Clean Plate Club (not that one)
I like to try things I suck at...here's why
I started playing drums when I was 12. I’m 36 now, and 24 years in, I’m excited to sit down at the kit as much as ever, maybe even more than when I started. However, at times I feel the need to find new inspiration to cleanse my musical brain pallet, so I can bring a clean, spot free plate to the table when I write new music.
My life pre-drums was a mix of stuff: basketball, BMX riding, and wood working. I come from a long line of wood workers in my family. On my mother’s side we have a few crafty dudes, but mostly home repair based wood working. Somebody taught me how to use the scroll saw, so I started making little projects here and there. Thank god I didn’t cut my finger off.
In 2017, I saw an exhibit at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis showcasing Swedish master green woodcarver Jögge Sundqvist (aka Surolle). Like myself, he came from a long line of woodworkers, albeit, his much more successful, and cool. I specifically remember seeing some of the pieces below and being sucked in. The colors, the shapes, the word slojd (to be “not uncrafty”) carved everywhere. It was all intriguing, a totally different world that he invited me into. I bought his book and started learning all I could about the process of carving green (wet, non-dried) wood. Something I’ve never done before. It was exciting.
The next year, he was teaching a 5 day carving workshop on the shores of Lake Superior, so I jumped at the chance to learn from him. After a few days of immersing myself into the class, which was making a beauty shelf from scratch (Jögge told us it was a shelf to display our most beautiful things) I had a reinvigorated attitude toward creativity. I was terrible at the carving for the most part, but Jögge and the rest of the students helped me immensely. I’ll never forget the feeling of trying something really new after so many years of focusing on drumming.
I made a few green wood carving pieces, like a ring holder for my now wife (we got engaged the same week as the carving class, on the shores of Lake Superior) and a few other pieces that aren’t worth mentioning.
On a cold winter Sunday afternoon, my wife and I explored the “20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints” exhibit at MIA in Minneapolis and I found myself interested in something new. Again, something wood related, and again, an exhibit at a museum. Thank god for museums. To hell with anyone who cuts funding for museums…
Anyway, I always had an interest in printmaking, in all its forms, but woodcut printing really tickled my fancy after that exhibit. The traditional Japanese oil based method didn’t really do it for me, but the idea of just carving an image into wood, and using it to create a relief print is what I thought would be cool to try. I asked for a set of carving tools, inks, a brayer, and other things I needed for my birthday or something, and I was off to the races. I started small, making a Charlie Brown print, a print based on a vintage Yellowstone National Park poster, and a few originals.
In 2022, I created the cover for my drum set instructional book Groove Manipulation using 3 individual wood blocks. One block for each instrument in a variety of colors. After many attempts, one design stuck.
The green woodcarving workshop and the woodcut printing experience have been so important. This time away from my instrument has allowed me to think way outside the box and come up with some of my best, most creative work. It also just gave me perspective that living a creative life is about variety. The same way that learning how to play bass and guitar changed the way I approach my drumming, so has all these new experiences. I notice now that I’ve never been far away from a craft relating to wood (cough, drums).
Try new things. You’ll suck at them, but who cares? It’s not about being good at it. It helps clear the sludge off your creative plate that might be holding you back from making your next great thing. Corny as it is, it is about the experience and the process. Lean into it. Just don’t cut your finger off.