KentAberleDrums.com

I’ve been there.  I’ve had the shot of Jaeger before the gig.  I’ve smoked cigarettes during my breaks.  I’ve drank a good 6-7 beers in a night. I’ve eaten the bar’s supreme nacho special before the gig.  I’ve eaten the value meal after the gig on the ride home.  I also stopped and have been thankful ever since.

It was the 90’s.  I at a time weighed in at a good 270 lbs.  I was playing 3-4 nights a week. Playing the typical 45/15 45/15 45/15 show.  I was really starting to feel good about my playing.  Then my dad had heart surgery.  After I came in from a cigarette at the hospital, while sitting in my dad’s room before he headed under the knife all of my uncle’s on my dad’s side came in one by one.  One heart surgery, two heart surgeries, bypass, quadruple bi-pass, triple bi-pass.  They all had it.  A lump instantly rose to my throat.  The Dr. then ran into me in the hallway and said, “I’ll see you when you’re 45.”

My life changed that instant.  I’ve battled with all of the demons and truly feel I’m winning the fight. I’m not trying to preach but I’m just trying to introduce the focus of healthy thought. In order for us to fully connect with the creative, feel-oriented, drummer that inside of all of us we have to strip away the fat.  Substances, diet, and inactive living can have extreme adverse affects on how we play and how our musicianship flows through us.  They can be huge roadblocks.  All you have to do to realize this is be “the sober guy” one night in a partying band and it can be the most miserable musical experience in the world.  Now I’m not saying to stop the party.  I love to throw down just like the next person when the time is right.  Just know, healthy mind and body=healthy groove.

Do something that causes you to sweat (I mean..sweat!) everyday.  It’s that simple.  If you don’t know what it is, don’t put it in your body.  It’s that simple.  Drink water.  It’s that simple.  Take vitamins. It’s that simple.  The more garbage you strip away from your system, the more the information can flow.  “Be water” as Bruce Lee said.  I challenge everyone to pick one bad thing (and you know what it is) that you do and get rid of it to become a better musician.  Whether it’s soda, not exercising, cigarettes, it can be anything.  But it’s YOUR thing and only you know what it is.  Strip away the fat.

It will be hard, it will be painful, it will be work but any goal is achievable.  I now am the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life.  I went from a 46 waist to a loose 34.  I now weigh in at 190 lbs.  I do P90x (which I highly recommend) everyday.  My gig is 4 straight hours (no breaks) on stage playing rock and metal.  My goal is to always play the last song of the night with the same conviction as the 1st song and I feel I’m getting closer.

Find that challenge for yourself.  You and only you know what it is.  Only then can we truly see and feel the rhythm in her full light.  Rhythm is life.

-Kent