"I always had an interest in drumming ever since I heard “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones when I was about 7.  I used to play with flyswatters and pots and pans when I was a kid and didn’t have sticks or a kit.  I played Suzuki method violin for a few years, and  lucky for me and my parents I joined school band in sixth grade and began playing snare, toms, and a drum kit after a sixth month stint on bells, xylophone, and percussion.  I mowed lawns for a long while, saved up $600, and bought a used Pearl export series for my first kit, and at 13 or 15, started playing Black Sabbath covers with a friend, and then a punk/hardcore band..."