I began drumming at a the late age of 15 years old. I still remember my first gig. I got ask to fill in for a drummer on the church praise team. I was so nervous, I thought I was gonna puke everywhere! I was a super shy kid who didn’t like to get in front of any crowd…nevertheless a 1000 seat church. So I did the gig and haven’t looked back since. My first teacher was a guy named Ron Janzen. He played for a relatively large Christian rock band called “The Doxa Band.” I was his only student, and we met once a week. Ron wasn’t the most technically trained, but he was extremely encouraging and I am truly grateful to him for all that he taught me.
Next, I took lessons from a high school teacher named Brad Naylor. He was EXTREMELY technical. Which was an awesome change from taking lessons from Ron. They were both so different, I got to experience both ends of the spectrum. After that I took lessons with a bunch of different teachers giving me lots of different perspectives on different drum techniques and methods. It’s when I ran into a drummer named Lionel Dupperon where my view of drums changed completely. Lionel completely re-vamped my technique, showed me the Moeller Method, and took my playing to the next level.
It was at this time, I got asked to join my first drum teachers band…”The Doxa Band.” I got the call when I was on holidays in Osoyoos, B.C. They wanted me to come out and play a gig with them on Sunday. I caught an early ride home to get prepared for the gig. Up to this point I had only done Sunday morning church gigs and the odd jam session with my friends. I was so nervous! I had one practice with Doxa which I thought went quite well. Now….to the gig….. I didn’t quite know what to expect for my first “real” gig. It was an outdoor event at a stadium in my hometown of Abbotsford, B.C. I was sitting backstage when I got the call that we were ready to go on. I remember my initial feeling after walking out on stage. All I saw was a sea of people. As far as I could see there were people. I’m not quite sure how many were there that night, but I think it was in the neighborhood of 4000-5000 people. The rest of the gig is a complete blur to me, but I think I made it through without any huge mistakes.
I played with Doxa for another 4 years until joining up with a solo artist named Riley Armstrong. I toured for 6 months with Riley, not really enjoying myself a whole lot. I found myself at home after that tour, they asked me to do another one which I politely declined. It’s not easy living with a bunch of people in a van driving around the United States. It sounds a lot more glamorous then it really is. After that I kinda thought I might be done with the whole “drumming scene” for awhile. I was working a sales job at home selling ducks and geese into Chinatown, Vancouver. I still taught a little, Lionel Dupperon was gracious enough to pass on a bunch of students to me after he got out of teaching to spend more time with his family. I had a rotation of students, about 30 a week. It taught me a lot teaching. You hear a lot of teachers saying that they think they learn more teaching then the students coming to the lessons.
Then I got a call for a lesson from Rick Kettner, who I am still friends with to this day. He was interested in taking a few spot lessons. Our first lesson he showed me his foot techinque. He was a huge fan of the Heel-Toe-Technique, and could perform it quite effortlessly. Rick had posted a instructional video of himself teaching this technique online. It got thousands of downloads before he had to take it down due to the huge bandwidth cost from so many people downloading at one time. It was at that time, Rick and I decided to start marketing and selling drum instructional products.
Three years later, we have a tight knit operation in Abbotsford, B.C. Our company, Railroad Media Inc. has published over 5 DVDs and we market a bunch of other products. We specialize in drum instruction. Our most current and top selling product is the new Rock Drumming System. Which I was the host in and Rick Kettner produced. You can check out some free samples by clicking here.
I am now currently playing with Christian pop band Blue Rain. I tour 3 or 4 times a year with Perry Springman of Perry and the Poor Boys. Perry is an advocate of World Vision. You can find out more about World Vision by clicking the link on Perry’s webpage. I feel much more fullfilled playing music for a pupose. It’s awesome to play a show for people, tell them about ourselves, and then tell them why we do what we do. I encourage everyone to “give back” as much as possible. It’s amazing to see how so many lives change just by sponsoring a child in need. Thanks again for listening. I wish you all the best in everything that you do!
- Jared Falk
P.S. If you’d like to chat about drumming, or anything else please just click “Connect With Me” in the nav bar above.