Drummer Jojo Mayer likes to share his insight into music with others and witnessing the positive impact it has.
He’s known for creating a new style of drumming called reverse engineering drumming.
“Basically I reach out to recreate some of the rhythms and textures that I hear in electronic music, which are predominantly machine generated,” said Mayer in an e-mail. “The outcome usually doesn’t constitute of a perfect copy, but rather an interpretation or estimation which evokes a similar or the same effect as the original. Because I’m one of the first drummers that has been able to do this successfully I’ve been getting credit for creating a new genre of drumming.”
He said this has allowed him to consolidate his own playing style to the point where people recognize his as an authentic sound.
Mayer likes to explore different avenues beyond traditional playing.
“I believe in straying away from the pack has always been a good career move,” he said.
Mayer is the drummer for the band Nerve. He said when he creates beats for the music he takes a combination of a neurotic and a schizophrenic approach.
“The neurotic tendency usually aims for a certain specified idea that I envision and which I have in my head. But in the process to get this out of my head into the real word, this usually collides with a number of occurrences that are beyond my control,” he said. “This usually leads to accidents and unforeseen outcomes that are sometimes interesting and that I try to exploit. This process would reflect the schizophrenic approach. So the creative process is often a mixture between these two concepts. Not just with beats , but also with composition in general.
He leads a drum clinic May 9 at John Barsby Secondary School, hosted by Harbour City Music.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance from Harbour City Music or $35 at the door.