|
| |
Steve's Bio:
Steve Stockmal,
professional drummer and music instructor, began performing
music at the age of 5. He is an honor graduate of the Percussion
Institute of Technology (PIT), an author and publisher
(president of SMG Inc), and maintains a full schedule of
performing and teaching music.
He has appeared as drummer, singer, and guitarist with groups
like Mercenary, Crystal-Reign, & Pelikanesis (featuring Paul
Rubin). He has also performed internationally including tours in
Japan, Australia, a “freeze-out tour” in Greenland, and 7 years
in Greece working with top artists like Anna Vissi, Stelios
Rokos, Kostas Tournas and Sakis Rouvas.
Fronting his own band he plays concerts showcasing original
compositions and appears as a solo act singing and playing
blues, ballads, rock, and jazz standards.
Throughout his career Steve has played a diverse variety of
musical styles and venues ranging from intimate Jazz clubs and
society gigs, television and radio spots, international tours,
and theater performances, to 10,000 seat rock concerts. He
performed as percussionist with SIERRA WINDS (a 35 piece
classical woodwind orchestra), and played the role of drummer
Jerry Allison in the Garvin Theatre’s production of The Buddy
Holly Story.
Combining his extensive training with years of touring &
teaching, Mr. Stockmal has recently begun the process of
synthesizing his knowledge into a series of educational books
and videos on a wide variety of subjects.
 My musical story:
My parents started my two brothers and me on the piano at 3 or 4
years old (that is how I have been performing since the age of
5). Although they were just “kid recitals”, I still remember the
feeling of being in front of the audience, and of course how it
felt when they applauded! I was never nervous playing in front
of an audience… just excited.
I started playing the trombone when I was in the 6th grade,
which led to joining the 7th grade jazz band. That is when the
drum set first hit me. I was sitting there in the trombone
section (watching the drummer go crazy…whap, bam, ka-boom) and
thought “now that is for me!” I went
home that same day and called every music store in town asking
about drums, how much they were, if they rented them, etc. One
guy said he had a used kit for $150 and I must have screamed in
the phone “don’t sell them, I’ll be there in 15 minutes”. I
jumped on my bicycle and flew down to the store. Although it was
your typical kids drum set, it did come with a 21" Zildjan Ride
cymbal that I actually used for the first 7 or 8 years of my
career.
The very next day I went for my first drum lesson. I remember
the teacher asking me to play so he could get an idea of what
level I was. I sat down and hit this and that, whapped away for
a while, and then looked up (quite proud of how good I had done)
and he said matter of factly “Nothing eh? OK, we’ll
start you at the beginning.”
I stayed with him for about three years, and then added my 2nd
drum teacher (a Berkley music school graduate). That is where I
really started to read, listen, and play a great variety of
styles of music. After about 4 years ‘teacher number two’ had to
leave town for a road gig and relocation…and he left me all of
his students! Suddenly I had 17 living breathing PAYING
students. The book I wrote “THE MUSIC TEACHERS’ MANUAL” tells
more detail about that experience. I have been teaching music
(drums-guitar-voice-piano-trombone ever since).
I kept playing the trombone all the way through high school and
was in EVERY music class my school offered. Somewhere around
that time I started playing the guitar, and found that by
putting chords together I could write songs. I had been copying
lyrics from cover songs by the hundreds, and found that writing
my own lyrics came pretty easy.
I wrote my first official song when I was 17 (love struck for
the first time) and by the time I was 20 years old I had written
my 10th album. I still compose and find great joy in working on
creating music of all kinds.
One day our band director asked me if I would like to play the
string bass in the orchestra. Since I already read bass clef,
and since I knew enough about the notes on the guitar, I said I
would give it a try. For the next two years I developed a great
love for that instrument. Playing the string bass is an
incredible feeling. After you get over the initial physical
shock (it takes a while to develop your fingers and technique to
push the strings down) it really produces such a beautiful
sound.
When I was in my senior year in high school I had 7 music
related classes, as well as every after school program, college
jazz band, and community orchestra. The community orchestra was
great because I played trombone, percussion, and the string
bass. I would walk behind the orchestra between each piece to my
next ’station’.
I was also in the school choir where I learned about vocal
technique, breathing, and performing vocal pieces. Our director
put together an extra curricular nine-member vocal group that
did traditional barber shop arrangements. We were actually
pretty good, and won a “command performance” in a Northern
California competition at Chico State.
My first live gig as a drummer was at when I was 15 years old at
an 8th grade dance. The poor kids and teachers at that dance!!!
We came out playing Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Van Halen and other
such “danceable” music. The band I was in were all my buddies
from music classes and we also sang together in the barber shop
“9-tet” . I’ll never forget when a lady came up to us and said
“You boys play really well together, but if you sing another
note…YOU’RE FIRED”. We had great laughs with that one for years.
We played a bunch of parties in high school, and I started
getting more and more calls from the local players.
My first “professional” gig (I guess that means I actually got
paid for it) was with a country western band call
“Cross-country-limited”. I was 17 years old and playing every
Friday and Saturday night for $100 a gig. I WAS RICH!!! We
played all the typical country hits as well as a lot of
“chicken-pickin” music (really fast polka-like songs). Years
later I auditioned for a “speed punk” band and they were amazed
that I could play so fast and not get tired (I never told them
that their music was just chicken-pickin with a Mohawk!).
There were a lot of musical opportunities for me back then, I
played at the Reno jazz festival, performed with the Northern
California Honor Orchestra, played with the local city-college
big band, and jammed with anyone and everyone from jazz trio’s
to rock bands to orchestras. Anywhere I could be…I played.
I went to college as music major, and then got an offer to tour
in Las Vegas. I was there for about 3 months, when I met a band
that was looking for a singing drummer to tour the southern
United States. I went out on my first official tour and started
to get a feel for what road life was all about. I used to sit
back stage warming up (going over and over my 26 snare drum
rudiments, while singing “DO-RE-MI…”) for about an hour before
each performance. We went around and around 14 southern states
for exactly one year, and then in true rock and roll fashion our
guitar player got a girl pregnant and quit the band. I picked up
the phone and called anyone and everyone I had met during that
year, and the next thing you know I was in Baton Rouge Louisiana
in a band called Kricket. That lasted about 6 months, but
provided some of my happiest memories of living and playing
music. Southern hospitality is no myth!
I took a break from touring to attend P.I.T. (Musicians
Institute) in Hollywood California. For one year I did nothing
but eat, drink, and breathe music. I saw many of the world’s
greatest players, and soaked up every note I could find. After
graduating (with honors) I went back to playing live music for a
living, and played everywhere I could in and around the Los
Angeles area. I also led a band of fellow graduates on a 4-month
tour to Japan. That was a great experience in culture and
learning that will stay with me forever.
Not long after, I was fortunate to get a call to go to Thule Air
Force Base in Greenland for a month, where we played rock and
roll for our military’s finest.
Then came that fateful day that I got a call to go to Greece for
a six month gig as a singer. I went, I sang, it was great. When
that gig finished, I scored another job in a rock club there,
and then another and another. Each gig was a bit “bigger and
better” than the last one. I was very fortunate to work with
some of the top artists in the big nightclubs as well as TV and
radio. I was the personal drummer for Sakis Rouvas (teen
idol/pop star) for about 4 years, and each summer we would go
out for 30 or 40 concerts and see all of the countryside and
islands. I lived there for about 7 years.
In 1998 my wife and I moved back to the states. I am performing
music at the hotels, clubs, and private parties/ weddings, teach
music, and continue my musical dream by writing and publishing
various books and DVD’s.
And the story continues… … …
|
