When my band in Colorado used to play local shows I would always joke around while we were loading in that I should have played the flute. Then I wouldn’t have to carry a heavy bass drum, toms, hardware, cymbals and then unpack it all (of course once it was all onto the stage I loved setting up my kit from scratch. That feeling of, if I set it up better than last time I’ll play brilliantly) only to do tear it all down again after the show and then figure out how to get it all back into my car because traveling with a five piece drum set in a Honda Civic is like eating a sandwich at Arthur Bryants: 4 pounds of beef crammed between two slices of Wonder Bread.

Today when I was playing at IHOP for the 10AM it hit me how funny it is to be a drummer. For 14 years I have been spending lots of money to buy quality equipment and to play with well made sticks instead of the bargain banana brand. But it doesn’t end there; it’s not like the flute: you don’t buy your gear and now your set. Nope; with my instrument everything I own breaks. But what else is so funny is that I’m the one that breaks it. It’s the opposite problem of kids in an antique shop. I buy it then break it. I buy it knowing I’m going to break it.