PERCUSSION Mark Miller
[ WM ] Tell us about how you got started playing percussion ?
[ Mark Miller ] I haven ’ t had many inexplicable God moments , but for some reason at 10 years old , I remember walking down main street in a small town and asking my parents if I could play . I had no drumming influence and minimal music influence . I didn ’ t even know what a snare drum was , much less a drum set . Starting that week , I took lessons nonstop , studying snare / kit and eventually percussion . I did the percussion major and jazz major thing in college . Forty years later , my main teacher from the St . Louis Symphony now comes to hear me play at church . How cool is that ? What an honor !
[ WM ] Who were your main percussion influences ?
[ Mark ] Percussion : Evelyn Glennie , Nexus , Alex Acuna , Micky Hart , Stomp . Drummers : Vinnie Colaiuta , Steve Gadd , Neil Peart ( my jammin ’ days ), to name a few .
[ WM ] Do you do any drums and percussion session work ?
[ Mark ] Anymore , I primarily record for the StikYard projects . I moved to Nashville years ago to give that a shot ( I still have a house there ), but oddly enough , the StikYard concept at the church in St . Louis began at the same time . I ’ ve always been more passionate about StikYard .
And FYI , since it ’ s nearly impossible to write our parts out , given the nature of our instruments , we video record the sessions so each player can learn his part .
[ WM ] Tell us about how the concept for StikYard started ?
[ Mark ] In 2001 , I was the in-house drummer
and was given the opportunity at my church in St . Louis to add percussion to a cool Drummer Boy track that the Music Director wrote . I asked myself what I would want to see and hear ? I tend to get somewhat bored at concerts , but I am riveted by the visual arts , like Cirque Du Soleil . Without being terribly analytical about it , I placed timpani in the four corners of the auditorium , played up thru the isles up to the stage , borrowed marimbas and such , and the rest is history . Little did I know , what began as one song would grow , by popular demand , over the next 10 years into a full show called Drummer Boy that drew crowds of over 40k . Since then , we ’ ve figured out how to travel those crazy contraptions and drums . That is called StikYard .
In addition , I was blessed with awesome parents that fostered a great environment to build my imagination . I played and played , mostly outside ; hence “ StikYARD ”. To this day , I may not realize how much the choreography , and certainly the strange contraptions we build , was born out of a playful imagination . In short , I never grew up . Can I go outside and play now ?
[ WM ] It has grown into an entire team itself to present your music . What is your approach to on-ramping volunteer musicians and others ?
[ Mark ] I am super blessed to have such a great team of very skilled drummers . But , it started out with any volunteer who could count to 4 . I don ’ t know who was running tech then , because I had them all on stage .
I don ’ t know , hitting stuff is different . People relate to that differently than a band of guitars or whatever . The joke became “ everyone ’ s a drummer ”. While that was cynically spoken since most people stunk , there seemed to be enough truth in it to be able to round up enough talent to make it work . Ultimately though , the parts became way more intricate , and the better players gradually got their buddies involved . Blind auditions were not very helpful .
We mostly integrate into other churches or organization ’ s services or shows . Therefore , most musicians are already in place , although we often just use our tracks . However , we bank on volunteer stagehands , as the show is completely choreographed . Thankfully , most churches or tech teams we work with already have that in play , at least on some level , but rarely to the degree of what we do . You have to vet the hands somewhat to make sure their personality fits into the big machine . And having a good stage manager is key in determining how smoothly things will flow . That ’ s an appreciated find !
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