No, no, no. I already know what you're thinking "Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" ... Famous quote from the 70's TV show (I'm not convinced he ever said that, but whatever!) no, I'm being a bit more subtle than that.
I have a theory that all drummers, and to a certain extent all performers, are the Hulk - and here is why.
Performing is a place. It's a state of mind. It's somewhere you can visit, but you wouldn't want to live there. Lots of people can play drums, probably less than half of them bother to, or are otherwise capable of, actually performing.
Some people call it being in the zone. I remember reading interviews with Carl Fogarty (4 x World Superbike Champion) and how he described all of his 59 victories. He was definitely 'in the zone'. When in that place, he won. Everytime. And when he wasn't, he would fall off trying to get into the zone. After sustaining serious injuries at a race in Australia, he found he just couldn't get back into the zone and immediately retired from racing (although he managed a Team for a while).
His story struck a chord with me (no pun intended!). Although he probably lacked the vocabulary to adequate describe it, he knew 'how' he won races - how he performed. He was in that 'place' and once there was unbeatable. When he couldn't fine the place anymore, it was time to do something else instead.
Back to the Hulk then. Why the Hulk? Like most comic book (anti) heros, he goes through a transformation. His is a little more obvious than most, but bear with me. When he's normal he's just a guy, okay a pretty clever one, but definitely just a man. But when when something pushes that button ... well, he's a big green smashing machine! Everything becomes simple to him, all the details of the world just fall away and the only thing he knows is what he does. Smash. In the case of the Hulk. In our (performers) case, hopefully it's all about performing instead.
"When I can't fight it anymore, when it takes over, when I totally lose control... I like it."
That's what I'm talking about. Letting the performance (drumming) take over, getting into the zone, making what you're doing the only important thing in the world ... and loving it.
That's what makes a great performer ;-)
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