely stunning how peoples attitudes towards up-and-coming artists is so judgmental and negative up until the point that they break to the next level and then everyone turns around and Says how they’ve been an Ardent fan since the very beginning. Playing music and creating art is possibly the strangest way to make a living. You create works that people want to see and hear. Yeah no one is willing to give you a dollar for your work. To put that into perspective for you I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to fans in the audience complain about the price of tickets to see their favorite band. And people balk at the price of paintings on the wall in art galleries even when they are fairly priced.. people love to hate Art and artists. I don’t want to sound conceited, but I do believe it is a form of jealousy.. And it’s nothing new look up the term “bard” it was a derogatory term use for musicians during medieval times. When I first heard that term and looked it up, it really put things In perspective for me that musicians have been suffering and struggling since the 1100s and probably before..
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a drummer/ percussionist. Songwriter, artist. Technician, educator, advocate. I’ve dedicated my life to the art of drumming and drums. I have a deep respect for the instrument and a passion for playing them that borderlines on unhealthy obsession. My areas of focus shift. It depends on what my schedule allows.. if I can spend all day playing and developing my skills on drums, I’ll do it. I’m also really into restoring vintage drums. I am extremely passionate about saving vintage American and European made drums from the dumpster or rotting away in an attic.
Some accomplishments im really proud of are being able to work both sides of the touring world. I’ll play drums for almost any band and have no problem being a drum tech for anyone who can pay my rates.. most folks egos get in their way of that. I don’t care. I want to play and work on drums.
Some personal feathers I keep in my hat are getting to play a sold out show at Madison square garden. Touring the world in a band that I grew up as a fan of.
I’m also very proud of all the students I have taught that are still as excited about drumming to his day.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Being able to accept defeat, and move on. Learning from mistakes and failures has been crucial to my growth. Having the humility to admit it has kept me humble.
Pricing:
- My rates are always negotiable. It does not matter the job.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dereksabrams
- Facebook: dereksabrams
Image Credits
Derek Smyth photography
