Canadian Musician - September/October 2020 | Page 32

PHOTO: MIKE OKSMAN
VOCALS
Jeremy Drury is a multi-instrumentalist based in Hamilton, ON. Best known as the drummer of Juno-winning group The Strumbellas,
Jeremy headed to Toronto’s Lincoln County Social Club and, with John Dinsmore at the engineering helm, recorded his self-produced debut.
Influenced from many years of playing in Toronto’s club scene with indie, alt-rock, folk, and punk groups, Company Store is a true melting
pot of genres. The brand-new solo album is out now. www.jeremydrury.com.
By Jeremy Drury
From Behind the Kit to
Behind the Mic
There’s a clip of the band doing
group vocals in the video for The
Strumbellas’ “The Bird That Follows
Me” from late 2010 where I’m clearly
holding a beer in my hand. I look
back at this and think about some of the vocal
duties I’ve been called upon to perform with
the band, and what started out as shouting
“Hey!” a few times eventually transformed into
both melodic and harmonic contributions
both on record and live, where holding a beer
while performing feels like it’s now the last
thing I’d want to do…
From the Background…
Doing backup and group vocals can be a very
forgiving endeavour. With the goal of not
having a single voice stick out and a mixer
or producer at the helm guiding the group
as a whole, it creates an environment that
allows (and sometimes encourages!) a bit of
sloppiness in both timing and pitch to get
the desired effect. The recording process
sees multiple layers and passes of the same
section that, when blended together, give The
Strumbellas their signature gang vocal sound.
For a drummer like myself, with little vocal
experience outside my home recordings, it was
a very comfortable place to be. My confidence
found solace in the herd, hidden from view of
the onlooking predator.
While you’d always see me at the back of
the stage singing along, it wasn’t until we eventually
moved to in-ears while touring Hope in
2016 that I decided it was time to stick a mic in
front of me. Being able to hear both the band
and my own voice was next to impossible with
a wedge monitor when also two feet from a
drum kit. The in-ears, combined with having a
great monitor engineer help to get a file set up
for me, gave me a bit more of that confidence
I was lacking. While there was something of a
learning curve to figure out how and when I was
going to be able to contribute vocally while focused
on the primary function of playing drums,
it was a fun challenge that started to fall into place
over a few gigs.
Previously, because I had no mic, I’d just be
doing my own thing before a gig while others
did vocal warmups. It quickly became apparent
that I needed to start getting into that routine
with the rest of the band. It really wasn’t
a surprise that there is, in fact, a big difference
between singing into the air with no concern
for pitch, and making it through even three
songs while maintaining any type of control
over pitch, breathing, and simply trying not
to blow your voice to shreds.
…to the Forefront
Not only did the vocal warmups prepare me
for gigs; they also started helping push my
range, as some of the exercises were designed
to stretch the comfort a touch. It’s really quite
telling, going through those warmups and
getting a sense of where your body is at –
knowing if I was hydrated enough, if I’d had
enough sleep, or was generally calm and
feeling low stress. These things all started
to show themselves in the warmups, the
performances themselves, and my ability to
talk with fans after a gig. This experience has
been a great eye-opener as I start exploring
my solo career, where I’m faced with my voice
being the upfront centre of focus.
Not being blended into group or gang vocals
has been such a great exercise in being
exposed. There’s no hiding. There’s no trailing
off at the end of a phrase. There’s no singing
softer to “save” a voice that’s been pushed too
hard, and there’s certainly no room for fumbling
with lyrics.
I’ve very much found that, just like with
drums, there’s a big element of muscle memory
involved, and that regular exercise makes
such a huge difference between being able
to perform a song or two before the burnout
starts to set in, and still feeling limber and loose
after a full set.
When it came time to record vocals for my
own album, the additional challenge of trying
to match my vocals with the music stylistically
presented itself. I wanted to dig in a bit more
on songs that called for a bit of grit and back
off for a softer touch on the ballad. This truly
tested my range and ability far beyond what
I’d been called on for in the past.
I made sure I was starting my days with
the warmups, then the “softer” tracks, then
took on the more challenging parts nearing
the end of the day, when my voice was both
adequately loose and pushing myself too far
wasn’t going to burn the day if I needed to
stop. Learning when to stop was also extremely
important. Again, just like any other instrument
or working out specific muscle groups, rest is
very important.
As I begin my journey that takes me out
from behind the drum kit, I feel the work I’ve
done on my vocal performances with The
Strumbellas has given me a great boost in
both confidence and ability. Like drums, or
any other instrument for that matter, there
will always be room for improvement, and I
know I’ve got a lot of work to do to get to a
place I want to be vocally. I try to work at it
every day, and while the growth can be hard
to discern from one day to the next, looking
back at that old footage with beer in hand
(and a glass of water sitting next to me as I
write this now!), I know I’m already in a better
place both mentally and physically.
32 CANADIAN MUSICIAN