{"id":41567,"date":"2023-02-01T15:22:33","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T23:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=41567"},"modified":"2024-02-22T10:06:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T18:06:32","slug":"jay-weinberg-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/jay-weinberg-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other\/","title":{"rendered":"One Foot In Front Of The Other"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"jay
Credit: Justin Nace<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the last 14 years, I\u2019ve met lots of friendly people around the world who have asked me, \u201cHey! I just started playing drums and I\u2019m really excited about it! Do you have any advice for someone starting out?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often get kind of flustered in search of an answer. Picking up the drums is such<\/em> an exciting moment in anyone\u2019s life. All of us can relate to that feeling of being completely enamored with the endless possibilities that lie ahead of us in the world of music, and with drumming, specifically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s so much to learn\u2026where do I even begin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the moment, I try to ask myself, \u201cWhat would you have liked to know, back when you were starting to learn?\u201d Even as the son of an accomplished musician and sick<\/em> drummer, I had so many questions that felt unanswerable when I first picked up drumsticks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It felt like complete option paralysis. The big, scary music world is out there, full of possibilities, but I had no clue where to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hate to let them down with a generic, short answer, like, \u201cWellllll\u2026always have fun! And work hard!\u201d for the fear of them looking at me like, \u201cUm, yeah, no fucking shit.\u201d Though that\u2019s a true and heartfelt sentiment, I just wish I had a few hours to share the advice I really<\/em> want to give them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was 14 years old, I had one single aspiration that consumed my thoughts. It was the largest undertaking I could conceive of, at the time \u2014 and I believed that if I worked hard enough, I might have a chance at turning this dream into a reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than anything in the world, I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my ice hockey teammate\u2019s older brother, start a hardcore\/metal\/punk band, and play a show at Chubby\u2019s \u2014 a bar in Red Bank, NJ that was across the bridge from Middletown, where I grew up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One show. That was my fixation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"chubbys
Chubby\u2019s: As a teenager, the most intimidating venue imaginable<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were just a few obstacles in my way: I had no idea how to play drums, and very few friends who shared an interest in the music I loved\u2026much less the passion and motivation to learn how to play an instrument, start a band, and practice to be good enough to play at Chubby\u2019s on what seemed like the hugest stage imaginable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In retrospect, you could probably fit about 30 people in that space. But to me, it might as well have been Wembley Stadium, it was so daunting. Still, it was what kept me up at night, and I made a promise to myself \u2014 I\u2019ll do whatever it takes to play a show at this (in my mind) legendary venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zooming out a little bit, it was probably an effort to find my own place in a small, yet vibrant and passionate music scene in central New Jersey \u2014 where I totally<\/em> didn\u2019t fit in as a teenager. The supposed \u201ccool kids\u201d in that Red Bank clique would ditch class to smoke cigarettes outside the 7-11, had killer mosh pit moves and a respectable knowledge of underground local metal and hardcore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, I was incredibly lame. I was at hockey practice every day, did well in school, and rarely stayed up past 9 PM. Some of that crowd started awesome bands that played at Chubby\u2019s, or at the internet cafe across the street, or the Middletown Knights of Columbus on Route 36\u2026or if they were REALLY big, The Stone Pony in Asbury Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"the
The Stone Pony<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I worshipped those bands. They were from my area, actively engaged in something that I wanted to be a part of so badly, but I had no clue where to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a lot of exposure to music from an early age. My parents played my sister and me tons of classical music until they deemed us \u201cready\u201d to learn about rock and roll when I was five. That’s how I fell in love with The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin<\/a>\u2026all the classics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had no frame of reference for my father\u2019s professional rocking endeavors. I was certainly too young to watch Late Night with Conan O<\/em>\u2019Brien<\/em><\/a> (the TV program for which my dad was the bandleader from 1993 until 2009), and I only knew Bruce Springsteen<\/a> as my parents\u2019 friend whose farm we\u2019d visit from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"max
My father, Max, as bandleader of The Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night with Conan O\u2019Brien<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until Bruce and the E Street Band<\/a> reunited when I was nine that I learned my dad was even in<\/em> a band, much less one that was popular and culturally significant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they resumed touring, I was all of a sudden watching my dad \u2014 the same \u201cnormal\u201d dude who would drive me to my 6 AM hockey practices and games all around the tri-state area \u2014 transform into a superhero, smashing the drums in front of 60,000 screaming fans every night. Luckily, since my mom was a high school history teacher, our grade school allowed her to take our curriculums on tour so she could \u201croad school\u201d us from 1999 until 2004 when I started high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d head out with the E Street Band for a few months at a time, and she ran our daily routine like a drill sergeant: homework and tests from 7 AM until the afternoon, then hit a museum to absorb the local culture and art. Then we’d make our way to the venue to watch Dad, Bruce, and the E Street Band masterfully deliver a near-four-hour set of relentless rock and roll power to a packed football stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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