I become obsessed with things easily: I discover a TV show and have to watch the whole series; hear about a new artist and must know everything about them; get a new album and listen to it (or even a single song from it) nonstop for weeks. A random idea pops into my head and I turn it over and over until it's as smooth as a stone. I learn a piece of trivia and have to tell everyone I meet.
I was going to start a spotlight back in 2010 called "Current Obsession," but I obsess a lot, so that feature could be its own blog. If you check out the posts labeled "obsession," you get a hint of the variety and intensity. I'm actually surprised so few have that tag... I guess I wasn't too obsessive with my use of that label. Or just gave in and realized that if I write about something, I'm probably obsessed. But I digress!
The last time I was obsessed with Rockapella, I focused on Scott Leonard's straight shiny teeth - even using them as my IM avatar for several months. Seeing those teeth sparkle in person must have been enough to tide me over, because now I'm obsessed with Jeff Thacher, the mouth drummer. (It goes without saying that I'm also obsessed with the phrase "mouth drummer.")
I spend too much brainpower wondering a multitude of things, such as:
Does he mouth drum all the time? Like, without realizing it? I sometimes make noises with my mouth, snap, or tap my feet when I space out. But would you still randomly do it when its what you do for a living?
How do you figure out you can mouth drum? How do people react when you tell them you want to be a mouth drummer? How do they react when you tell them you are a mouth drummer?
If I were to continue my drum lessons, could he teach me instead? Does he know all the drum names or just how they sound? Can he actually play the drums if he sits down at a set? If he can't play drums, how did he learn how to sound like them? If I played drums, would he duet with me? Could I stop my lessons and have him hide behind me while I pretend to play?
Would he be willing to supply the best beats for my impromptu dance parties? Most importantly: would he dance with me?
I have a feeling I'm going to be obsessing about all of this and more until I see Rockapella again, stick around after the show, and ask him face-to-face.
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I love you Allison. These are amazing questions. Love this invitation into your brain.
ReplyDeleteThank you for appreciating my obsessive need to know the little things!
DeleteI think the most important question I have here is "Does HE call himself a 'mouth drummer'?" Because I really think "a capella drummer" would be more likely.
ReplyDeleteI think "vocal percussionist" is the professional term, but I'd like to clarify that I mean no harm by using the phrase "mouth drummer" every time possible. I'm not trying to belittle the profession, it's just too fun to say. Especially if you say "mouf drumma."
DeleteOh I didn't think you were trying to belittle the profession at all, and it greatly amuses me that it IS a profession. I just thought there were likely more musician-y terms for the position.
DeleteI didn't take it that way, but wanted to clarify in case in vocal percussionists were reading and got their feathers ruffled! I think it's awesome, and if I could do it, I would! I can't even get the hang of the physical drums.
DeleteI meant to ask you this on your initial Rockapella blog and forgot (I think...?).
ReplyDeleteDo you watch The Sing Off on NBC? If you love Rockapella, you'd love that show. Even if you don't get into the competition aspect, just to watch the 16 groups do so many varieties of music a capella is awesome. And the group that won season 2 and ESPECIALLY season 3 are AMAZING at what they do.
I don't have a TV but I'll try to look some clips up online! I'm not *huge* into a cappella as a genre, just Rockapella specifically, but I love voices that can stand on their own so I'll check out the winners fo sho.
DeletePentatonix. Best performances from The Sing Off... really all of them, but Video Killed The Radio Star & Love Lockdown were real standouts.
ReplyDeleteI liked Video Killed the Radio Star SO MUCH, but not really their others. I'm not huge on female vocals or the current pop songs they covered. Committed, however, blew me away!
DeleteI love this post. I particularly love that you took the time to find his twitter alias and tag him in your tweet about this post. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteI have his tweets sent to my phone, even though he doesn't say much. When I woke up the morning this entry was posted, he had tweeted. I knew it was a good sign. Now every time someone from New York visits my blog, I get excited thinking it was him.
DeleteDon't say anything, let me keep my delusions.