I've Always Wanted to be a Drummer...

I’ve never been one for video games. While I’m pretty sure it was me who first played Sega Genesis at a friend’s house and consequently got my brother addicted, the attraction ended after I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would never get past level 3 of Sonic the Hedgehog. It also bothered me that my little brother could surpass me with agility and ease, and so I wanted nothing to do with video games. For most of my childhood and up through high school, while I was constantly bombarded with the whizzes and doodle-ee-doo noises of the latest and greatest videogame system my brother had procured, I drowned the noises out with prime-time WB shows, the newest CD of whatever band I happened to be obsessed with that week, or my own tinkling on the piano.

And then I went to college, where I finally felt a reprieve from all this videogame madness. Although a number of the guys I knew owned Playstations or whatever, I was separated from it, and there were other things to talk about. I was finally free!

That is, until the end of senior year when I discovered Guitar Hero. After ending up very late one Saturday night at a friend of a friend’s apartment, my undiscovered potential was realized. I attributed my success at Guitar Hero to my ability to pretend to play a real guitar. I don’t remember what song I played or my score—it couldn’t have been that good—but every time I’ve seen my friend’s friend since, he congratulates me on my achievement and welcomes me back to his place to play at any time. Unfortunately, after this one time, I found very few opportunities for me to continue playing Guitar Hero.

Just after new years, I started a new job at a commercial post-production company. Post houses, in general, seem to have a reputation for being laid back—when I recently went for an interview at another post house, one of the editors was playing Wii baseball in the lounge area as I waited for the woman I was meeting to come get me for my interview. So I wasn’t really all that surprised when on my first Friday, I was trying to get a hold of one of the editors and he was nowhere to be found, only later to be discovered playing the latest incantation of Guitar Hero, Rock Band (which includes not only guitar, but also bass, drums, and vocals) in another editor’s room.

Being that it was only my third week working at this company, when on Thursday night everyone erupted into joyous celebration for the executive producer’s birthday, I felt obligated to stay and try to ingratiate myself into the group. Rock Band was once again present, the conference room turned into concert venue. Many had gathered around to watch those who were playing—it’s sort of hypnotizing, and totally fun to see people get really into their roles.

After a while, when it seemed some people were beginning to lose interest and I couldn’t resist the urge any longer, I decided to take up the drums. I think the other members of the “band” worried about me, since I couldn’t even figure out how to change the level settings to “easy”. And at first, I was pretty bad—I couldn’t figure out when to hit the drums—but eventually I got the hang of it and didn’t fail too badly. By the time I had finished my second lengthy heavy metal song, the other members of the band (who were total pros) were questioning whether I was telling the truth about never having played before, which I was.

I wasn’t really all that good—I barely passed—but I must have seemed like I knew what I was doing. And it was really fun! At the end of our set, everyone high fived me and congratulated me on a job well done and my apparent secret talent. It was nice, too, to start to feel like a part of the group.

The following day, between answering phones, ordering pizzas, and making sure the faucets in the bathroom hadn’t leaked onto the floor, I overheard some people discussing the Rock Band jams of the night before. Seeming perhaps a bit surprised, since I am still and always “the quiet one” I heard them discuss how I had really rocked it out on the drums. And while I don’t mind being “the quiet one,” I’m happy to be known as “the quiet one who can totally rock the drums on Rock Band.”