Pastiche: DRUMS!

First off, the sheer number of acts represented by this small group of drummers is surprising. Big blonde Thor Harris might be best known for his work with Shearwater, but he has worked with Angels of Light, Bill Callahan, and creates solo material under his own name. Chris Cogburn performs quite often with a rapidly shifting group of experimental musicians, and in just the past year has been a part of ensembles with Nick Hennies, Chris Schlarb, and performed at his own No Idea Festival alongside vocalist Liz Tonne and electronic artist Bonnie Jones - not to mention many, many more. Erik Conn keeps time in Tia Carrera, The Vitamins, and Migas, but perhaps pounds most visibly in the longstanding hard rocking trio Those Peabodys. Sarah Norris, last but not least, spends time in the disparate worlds of Bee Vs. Moth and Benko.

Of these musicians, Norris might lean the closest both to straight jazz and pop with her two bands, while Cogburn edges in on the fringe of experimental and improvisational music. Harris is dynamic in both his minimalist backbeats and the varieties of instruments he tends to favor for his folksy indie rock projects, while Conn keeps things simple with a trap kit but is likely one of the most consistently enjoyable, precise drummers to work within heavy music in Austin. Of course, none of these descriptions are hard and fast. For example, Conn says that he has done session work for jazz and blues musicians, not to mention singer/songwriter types. He also has a “great weakness for super pretty/floaty pop,” though, and while rocking might be what he does best, he points out that his "taste and skills are not at all limited to blowing down the walls.”

Image of Erik Conn by Aasim Syed

How did it all begin for these four? “I started playing in fifth grade in the school band, but within a year I got a drum set and started learning the Beatles, Jackson 5 and Kiss,” says Harris, and Conn had a similarly early start: “I had my little toy marching drum that I played up and down the street…I was three.” From there, Conn “learned rolls and rudiments” in middle school, and “then it was just a matter of me following my rock and roll soul.” Norris began playing in middle school, though playing percussion seems to have been more of a happy accident than a deliberate decision – “…honestly I do not remember what made me pick the instrument,” she says. And hey - middle school was also when Cogburn picked up the sticks. “Though I grew up in a fairly small town, I was fortunate enough to have pretty amazing band programs in both middle school and high school - and a very supportive, encouraging family.” Kudos to any parents willing to sacrifice peace and quiet in their homes for the burgeoning, headache-inducing talents of their progeny.

Image of Thor Harris by Annie Ray

Harris formed his first band of note in 1987. Their name was Stick People, which Harris started alongside Craig Ross shortly after dropping out of the University of Texas’ art school. From there, he met up with the people behind some of his most interesting projects through a surprising medium – fan mail. “At some point in the 90s I just started writing letters to people I wanted to play with. I was a huge Swans fan and my letter to Michael Gira resulted in my joining his post-Swans band, Angels of Light. That's also the way I wound up playing with Bill Callahan, a fan letter.” Conn is also scene veteran, having played with bands like The Dismukes, Antebellum, Wookie, and “too many to list in Austin alone.” Cogburn started playing with punk bands while living in Eugene, Oregon. “There was a boom in punk in the Northwest at this time (early '90s) and I got to play and travel a lot with the bands I was in (Artless Motives, The Rickets).”

Chris Cogburn

Both Harris and Conn have nothing but nice things to say about their current and past co-conspirators. “I'd like to point out here how honored/lucky I've been, to play with such seasoned and accomplished players for friends and bandmates,” says Conn. And of Bill Callahan, Harris says, “He is a joy to work with.” Drummers take note: perhaps great playing and niceness go hand in hand. These folks also had accolades for their fellow percussionists. “We’re lucky to share bills with some great drummers here in Austin!” says Norris. “Tommy Holton has done a great job navigating the twists and turns of the Invincible Czars. Pat Kennedy with Opposite Day holds together some seriously complex music with a lot more chops than I ever will. Aaron Dugan (in Benko, sorry) can really judge when to be flashy and when to play it straight. And I have to commend Jeremy Bruch, who’s playing now with What Made Milwaukee Famous. Jeremy is a really skilled, versatile player who sounds great in settings way beyond his current pop / rock outfit.” Conn picks out his most favored: “Locally my favs are Trivett Wingo (The Sword), Chris Ortiz (Amplified Heat), Adam Hately (Red X Red M). Trinidad from Dixiewitch slays AND sings, LOUD WTF! Elise from the Hex Dispensers has got real style and that's just as important as skill and prowess...honestly Austin has got quite a healthy handful of awesome drummers, too many for me to say.” “Locally, I like listening to Nick Hennies play the drums,” says Cogburn, and “my favorite drummer in Texas is Jackie Gray. He is a blues player and one of the most amazing drummers I have ever seen… the way he blends his sounds with the other instruments is ridiculous. And his stick bag is a dead armadillo, which I find pretty hip. Apparently he accidentally hit the armadillo with his car and didn't want the death to be in vain.”

Sarah Norris and Bee Vs. Moth

Playing percussion isn’t the sort of thing you can slough off and forget, like those early years of piano lessons or everything about high school foreign language classes. Amazingly, it seems to infiltrate into the everyday quite often. Norris talks about the connection between her playing and the work she’s doing for her post-graduate studies. “What I’m studying for my Master’s actually has a lot to do with percussion, but not in the way you’d think. I’m studying conservation of archival materials, which is basically caring for and repairing old books and documents. On the surface, there’s not much relation to playing, but I’m always amazed at the similarities in developing hand skills. Just like with percussion, conservation takes a lot of practice time to make a core set of movements second-nature.” A carpenter by trade when he isn’t touring, Thor Harris built his house using mostly reused materials, and he takes the same organic approach to his drums. “I have always built some of my own instruments…if you want really unique instruments you have to build them.” For Conn, playing is nothing less than a connection to the divine. “This is the main source of my life and where I meet my maker. It's spiritual for me.”