I think it’s natural for most of us to want to be the leader or run the show, or be the center of attention in any group, job, or situation. I can’t flatly speak to everyone’s experience or desires, but I know for me, I always envisioned being the main character in my role playing pretend sessions as a kid, and in my dreams for my future. When you watch Star Wars, you are thinking, I want to be Luke Skywalker, or Han Solo, leaders of the Rebellion and heroes of the universe! I don’t know many people thinking, I want to be Droid Repair Tech Dean Thompson! Dean who? What movie was he in? Exactly. Nothing wrong with aiming for the stars, and you honestly should. It is your life, and you have every right to make your dreams a reality. You have gifts and talents and they were given to you to let them shine.
With that said, for musicians, and more specifically drummers, it is incredibly rare that we get to play the main character in our bands. You are not alone my friends. This is part and parcel of what it means to be a drummer. Even physically, we are at the back of the bus all night long. Rarely seen in photographs with all of the other musicians hogging up the lens, or our beautiful cymbals leaning in to obscure our view from photographers and vicarious phone zombies who were more worried about catching the singer in action anyways. No matter if you willing picked up the sticks or answered that mysterious urging from your inner spirit, the drumming journey can seem like a lonely one sometimes.
Let’s face it, you are expected to wear a lot of hats. You are the guardian of the groove and task master of the timing, but that is just the start. You band depends on you for cues. Stick clicks, hi hat taps, verbal count ins, accents to highlight major moments in the song. You are also responsible for dynamic shifts and all changes in energy, timing, and feel. Your melody musicians count on you to keep them in the pulse of the song and locked on tempo so they don’t have to count or tap their feet, they can just play and dance their way through the song, as it should be. They also expect you to make them look good when they take their solo moments. Your vocalist counts on you even more than you know. Not only for tempo and feel, but even phrasing, breath control, cues for changes, and even the confidence they need to go for that near impossible note or that iron lung fry scream that goes on seemingly forever when you deliver that devastating blitzkrieg at the peak moment of the song. You are not just the heartbeat of the band. That is just one of the things you do.
Everybody wants to be the singer/song writer or front person of the band. The face. You know, the one at all of the interviews, taking the bow at the end of the night, signing autographs and posing for pictures while you are slaving away tearing down your drumkit, helping your other band members get finished loading out, while answering questions from younger fans about how you met the singer and what are they really like. You are also usually the guy driving the van or bus 90% of the time if you are self-touring. You are the one taking the floor if you get a hotel room so your band mates can have the nice cushy beds. Often times as a drummer you will be the one with the band PA and likely the rehearsal space. Essentially you are generally the confidence man. It is likely all the band members come to you with their problems and praise, but often in private. On stage, you are likely often the brunt of their jokes as an in with the audience or, more often than not, as a way for your bandmates to deflect their nerves and/or stage fright and you smile and laugh with them like a champ.
The singer/frontperson is like the Captain or Commadore. On the bridge, giving orders, issuing commands, and directions. Making the decisions. The brain of the ship. But as a drummer, you are the Navigator and often times, as the confidence man, you are also the First Mate. The Captain trusts you completely to steer the ship and keep everyone together and working in cohesion. You are the one at the wheel. The ship goes where you tell it to, and the crew trusts you completely. This often unspoken role is why the band members will always come to you. Because they already depend on you for so much, and often times, they aren’t really aware of it, it is just instinctual. The Captain is the public face, and while they may get all of the glory, that ship ain’t going nowhere without you at the helm. Your singer is Captain Janeway or Picard, but you my friend are Commander Riker. You are incredibly important and while you may not always seem like a main character to people on the outside, you exude main character energy, because you already wear most of the hats in the band, and don’t even complain about it! Now get out there and steer that ship!
