535 - Jeff Kerestes: Returning to a Life in Music After Burning Out and Stepping Away

Jeff Kerestes is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and educator who spent most of his career in New York doing touring and session work and a handful of Broadway shows. During Covid, he left New York and stepped away from music entirely. He and his family eventually settled in Portland Oregon, where he rediscovered his love of music through the drums and the community there. He is a freelance drummer, bassist, producer, and founder of The Ukulele Project, a music education organization that works with public schools all over the Pacific Northwest. In this episode, Jeff talks about: The year before Covid being his busiest to date Being out of balance long before he realized it  Confronting who he is apart from being a musician  Living in an RV for over a year before deciding to live in Portland  Reconnecting with music through the drums Starting The Ukulele Project Likening therapy to taking lessons Finding the right place to live, not just work Here's our Patreon Here's our Youtube Here's our Homepage

Tom Hambridge is a Four-time Grammy™- winning producer, songwriter, & drummer for his production work on three of blues legend Buddy Guy’s most critically acclaimed albums: ‘Living Proof’ (2011) , “Born to Play Guitar’ (2016), ‘The Blues is Alive and Well’ (2018), and for his work on Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s Album ‘662’ (2022). Tom has also produced 9 other Grammy nominated albums. He has won numerous Blues Music Awards and W.C. Handy Awards, eight Boston Music Awards and several ASCAP Country Music Awards. He’s the recipient of the prestigious KBA (Keeping the Blues Alive) Award in Memphis and has been inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. The list of artist collaborators includes: Gary Clark Jr., Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, B.B. King, Gregg Allman, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Kid Rock, Billy Gibbons, Johnny Winter, George Thorogood and Susan Tedeschi, among many others. In this episode, Tom talks about: His formative years in Boston and why he left Figuring out Nashville Creating the perfect drum part on the spot Learning from the masters like Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Buddy Guy The power of listening Drumming and producing Buddy Guy ⁠Here's our Patreon⁠ ⁠Here's our Youtube⁠ ⁠Here's our Homepage

Andrew Gilmore Barr is a drummer, composer, and producer based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada who is best known for his work with Mumford & Sons, The Barr Brothers, Feist, and The Slip. Barr is a founding member of the experimental rock band The Slip and indie folk group The Barr Brothers along with his brother Brad Barr. In this episode, Andrew talks about: How he now views touring as down time, away from regular home/family life and making decisions about touring family decisions Adjusting to the larger scale of the Mumford & Sons touring apparatus and the shows’ sing along feel  The difference between volume and energy When more people heard less music Finding the things you can “do you” in Getting over envy or shyness so you can cheerlead your fellow drummers  Lifelong musical partnership and multiple projects with his brother Brad Learning to be musically and creatively linear, not adhering to any patterns Here's our Patreon Here's our Youtube Here's our Homepage

Jared Shavelson was raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. His drumming journey stated early in life and got his first drumset at age seven. While playing in all of the local orchestras, marching bands, jazz bands, and theaters in southern New Jersey, he was taking weekly private lessons. During this time he was also starting to play out with his own bands, getting him heavily involved with the Philadelphia punk/hardcore scene. Leaving that area in 1999, he went to New York to attend college at SUNY Purchase studying jazz performance with greats like Ritchie Morales and Kim Plainfield. Jared completed 2 years at the Music Conservatory and left after his second year to start touring internationally with the Boston hardcore band The Hope Conspiracy. Soon after, he also began playing with the pop punk band None More Black, along with the political punk band Paint It Black. After living in New York City, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia, he now resides in Los Angeles where he started playing with more eclectic acts like Digital Daggers, Pure Love, The Rentals, The Aquabats, Meg Myers, Seal, Dark Waves, Cyn, Ways Away, Boysetsfire, Joyce Manor, The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx, Chuck Ragan, Chase Atlantic, Ceremony, and many more. In this episode, Jared talks about: Where social media falls short Biking and drumming The impact of Jared’s teachers early in life Parallels between jazz and punk/hardcore Punk, hardcore and the DIY scene The unique challenges of a band like Mariachi El Bronx Drumming for Seal ⁠Here's our Patreon⁠ ⁠Here's our Youtube⁠ ⁠Here's our Homepage

Eric Gardner has been on the LA scene for 25 years touring and recording with a wide variety of bands and artists over that time. These days, two in particular represent most of his activity - Melissa Etheridge and Tom Morello. He is a graduate of Steve Rucker's program at the University of Miami and has performed with Garbage, Iggy Pop,  Cypress Hill, Iggy Pop, Morrisey, Steve Vai, MC5, Slash, Beck, and many others. In this episode, Eric talks about: Getting the Melissa Etheridge gig from a single recommendation, sight unseen Learning to be sensitive to an artist's anxiety and need for control, and act accordingly  What it means to “find an artist’s language”  His long musical and personal relationship with Tom Morello  How “going out to network” should look more like “going to see your friends play” His first few years in LA and how his relationship with the scene has evolved over 25 years Studying with Steve Rucker at University of Miami Here's our Patreon Here's our Youtube Here's our Homepage

Colorado native, Taylor Friesth, is a drummer, producer, author, and educator who has delved deeply into drumming since the age of 6. He has performed on stages such as Red Rocks and Folsom Field and his drumming has led him to perform with various groups from GRiZ to New Orleans style brass band Guerrilla Fanfare. His versatility has given him a wide range of musical abilities that has resulted in a unique sound of his own. Taylor runs GrooveMPL.com where you can master the techniques, gear, and secrets top engineers use to capture the perfect drum sound. Also, you can dive into how running backing tracks through Ableton Live can make you a more versatile drummer, opening the door to more gigs by ensuring bands and artists that they can rely on you for a polished, professional live show. In 2016, Taylor released his book “The Sly Hat”, a 13 chapter book focused on how to use your hi-hat foot as a part of your grooves and fills, as opposed to having it keep a steady pulse under what you are playing. In this episode, Taylor talks about:     Different ways creating online content     Creating work aside from live performance       How to be effective when marketing your skills     http://GrooveMPL.com educational site     Combining skills to create a more complete career ⁠Here's our Patreon⁠ ⁠Here's our Youtube⁠ ⁠Here's our Homepage

Russ Gold has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Asia., performing with jazz, rock, fusion, and theater groups. Russ’ performing experience includes work with musicians as diverse as Gary Lyons (producer of Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead) Johnny Colla of Huey Lewis and the News, Seth Justman of the J. Giles Band, CBS Fusion artists Full Circle, and jazz greats Tom Scott, Sam Rivers, George Coleman, Dave Douglas, and Howard Johnson. He is the author of "Phrasing: Advanced Rudiments for Creative Drumming, and his talent had also been recognized by endorsements of Sabian cymbals, Pro-Mark sticks, Fishman transducers, and Kurzweil synthesizers. How acting and Meisner technique informed music making for him What drew him to San Francisco after school at Berklee Leaning more and more into musical theatre work Playing with “no mind” The concept of his book “Phrasing: Advanced Rudiments for Creative Drumming” The value of repetition over variation  What it means to “stay relevant”  ⁠Here's our Patreon⁠ ⁠Here's our Youtube⁠ ⁠Here's our Homepage

British-born and now Los Angeles-based drummer, Louie Palmer, has recorded and performed with some of the world’s best musicians including Mike Stern, Randy Brecker, Tom Scott, Luis Conte, Tim Lefebvre, Mitch Forman, Gary Husband, Jason Rebello and many more. In addition to performing, Louie also runs an online drum school (playbetterdrums.com) which has become a huge online resource for drummers of all abilities around the world. In this episode, Louie talks about: Moving from the UK to LA Accommodating traditional grip with a variety of set ups The problem with defining yourself as a “pocket player” Why you should practice improvisation The importance of sound and presentation Louie’s background on traditional grips Creating a variety of income streams His online school: Playbetterdrums.com ⁠Here's our Patreon⁠ ⁠Here's our Youtube⁠ ⁠Here's our Homepage

John Doing is based in San Francisco and has compiled a deep resume of musical theatre experience, most notably being involved in the Hamilton world for many years. He has been a chairholder and sub on multiple tours, he did the show’s San Francisco residency, he’s done the drumset chair, he’s done the percussion chair. In addition to Hamilton and a lot of other musical theatre work, he has played drums and percussion in all sorts of capacities, from jazz and latin music during his grad school years in New York, to cover bands in his hometown of Madison Wisconsin, to recording in his home studio in the bay area. In this episode, John talks about: Getting a start on the scene in his hometown of Madison, WI The wide range of subjects and teachers he was exposed to in grad school at NYU How musical theatre presented an opportunity to explore a lot of the variety he was interested in  Doing part of the Hamilton tour with his wife and two small kids in tow  The Hamilton drumset chair vs. the percussion chair  The high level of scrutiny in the Hamilton world How Hamilton challenged him physically Doing musicals that are in development in San Francisco Here's our Patreon Here's our Youtube Here's our Homepage

Jay Weinberg is best-known as the former drummer of the band Slipknot as well as the son of Bruce Springsteen's longtime drummer Max Weinberg. But from an early age, Jay proved to all that he was his own drummer and artist who could create a career of his own. Along with subbing for his father on in 2009 with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, Jay stayed busy in many other projects that included groups like The Reveling, Against Me and Madball. In 2014, Jay replaced Joey Jordison as the drummer for Slipknot, and stayed with the band until his departure in November 2023. In 2024, Jay was announced as the new drummer for Infectious Grooves. He is also currently in Suicidal Tendencies. In this episode, Jay talk about: His approach to clinics Jay’s organic discovery of drums Performing with Springsteen at 17 Total commitment to the music you’re performing New solo project Trusting your instincts Recovering from hip surgery Touring with Suicidal Tendencies Life and music post Slipknot Taking every opportunity seriously Here's our Patreon⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Here's our Youtube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Here's our Homepage