Drummer (a short biography)
Five special guys, feeling good together… That’s what Patrick Carney, drummer
for the Black Keys, perceived in his mind’s eye one snowy February afternoon in 2009.
“Dan (Auerbach, vocalist/guitarist for the Black Keys) was leaving on tour to support his
solo record, and I wasn’t going to have anything to do for a while,” says Patrick of his
impetus to start this new band. He immediately established a psychic link with old friend
Jamie Stillman, better known as the drummer in both Columbus, Ohio’s hirsute
lumberjacks Teeth of the Hydra and Kent, Ohio’s popular art-school dweebs Harriet
the Spy.
Jamie liked the idea of a band dedicated to good feelings, and thought their
mutual pal Jon Finley, former drummer for Kent, Ohio’s legendary show-offs Party of
Helicopters (for which Jamie played guitar) and current singer/multi-instrumentalist for
Kent, Ohio’s lovable ne’er-do-wells Beaten Awake, might be interested as well. Via
three-way telepathic hook-up, Jamie and Jon discussed the plan with Stephen Clements,
drummer for Akron, Ohio’s blustery train-wreck Houseguest, knowing, as they did, that
few men were more skilled in the subtle science of feeling good.
Now Patrick had four of his intended five. Four drummers, not drumming. Patrick
would play bass, Jamie guitar, Jon would sing and play guitar, and Steve, keyboards. But,
now, who would drum the drums? What of a band of four drummers, without a fifth to
drum those drums? The answer appeared in a radiant fever vision, alighting gently upon
all four brains simultaneously: the perfect fifth for this proposed super-group was Greg
Boyd, late of Cincinnati, Ohio surf-rock band Ghostman & Sandman. Greg could and
would hit those drums (and rhythmically, no less) without hesitation.
Retreating to Patrick’s North Akron bunker, the band began writing furiously in
the hopes of releasing a record before the next winter set in. Engineering the recording
sessions was Ben Vehorn, whose credits include Love as Laughter, Licorice Roots,
Houseguest, and Other Girls. What emerged were eleven songs of classic, feel-good
rock, suitable for listening to while doing donuts with an ’86 IROC in the Dairy Queen
parking lot, or polishing off a six-pack on the local Par 3.
The five members of Drummer are your kind of people, and their debut album,
Feel Good Together, is your kind of music. It encapsulates the soul of Northeastern Ohio,
where, whether in reference to local sports, the local economy, or just trying to find one’s
place in the world, the phrases “almost, but not quite” and “better luck next time” are
applicable in perpetuity. But who cares? Not Drummer. If nothing else pans out,
hopefully we can, at least, say we had a good time. Whatever you need to do, it can
probably wait ‘til tomorrow. For now, put the record on, sit down, and let’s just feel
good. Together.
Drummer’s debut album, Feel Good Together, will be available September 29th
from Audio Eagle Records.
