My paternal side is very musical. My grandmother was a lounge singer. For a while, my aunt was the lead singer for Hiroshima, a Japanese-American pop-jazz band, and my dad played guitar and sang in bands all throughout his youth. In the 80s my aforementioned aunt married well-known LA studio drummer, Carlos Vega. At the time, his main gig was drumming for James Taylor. So my first concert experien
ce was seeing him from the side of the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater stage playing to thousands of people. I think at that moment, I realized I wanted to be a drummer. I went home and fashioned my first set out of Tupperware, a rice cooker pot with a metal lid for a cymbal, and chopsticks for drumsticks. My favorite bands were my parents' favorites back then. Luckily, they had pretty good taste! UB40, Oingo Boingo, Kool and the Gang, Hall and Oates, Tears for Fears, and of course, James Taylor. Then, when my uncle found out I was really into the drums, he brought me into his drum room and the first time I ever sat behind a real kit (his classic Gretsch yellow kit, similar to his idol's, Tony Williams), I was able to play a standard rock beat. Later that week, we took a drive to Guitar Center in Hollywood and we picked out a bright red Pearl Export Pro 5-piece set. He let me borrow some hardware and cymbals and I think from that moment I went (c. 1994-2001) 7 years straight playing about an average of 4-5 hours every single day. In 1994, I joined the esteemed Eagle Rock High School Jazz Band at the Jr. level and was promoted to the Sr. level a year later. I also started playing in my first handful of bands, punk, alternative, and rock. After high school, I was playing in multiple bands and multiple styles. From rock to punk, metal, country, hip-hop, pop, and even latin. I was fortunate enough to record on a good amount of full-length albums, EPs, singles, demos, and even a couple movie soundtracks. I was also fortunate enough to play countless amounts of shows, gigs, concerts, whatever you want to call them. From as little as five in attendance to as many as a couple thousand. The bands I was in also opened for cool acts like Zebrahead, Hoobastank, W**k, Lit, NOFX, Lag Wagon, Guttermouth, Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Other, Donuts n Glory, Falling Sickness, Eleventeen (who later changed their name to Eve 6), and many more. I've also been a part of many failed contract negotiations with indie and major labels when I was in LA and Houston. I've had the pleasure of working with producers who have worked with Papa Roach, Kiss, Smashing Pumpkins, Bad Religion, Rancid, and Leftover Crack. I've lived in some really cool places like Los Angeles where I was born and raised, Houston, TX which is a very good music town, and New York City, another awesome place for music and life in general, and now I feel I've settled in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, from where a lot of great music originated. My time in Fishtown, Philly, was special to me because that is where I had enough space (which I was fortunate enough to call my own) to build my own personal soundproof studio. There, I made my first drum cover video. And up until then, I never took YouTube seriously. But after uploading that first video, I got an amazing response from hundreds of viewers. Hence, a new venture was born. I made a handful more videos and gained a few more followers before I decided to make a channel dedicated to drums. I've been making videos for KMKanDrum since 2017 and absolutely love it. From the performing to the recording, the videotaping, and editing, to sharing it with all of you, and reading and responding to the awesome and entertaining comments. In 2020, I moved from Fishtown (an ultra-hip neighborhood of Philly) into the burbs and a small town called Media. A month into living in our new home, our basement flooded and a lot of my equipment and my new studio in progress were ruined. But I was able to salvage some stuff and when we rebuilt the basement, my studio was built at the same time. In fact, I would like to say that the studio and the gear I'm using now are better than ever. I got a new DW Design Series drum set, I got a whole new Paiste Signature Series cymbal setup, and I've added some triggers to help accent certain songs. I've learned a lot about recording and engineering since I first started and in my humble opinion, my sound is pretty good! I've also grown and matured as a video editor, so there is a lot less fluff, a lot more substance, and a lot more subtlety in my videos. As of 2022, five years since I began, I am happy to call myself a YouTuber and look forward to many more years of creating the best content I absolutely can for you! As of 2023, I am jamming with three other musicians and we are trying to build a working pop-punk cover band. So stay tuned for what that has in store! We are hoping to start gigging in 2024!
