DRUMMER CAFE

The other day, I was talking with someone and they said that the other guys in my band have their own sorta "image" onstage.  They also said that I don't!  And I realized they are right.  On stage, I don't have an image of any kind.  

So I was wondering what kind of image everyone here likes to portray to the audience on stage.  Glasses? Special Contacts,etc.

Try videotaping yourself drumming. It really helped me. I was amazed at how awful I looked, but I was able to immediately correct my flaws.

In my case, I saw that I looked down too much and I made some pretty alarming faces. Also chewing gum made me look like a goat eating a tire. I was the opposite of cool.

The good part is, as soon as I saw that tape I stopped doing all that stuff. Quick fix.

I was never into the hats, glasses, flashy clothing to make myself different from every body else in the band. Attitude is something else. Everyone has their own attitude and I think you should show just that. Your every own attitude. Don't put up a false front to impress people, that usually does just the opposite of what you are trying to do. People often get turned off by that false front. Be your self, that's the person they're going to be dealing with after the gig.

My now former band (on good terms) would get on me about this all the time.  I could care less about image.  I wear whatever feels good and I do my thing.  That's my image.  Being me.  Anything else is just fake and has no point.  But that's just me.  

With my original bands, I merely use my amazing personality (hehe).

When I'm filling in for the 80s tribute band, everybody dresses like Duran Duran with wigs and leopard print scarves. But we're getting paid to do that.

Depends on the situation.

Well, we are pretty strict about image.  You can either wear a black shirt or a Tshirt with our logo.  What I did was trim up my sleeves and neckline and then I sport some "bling bling" *not really* to set me apart.

I wear contacts or sometimes I wear my fruity austin powers glasses.  I have been taking to an ash blonde wig that looks pretty kick ass but it's hot on stage.  I like wigs and would like to get some in different colors and styles.

I wish I had my own makeup artist and hair dresser so I could get freshened up every set *seriously* but usually I just put corn starch powder *organic, better for you than talc based powder* to cut the shine down from my face.  It also keeps your skin from getting sticky/oily- I hate that.

I don't wear eye liner or lipstick- don't worry.  I don't have earings but I like to wear a watch when I play.  I chuck and spin sticks when I play, hopefully it's not cheesy and I try to do it smoothly and quickly.  I like to look like I'm really killing my drums but in reality I'm not hitting them that hard!  I sometimes *well a few times a set* use the "captain caveman" third joint fulcrum grip- that's my trade mark he he he.  I prefer very thin stands so the cymbals move when I crash them- looks awesome.

Let's see, what else?  I guess you will have to see me some time.

I should and have been thinking about a couple more tattoos.  Maybe in 06.

At 57, it's getting hard to have much of a rock and roll image.  Gray hair just doesn't do it for the most part.

I like to wear bright shirts for the most part, and generally make it a rule to dress a step or two better than the audience whenever possible.  I spin my sticks occasionally, and try to act like I'm having fun, which usually isn't difficult.

Whatever you do, if it's not natural people will sense it.

Usually, just me.  Sometimes sunglasses.  Sometimes a baseball cap.  Because I'm old, I wear my baseball cap frontwards, not backwards.  Apparently this changed as I grew older, now they are worn backwards (imho), and even sideways.  Jeez.

My narcissistic link

i tend to go for hats...either caps, novelty hats etc

something to be remembered by cos otherwise the punters only remember the lead guitarist and the singer

Way back during the peak years of the disco era (very late '70's) my band, at that time, was 2 guitars, bass, myself and female lead singer. We called ourselves Whiskers & Lace. We all wore either moustaches, beards or both. I wore beard w/o the 'stache. Miss Sandi wore the lace, naturally, lots of lace. Though most of us did not care for much of the music during this phase we were very tight because we believed in our musicianship and enjoyed ourselves onstage. I do recall a few numbers we performed that I did like - Disco Inferno was my favorite.