Transcendental Medication
Brillo and I work together on larger sound baths for groups, as well as single and double drum and sound therapy sessions. As a musician and teacher, he has been a major part of my sound journey. Nearly a year into my journey, I wanted to discover more about Brillo’s journey and his early experiences of drumming.
Express yourself
I remember Brillo telling me I would benefit from drumming to express myself only a couple of weeks after our first meeting. I was still working 9-5 in an office and didn’t have many creative outlets due to a lack of time and energy. I finally decided to get a drum and give it a go.
The best thing about Brillo’s non-prescriptive teaching manner is that he created a safe space for me to let go and discover my own drumming style. My inner critic soon disappeared.
I believe all of us can benefit from playing a drum. It certainly helped me find myself again and was the first step in my journey towards helping others with sound.
Brillo’s journey was very different from mine but we have shared in the same immense benefits that drumming can bring.
“I first discovered drumming circles at Glastonbury Festival in 1999. I felt like I was missing out because I couldn’t play the drums. I loved the wild, crazy, primordial energy of people seemingly battling against all odds to keep the party alive. Blood, sweat, mud and tears.”
From biscuit tin to African Djembe
After experiencing the same issue the following year, I realised I could start learning to play on a biscuit tin. It’s quite difficult to get a nice sound out of a tin. But it paid off after a year or so of sending my Dad insane, when I went to the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge. That year I borrowed a large African Djembe drum. It was a lot easier to get a nice sound out of a real drum! In fact, I was astounded by how good I was.
After playing with other drummers for around five hours, and developing swollen fingers, I became a very proficient drummer. Taking into account my Dad being a singer and musician, and being brought up around a lot of music, alongside playing the guitar for five years definitely helped too. Shortly after, I invested in a medium sized African Djembe, and that was the end of the biscuit tin. I don’t think my Dad thought the change was as evolutionary as I did…ha!
Transcendental beats
For Stonehenge the next year, I invested in a snare drum (played with drum sticks) so I’d be heard without suffering the swollen fingers. After a night of drumming with other drummers and getting locked into the beat, site security was trying to move us out. But I carried on playing, and managed to inspire at least 100 Djembe players to stay and drum for at least another two hours. The security teams had no option but to let the thousands of party going solstice celebrators have their way!
“We and the crowd certainly had one of the most communal transcendental experiences of our entire lives. The beat was officially playing us!”
I am the metronome
After much practice, as well as learning from the previous year’s lesson that drums with more bass are better for keeping the party alive single handedly; I invested in a floor tom drum for the 2004 Summer Solstice. When I arrived, there were a lot of drummers showing off and playing as individuals, rather than co-creating a sound together.
I decided I was better off sticking to a solid, repetitive beat that acted like a metronome, as well as back beat, for the rest of the drummers to play to. As it turns out, there were many drum circles playing different beats at different tempos and timings as they couldn’t hear each other through the crowds. Fortunately my drum was so loud it created a confluence between all of the individual circles, and was not only an amazing experience for me, but it lifted the power and energy of the whole party and became another experience I will never forget!
“This is when I started to understand with deeper clarity, how important it is, in drumming and music - and anything else worthwhile in life - to help facilitate what else is going on; and not just do what you like.”
At this point in my life, I also began to notice that I was a natural facilitator. I never saw that drum again. It went home in someone else’s car and is still in someone’s mum’s and dad’s loft a hundred miles away. But it’s fair to say that, that drum definitely lived!
The healing power of drumming
Unlike writing and playing songs, which can often entail a lot of analytical focus and mental energy, drumming has helped me express myself more freely in the moment. It also enables me to turn off my 3D mind and focus my energy in a more fluid way.
Drumming with two hands, and lesser so with one, balances the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Both techniques do wonders for harmonising signals and creating a heightened state of presence in the now. It can be incredibly meditative and has been used for this and many other aspects of life - everything from war marches to partying and trauma release - by our most ancient ancestors, up through the ages, and to the present day.
As a child, I spent a lot of time around animals and in nature and liked singing and dreaming about being a Jedi in Star Wars!! While I wasn’t a big fan of people and often preferred to be on my own, in many ways I was relatively happy. As a young man, while I was a lot more social, I became morbidly depressed about the state of the world and the people in it.
“Thankfully, around age 14, I discovered that by expressing myself through singing, song-writing, playing guitar and drumming; however badly, gradually opened up a portal to a multiverse of reasons worth living for. ”
Most notably, it enabled my psyche to develop the capability to even house such ideas.
Depression can be very addictive, and while I was the incessant joker, I was not a happy bunny. Drumming, playing and writing songs helped me remember what life could be, and what life certainly is at its heart.
The more I developed my skills, the more and more creative and insightful, as well as healthier and happier I became. Eventually it became a lot easier for me to experience the simple joys of life. And the same can be true for anyone taking up creative drumming, music or writing that struggles with conditions like depression.
Drum classes
I enjoy teaching other people how to play drums as the benefits are immense. I thrive from guiding people towards a better and kinder way of experiencing and viewing life, either through drumming or another musical form. If you enjoy music and can tap your foot to a song, or move your body to the beat, then you can at least play something worthwhile on a drum. And with easy step-by-step instructions most people are surprised just how quickly!
“Through my classes, you can develop your technique, and your rhythmic and improvisational skills; improve your active listening, experience how to play drums in a group, and bolster your confidence; all while having fun with new friends on a similar journey.”
