The daily routine of a freelance drummer - when applicable
I wake up a few minutes before noon most days. Like some nine-to-fivers my internal clock clicks in a few minutes before the alarm goes off, which instead of 8am, is 12pm. I'm usually out late the night before.
I grab my phone and stare at pertinent texts and emails that have come in that morning. I respond to the fluffy ones, and hold off on any I need to formulate more than a minute's worth of thought on. Save those for during coffee. I get out of bed after about 15 to 20 minutes of deliberation and start, what I would call, a routine afternoon.
Immediately upon standing, I slam a tall glass of water that I keep on my nightstand and make my bed. It's important to me to start off the day hydrated and with a freshly made bed. The water helps physically and consciously flush out whatever junk I put in there the night before, and for the junk yet to be deposited. Having the bed made is more of an OCD ritual for aligning my chakras and reminding myself that no matter what chaos and disorder I may encounter in my life, at least my bed is made when I get home. Same with doing the dishes before leaving the house.
Coffee and a routine breakfast follows. I make coffee using a stove top Italian espresso percolator and freshly ground beans from the Roasting Plant downtown. I dilute the espresso with equal parts hot water that makes for a perfect americano. I add a little almond milk to cut the acidity. My go-to breakfast is a yogurt parfait, including Greek yogurt, sliced banana, almond granola, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, and dried coconut, as well as a slice of toasted cinnamon raisin wheat bread with peanut butter and jam. While making breakfast, which takes about 15 minutes, I put on my Bluetooth speaker and turn on whatever's in my head that morning. I often like to listen to something unfamiliar or a recent release that I haven't checked out yet.
I eat my breakfast in the living room while I watch one episode of something on Netflix. It's usually either: Family guy, last man on earth, parts unknown, American dad, Bob's Burgers or Twin Peaks. I taper off towards the end so I can get back to those texts or emails that I haven't followed up on yet. I turn off the TV and put on the day's record. Today I'll be listening to Junior Kimbrough's, "All Night Long". A great lo-fi blues album and one of my new favorites. Getting into a new album and loving it is one of the best feelings in the world.
While the album plays I do a number of various things. Sometimes I just sit and listen and stare out my window. Sometimes I get productive and start writing, sending ideas to people, setting up gigs, jam sessions, whatever. Sometimes I write blog posts about my daily routine just because it feels cathartic to write stuff down. It's also important for me to use this time early in the day to catch up with family things and prioritize my to-do's and goals. It's so easy to let family correspondence slip through the cracks so I make it a priority. Especially seeing how spread out and crazy my small family is. You have to water the plant or it dies, slowly. Unnoticed.
By the time I've flipped to side B, it's usually time to take a shower and get ready to leave for rehearsal, a jam session, practice, the post office, a gig, a lesson, the bank, or whatever. I like to shower with the door open so I can finish listening to the album from the living room. It's one of my small joys in life. It keeps me centered. Like I said, it's a chakra thing. No matter the turns ahead, I try and keep these things aligned. It allows me to be more willing to try new things, to accept adversity and welcome change.
