Maxwell D.

I am 23 years old and have been practicing and playing drums since I was twelve. I've consistently been in the school jazz, symphonic, and percussion ensemble since the 7th grade, as well as participating in extra-curricular music activities such as drum line and backing jazz drums at poetry slams after school while also attending the School of Rock program. I earned the "Sophomore of the Year" award my sophomore year of high school before transferring to a smaller private school, Juan Diego Catholic High School. The same year I transferred for junior year was coincidentally the first year Juan Diego's jazz program was able to make it out of the regional competition of the Utah State Jazz Festival and move on to the state level, where I earned a "Solo Honorable Mention: Drum Solo" ribbon. I was also invited to the Super Band jazz clinic at Snow College, where I played with some of the best musicians at my age in Utah. Senior year brought another state qualification for the jazz group, as well as another drum solo ribbon and a second invitation to the Super Band clinic. Upon graduation I had lettered in both percussion and music performance, as well as scoring a 5/5 on my AP Music Theory exam. After that I attended UNLV in Las Vegas to major in music performance with an emphasis on percussion. I took hand drumming, steel drum, timpani, marimba, and other various courses related to music, but I returned to Utah after a semester because I wasn't getting the amount of time on the drum kit I desired. By this time I was nineteen, and I wanted to start or join a band, so I started looking on Craigslist. After plenty of not-so-swell jam sessions with various guitarists I auditioned for a local metal band, Riksha. They were in their 30's and 40's, and started the band in '92, when I was born. Tryouts were a little nerve-racking, but I played well and became Riksha's new drummer. Soon after I learned Riksha was endorsed by Jagermeister. We played at least one local show a week and did small weekend tours once a month to Montana, Vegas, New Mexico, and Idaho. We've also been on a three-week tour and two one-week tours. We recorded and album, Dream Drops Red, won Project Independent's panel favorite vote, and was later signed to Dark Harvest Records. I'm currently in the progressive rock band Melodramus, and we moved to Federal Way, WA, where we write music every day. Drumming is my passion, and I'm excited to share what I know with others.