Neil Peart
INTERVIEW WITH Neil Peart on Hot Sticks Drum Show, transcript below.
Plus, see more about Neil Peart on the “Adventures of Power” Official Site.
Ari Gold
I'm Ari Gold. I'm here at drum channel with Neil Peart, who was my initial air drum teacher, when I was eight years old, he didn't know it, but I was air drumming to his music back then. And ultimately, I think he made me into a musician. And my first film is about air drummers. And so it was natural that I would want him to be in it. And it was incredible that he ended up being in this movie and helping me tell the story of what music means to people, whether they can hear whether they're deaf, or whether they can speak and don't know how to speak or whether they can play music or not.
And so we're we're here, at drum channel, talking about music, what it means to us, and also what it means to kids, and how great it can be if we can help support Music education for kids.
Neil Peart
And my part of the film came about through a lady at our office, Peggy sent me a note saying, This guy is making a movie about air drummers. And he wants you to be in it as the judge. And I'm thinking hmm, if I were asked to judge a real air drumming contest, I don't know if I would, so I thought, I don't think so. And then, but Peggy got has, she has a really good instincts for these kinds of things. I got a feeling about this guy, that it could be something good. And you might want to think about it a little more. So I thought, Okay, and finally, I thought why not. And so went to a studio in over in San Fernando Valley anyway, and showed up. And it was remarkable. I can only compare it to I've worked a couple of times with independent bands, trying to make an album on a shoestring. And what the amount of work, they could pack into a day, the amount of music they could pack into a day, because every minute was so valuable. And there wasn't time to experiment too much, they'd have an idea, let's try a little, you know, Bongo part over this. So you do it once, okay, wait, and it will do the job. And they need to move on and get the most amount of work done. And this film project was like this. And it was young people who were experienced enough to know what they were doing. But recently enough out of film, school, I think, to also have enthusiasm, not just for their craft, but for the project itself. And I think we did six or seven takes in, you know, half an hour basically finished one and set up and everybody was keen to be there. And it was quite a different thing. Of course, from from what a lot of wasteful experiences can be in front of a camera, even just filming a video where you spent three days to film, you know, four or five minutes song. So it was wonderful to see that spirit among the people working on this film that it was so much not only a labor of love for it's sparkplug Ari. But for everyone involved, it was something that they felt personally engaged with. So it turned out even the filming day was a great experience. And for anyone who hasn't seen the film, I come out at the end to reward Power with his giant check prize. So filming that and being a part of it was was a wonderful experience, even on the day. So it's something that's paid off. And I and I have become friends now have have found we have so many other things in common. So I'm just so glad that Peggy at our office had good instincts encouraged me to be involved,
Ari Gold
As am I, you talked about the it's being done on a shoestring and the movies being released on a shoestring as well. We're, we're totally independent. And I think when I was making the movie, I had this idea that I would finish it and I would sell it to one of the big boys and and then I would you know sit back and watch it you Happily ever after. Yeah. And in a way, I think the lesson of the movie karmically. It's kind of great that it repeats itself absolute with the release where it's like no, no, it's ultimately the responsibility of of the artists and you know, my friends and everyone who believes in the movie, including Drum Channel, there was a contest on drum channel to see if two air drum put yourself online and see if you could get a lot of views. And Chad Smith from chicken foot and Chili Peppers was air Drumming as well. And so, you know you if you wanted to link to his page, you would see how, you know see how you did and I ended up trouncing him and although I credit the band Tokyo Hotel that blogged about my movie for inexplicable reasons. But anyway, so I thought this is great that there's a channel that's doing a air drum competition and that's devoted to drummers and devoted to rhythm and and how
Neil Peart
A tail perseverance to at the time we shot that scene was at 2006 Yeah, late 06 when we did so three years ago, almost now. And at the time, we shot the scene that I was involved with, and I said okay, now I have to go raise the money to finish the film. Yeah. And like you said, at that time, it was not only like you had a budget to work from but you needed to earn the budget, even day to day yeah, as you were going and the tail of that being that long ago to is the struggle to get it not only finished but then out in the world. Yeah. Any person making music or writing words, or painting photography. Anyone knows, you know that to make that leap from creating your vision is one thing, but then to take that vision into another person's eyes or ears is a whole other stuff. And like you said, it is a remarkable parallel karma with the character.
Ari Gold
Yeah, the character thinks , the beginning, he thinks, Okay, if I just had a drum set, I would be a man. And, and then he learns that he already was, it's all here. And so, you know, what I said to myself, a few months ago, when I decided to stop waiting for Hollywood to release the movie for me, I said, You know what, I'm getting mail every day from people who love the movie, I'm getting mail from people who thought it was funny, I get emails from people who, who cried because they were moved by the story. Let me just work on releasing myself and the right people will come to me. And I think that's how I ended up with with Drum Channel, I ended up with people who, who understand what I'm doing. And I now have a whole team of volunteers all over the country, really, in every city in the States, and also people from around the world starting to hear about it too, who are saying, How can I help? How can I get the word out about the movie, and that's kind of a great thing. Because when I was first getting to Sundance with the rough cut, I was surrounded by people who I didn't really trust who wanted to work with me, I love your work, and you know, and then suddenly, the business was having some trouble. And our first screening didn't go so great. And, and all those people scattered , all the users scattered. And now everyone who's involved in the movie, everybody is in it for the right reasons. Because there aren't dollar signs at the end of it. You know, now it's really heart signs . Yeah, there's just heart signs. Exactly. And that is a that is a hard lesson to to learn for myself, because I think the side of me that was wanting to wanting to sell out, you know, is gone now. And now it's, I really just want the movie to connect with people and, and open myself up to let's see what happens. I have comic book artists wjp, you know, who are now doing cartoons for my blog, for free. I have all these artists and and people who want to do art and you know, offering their services to the movie, and yeah,
Neil Peart
some of us are sensitive to the real thing. You know, it's so obvious that like I said, with my association, by the way is okay, I get you know, it's all for real from our first exchange when we met,
Ari Gold
I broke my arm while I was shooting the movie, which is funny in retrospect that you break your arm doing an air drumming movie, but the first two doctors that I called the The receptionist did not retake the call, because they thought it was a prank caller. Because it was in New Jersey and like, Entourage is really popular in that area. And everyone was like, this is a prank. Yeah. And so I couldn't get medical attention. Really, I guess I was about to tell a story about about why it was so wonderful to work with you. But what music meant to me at an early age and long before I played anything, I have such a strong memory of putting on moving pictures for the first time, which was not my record. But it was my older sister's record and everything that came from her head a little bit of menace because it was those older people who might have tried cigarettes and stuff like that. But putting it on, I immediately felt something go through my body. And this is what eventually became the character of power and that music affects people's bodies. And they've done studies now of kids and music and found that kids who engage with music kids who do dance or, or learn to play music become better at math, they become better at all kinds of different things because the nerve system actually gets trained by music to understand.
Neil Peart
Yeah, musicologist Daniel Levitin is two books out now. But the first one this is your brain on music. And he's a neurologist at University of Montreal, and a musician producer comes from both disciplines and has traced all that and there's no activity that uses more of your brain and performing the or even listening the response to music. There's so many parts of your brain that are called into the appreciation and what you said the immediate physical response and Mickey Hart one of the Grateful Dead drummers had drumming at the edge of magic and he did it's the same thing as scholarly inquiry into rhythm and how it affects like from I guess from the age about three children can reproduce rhythm and feel rhythm and you know dancing and everything starts earlier but but the key the locking into period that comes along them and all the this the theory of entrainment he writes about where the if you put two analog alarm clocks beside each other, they will be in sync and 200 Beats sync. Yeah, yeah, they'll tick tock, it's easier for them to tick tock in sync. And the same, the theory of entrainment goes down to even two heartbeats, or why women in the same house synchronize their rental cycles and all that. But the two drummers grateful that they used to lock their arms for half an hour before the show to get their early entrainment going. So then the physical response to it, I had the same thing first hearing music as a kid. And I can remember that hearing singles at the time. And just feeling that rhythm was was absolutely my first response to music before malady. And growing up in the 60s I did everybody at school played something, it seemed like, you know, especially in with The Rock Revolution, the Beatles coming along in the 60s and all that, everybody, you know, there was six bands, six rock bands among my classmates, all playing together, everybody was a drummer, and everybody was a bass player and got all competitive like, and that too, but the engagement with music was total. And for me at that I started playing drums on my 13th birthday, my parents got me drum lessons. And the advice I always give to parents too, is, you know, they'll say, oh, I want to get my kid some drums. Which one should I get? I say well get a pair of sticks and a practice pad and lessons and see how it goes for a year. And if they're playing that practice better, like me, I'd spread magazines around my bed. And it would be Keith Moon Trump's, you know, pillows. Yeah, exactly, totally relates to the air drumming thing, I would make these wonderful drum sets out of magazines, and then beat the covers off them. But from my 13th birthday on and then I had lessons every Saturday I'm going to practice all week, and learn a sight reading and, and playing by ear both my teacher was great on that. But even at the lesson, we were just playing practice pad drums. I didn't play real drums for probably until after the first year. And then got a little three piece set. And I was talking with my dad the other day. And we were reminiscing about how he would take me up to my drum lessons on Saturdays, or I got him to meet me there one day because they had a set of gray ripple Rogers, I was all crazy for little drums a little 18 inch bass drum, 14 inch floor tom and 12 inch time, I'd stare at those Rogers drums every week at my lesson. And finally through my mom, I got my dad to show up there and talk about them, they were $750. And we my dad would cosign for the loan, if I made the payments. So I cut lawns and I worked at my dad's farm equipment dealership and everything to to pay that $33 a month, I still remember what the payment was all these years later, but I paid it off, I paid it off. And the if but if I ever broke ahead, or symbols, you know, terrible, but then I had a crack symbol and the guy at the music store gave credit gave me credit, as a teenager into this was like a step into the big world and trust that it gave me you know, and then paying that back as a matter of responsibility. And, and it was an urge to work to so I could buy that new symbol, you know, I would work for my dad during holidays or something to make that happen. But the transition in life of suddenly having that mission and then I played at the school variety show, and it went really well you know, and my parents were there and they were proud and the other kids were making a big fuss. And it was the first time I'd done anything that was cool, you know, and that brought me some respect them on the kids because I was, you know, kind of a brainy nerd. And you know, power knows. There's no coolness factor there. But after I did a drum solo at the variety show, and all the kids were buzzing about it. Suddenly, I had like an inch of cool in my life. And what a difference that made and then started playing in bands, it was the end of my scholastic career, unfortunately, because we just ended up band practice after school, or you'd skip school and go to the music store and talk about drums and talk about bands and all that stuff. It became a completely consuming culture through my teenage years. But so validating and all those ways. So and you could be creative in not that we knew those words when you're 1415. But it is what you're doing, you know, getting together with the other guys and learning songs learning to imitate, and figuring out how you're going to do something. The socializing aspect, you know, when you're in a band with four or five guys, your brother's, you know, however long it lasts, but that was such an important part of the period to and the instrument and the sense of community, and the validation of performing and learning and getting better. All of that stuff. There's sport. I didn't have that in sports. And I suppose that might be for some case,
Ari Gold
some people do have it in sports, obviously. But like you said, you know, music does have a specific way of affecting the brain and the soul as well. doesn't have that I don't think Yeah. Well, we neither of us grew up with with heavy sports in our lives. So we can say that I'm sure there are people who would slap us. Yeah. But you know, after finishing the first cut of adventures of power and premiering at Sundance, I went to Guatemala with my ukulele. And as one does, as one does, I had to go
Neil Peart
I went to go out with my ukulele.
Ari Gold
Well, I wish I could say it was out of relaxation, but I just actually had to get away from the film world. I had to get away from certain reviews that were haunting me. And, you know, I hadn't yet learned To ignore reviews,
Neil Peart
the author Tom Robbins gave me the best advice. He said, I stopped reading reviews early on, because if I believe the good ones, I'd have to believe that yes, I follow that yes, I never write ever review,
Ari Gold
I have learned that lesson. Now, I did not know that at that point. But
Neil Peart
there had to be a school, there are each of these lessons, the hard way, we're collecting knowledge, collecting experience and passing it along. It's don't ever read your reviews don't read,
Ari Gold
you know, going to these small towns with a ukulele instantly, I will be surrounded by kids who wanted to learn something they wanted to, they wanted to know how this little instrument worked. They wanted to try it they and seeing the kind of excitement that that this $30 piece of wood with nylon on him had on these kids made me realize, again, the power of music, and I talked to teachers in these towns were saying, oh, you know, it's tough to get the kids to, to focus. And, you know, we're way understaffed, and, you know, I'd see these schools with hundreds of kids and, you know, 10 teachers now. And I thought, you know, if we could just get ukuleles into all these schools,
Neil Peart
you know, lately for every pair of hands, but seriously, on trade, too. I've traveled a lot in Africa. And of course, in West Africa, particularly the drum is the language. And it brought me into many wonderful encounters with people in these places. And in the city of Salvador in Brazil, is where the Brazilian Olodum the Brazilian marching drums on that Paul Simon album, rhythm of the saints. This is the town where all that is born and you walk down the street and you hear drums over here drums are here, a drum corps it's it's a Brazilian flavor on marching drums, of course, has a whole other rhythmic input in it.
Ari Gold
But it works on the lower spine instead of well, it's
Neil Peart
got all those so much different counterpoint, and syncopation going on, but it's still draws from our American marching bands. So it's wonderful what happens there. But to walk down the street and hear it all around you coming from this room up here, and African villages are the same. You take a walk through a village in the night, you don't hear TV sets, you don't hear radios, because they don't have any, but they have drums, and I had experienced like that of hearing drums coming from a compound and going inside and having a wonderful encounter of playing with the local drummer. And there was a young Irish missionary, their teenage kid, and he'd been trying to learn, and the African master had been like grabbing his hands basically trying to get him to play a rhythm. And he just couldn't. So finally, as absolutely, you're watching, give me a try. And then we're playing away. And the the Guinea and rover and myself were playing back and forth, and back and forth, and all the kids crowd and start dancing. And all the women are looking the window howling with laughter, to see a white man playing a drum. You know, this does not happen every day in this little village. But it was this amazing experience. At the end of it, we ended in floods of sweat, the trauma, and we did, you know, got matched together and walk and just ended and laugh laughing You know, by that point. And all the kids are laughing and the moms are laughing and it was this joyous scene. And then the poor Irish missionary says, do that. I'm in the business. But yeah, what it can make in young people into and some parents and teachers, I suppose get too strict about is you must play the piano or you must play the violin, I think is apparent really just play something. And if they play a piano for a while and get bored, we'll play guitar. And if you get bored, we'll try violin try.
Ari Gold
You know, the the point is not to be encouraging,
Neil Peart
But not forceful about it. And you can get that kind of relation going where the kids feel like they have a choice, right. But at the same time they have a voice. You can't buy that.
Ari Gold
But it's doesn't always speak and
Neil Peart
I am big Pentameter coming soon. But that that is the beautiful thing to say. Yeah, and I've been involved in with schools. And a lot of times what I'll do is, of course, my warehouse gets packed with drums and cymbals and things people send me to try, and I feel bad about them going away. So I'll find a school that needs them and send them over and they might all be mismatched samples that you know come from the factory or something like that, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And I was able to put together like six drum sets just out of odds and sods and send them over to the school. So you can imagine what a difference that make because they had a drumming department of several dozen kids with two drum sets. So that's frustrating too especially drum sounds quite elaborate to have but if obviously piano you know, for a family to afford a piano. So if that can be done through the school or encouraging different instruments not making the kids think you have to play this instrument that you Hey, find find something you like
Ari Gold
a lot of parents who want their kids to be into music or start pushing them towards being prodigies. The point is not to make a prodigy The point is to to connect a kid with the joy of music and trusting that that is going to affect Kids choices whether or not they ever play music again,
Neil Peart
absolutely not. And not to become a professional musician. I know so many people who are beloved amateurs, true amateurs, lovers of music in that way, and work, whatever they have to do to make a living, but play part time in cover bands and weekends, and get all the joy of music. Without the professional responsibilities, I suppose like that does equate to sports, people who love to play baseball or hockey can keep playing, you know, you don't need to become a professional in music. Likewise, it enriches your life, because it enriches your understanding. For some people, music can be a solace, a place to go when you're sad. You know, a lot of people take refuge in music. And yeah, I've done that myself. If you're feeling alone, the one song you just play over and over again, that consoles you. So it can be even as simple as that, but the inspiration of it too. And like you talked about the physical response to music, the adrenaline, glandular response in music to all that can be part of a young person's knowledge. And it's like getting an appreciation of any art really, it's gonna enrich your whole life, it doesn't mean you have to grow up to be a painter.
Ari Gold
Right? Exactly. Well, that's what a lot of parents or schools end up thinking is like, well, we need to make scientists so we're cutting, you know, we're gonna cut the budget somewhere. So let's cut the music budget because we don't need to make more musicians. That's not the point. The point of music in schools is to create a whole person that can make a choice to be a scientist,
Neil Peart
you know what they're not supposed to be. They're supposed to be teaching them how to learn in a lot of ways. And I equate it to like high school English, certain novels. And Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was ruined for me forever dissecting by your teacher. Yeah. Because you have a certain novels were too they you because you have to go that deep into all that stuff. And then that just teaches you to learn and teaches you the next time you can read it on your own. And now they're all the other Shakespeare plays. I really love what, just that one was ruined, and, and certain novels were ruined. But what a valuable exchange, you know, yes, I had to just dissect that one, to death for months, and learn all this stuff that seemed kind of boring, and pointless to me at the time. But it became a foundation like music can become that, well, it enriches you, as a person, like you said, your character, your sensibility is forever, Richard, by that
Ari Gold
talk about language, actually, that kids who learn multiple languages at a young age become much more able to take on third, fourth, fifth languages later on. And I think music has a similar effect on development. For me, you know, taking this idea of someone who was denied music, and turning it into the source for a movie, for me does have a spiritual significance because A, there are a lot of people out there who were denied music, but in a deeper level, everyone feels that they're denied something in life. And so much of what drives people in a way that I think is problematic spiritually is this idea that there is something out there that they need to make them complete. And this is a movie about somebody who learns that the heartbeat is the center of everything. The heartbeat is where music comes from. The heartbeat is where rhythm comes from. The heartbeat is where drums come from. And he has the drum dimension breathing. Breathing comes from breathing is important, too. It's true. It's true. I recommend it. Breathing is impossibly for me air drumming is a is a way of saying it's sort of a parable about what you can do with nothing.
Neil Peart
Yeah, it would be the memorable phrase that our uses is marched to the beat of your own drum, even if you don't have one. Yeah.
Ari Gold
So it's a it's a cautionary tale, but I guess what about what happens if you don't have something but it also is maybe telling people that tale of redemption? Yes, you can find the drums within yourself. But how much sweeter if a kid can get the drums for real?
Neil Peart
So now we're going to go into the drum channel studio, and we're going to change how to do a
Ari Gold
special guest that's going to be coming from Yeah, from
Neil Peart
The star of Adventures of Power. And we're gonna have a duet of drums and air
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