Steve
Stockmal, professional drummer and instructor, began performing
music at the age of 5. He is an honor graduate of Musicians Institute
(PIT in Hollywood California), a writer and publisher (president
of SMG Publications), and maintains a full schedule of performing
and teaching music.
He
has appeared as a drummer, singer, and guitarist around the US
with groups like Mercenary, Crystal-Reign, & the Pelikanesis band
featuring Paul Rubin. He has also performed abroad including tours
in Japan; a "freeze-out tour" in Greenland; several concerts in
Australia; and 7 years in Greece working with top artists like
Anna Vissi, Stelios Rokos, Kostas Tournas and Sakis Rouvas. Fronting
his own band he plays concerts showcasing original compositions
and appears as a solo act singing and playing blues, ballads,
rock, and jazz standards.
Throughout
his career Steve has played a diverse variety of musical styles
ranging from intimate Jazz clubs and society gigs, to television
and radio spots, international tours, theater performances, and
10,000 seat rock concerts. He performed as percussionist with
SIERRA WINDS (a 35 member classical woodwind orchestra), and played
the role of drummer Jerry Allison in the Garvin Theatre's production
of The Buddy Holly Story. Combining his extensive training with
years of touring & teaching, Mr. Stockmal has recently begun the
process of synthesizing his knowledge into a series of educational
books and videos on a wide variety of subjects.
Musical
story: My parents had us (my two brothers and me) start the
piano at 3 or 4 years old. That's why I was performing by the
age of 5. Although they were just kids recitals, I still remember
the feeling I got being in front of the audience, and of course
how it felt when they applauded! I never got nervous in front
of an audience...just excited.
I
started playing the trombone in the 6th grade, which led to performing
with the 7th grade jazz band. That is where the drum set first
hit me. I was sitting there in the trombone section, watching
that drummer go crazy...whap, bam, ka-boom, and thought "now that
is for me!" I went home that same day and called every music store
in town asking about drums, how much they were, if they rented
them, etc. One guy said he had a used kit for $150 and I must
have screamed in the phone "DON'T SELL THEM, I'LL BE THERE IN
15 MINUTES". I jumped on my bicycle and flew down to the store.
Although it was your typical junky kids drum set, it did come
with a 21" Ride that I actually used for the first 7 or 8 years
of my career.
The
very next day I went for my first drum lesson. I remember the
teacher asking me to play a bit to get an idea of what level I
was. I sat down and hit this and that, whapped away for a little
while, and then looked up (quite proud of how good I was) and
he said "Nothing eh? OK, we'll start you at the beginning." I
stayed with him for about three years, and then added my 2nd teacher
(a Berklee music school graduate). That is where I really started
to read, listen, and play a great variety of styles of music.
I
kept playing the trombone all the way through high school, and
was in EVERY music class my school offered. One day our band director
asked me if I would like to play the string bass in the orchestra.
Since I already read bass clef, and since I knew enough about
the notes on the guitar, I said I would give it a try. For the
next two years I evolved into a great love for that instrument.
Playing the string bass is an incredible feeling. After you get
over the initial physical shock (it takes a while to develop your
fingers and technique to push the strings down) it really produces
such a beautiful sound.
When
I was in my senior year in high school I had 7 music related classes,
as well as every after school program, college jazz band, and
community orchestra. The community orchestra was a crack-up because
I played trombone, percussion (mostly snare and timpani), and
the string bass. So I would walk behind the orchestra between
each piece to my next 'station'.
Somewhere
in there I started playing around with the guitar, and found that
by putting chords together I could write songs. I had been copying
lyrics from cover songs by the hundreds, and found that writing
my own lyrics came pretty easy. I wrote my first official song
when I was 17 (love struck for the first time), and by the time
I was 20 I had written 10 albums.
My first live gig was at when I was 15 years old at an 8th grade
dance. The poor kids and teachers at that dance!!! We came out
playing Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Van Halen and other such 'danceable'
music. The band I was in were all my buddies from music classes
and we also sang together in a barber shop "9-tet" (a nine member
vocal group that did traditional barber shop arrangements). I'll
never forget when a lady came up to us and said "You boys play
really well together, but if you sing another note...YOU'RE FIRED".
We had great laughs with that one for years. We actually won awards,
and command performances with that barber shop group. We played
a bunch of parties in high school, and I started getting more
and more calls from the local players.
My
first "professional" gig (I guess that means I actually got paid
for it) was with a country western band call "Cross-country-limited".
I was 17 years old, and playing every Friday and Saturday night
for $100 a gig. I WAS RICH!!! We played all the typical country
hits, as well as a lot of "chicken-pickin" music (really fast
polka-0like songs). Years later I auditioned for a "speed punk"
band and they were amazed that I could play so fast and not get
tired (I never told them that their music was just chicken-pickin
with a Mohawk!
There
were a lot of musical opportunities for me back then, I played
at the Reno jazz festival, performed with the Northern California
Honor Orchestra, played with the local city college big band,
jammed with anyone and everyone from jazz trio's to rock bands
to orchestras. Anywhere I could be...I played.
DRUMSTICK
SPINOLOGY CD
