This past Friday (Feb 28th), several of us Visible School drummers saw Jojo Mayer in clinic at the Memphis Drum Shop. Let me tell you… it was a sight to see.

After the typical introductions from his sponsors, Jojo began giving a brief history of drummers and the lineage of drumming from old school Dixie-land jazz to modern rock. He asserted that anytime something big was happening in music, there was a great drummer that was an integral part of it, mentioning drummers like Gene Krupa, Baby Dodds, and Buddy Rich of older jazz and then people like John Bonham and Stewart Copeland for more modern rock.

He then said that he thinks the programmer/producer takes on the same role today, mentioning Timbaland (Justin Timberlake, OldRepublic, Jay-Z, Nelly Furtado) as one of these guys. I think that’s an interesting idea that needs to be discussed more.

Then he began to play… and everyone in the room subsequently decided to give up drums. His sheer technical ability and speed around the kit was phenomenal. He played to two tracks from his band, NERVE. At the end of the clinic, he played to two or three more tracks from NERVE, the final one blew the crowd away.

When it came to his personal journey on drums, he mentioned the time when he first was bit by the electronic bug. He said he was on tour with a band in England and some of his band’s hosts took him to a British rave. He said that he was completely floored by the DJ he saw that night and how the music he spun affected the people and wanted to do everything he could to be like that DJ. He said it changed his life. 

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