JarrodBarker

I suppose I began creating rhythm when I was in my Mother's womb- she sometimes tells me about how I would kick in a steady pattern for hours at a time, as if I was telegraphing her a message: "I am ready to enter the world, let me out!"
Fast forward a couple of years and I had discovered the joy in hitting a record player cover with a couple of cocktail swizzle sticks, much to the chagrin of my younger brother. I remember drumming along to the droning pattern of the washing machine. Even at this early age I seemed to be able to find the pulse in mechanical and organic items.
A few more years pass and I discover the xylophone, snare drum and bass drum in Junior high school. It was a natural fit although I was far from a prodigy. I rebelled against the strict and uninspiring notes that were charted and often made live improvisations much to the chagrin of my first music instructor Mr.Hugh MacArthur. I remember playing the bass drum with a mallet in my left hand and alternating with a drumstick in my right hand between the orchestral cymbal and the snare drum while the rest of the class played Henry Mancini's theme to Pink Panther in rigid, measured strokes. I was a rebel.
That year at Christmas I was surprised to find a blue sparkle Stewart four piece drum set waiting for me. I was surprised because I had never asked for a drum set. I was actually disappointed and upset. I was told that it was okay and I could exchange the drums for something else. Those drums sat untouched for days until for some reason I sat behind them and started to work out my frustrations. It was a natural fit and I seemed to be able to reproduce drums that I recalled from cassettes- I even had a cowbell and a woodblock and I played a fairly passable rendition of Soft Cells tainted love. Or so I am told.
I began to play constantly, I moved the family record player upstairs into the loft and played along to Yes, Kiss, AcDc and the like until my fingers stopped blistering because I had developed a fine layer of callouses.
Years passed and I discovered high school bands. Those awkward years of emotion and change did not distract me from playing but I felt something was missing. At first I likened the feeling to a complacency due to the same acoustic drum set, the same drum configuration. I expanded my set up, I went big, I went large and still that same feeling. In my immaturity I had failed to recognize the need for new techniques- lessons would have been the answer! But I persevered, I discovered new setups, new tunings, new forms and flows of energy, I stumbled onto the zen of drumming. A small inheritance came my way and instead of using it to help offset the cost of my studies at Mc Master University, I bought my first electronic drum set. It was an incredibly liberating experience. I now had the capability I had always dreamed about- a pallet of limitless sound and expression. This was a sea change. I began to understand how to define my sound and debuted this at a large outdoor party at the Stowe's. I remember two things clearly from that night. There was lightning in the sky as we played and after the show I was approached by several listeners whom said they had never heard drums sound like that before. I felt a overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
Well, the years pass quickly. Here I am now at a funny stage- having distanced myself from the naysayers, the coat tailers and the negatories. Now it's about finding that feeling again, that sense of accomplishment. You may not like what you hear from me but I hope some of you will understand it and come away believing that you have never heard anything quite like it before..................
Jarrod Barker April 24,2008