Tag: practice

Today, I played drums in the DW Showroom for the first time. I messed around on some conceptual kits that haven't been released yet, and I played classic DW kits that have been around for many years. Afterwards I walked out of the showroom, through the DW factory where those kits were made. I made my way through the offices and quickly snatched a peek into the legendary John Good's office. After that I walked over to the building next door, strolled casually through Drum Channel's headquarters, and walked right into my own office; the office I'll be working and playing drums in for the next three months.

For the next three months I will be the Drum Channel Intern :) I'll be helping them with the website and just hang around and be a part of the Drum Channel team. Don Lombardi (the founder of DW) initiated this months ago after my visit to Drum Channel for the live show, and we've been having meetings almost every week since. The fact that I've never had lessons before but that I've been playing for 9 years, created a super unique opportunity which also gave Don the idea of giving me my own show on DC, where I will be taught by some of the world's best teachers, on camera. So in this way I'll be the analogue for anybody taking the lesson: probably struggling with the stuff you would have struggled with, and asking the questions you would have asked.

Then what I'm almost most stoked about of everything.. is that I will be your "inside man" :) I am in the building that I have wanted to see the inside of since I started playing drums, I am surrounded by drum sets and hardware and gear that I dreamt of since I started playing drums.. And the epic thing is, I know that so many people feel the exact same way. So I'm going to use my iPhone or whatever camera I can get my hands on, and take some footage of what exactly goes on in the Drum Channel building: interviewing Tony Royster Jr and Chad Smith and whoever else I see walking around, catching some drum duets, and filming some of the epic gear lying around :) I want to show you guys the stuff I wish I could see if I wasn't here right now.

Keep an eye on my YouTube channels (my main channel and my 2nd channel), keep an eye on my Facebook page, Drum Channel's YouTube channel, and my Twitter page.. because things are about to get pretty wild :) The next three months is such a new chapter to me and I am STOKED to be able to share it through the lens of a camera for anybody who wants to be a part of it.

Much love!
Cobus

Today I drove an automatic car for the first time. On the wrong side of the road. On a freeway. While jet-lagged. Freakin CRAZY nerve-wrecking.. but such a surreal experience. Nothing can quite prepare you for driving on the wrong side of the road like, well, driving on the wrong side of the road. That little inner voice just kept screaming "RIGHT SIDE! RIGHT SIDE! RIGHT SIDE!" and sometimes it turned into a very audible real-person voice that was mine. Luckily I was alone in the car.

Today I did grocery shopping in America for the first time. I've heard many stories, seen many movies, but nothing could prepare me for walking through the cereal section and not seeing ONE brand name I recognized. Also.. too many choices. Ridiculous. I settled on "Honey Comb" (because I like honey and because the price was right).

Something strange happened while I did the shopping. I was totally out of my comfort zone, searching for bread and cheese and ham and orange juice between brand names that ALL seem 100% new to me. That's a weird feeling; surrounded by nothing familiar, in a different country, alone. But paying for my food in a different currency, then walking to a left-hand drive car, to drive on the other side of the road to my hotel room.. I found this cool sense of peace. I don't mean to sound melodramatic, but it really felt like "it will be OK". I feel at home here.


I'm sure many people are wondering why the flip I am here and for how long, but we'll get to that a bit later on :)

Thank YOU, reading this, for making all this possible.
Much love.

Cobus

Sorry if I haven't been as active on the forum as usual, and if I've been a bit slow with replies.. Practicing and getting the last few stuff organised for the DVD has been a full-time job. After the shoot (when I'm busy with post-production) I'll definitely be much more active, especially when I'm searching for excuses to take some breaks between work ;)

As you can see though, it's hard for me to think and speak about anything else besides the DVD, haha, for obvious reasons :) Aaaah I almost forgot to mention.. I was on a game drive yesterday, one of my friends had his 21st birthday party and some friends went to a game farm. CRAAAZY amounts of fun, we got wickedly close to some lions, leopards, even tigers (which aren't usually found in South Africa..) so it was aaaaaawesome. Just thought I'd throw that in there for the people who think we have lions and elephants walking around in our backyards here in SA ;)

Aaaaanyway, back to work for me. At the moment I'm planning exactly what to say and how to approach the lessons on the DVD, if I don’t have a general guideline of what I want to say, It'll be a 2-hour DVD of me speaking about what the first lesson was supposed to be. Seriously. I don’t shut up.

Hope you guys have an awesome week, please hold your thumbs for a cool shoot and that everything goes down smoothly..

Speak soon! BOOYA! :)
LDS,
~ç