From Jazz Basements To Stand-Up Stages: A Drummer’s Journey Into Comedy And Craft with Eric Haft

A packed ballroom. A tired drummer. A stranger rolls down his window and asks if he’s leaving. That quick parking-lot chat sends Eric Haft—lifelong musician, jazz obsessive, student of Al Miller, Jim Chapin, and Keith Copeland—onto a stage with nothing but a mic and a pulse. What follows is a rare, unfiltered look at how rhythm shapes far more than music, and why the first laugh can feel like the cleanest downbeat of your life.

We swap stories from a childhood steeped in Miles and Max Roach to the humbling shock of elite peers who force you to rebuild your hands, ears, and ego. Eric explains how singing standards, learning forms, and listening to Sinatra sharpened his pocket more than any lick ever did. Then the conversation pivots: a stand-up class turns fear into craft. We break down set structure, timing, crowd work, and how a seven-minute act stretches into a headlining hour through writing, reps, and ruthless editing. Along the way, we get real about club dates, volume wars, and why “play it like the record” can smother the art if you stop listening.

If you’ve ever wondered what makes a drummer hireable—or a comic memorable—this talk draws the map. We dig into mentors and residencies, booking mechanics, theaters vs. clubs, and the quiet power of choosing gigs for either the art or the fee. The throughline is simple and hard: serve the song, serve the room, know your why. Groove still wins, and so does honesty.

Hit play if you care about feel over flash, story over shtick, and craft that crosses disciplines. If it resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves drums or stand-up, and leave a quick review to help more curious listeners find us.

Transcript

Meeting Eric: Drummer And Comedian

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Okay, this is episode 13 of On Drums. I am John Stimioni. I have my friend today. Well, sort of my friend, we're not really friends yet. We only met one time, my friend Eric Haft, who is a drummer slash comedian, slash other things, right? Yeah. And um we we seem to have a lot in common. We've just been talking before that if we started this here. Thanks for having me, by the way. I'm intrigued by the drummer slash comedian thing, you know, because uh yeah, I guess most drummers are fun. We have to be funny, you know. It's like it's a fight or flight thing, I think, for drummers, you know.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Drummers are funny pe i there's something to it.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Yeah, because drummers because I guess it's from hitting stuff all the time, you know. It's like you lose your mind or something happened. I don't I don't know. I mean, what's with all that banging? Right, you know, it's a lot. That's right, yeah. Um so unfortunately, you and I met at a friend of ours, uh Memorial Service, our friend Chris Carberry.

Musical Upbringing And Early Influences

SPEAKER_00 1:05

But that this came out of it, so it's it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

I've been hearing your name for years, uh Nick Ambrosino. You know, in the in the music world, you know, you hear the the guys that you that you want to check out and respect. Right. So so how what fill me in here. You you know I have a weird life.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Uh well.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

So yeah, I mean listen, my my family's uh very musical family. My brother's a professional musician, went to University of Miami. Oh he was uh he's four years older than I was, which I was very fortunate to have a a a very you know an accomplished uh so he's a pianist and a vocalist. And I started playing at eight. So we kind of started at the he started late for for you know a piano player. I started pretty young, started taking lessons right away, um, and then uh sort of uh had the advantage of having a brother who I always had could play with. My dad played clarinet.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Oh, that's cool. So music in your in your own.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Lots of music, but like music. I I I never was a drummer, you know, like I never thought of drums um as like being a drummer because I was just music. It was always music going on. I and I was kind of an old soul. I I was listening to, you know, Miles at a very young age and and trying like trying to I remember sitting in my basement trying to keep up with like Max Roach and Philly Joe Jones and going, I could never I'll never be able to do this.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

There's no way I'll never be able to do it.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

You know, here I am at 10 years old trying to play like a ride symbol pattern and keep up with these guys and forget about the brakes and the trading force. You know, but I did have the advantage of having a brother who every night we'd go down and he'd be playing all the stuff on the radio and and playing tunes that were also, you know, like he was a big RB guy, so I was forced to just play, you know, play along and do the best I could.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

So you guys played together, you played played in your basement. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Your parents must have it was it was nonstop, you know, from the time I got home, then my brothers playing upstairs at the piano upstairs, then he'd come down and have the the Forfisa, if you remember Forfisa organ, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

It was like the sixties, right? Was it the seventies?

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Well, yeah, seventies, right? So like I started playing, you know, like yeah, so like seven mid seventies, seventy-five, seventy-six.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

And um and yeah, so like the music was always around. My uncle was was a drummer, you know, like uh sort of uh the old club date guy.

SPEAKER_03 3:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Who uh had his own club day come, you know, when they when they were really booming.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

That's yeah, I mean it was booming up until I don't know, like, ten years ago or something.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Yeah, but I'm I'm talking booming in the in the 50s, 60s, 70s.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

When everybody was doing gigs, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

And they were, you know, he had his own office, and the guy, you know, he was actually a decent drummer.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

He had an Zoom up. What was your office?

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Um it was like uh he was a fake name, like as you know, it was Bob Half. Oh, yeah. But it was like, you know, I forgot what they call Bob Ross. It was him and this other, you know, and they were partners and and they made a living doing this stuff. And that was kind of but very he was a musical guy, you know, he could sing. And and that's what happened with me. I started my brother kind of forced me to start singing because you know, it's like, hey man, I need someone to do backgrounds. And uh so w uh sh long story short, he winds up going to Miami, graduates with a j jazz vocal uh and arranging uh sort of uh you know, major. I go I go there four years later, and when he leaves, I go for studio music and jazz because I just, you know, I wanted to do what he did. For a jazz studies program, right? Yeah, Steve Rucker, who's actually still there. Um and just I I didn't graduate. I wound up like staying for two years and coming back. Right. I just I some personal guys in my school graduated.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

All the guys who were great, I mean they were there was so many like Joel Dave, um, there was I don't know if you know Fred Vigtor. Fred's playing with uh uh who did pick up the pieces? Um yeah, yeah. Um my god. I can't they got it in the name. I don't know. Anyway, they're all they're all doing unbelievable gigs, you know, and they just were in Bridgeport to be close to New York. You know, that's kind of

Teachers, Mentors, And Being Humbled

SPEAKER_00 5:20

like that's what happens. You want to do it? They got a free ride because the guy who was recruiting for the jazz band saw these guys, got them tuition or whatever, and got them a lot of money off, they got close to New York. David was from St. Louis, Joel's from Verona, New Jersey, you know, and they they were all there playing together. I thought it was normal. I was like, I went from being the best drummer in in high school to the absolute worst drummer in Bridgeport, you know, in in a two-month time. It's insane.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Yeah. I got to Miami and I thought I w I knew something. Yeah, so did I. I thought I knew something, and I was surrounded by guys that are, you know, just monsters, you know, that that spent their life woodshedding, you know, day in, day, day out. And um and look, I was very fortunate to start early. Studied with Al Miller when I was really young.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

You got Al Miller's book right there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

I studied with Al Miller. Matt Miller was here.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Oh, was he? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Oh, Matt's a great guy. Yeah. So like I would go to his house. My dad would drive me to Al's. Sure, he's a basement. Oh my gosh. You know, and Al hated me. I always I joke with it. I joked with Alan. In my mind, you know, as a kid, he was this serious guy.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I I loved Al.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

I know, but it wasn't until later when I I started to take it more seriously. I think I came off as a wise ass kid who kind of like because I I had a lot of natural ability. You know, I was playing a lot of stuff with people that were older than me. I was comfortable doing it. And I was already doing club dates when I was like 13, and that's when I was studying with him. So here he is teaching me stuff, and he's like, this kid's a little cocky for for someone who and I think he just and but I wasn't a serious guy, you know, student. Right. I at that time. I just wasn't I you know, my dad would drag me there because I had to do it. And he I didn't realize I was studying with a guy who was really had his act together.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

It was such a he was and Matt's the same way. Matt's like a carbon clone of his soft spoken, yes. Sweetheart. In fact, I was telling Matt when he was here, I used to go do into my lesson with Al come out in the little waiting room there, and they him and his brother would be playing on the pads, and they were like killing me. They were like great. I was like, oh man, I know. You know, it was depressing. Yeah, it was like a lot of 'cause they have a younger brother too.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

They had a younger brother too. Maybe yeah, I forget his name. And they were monsters, you know, and that was their life was to, you know, you're your your dad's Al Miller, you're gonna have good hands, right? Yeah. So that helped me a lot. Al actually got me on a path to like s ri actually, you know, getting my my chops together because I had never worked on technique or anything like that. And then eventually, you know, Dom Famular, you did the Long Island thing. You I I studied with Dom, I studied with Jim Chapin for a a few years and and then went to college, you know. Studied with Keith Copeland, which who had a profound effect on me actually. When I came back from Miami, I was just like in need of something. And I and I stumbled upon uh Bill Goodwin. I don't know if you know Bill played with uh with uh oh I'm losing it.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Um here we go.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Yeah, I'll tell you, this is the age, you know. Uh but alto player, uh I'll think of it. But yeah, and then uh Keith Copeland, who uh uh is a disciple of Alan uh Alan uh see, we're doing it again. Yeah. Um but yeah, so it's kind of like that whole uh you know got me serious about like my independence and music.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

So you're uh you came out of college with what degree? I mean you went to college for music, so yeah. So bachelor's and bachelor's music. Yeah, what? So you now you're just a full full-time player.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

That's oh well, that's what I did, but I got married very young. Okay. So I actually said, hey, you know, I gotta get serious here. I was doing a lot of music, club dates, of course, at that point. Teaching. I was teaching for uh private lessons. I was gonna kind of do that. It really wasn't in my blood. I love doing it. Um and then uh I just started a business because at my my summer job, believe it or not, I learned how to fix this is it's gonna add a left field. I learned how to fix air conditioners. Like really it's it sounds crazy. I was like a helper. When I was a kid, I I would just my my parents were you gotta make money. And I I started like being a helper, you know, working and and fixing uh, you know, wall air conditioners. I was the guy who would take them apart and clean them and this. And so I knew how to do some stuff, and I got married young. I was like 24 years old and I was married. So I had to kind of get serious. So I I split my life in half, and you know, it's a lot of regret. I think everybody's got their version of what they regret. And it it's for me, it was that, you know, I I I I took music so seriously for so long, but then I had I took my other brain took over and I was like, Oh, I have to be serious.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Well, I mean that's the exact same thing. Almost the exact same thing happened to me. Because I didn't I got a teaching degree and I I really wasn't gonna get a teaching degree, but I loved college. And my dad said to me I graduated with a performance degree. And then my dad said, All right, if you stay and get your education degree, I will pay for an extra year. And I loved it there. So I was like, great. I was in RA for the fifth year and I stayed there, and so many all my friends were there, and then I got a teaching degree, and then uh I I became a teacher, and then you know, the same thing. Like I I got married initially at the same age. I was twelve, I was twenty or five or something with my first wife. And I was like, Well, I gotta have a health insurance, man. So I had to do that, I had to do the teaching thing. And but it wasn't my plan, and my friend Joel, I th I I love this guy. He he's the he's the only person who ever said to me, uh We're talking Joel Rosen. Joel Rosenhard. Oh, okay, yeah.

Balancing Music, Marriage, And Day Jobs

SPEAKER_00 10:55

He's the only person who ever said to me, I I had a p I had a choice to make and I could have gone either way. I could have gone his way or the way I went. You know, and you can't say that about everybody. Some people, no matter how much they want to go the one way of playing, they just it's not gonna happen for them. Exactly. You know, and I I I made a choice, and you know, it's a little choice of choices, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:20

I mean I I've I there were years where I I I just regretted it, and I and Regted, you regretted what? Oh, leaving Miami was one thing because uh and it was there were you know, there were there was a woman involved that was one of the reasons I wanted to. It was a woman, yeah. And I left, but then I would have never met my wife. You look you could go down these crazy paths. But hey, you know what? Music has been such a huge part of my life, no matter what. So like I was a purist. I was a guy who was like, I didn't want to I didn't want to teach. I it wasn't uh I look back and I say, What are you an idiot, you know? You could have been retired already or something like that. It wasn't about that. It was I just wanted to play the music that I love to play with the people, you know, at a high level as much as I could, which I I really I got fortunate. I hooked up um I was at Dallin College and this new guy came, his name was Sonny Dallas. I don't know if you remember Sonny. Sonny Dallas. He was crazy. He seems like a comedian. Yeah, Sonny Dallas, great world-class, upright bass player. And he took me under his wing when I came back to New York, and he was playing with Lee Konetz, he's on famous albums of with Elvin Jones and uh, you know, uh everybody, you know, like world class, he played with everybody, and and he kind of liked me, he saw some talent there, but I wasn't like a legit player, I didn't have the people to play with. So I came back to New York, started playing with him, and guys like Jimmy Halperin and and a whole slew of like world class people, and I got like that master's degree in in like playing jazz was like the real deal. Recorded some great uh you know music with some amazing people. But more importantly, I I just like submersed myself in that in that world. And it it was kind of like something I could never have paid for.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Right. Right. And they they used to kind of like give me give me a lot of shit in call my my friends. Because I might my first degree was a performance degree. And they're like, what are you gonna do? Bringing your degree to the gig? Yeah. I I I need to be playing this band because here's my degree in performance, you know. It's a stupid degree, you know. But it was only like 30 credits off from an education degree, so that's why I went that way.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

I remember showing up at at uh Keith Copeland's house in New York City, and it's my first lesson. He shows up in his underwear at the front door. Oh, nice. He goes, he goes, hey man, he goes, I got home at four o'clock. He goes, Let me get cleaned up, go downstairs and play for me. I said, What? He said, Yeah, you'll see, go down the spiral stairs, two drawings. Is that what he sounded like? Yes, he had that deep voice, you know. And he was all raspy. He's like, go down. So he goes, I'm I'm I'll be right down, right? So I start he goes, he starts screaming from upstairs, and he goes, play it, give me like medium, like a medium swing, you know. And I'm like, and I start playing, you know. And he goes, All right, you know a little up tempo thing. Okay. All right, now that and he's got all right, cool. So I'll be right down. And he comes down, and his first thing I remember, you know, I had his pants on at that point. Yeah, he was fully dressed. Um Alan Alan uh D. What's with the D? Alan Dawson. Alan Dawson was his his mentor. Alan Dawson. You know, he has his whole he has disciples, he has like a very So he comes from that world. So he said, uh, all right, let me ask you something. I've been listening to you. Sounds good. He goes, uh, who you've been playing with? And it was his first question. I said, well, I said, I I'm uh Sonny Dallas. He goes, Sonny Dallas, he said, uh Sonny Dallas is a great player. He goes, he you know he played with Elvany. I said, Yeah, I know. He goes, are you playing with all guys that at that level? I said, Well, Sonny's kind of he goes, you need to be playing with all guys at that level. That's true. He goes, that's what we need to get you to do. And I say, you know, which you you when that sinks in, you go, how many opportunities? You know, like even Brian Dunn talking about it. You know, you work your way. Hey, this guy introduced me to that.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

That's the way it works. In fact, I played Kevin Dunn was it Kevin Dunn's wedding. And I was in in a band, and and Brian was like 15 or something. And uh my friend, you know, I don't know if you know John John Bisconti. I know the name of the yeah. John was in the wedding party, and I was standing there talking to him, and I had just met Kevin, because Kevin came over and he said, and John said, This is Kevin. Dunny's the groom, and he's also a great drummer. And Brian was standing next to him, and then he turned to me, he said, And this guy is a phenomenal drummer. And then Brian like went and sat in. I was like, Oh my god. Like he's just he just had it. Whatever there, you know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, he just and he was telling me the story about the three drummers in one house. I mean, I would have Oh man as a drummer, I would have hung myself.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

I I couldn't do that. Yeah, that's rough. That's a bit rough. Having me and my brother was enough in our house. And my poor sister wasn't in that world at all. So it was rough for her, you know.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

My dad was able to like tone it out. He was able to like somehow sleep in the next room and not listen.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

He was able to like I think my parents were like, you know what? They're not doing drugs. They're not they're not alcoholics. They're in the basement playing music. Like, how bad is that?

SPEAKER_00 16:17

I'm just saying for myself, I'd be like, okay. Yeah, I couldn't. Go do drugs, please, and get out of here. So that's that's kind of like the backstory. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: All right, so so then you uh had you played like weekends and days. Yeah, so I was doing gigs.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

I was doing a lot of music. I was playing with a band. I was at um one night I was I was doing this uh what is it? Villa Lombardi's almost and I was at the tail end of this world, you know. I just I remember sitting behind the kit, and I'm sure you've had we've all had that feeling. You know, everyone else is having a great time. Except me. Except me. You know? And I remember seeing that, and it was a Saturday night. You mean the people at the party? The people at the party at the party. Yeah, the the musicians were hating, you know. Right, everybody's gonna be able to do that. They were just doing everything to get through the gig and and they hated it. And that was not my thing. I was like, hey guys, let's have fun, you know. So I would joke around a lot, but I remember leaving Villa Lombardi, it's packing up my stuff, I'm putting my drums

The Pivot: Discovering Stand-Up Comedy

SPEAKER_02 17:10

away in my car, and this guy drives, hey, you're leaving? And I said, Yeah, I'm I'm pulling out. He I said, just give me like two minutes. I said, What band do you? And he goes, No, I'm not in a band. We're doing a comedy show here tonight. I said, What? He goes, Yeah, I'm a stand-up comedian. And I immediately go, I said, I've always dreamt of being a stand-up comedian. And the guy literally gets out of his car, hands me a business card, and says, Give me a call. He goes, We teach a class at the brokerage comedy club in Belmore. A class in stand-up comedy.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Oh, I didn't know those existed.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

So I immediately went, I was like, dude, you can't learn stand-up. He goes, No, you can. I said, I'm funny already. I said, I don't need a class. He goes, Yeah, trust me, call me. So I didn't think anything. I put his card in my pocket, put my drums away, drove away. I go home, and you know, you're at a point in your life. Some sometimes there are these turning points. And I remember saying to my wife, like, I said, I met this guy, man. It was so weird, you know. And he he teaches stand-up comedy. He wants me to take the class, and she immediately goes, Yeah, you should take that class. You would be amazing. I said, What? She goes, No, take the class. I she goes, You need it. Because I was just at that point in my life. Things were just not where I wanted them to be. And I said, Yeah, and I took the class, you know. Tuesday nights, you sit there, you get there at 6 30. They don't get out until like 10 30, you're there for like hours. And they sit there and help you write an act because you don't think of comedy as, oh, it's an act, and you know, well, yeah, I could I understand you've got to have some sort of like almost like a script you go by, some kind of like something thing you'd do. Yeah, yeah. We read music, right? Right. Like if you went up there completely unprepared, you'd flail.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

So it was I didn't realize. I I was like, and uh, you know, I was always funny. I was always the guy doing impressions and and doing voices, and I had characters that but I never thought about that like being a comedian. I never had the guts to be honest with you. That's really what it was. So that class forced me to get on stage. And it's it's this five weeks, the sixth week you're up on stage in front of a packed house. They make you do that.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

That's like your final exam. Yes, exactly. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

It's a seven minute, you know, uh I did like ten minutes my first time. And let me tell you, ten minutes for the first time is a minutes are long minutes. So I get up there and and once I got that first laugh and that first set in, it was like it was the adrenaline rush.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Yeah, I guess that's why they do that.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

It was just it was a whole different thing. Had nothing to do with you know, I was comfortable being on stage because of being a musician, but it's I wasn't comfortable. I was so nervous because, you know, it's it's not music. Now they're expecting you. All right, the anticipation is you're gonna make me laugh, idiot, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Right. That's what I get afraid of. Like, you know, it's like you have you what if you get like a hostile audience or something?

SPEAKER_02 19:56

It's it was the scariest. But it was I always say it was my version of the case. Jumping out of a plane. You know, I'm I I started 40 years old. I started comedy. I was like very late. Guys are doing it when they're 18 to 20 years old. And I missed that boat. But I said, you know what? I could still do some stuff. And I started doing it. And immediately excuse me, after that class, guys started calling me, like, hey, we saw your set online. And and you want to do and it was no money at the beginning. And it developed. And I started to write and write and write. And all of a sudden the the seven minutes went to ten minutes, the 10 minutes to 15. And you know, now I'm doing it 16 years. I just uh did it uh like celebrated in July. I'm doing it 16 years ago.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

16 years, wow.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

And I I could do an hour, you know. I'll I'll be a headliner. You know, like when I'm out there, I'm generally the guy closing the show. Not you know, I mean, but if I am, I'm doing uh uh uh you know 45 minutes to an hour.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

That's awesome, man. It's crazy. That is great. I think that that's so it's so weird to me, but cool, you know. It doesn't make sense. It's I I I don't know what to say.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

I'm like uh But then you look back, so like back to the drums. You know, you talk about Sammy Davis Jr., drummer, funny guy. You know, Johnny Carson, drummer, funny guy. There's a rhythm, you know, there's a rhythm to it. Maybe. There is, no, definitely. I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

You know, um the story I always tell with my friends, which is funny, is uh again with with Dave, uh you know, I'm always I was I'm very we lived on the same floor as Dave. So we we hung out, you know, we we got we lived together, whatever. So we know we knew each other, but uh a friend of mine went to see him somewhere at the Boluno with Michelle Camille or something, I don't know where it was. And he said, Hey, oh I went I went to see Weckle and I went backstage and I said, I went to school. I mean, I know a friend of yours you went to school with, John Simeone. And Dave said, Oh, John, yeah, he's funny. And I was like, it would have been nice if he said, Oh yeah, John's a good drummer. So like that's the funny story, but then I'm telling that story at my at Joel at a party Joel's having, and I say, and Dave says, Oh yeah, John's funny, and everybody laughs. And then Joel says, Well, you know, Dave calls him like he sees him. It's like it's even better.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

That's even you know, it's it there's something about it. There's definitely a rhythm to everything. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

I know some drummers who are not funny. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

Well, yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

I know some musicians who are like nothing.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Yeah, like I can name guys, but then you know there are guys that are like super funny.

Building An Act And Finding The Rush

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Like I think Frank Bellucci is hysteric. Frank is funny.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Frank does the right the Italian thing.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

But yeah, I I there are a lot. I mean, Bill Burr, one of the top comedians, was a drummer, you know. He plays, still plays. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Right. Oh, there was an uh an old comedian named Charlie Callis. Yeah, he was a drummer, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

I'm trying to think. You know, look, even Buddy Rich, remember those. He was kind of you know, on panel when he was like on panel with uh with Carson, he was always looking at the Trevor Burrus He was always he was that's right, he had a he had a personality.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

But I don't know if that's look, for me it was just I don't know how I felt into it, but I have to tell you to relate back to the drums, being hidden, I it was a metaphor for my life. I felt like I was like hidden behind drums my whole life, and I never had the and I'll just say balls, but it was never had the guts to just step out from behind there. And I was always into like motivating people and inspiring people, and I would read and then listen to all those motivational guys, and I'd be like, you know what? I gotta get out from behind here and have something else to say. Right. And because I hate to say it, but oh, that band was great. The lead singer and the who was the drummer? Uh I have no idea. Yeah, that's it sucks.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

It's it's a definitely like a thankless job, you know. It's like and you're the person that I've with club date bands, you're the person who can get fired and nobody will know. Nobody has. The lead singer gets fired. Oh, well then that's very visible. But the drummer or the bass player, like, who cares? Yeah, they're not. It's nuts.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

It makes no sense.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

Yeah, I I I learned that.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

But that was the metaphor. You know, I'm stepping out, I'm gonna I'm gonna put myself out there, you know, like a guitar player, like a singer, where there's nothing to hide behind because all I have is this microphone.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Well, I did a version of of I used to teach middle school. Well, I took middle school and high school on a band, and I did my my version of stand up at the concerts. You know, I always had some funny story from the kids, you know. So I I kind of like got a taste of it, but that's an easy audience because you got their kids up, you know, you know, like but you get a feel for it, right?

SPEAKER_02 24:30

Because there is a little rush to it.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

There is a rush to it, yeah. Yeah. And that was they'd comment, they would comment more on how funny I was versus how the kids played, you know. Like that's the near they were good too. But you were funny, you know. That's the that's where I was going.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

No, but it's so that's like that that's how I fell into comedy.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

It's very is it like you're doing it now? You're doing right.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

I do a lot of comedy. I mean I'm probably out there on average three days a week, you know. And how do you think?

SPEAKER_00 24:57

How do you book the three nights a week?

SPEAKER_02 24:59

Yeah. Oh sometimes more. Like this weekend, um uh what is it, tomorrow night I'll be at the Fox Hollow uh Is it comedy thing or something? Yeah, they they pack the place, you know. Um it's like you know, whole uh 200 plus 300 people in the ballroom there. I think there are like uh five comedians tomorrow night. There's like a host plus four comedians. So yeah. So I'm closing out.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

So but how do you how did those kids get booked? Same same way like musicians, like word of mouth, you know, either. Some of it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

I mean, there are booking agents, people that book particular rooms. Uh-huh. Um I I actually you know the John Engeman Theater. I think you've done have you done work there? As a drummer. Okay, I didn't know. But um it's mostly the John Engaman Theater is like a uh uh privately owned, beautiful 400-seat theater. And uh when I first started, I was looking for places to bring comedy, and uh it was in my neck of the woods at Northport. So they mostly do Broadway shows. And they started doing these little special events. So I said, hey, you know, you should try comedy. You know, stand-up can be one of your special event nights. It's like on a Tuesday when the place is dark.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

And they tried it once and they were like, wow, people liked it. And then they did it again. Well, now I have a residency there on there once a month. Oh, that's cool. And we packed the place, three to four hundred people on a Tuesday night. So that's one thing. Then there were all these other theaters, you know, on the island. You got the Argyle, you've got but like this weekend I'll be in New Jersey at Crystal Springs Resort. They have a booking agent that looks for comics and they reach out.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

What about the there's a place in a comedy club on I just drove by it in um I want to say Hophog. Is that right? Oh, really? Off of Lakeland Alley?

SPEAKER_02 26:39

Oh yeah, that's uh Governors. That's one of the governors' clubs. So that's the Governors, they call that Meguiar's Comedy Club. Okay, right. That's Maguire's, then there's in Belmore you have the uh also governors, that's the broke brokerage comedy club. And then the last one is the real the original governors, which is Levitown. And I perform there a lot. I was at, I think last Sunday I was at the main club and they pack it. You know, it's three or four.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

There really is an art to it, right? It's like uh I mean I I you know for me the most annoying person in the world is somebody who's uh not funny and makes the attempt at like the really stupid joke and it's just like painful to me. It's like, oh, I just don't even know civilians, yeah. You know, I I um my my kids are young and I uh I'm like 20 years senior to all their friends' parents. So I can't uh maybe it's me, I don't know. But I get together and like the that whatever that demographic is, they can't they have trouble being

Booking Gigs And Comedy Circuit Mechanics

SPEAKER_00 27:40

what funny, I don't know, loose or whatever, but I I notice and I've tried it a couple of times. If I if they're at my house and we're talking, whatever, and I stop talking, everybody starts looking at their feet. It's bizarre. Like what I don't what what is wrong? The art of communication. Maybe it's just I don't know if it's a social thing or these people I know, not just that I just met, people I've I know our age or or younger.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

Mostly younger, yeah. That's what I mean.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

You know, they're like, you know, I could be their father, you know, and and but it's just weird how like uh I I'm the guy. I have to like keep the I gotta like pull stuff out of people to get them to be.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

It's a generational thing. Absolutely. Is that what it is?

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Is it general? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

I I wonder when I'm uh uh up on stage, the first thing I do, I I look for the young people and I I want to see if I I'm somehow able to make these people laugh. And when they laugh, I go, Wow, that's pretty cool that I can make a 17 or 20-year-old kid laugh at something I have, you know, like my point of view, which is kind of like that's what comedy is. It's just your point of view, right? But you're right, the art of communication is kind of lost because people are looking at their phones. Maybe they're just distracted and they've lost, like there's there's a there's no personality sometimes. I talk to people.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

My kids think I'm not funny. They think they I get my daughter says you dad you're not funny, and I say, Shut up, you're adopted. You know, and she doesn't think that's funny either. You know, but yeah, whatever. Anyway, let's let I want to go back a little bit um to the music thing from I can. Um I'm I'm just curious about because my whole my whole uh perspective on music is it's very weird in that it's not something, it's not like any other career choice. And sometimes it's it's one of those career choices you have no choice that you must become because it's just like a party, it's a part of you. And I don't know of anything else. Maybe maybe some creative just like maybe art artist or uh maybe even uh actor or actress has that feeling. But a lot of guys they they don't have a choice. They they it's it's they have to do it. I have to do it. And the people who don't have to do it don't understand that.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

I have to do it. There's no choice. Um it's and and you're right, you said the word art. It's art. You know, I remember studying it might have been Dom. John Camillero? Yeah, I you know, uh look, we could talk about Long Island com uh Long Island drummers for uh like days and days because that's like a whole thing. Don't get me stuck. I don't even want to talk because it's not my I don't come from that world. I was a musician first, but I remember him saying to me, he goes, Listen, you're a drummer right now. He goes, the goal is to become a musician, you know? And he goes, ultimately, the the true thing is to become an artist. And that made a lot of sense to Tom Camilo said that he actually said that to me. You know, now you know again, does everybody practice you know I but there is an art into everything, you know, uh the the idea of an art and it is really having your own voice. And like on the drums, when you listen to certain guys, right? When you listen to Weckle, you know it's weckle. When you listen to even Joel Rosenblatt, he has a style. You know, these guys have worked in the world.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

I think everybody plays their personality.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

Yeah, but but it doesn't always come out as something original necessarily. Whereas like I my goal was to say, I just want to sound like me. I I don't know what that is exactly, but I'm never gonna be maybe the I'm never gonna be Vinny, I'm never gonna be Wackel. But I would like to at some point, at I'm you know, in my 50s, I want to say I have a voice. You know, and it and it's it's really it was the most important thing to me. Like guys go, hey, I don't know what the heck you're doing back there, but it feels good. And the music is a very good thing.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Well that seems to be that's that's the that there's the divide right there, I think, because feeling good is a thing, right? And that's that's why drummers get hired, because they make the rest of the band feel good. And then these other there's a the whole swath of drummers who have nothing to do with that. They're into like as playing as fast and as many drums as possible. They're not listening to anybody except themselves. And it's like a whole breed of these guys.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

I have an ongoing joke. I call and I leave messages for different drummers, but uh I I think I mentioned to you Billy Messanetti. Oh, sure. And Billy for years, you know. So I'll call Billy randomly and I'll leave him a message. Hey man, I'm just letting you know uh right now my left foot's playing the clave, my right foot's playing a Bion pattern, and I got a ride symbol pattern, and I'm singing uh, you know, uh the hallelujah chorus. You know, and it's just like I leave that message. I'm like, hey man, don't forget, practice your double paradils with your feet all day. It's like how does that translate? It's all great, but at the end of the day, what are they hiring? You know, right. Are they hiring John Robinson, who who is one of the most recorded drummers ever?

SPEAKER_01 32:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

Or are they hiring some guy that's blowing them away? Um I'm not saying there's a look, the happy mix, there are guys like Kaluta who could play simple, even though he can be a monster. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

But so yeah, but Vinny, he's very sensitive to his environment. He plays the gig. And and there's not there's some guys, I should I mean not at that level, but there are drummers locally who can't seem to m jump that fence to like make the make it for the music and not themselves. That's my that is my gripe.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

I agree with you though. And and it it comes down again, I'm an opinionated idiot, but it always drummers, by the way, guitar players do it. Of course, but we talk our language, you know. As a drummer, you know, um I my biggest gripe is what music have you listened to? What have you listened to? Because if you're listening to great stuff, one of the things

Rhythm Of Humor: Drummers And Comedy

SPEAKER_02 33:20

that I pride myself on is I I always say Frank Sinatra was one of my greatest teachers. Um the the singers taught me how to play the drums. I swear to God.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

That's what I listen to when I play.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

I I my friends would joke, uh you who you listening to? Who are you listening to? I'll be like Barry Manilo. They're like, What? What are you gay? I'm like, no, Barry Manilo helped me play the drums. They're like, what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Barry Manilo's gay?

SPEAKER_02 33:47

No, but it's like in in a half-joking way, I say Barry Manilo, but I remember sitting in my basement playing along to Barry Manilow Live, and Lee Gerst was his drummer, and I could play every single thing that they were playing along with those tunes, and it didn't matter. But the the it was all about a structural thing in your head. Like, do you know the A, the B part, where's you know, the where's the turnaround, where's the release? Can you sing the tune? You know, I became a pretty good singer over the years, but I could sing, you know, standard tunes. Like I I know, I don't know, uh thousands of tunes, and I can sing them. But that helps me play drums because when I go to do it, I know the tune, I know the structure. But most guys are going, oh, there's four bars on the front, and then another four bars, you know, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Some guys don't know typical, they don't know anything. They don't even know. Yeah, I know, I can't stand it.

SPEAKER_02 34:40

It's weird. I don't we can't think like that, right? You're going, you're thinking, hey, there's a structure, there's a structure to it.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

And the and the for me, the club day thing was like the antithesis. Is that the right word? Yeah. It was the it was the opposite of what music should be. It was the absolute structured don't don't stretch out, don't play, you know, don't play too loud, don't play too fast, watch the people dance. You know, nobody would interact with the colour.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

Play it like the record. How many times did you hear that?

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Yeah, but I remember the when I left the club day world and I went to playing clubs, the m the most the thing that got me the most was people would l stand next to me and watch and listen. And then afterwards they come up and talk to me about it. Like, that never happened at a wedding. Never. People are like, you're just a you're just a fixture. You know, and once in a while somebody would come and say, Oh, you guys were great, you know, uh, you know, but they're drunk or whatever. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

I remember taking over for a drummer in a band, and the I we finished our first set, and the singers came up to me at the same time, they go, Hey, um how come you don't play that you you're not playing really loud.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

How come you don't play like that?

SPEAKER_02 35:48

And and and I said, What do you I said, uh is that bad? They said, No, no, it's really nice. But uh our our last drum was really loud. And I said, Well, I'm not sure why I would do that.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Like, uh you know I yeah, it's funny you said that. I just subbed for a for a drummer at a at a church gig. And um, you know, come that's good to you know, sometimes church music's great, it's actually R and B stuff. And the music was good. So I went down there and there's a drum set in the in the pit there. There was there was um towels were taped over the entire drum head of every drum and on the cymbals. Uh that was like playing on pillows. Uh-huh. And I was like, what's happening here? And they said, Well, uh he was loud. So he taped like what? But how do you play drums like this? You can't I can't do that. So there's only one volume you can play on? You have to play loud on these things. It's like you're playing on a on a pillow or on a couch. Wow. You know, it's I mean it's it's just bizarre. Like drummers, some drummers are like, they they will just they beat you into submission, man. Like I've heard these guys. I I play with bands that have beaten me into submission. Where I just gave up, like, okay, you guys win, man. I can't.

SPEAKER_02 36:54

No, and that's and that's where you lose the art. You know, that's when you talk about art. There is no art. At that point, you might as well put on, you know, look, look, I my friend Tommy, Tommy Rocco was a phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Tommy, I play with Tommy for years in Gus Coletti's book.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Oh, sure. Yeah. Tommy is a very close friend. I talk to Tommy almost every day. Oh, really? That's cool. He was much not much, but he's he's like 10 plus years older than me. So when I first made him met him, he was playing with Sonny Dallas and they were doing a duo. Tommy, right. And I remember being a young drummer, going, Oh my goodness, listening to that swing. I was like, oh, that's what I've been working with. I've been missing.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

It's always struck me as a jazz guy.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he could play anything. Yeah. And I recorded with him over the years. We did some nice uh, you know, work together, and we still talk, but like he was always amazed. He's like, dude, he goes, You know the tunes. You know the tunes. I'm like, of course I know the tunes.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

In fact, how do you not know the tune? It's funny that you meant Tommy, because when I joined Gus's band, I was brand new. I didn't, you know, I was the guy, the new guy. And he I remember him saying to me, You know, I really like the way uh what was the drummer's name? He's like, I like the style of like Jack DeJunette, you know, like those kind of drummers. He was saying it to me, it's like, and in my mind I'm going, okay, that's good. But then like, I wonder which of these tunes the Jack De Jeannette feel is gonna fit. Is that gonna

Art Vs. Club Dates: Playing For The Music

SPEAKER_00 38:10

be the cha-cha that I play or the merengue? I'm just sort of not Jack DeJ. I wonder how Jack DeJunette would approach it. How would he interpret that? It's I I think it's great you like Jack DeJunette, but I don't know if it's gonna fit in here. No, but even if I could play like I'm which I couldn't.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

Oh, yeah, but like you know, to playing with guys like that, you know, who have a voice, you know? Yeah. And Tommy still practices his ass off. He's still doing, he's like trying to discover new things. And and you know what? That's what it comes down to. Who are you playing with?

SPEAKER_00 38:38

We go back to it.

SPEAKER_02 38:41

Well, he's in Florida. Oh, I didn't even know that. He moved these like down in uh what's that area there? The uh the uh that that popular area in north North Florida.

unknown 38:51

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

Yeah. Anyway, but he uh the villages. It's called the villages in in uh North Florida. Yeah, it's like you know, but it's a beautiful place. Yeah, everything's brand new, but a lot of music going on. So he's playing in like three big bands.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

Well you gotta tell him I said hi now.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

I will. Oh, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

It was fun working with Tommy.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Oh yeah. He was It was years.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

I mean, and I was in that he was in that band with years for years with me. Oh, I didn't realize. Yeah, Gus, of course.

SPEAKER_02 39:15

Yeah, he was with Gus's band for a long time. Yeah, but it it was one of those things like playing with Tommy, and I and I remember just going, Wow, man, this is the way music should feel. It's the way it should sound. I I can play, I don't have and he would be like, Man, you know, listen to Eric, listen to Eric. Eric can sing every freaking tune with and again, I'm not I don't consider myself a singer. I I've become a better one because I was forced to. But it's just it's the way I do I I know.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

This is what I'm talking about. So you're drummer singer, that's like gold to a a club date band. Oh, they used to I would sing lead on a lot of but but nor but if I put if I subbed out a club date and I put Steve Gadd on the club date and said, How was how was the drum, how was the drummer? They'd say, Hey Was good. Yeah, he doesn't sing though. You know, like that's the that's the mental. Like it's so like what's wrong with you people? You know what I mean? No. It's like the anti-music, it's like the it's upside down world of music.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

Club dates are just it's a it's a means to an end.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

It's uh means to money, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

I mentioned Tommy because I did, and this is a weird thing. Tommy said, We're gonna do a jazz, we're gonna do a duo together. He goes, but I'd rather play with the tracks. So he had like band back then it was band in a box, you know? Oh simple. I remember that. And he would take everything out and he would program the changes that he wanted, and the bass player was always playing. He goes, Eric, at least we know the bass player is playing the right changes. You know, and I became really good at playing along with tracks. You know, but we're playing jazz, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

There were there were a lot of good players in that band too. Um Sal Randazzo played with uh Pete. He moved to Florida too. No, Sal's here.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

Oh, no, the other Rendaza is another Randazza. Pete Rendazzo. Pete Rendazza.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

Yeah. And um Sal's a tenor player. Sal's a trombone player. Oh, trombone. Okay. Bridgie Scolo played tenor. I mean, they would they were jazz guys. And John Hipps was the keeper player. He was a jazz guy, man.

SPEAKER_02 41:07

Tommy speaks super highly of Gus's band. He said we were always good guys, great bands.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

Always had a good band. Just just good.

SPEAKER_02 41:14

But Gus was a good guy, and he had his act together, and you know, yeah, they were club dates, but at least he hired the real deal.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

He always hired players, which that's not the deal now. You hire the guy to stick around. He could play just well enough to stay in the band, you know what I mean? And he's gonna show up because he's got nowhere else to go. You know, that's the way it is now.

SPEAKER_02 41:33

Hey, I did club dates for so many years, I was forced to, you know, because you needed money, right? And and it was just another form of income. Right. Um, and as long as you go into those gigs with the you know, knowing why you're doing it, you're not changing the world. The lead singer's still gonna turn around and go, Eric, what what's the words to this song?

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Quick. No, my my favorite thing is the the singers who say, Oh, we're gonna do what uh I don't know, pick a too moondance. We're gonna do moon moondance, okay? And and you say, Okay, you're singing moondance, count it off. No, no, you count it off. And then you count it off, and it's never right. No. It's they want they want you to start it so they can say, No, it's too slow or too fast. So that was my joke of the band. I'd say, okay, I'll count it. Do you want it too slow or too fast? That's the way I used to say it. Because it was never right. Because they were feeling why not just count it off you because you know the tune. Right. And you're singing it.

SPEAKER_02 42:26

You're the one singing it. Come on. Give me give me something. I swear, don't get me stuck. I love those people walking into the gig with nothing, right? Yeah, yeah. Just like two seconds before the And complaining that they had to learn the words to at last because they, you know, that's the first dance tonight or something.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

Oh god.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

But that's not why we do it. I think it's always about art. You know, why the why is is really what it comes down to. Like why I'll do a gig now is when I get to play with great people. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 42:54

That's exactly well, I have another exception. Like great musicians or pays a lot of money. You know, I'll put it at least.

SPEAKER_02 43:04

But that makes a lot of sense because that's that's the why. And you're going in going, hey, this is this is a good day's pay for me. And I do some comedy like that, I'll be honest with you. The art of comedy is when you could say and do anything. If I'm at a comedy club, I could literally say anything on that stage. But as you start to get to you know, do some different gigs, it's the same thing. Hey, if I'm at a fancy theater, do I want to go up there talking about my private parts and getting raunchy and you know not that that's my act, but some guys want to take those are the guys that want to be artists in a situation where you can't always be an artist. And that's kind of what club dates are, you know. Stop stop playing a clave with your left foot on a ballad. It's like, what are you doing? Right.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

There definitely is a parallel between the comedy and the and the music thing. You know, it's like a creative, it's a create you know, it's it's you know, you're constantly making on you know second to second decisions in both things, right? You have to kind of you know always be uh alert.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

And and you have a voice, you know. Look, if if I listen to you play, I go, yeah, I hear, you know, this guy's got a sound. Yeah you know, and and there is something to that. And some people never get it.

unknown 44:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:18

Okay, so hey man, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

This is we're running out of time out of time music.

SPEAKER_02 44:24

This is fun, it goes so fast, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 44:26

Yeah, I'm I'm glad you came, man. Thanks a lot.

SPEAKER_02 44:29

Thank you for having me. This is amazing. We could talk all night. All right, man.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Thanks for thanks for coming, Eric Kaft.