Tim Stopulos

We rehearse constantly. We rehearse so much because we want each of our parts literally burned into our brains (aka branded into our cerebrums) so that when we perform it's as easy and natural as walking or breathing. A musician's biggest fear is forgetting his parts. Of course, with enough practice you can be essentially in total control. The one thing that a musician can't control is their equipment. You can be well prepared, but eventually guitar strings break, drumsticks break, pics fall out of hands, these are all pretty common and we're used to them. I wasn't ready for what happened Saturday night at Martyrs'.

I'm set up, ready to go, sound checked and Tim says "Ok. You ready?" "Ready!" I go into the intro beat to 'Count Me In', our opening song. Suddenly, my hi hat slams shut.

Drum Workshop 101: The hi hat is the pair of cymbals that are on top of each other and open and close with a rod connected to a pedal. The top cymbal of the hi hat is clutched to the rod by a screw that can be adjusted, giving the drummer full control of the distance between the two cymbals. Sometimes that screw comes loosened a little bit. Usually, that's no biggie.
You just give it a half turn and you're back in action.

For some ungodly reason, mine unscrewed and flew off of the rod. I'm thinking, "OMG. We're 2 measures into this song, my hi hat is closed, I have no idea where the screw is, and there's no break after this song, we're going straight into 'Lie To Me'. Can I wait two songs?? There's no way, I absolutely need it for both of these songs. What am I going to do?!" My mind is racing. "What if I don't find it? I'll have to borrow one from the other drummer. What if it doesn't fit?" Of course, I'm thinking all this while playing and frantically looking on the floor for it. Thanks to nothing short of a miracle I spot it in front of my kit on the floor.

"Ok," I think. "The breakdown of the song is coming. I have 8 measures to jump up, go to the front of my kit, grab it, go back to my kit, screw it in, and resume playing." So I grab it and run back behind my kit and my hands are shaking while I'm fumbling to screw it back in. For a moment I think "ABORT! Just play! Get it after Lie To Me!" Unbelievably, I got it in just in time and finished the song.

'Lie To Me' rocked the house. I needed to let loose after that stressful version of 'Count Me In''. My arms we're flailing, I was just rocking out. Now that I felt much better, it was time to go into 'Normal'.

A few measures into 'Normal' I realized that my utter rocking during 'Lie To Me' has pushed my bass drum off a little bit and my pedal became completely unlatched from my bass drum! Are you kidding me?! My foot was barely hanging on to the loose bass pedal while I was playing but somehow I make it through. Song ends, I readjust. We're all good. For now...

'Professional' is next and halfway through the song I realize the mic stand for my toms is slowly dropping down in between my toms so that it's in my way, which it continues to do throughout the set after adjusting it in between songs.

The audience request song of the night was "As" by Stevie Wonder. This song features tamborine through the first half of the song. Luckily for me, I have a mounted tamborine that I can play. Fittingly, the tambourine is slowly moving down on my mount and threatening to sit on top of my hi hat for the remainder of the song. Thankfully, she stayed put.

Finally, the rock gods showered me with their mercy, and 'Malaga', 'After You' (our new song, world debut!), and 'Too Close' closed out our set equipment problem free.

Never in my life have I had this many problems in a set before. I guess it was just one of those nights.

Thanks to everyone who came out. Your support means the world to us and you guys were so much fun!

See you soon. Keep an eye on the tour dates section of this page for a show near you!